Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Houdini wanted to sleep in a Haunted House


Attention Houdini fiction writers! Here's a hook for a story that also happens to be true. When Houdini brought his 3 Shows in One to the Academy of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, for the week of November 9, 1925, he took out the following ad in The Afro-American newspaper.

The Afro American, Nov. 7, 1925.

I've never seen anything like this before. Is it just a clever way to advertise his upcoming appearance at the Academy? For sure. But I also think if someone came forward with a "Haunted House," Houdini would have absolutely followed through and spent the night. He also would have mined it for all the publicity it was worth, and that would have been great! Unfortunately, I could not find any follow-up, so it appears a suitable house did not materialize. 

It's up to you fiction writers to tell the story!

Related:

2 comments:

  1. What a great prompt! Maybe he can tag Theo along just so he doesn’t have to go alone. Or he and Theo get caught in a storm and they have to go inside. Wow! This is a GREAT prompt! Thanks John!
    - Abby Martin, comic writer, creator of “Elsie”
    The two brothers are already in the series so… might as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shades of Stephen King's Room 1408 story. I can see John Cusak pulling up to this dilapidated old house.

    ReplyDelete

Translate