The Official Houdini Séance 2025 in Pennsylvania

The Official Houdini Séance will be held this year at House of Magic in Glenside, Pennsylvania. The seance is open to the public, but seating is limited. An old-fashioned spook show will precede the seance. Below is this year's press release.

Nearly a century after Harry Houdini’s death, a group of magicians, historians, and spiritualists with gather in Pennsylvania to attempt what the famed escape artist once promised: Can the dead return?

The Official Houdini Séance will be held at 10 pm on October 31, 2025, at The House of Magic in Glenside, PA.

Fifteen days after performing at the Chestnut Street Theater in Philadelphia, Houdini died on Halloween in 1926 at Grace Hospital in Detroit at 1:26 pm, the result of peritonitis. Before his passing, he promised that if communication from the beyond were possible, he would find a way to prove it.

After his death, Houdini’s widow Bess held annual séances for ten years, culminating in a nationally broadcast attempt from the rooftop of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood in 1936. Declaring, “Ten years is enough to wait for any man,” she ended her public efforts, but others have continued the tradition.

“Houdini told his brother that if he were able to return in a material way, he would open a unique set of handcuffs,” said séance director Bill Radner of West Springfield, MA. “Those handcuffs, along with other Houdini memorabilia, will be placed on the séance table this year.”

The séance will be led by trance medium Scott Wells of Ft. Worth, TX, with participants hoping for a breakthrough unlike any before.

“We are a very determined group,” Radner added. “We look forward to making contact this year.”

For more Official Houdini Séance information, please contact Bill Radner, 413-531-3333 or email rendar1@aol.com.

While Houdini never performed in Glenside, he did appear with the Welsh Bros Circus for three memorable days in nearby Norristown (covered in Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899). And, of course, Philadelphia was a major Houdini city where he appeared many times. So I'd say his spirit is in the air!

You can purchase tickets for The Official Houdini Séance 2025 at the House of Magic website.

Thanks to Ken Hallgring and Tom Boldt for the alert.

Related:

• Inside The Official Houdini Séance 2024
• The secret origins of the annual Houdini Seance
• When the Welsh Bros. came to town

Houdini BBC radio collection released

BBC audiobooks have released a collection of three BBC-produced Houdini radio programs called Houdini & The Witch of Beacon Hill. Details below.

What drove Harry Houdini - magician, escapologist, and one of the most famous men in the world? Whether it was escaping from handcuffs, a straitjacket or from a box filled with water, Houdini wowed audiences with his seemingly death-defying performance... This BBC Radio collection shares the story behind the trickery: in two fascinating full-cast dramas about the life of Harry Houdini, and in particular his public campaign to expose fraudulent spiritual mediums.

In the stunning full-cast dramatisation Houdini, a man is naked against the world, bound in chains, deprived of all help. Performing a death defying escape from a galvanised iron can, filled with water and secured with massive locks. Failure means a drowning death! This is the gripping story of the master magician, escapologist, and at the time of his death in 1926, one of the most famous men in the world. Michael Maloney stars as Houdini, with Graham Crowden as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Lorelei King as Bess.

Houdini, the showman, longed to believe that he might be able to communicate beyond the grave with his beloved mother, but knew far too much about the trickery and faking of the stage to be easily convinced. The Witch of Beacon Hill is the true story of how Harry Houdini tried to debunk psychics and mediums. Attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and a police officer he debunked the most famous and celebrated Boston medium Mina Crandon, also known as ‘Margery’. This radio drama tells Margery’s story, and the story of how Houdini set out to disprove her claims. Starring Shelly Thompson as Margery and Nigel Anthony as Houdini.

This double edition collection comes with a bonus episode of Harry Houdini: Escape artist and showman with Rajan Datar. Through interviews, Datar charts the life and career of the legendary Houdini, with writer and biographer Adam Begley, Dr Matthew Solomon, and Dr Katharina Rein.

For the record, Houdini was first broadcast on BBC Radio 2, Oct 1996; The Witch of Beacon Hill on BBC Radio 4, 30 Sep 1989; and Harry Houdini: Escape artist and showman on BBC World Service, 30 Dec 2021

Purchase Houdini & The Witch of Beacon Hill: Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Historical Dramas at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a physical release.

Related:

• Ghosts of Beacon Hill
• BBC Radio: The Witch of Beacon Hill
• Peepolykus blend Houdini and Dracula on the BBC

50% off new Patreon memberships in October

I thought I'd kick off seance season and the countdown to the 99th anniversary of Houdini's death by offering 50% off new Patreon memberships in October. This applies to the first month and is open to new members only. Just use promo code: SPOOKS.

On my Patreon, you'll find a wealth of exclusive Houdini content, receive special monthly rewards, get the scoop on my current projects, and get an early heads up on new book releases and events. And if we reach 100 members (only 9 members away), you'll hear something truly wild.

You'll also be supporting all the work I do here on WILD ABOUT HARRY and my upcoming projects. So come join us (at 50% off) for what may be a wild month!

Related:

• Announcing WILD ABOUT HARRY on Patreon
• Want to hear unreleased Houdini voice?