Peter Monticup shares his Houdini collection

For Houdini's birthday week, Peter Monticup of MagicTricks.com shares his Houdini collection. Peter has posted a video and also provides links to images. There are some rarities here (the Weird Tales flyer caught my eye) and it's fun to see someone so enjoy their Houdini collection.

Click to watch at MagicTricks.com

Related:

• Video reveals "weird" Houdini collectible
• David Blaine shares his Houdini posters
• Hear Dunninger inventory his Houdini collection

LINK: Deeper Cut: Houdini & Weird Tales

The blog Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein by Bobby Derie has an extremely well-researched deep dive into Houdini's involvement with Weird Tales magazine. I learned a lot from this. It includes extensive quotes from H.P. Lovecraft's letters in which he talks about working with Houdini, like this: 

I’m hearin’ damn near every day from Henneberger–the owner of the outfit [Weird Tales]–& just had a special delivery order to collaborate on an Egyptian horror with this bimbo Houdini.

-H. P. Lovecraft to James F. Morton, 19 Feb 1924, Letters to James F. Morton 67

Click the headline to take the full journey.

Thanks to Ash Adams for the tip.

Related:

• Weird Tales: Best of the Early Years 1923-25
• New radio adaptation of 'Imprisoned with the Pharaohs'
• C.M. Eddy, Jr. and The Cancer of Superstition manuscript

Weird Tales: Best of the Early Years 1923-25

A collection of Weird Tales magazine stories edited by Jonathan Maberry and Justin Criado is released today. Houdini's "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" is one of the 13 stories included. Below is the description.

First hitting newsstands in 1923, Weird Tales magazine quickly became a literary monster in discovering and publishing the best horror, sci-fi and fantasy writers of its day. 

The pulp magazine was one of the earliest publications, if not the first, to feature strange tales of occultism and alien invasions that simply didn't fit into any other magazine at that time. 

The stories struck a chord with those early audiences, and as a result, Weird Tales created asubgenre as "weird" could be attached itself to various genres. Marquee names like master magician Harry Houdini and cosmic horror creator H.P. Lovecraft graced the magazine's pages during those early years with several debut stories, alongside authors who were already giants in their own right-Otis Adelbert Kline, Seabury Quinn, and Greye La Spina. Many lesser known, but no less influential, writers like Frank Belknap Long Jr., Mary S. Brown, Lyllian Huntley Harris, Hasan Vokine, Arthur J. Burks, and H. Warner Munn turned out disturbing yarns that have stood the test of time only to be resurrected nearly a century later. 

From the macabre and morbid to unexplainable stories of the occult, this collection features those early authors across thirteen tales of terror from the impactful years of 1923 to 1925 that are best enjoyed at the witching hour. 

Unfortunately, Houdini's two other weird tales, "The Spirit Fakers of Hermannstadt" and "The Hoax of the Spirit Lover", didn't make the cut. Maybe they weren't weird enough?

You can purchase Weird Tales: Best of the Early Years 1923-25 in hardcover or paperback from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Related:

• Weird Tales Presents: The Strange World of Harry Houdini
• "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" by HorrorBabble
• Houdini the writer

Weird Tales Presents: The Strange World of Harry Houdini

LibriVox is offering audio recordings of all the Houdini Weird Tales stories as well as his "Ask Houdini" columns. Read by Ben Tucker, the recordings can be played or downloaded for free. There's even downloadable CD cover art.

In 1924, the odd and wonderful Weird Tales Magazine published a series of stories written (or ghost-written in at least one instance) by noted illusionist and skeptic Harry Houdini. In addition to these supposed exploits by the famous escape artist, the magazine hosted a series of "Ask Houdini" sections soliciting readers to ask questions of the great Houdini which he would respond to in turn in a future issue. These Ask Houdini segments are included here in addition to the Houdini stories to create a comprehensive collection of writings by and about Harry Houdini in Weird Tales! - Summary by Ben Tucker.

LibriVox recordings are Public Domain in the USA.

Related:

• LINK: Houdini Q&A in Weird Tales
• Weird Tales scares up $2,500 on ebay
• Listen to The Master Mystery

LINK: Houdini's Weird Tales Q&A 2

Joe Notaro at HHCE has more Houdini Q&A from the April 1924 issue of Weird Tales magazine. I'm especially intrigued by Houdini's answer regarding Black Mass:

I have never seen a complete description of the “Black Mass” and the rituals. Some of it, if my memory serves me right, was photographed in Sweden, and was of such a nature that the picture, which cost a fortune, had never been seen by the public. It was called, I believe, “Superstition of the Age.” I saw this film run, but up to the present it has never been seen outside of a private projection room. It took more that two years to make it. 

I'd love to know the circumstances of when and where Houdini was able to screen this forbidden film.

Click the headline above to check out the full Q&A at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence.

Related:

• LINK: Houdini Q&A in Weird Tales
• Houdini on the Bible, Freud, spirits, and spells
• LINK: Harry Houdini and the Spirit Lover: A Tale With a Twist

LINK: Houdini Q&A in Weird Tales

Our friend Joe Notaro at HHCE has a Houdini Q&A on his blog today. We love Q&A time! This comes from the April 1924 issue of Weird Tales magazine, which also contains Houdini's shorty story, "The Hoax of the Spirit Lover". I especially like Houdini's simple advice on seance room control:

"In order to guard yourself in the future, when you go into a seance room, insist on holding the medium’s hand in your own. You do the holding, and do not allow the medium to hold you." 

Click the headline above to check out the full Q&A at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence.

Related:

• Houdini on the Bible, Freud, spirits, and spells
• LINK: Harry Houdini and the Spirit Lover: A Tale With a Twist

"Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" by HorrorBabble

Here's Houdini's short story "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" read by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble Productions. The story, which first appeared in the May-June-July issue of Weird Tales magazine in 1924, was ghost written for Houdini by H.P. Lovecraft.

 

 

For a taste of some more Houdini short stories, visit the links below.

Related:

• Bahl Yahn the Strong Man. A Good Night Story by Harry Houdini
• Dan Cupid–Magician. A story by Harry Houdini
• New radio adaptation of 'Imprisoned with the Pharaohs'

LINK: Harry Houdini and the Spirit Lover: A Tale With a Twist

The blog Strange Company --"A walk on the weird side of history" -- has a nice summary of Houdini's short story, "The Hoax of the Spirit Lover", which appeared in the April 1924 issue of Weird Tales magazine.

Houdini's short stories, which began, as far as I know, with "A One-Night Engagement" in 1904, are one of the more curious aspects of his career. It's likely most were ghost written. At least we know H.P. Lovecraft ghosted his most famous short story, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs". But the ideas still seem to have come from Houdini's mind, so these are still interesting.

Click the headline to have a read at Strange Company. The story itself can be read on the Internet Archive. In 1992 Pat Culliton published Houdini's Strange Tales which reprinted all of Houdini's (strange) fiction.

Related:

• Houdini the writer
• Weird Tales scares up $2,500 on ebay
• New radio adaptation of 'Imprisoned with the Pharaohs'

New radio adaptation of 'Imprisoned with the Pharaohs'

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre is offering an all-new radio adaptation of Houdini's Imprisoned with the Pharaohs. The "true" story was ghostwritten for Houdini by H.P. Lovecraft and features the Escape King trapped in the heart of an Egyptian pyramid.

As war brews in Europe, world-famous magician Harry Houdini and his wife Bess stop in Cairo on a world tour in the summer of 1914. There they meet with Miskatonic professor of archaeology Nate Ward, who tells them the story of Nitocris, the dreaded ghoul queen of the 4th Dynasty. After a visit to the Sphinx and a dig site led by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt, the Houdinis follow their mysterious Arab tour guide, Abdul Reis al Drogman, to the top of the Great Pyramid. Secret identities are revealed and after a desperate struggle Houdini must attempt the escape of a lifetime from under the pyramids!

In this production, Houdini is voiced by Sean Branney and Bess is voiced by Leslie Baldwin. The adaptation is by Sean Branney and Andrew Leman. Original music is by Troy Sterling Nies with "Bub-L-Pep Jingle" written by Andrew Leman and arranged and performed by Harald Lindell and Kathleen Demarest. Audio engineering is by Chris Horvath.

The CD comes in a jewel case and is packed with nice extras, including a letter on authentic Cairo Museum letterhead in which Nate Ward describes the sarcophagus and mummy of Nitocris; a Cairo postcard from Houdini to tycoon Charlie Tower; the playbill from Houdini's show at the American Cosmograph Theater in English, French, Greek and Arabic, and more.

You can buy Imprisoned with the Pharaohs on CD or as an MP3 via the Dark Adventure Radio Theatre website.

Related:

• Under the Pyramids - the book
• Houdini's tomb tale digs up $680
• Houdini, Lovecraft, and The Cancer of Superstition

Audible releases 'Imprisoned with the Pharaohs'

Audible.com has released a new recording of the classic Houdini short story, Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (aka Under the Pyramids), read by Cathy Dobson.

First published in the May-June-July 1924 issue of Weird Tales magazine, the story tells of Houdini's adventures trapped in a Egyptian tomb. While the story appeared under Houdini's byline and is told in the first person, it was actually ghost written for the magician by the great H.P. Lovecraft.

This new reading of Imprisoned with the Pharaohs is available on Amazon.com for $7.91, or Free with an Audible.com 30-day free trial membership.

Amazon notes this recording is: "Unsuitable for claustrophobics, people of a nervous disposition, or people with a vivid visual imagination." Nice.

Weird Tales scares up $2,500 on ebay

A March 1924 issue of Weird Tales that contains Houdini's short story, The Spirit Fakers of Hermannstadt, has sold on eBay for a whopping $2,500. The auction received 43 bids. The story was serialized over two issues, March and April. This issue sports one of the very best Weird Tales Houdini covers.

Touted as a "true" adventure of Houdini, The Spirit Fakers of Hermannstadt finds Harry trapped in the castle of "Count D---" in Transylvania. I guess that makes this, and not 1991's Ghosts of Dracula, the first Houdini-Dracula mash-up.

Unlike Houdini's other Weird Tales story, Under the Pyramids, Hermannstadt was not ghostwritten by H.P. Lovecraft. Patrick Culliton suggests in his book Houdini's Strange Tales, which reprints this story, that Houdini might have received editorial assistance from his friend and Weird Tales owner, Jacob Clark Henneberger.

As you can see on the cover, this magazine originally sold for .25¢. Nice mark up!

Under the Pyramids mini book

Houdini's 1924 short story, Imprisoned with the Pharaohs, has been published as a 44-page hardcover mini book by Creepycult under Lovecraft's original title, Under the Pyramids. This unique book is currently for sale only on eBay (as far as I can find). I'll let the seller's description speak for itself.

Welcome! This is a brand new "little" treat for you, hand made by me! I have a week break in the finishing of another project while I waiting for a machine part, so I have decided to finish this piece. I have been slowly working on for quite a while. This was intended to be a holiday present to all the folks who helped me get the Fantasy Fan book off the ground, well it turned out so cool I decided to do an edition of 200 for anyone who might want to have something a little fun 

First off, the book is a 60 page hardcover book, containing the story "Under the Pyramids" also titled "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" originally published in the world famous WEIRD TALES magazine circa 1924. Ghost written by the legendary HP Lovecraft for the equally legendary Houdini! 

What makes this book so special is that it comes in a custom miniature US Postal mail bag, and PADLOCKED CLOSED. (The key is on the INSIDE). So, you have to mimic Houdini, and pick the lock to get to the book. Once inside you will find a beautiful little book, sizing up at 4" x 5", containing 4 original illustrations by the weird and wonderful Nick Gucker. Each book is hand numbered and there is a RANDOM signed letterpress print in only 50 copies.

My copy has just landed at my door, and I can confirm that it is very nicely done (and the lock wasn't too hard to pick). Also happy to report that my copy (#2) contained the Nick Gucker print, which I'm sharing below.

Houdini's tomb tale digs up $680

A 1924 issue of Weird Tales magazine that contains Houdini's short story, Imprisoned With The Pharaohs, has sold on eBay for an impressive $680. The auction received 16 bids.

While Imprisoned With The Pharaohs appeared under Houdini’s byline, the story was actually ghost written by H.P. Lovecraft. The auction offered up this excellent description of the story and its history:

"Under the Pyramids", also published as "Entombed with the Pharaohs" and "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs", is a short story written by American fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft in February 1924. Commissioned by Weird Tales founder and owner J. C. Henneberger, the narrative tells a fictionalized account in the first-person perspective of an allegedly true experience of escape artist Harry Houdini. Set in 1910, in Egypt, Houdini finds himself kidnapped by a tour guide, who resembles an ancient Pharaoh, and thrown down a deep hole near the Great Sphinx of Giza. While attempting to find his way out, he stumbles upon a gigantic ceremonial cavern and encounters the real-life deity that inspired the building of the Sphinx. Although he did not believe Houdini's story, Lovecraft nevertheless accepted the job because of the money he was offered in advance by Henneberg. The result was published in the May-June-July 1924 edition of Weird Tales, although it was credited solely to Houdini until the 1939 reprint. Despite Lovecraft's use of artistic license, Houdini enjoyed the tale and collaborated with the author on several smaller projects prior to the latter's death in 1926. "Under the Pyramids" has been suggested as an early influence on author Robert Bloch and as anticipating the cosmic themes in Lovecraft's later work, including The Shunned House.

Happily, you don't have to pay this kind of cash if you just want to the read the story. Imprisoned with the Pharaohs is included in several Lovecraft collections and in a stand alone booklet.

Listen to Houdini's ‘Imprisoned with the Pharaohs’

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it appears this is no longer available.

The Classic Tales Podcast has posted an audio reading of the classic Houdini short story, Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (aka Under the Pyramids). The story is read by character actor B.J. Harrison.

First published in the May-June-July 1924 issue of Weird Tales, the story tells of Houdini’s adventures trapped in a Egyptian tomb. While it appeared under Houdini’s byline, the story was actually ghost written by the great H.P. Lovecraft.

According to Wikipedia "J.C. Henneberger, owner of Weird Tales, wished Lovecraft to write up an account Houdini had told him: on a trip to Egypt, he had been bound by Arabs and left in some deep chamber of Campbell's Tomb in the valley of the pyramids. Houdini was attempting to pass off this adventure as a true occurrence, but Lovecraft's subsequent research established that the story was largely fictitious. As such, Lovecraft allowed his imagination free rein, transferring to the temple of the Sphinx but otherwise retaining many of the details of the narrative as related by Houdini."

Imprisoned with the Pharaohs - Part 1
Imprisoned with the Pharaohs - Part 2