Sorry for the super late notice, but if you don't have any Halloween plans tonight, here's a Houdini Seance for you! This is where I'll be. Hope to see you there.
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Friday, October 31, 2025
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Eric Colleary brings 'Houdini's Library' to Boston
Before Eric's address, members enjoyed a special Houdini-themed dinner, with Chicken Paprikash as the main course, of course! Bread pudding with Houdini's favorite cherries was for dessert.
What made this talk extra special is that Houdini himself addressed The Club of Odd Volumes on the topic of his library in 1922. Eric recently uncovered some interesting material related to that talk at David Copperfield's International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts in Las Vegas and shared it with club members for the first time.
For more details on Houdini's Library, visit the Harry Ransom Center website. You can also pre-order Eric's book Houdini's Library: Inside the Spellbinding Collections of the Great Illusionist at Amazon.com and Amazom.co.uk.
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Related:
- Houdini’s Library coming to the HRC in Fall 2026
- Houdini’s Library will also be a book!
- Mission Colleary (Patreon exclusive)
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Lincoln's Ghost by Brad Ricca released today
Today sees the release of Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency by Brad Ricca. I don't have the book in hand yet, but I'm looking forward to reading this one!
The incredible untold story of how the world's greatest magician, Harry Houdini, waged war upon Spiritualism, uncovering unknown magic, political conspiracies, and surprising secrets along the way.You won’t live forever, Houdini. You’ve got to DIE. I put a curse on you . . .
During a séance in 1924, Houdini―the greatest entertainer in the world―was cursed by a vengeful spirit, who said his days were numbered. Houdini laughed. He believed talking to the dead was impossible. By 1926, Houdini was dead.
This is the untold story of the last performance of Harry Houdini, who―inspired by his hero Abraham Lincoln―devotes himself full-time to a personal crusade against Spiritualism, the practice of speaking to the dead. In a spellbinding journey across Jazz Age America, haunted by the aftermath of the Great War and a deadly pandemic, Houdini encounters modern-day haunted houses, warlocks, and monsters, and uncovers a shocking conspiracy that stretches all the way to the American presidency―and to the House of Houdini itself.
In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Houdini’s 1926 dramatic courtroom testimony before Congress and the last otherworldly cases he takes on that lead him there, Lincoln's Ghost is a powerful examination of deception, love, politics, the afterlife, and the very nature of magic itself.
Purchase Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (UK release date Nov 17).
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Monday, October 27, 2025
The auction that launched a thousand blog posts
It was 20 years ago today that a rare Terror Island poster sold for $12,650 during Swann Galleries' auction of The Christian Fechner Collection of American & English Magic, Part I. Why am I reporting on such old news? It's because this auction ad started this website.
I had never seen this poster. Very few people had. So when I saw this ad in a Swann newsletter, I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if there were someplace that tracked all Houdini activity like this?" Instead of waiting for that to happen, I started doing it myself. First, a small electronic newsletter (2 issues), then a website www.houdini-lives.com, which ran for 5 years, and then WILD ABOUT HARRY, which will turn 15 on November 10th.
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| 2005 |
I had never seen this poster. Very few people had. So when I saw this ad in a Swann newsletter, I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if there were someplace that tracked all Houdini activity like this?" Instead of waiting for that to happen, I started doing it myself. First, a small electronic newsletter (2 issues), then a website www.houdini-lives.com, which ran for 5 years, and then WILD ABOUT HARRY, which will turn 15 on November 10th.
Today, this poster hangs in David Copperfield's incredible International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts in Las Vegas. Ironically, I'm able to be in the same room with it precisely because it inspired me to start a blog. So whenever I see it there, a part of me remembers that day in 2005.
Sunday, October 26, 2025
POLL: What makes a Houdini book "worth it?"
Yesterday, I put a poll up on my Patreon asking what makes a high-priced Houdini book "worth it" to you? It's a popular poll and the results are interesting, so I thought I'd open it to everyone to vote. Just click below to go.
If you're interested in joining us on Patreon, know that you currently get 50% off your first month. This offer expires at the end of October. See you on the inside!
Friday, October 24, 2025
Houdini's last review
It was 99 years ago today that Houdini gave his final performance at the Garrick Theater in Detroit on October 24, 1926. Here is a review of that show that ran in the Detroit Free Press the following day. The reviewer, Philip N. O'Hara, was unaware of the drama that was unfolding backstage. But it's clear from his review that not all was right that night. A remarkable and, yes, somewhat spooky review in hindsight.
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Houdini was booked for two weeks at the Garrick, but only played this one day. By the time this review appeared, he was at Grace Hospital fighting for his life.
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Thursday, October 23, 2025
October surprise
JOHN COX / WILD ABOUT HARRY NAMED NEMCA’S 2025 FOUNDERS AWARD RECIPIENT!
The New England Magic Collectors Association (NEMCA) is an organization of over 150 magicians, magic historians and magic collectors from around the world. It started in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980 with the purpose of preserving and promoting the history, artifacts and publications of the performers of magic and its allied arts.
In 2017 NEMCA created its Founders Award in honor of two of its founders, Ray Goulet and Ed Hill. The Award is used to acknowledge the contributions of people and organizations that exemplify NEMCA’s prime objectives of preserving and promoting the history and artifacts associated with magic and the allied arts. Previous recipients have included the American Museum of Magic, the Conjuring Arts Research Center (CARC), MAGICANA, and The Magic Circle.
It is our privilege to announce that the Board of Directors for NEMCA has unanimously voted to honor Wild About Harry and its founder, John Cox, as the recipient of the 2025 Founders Award.
This celebrates Cox’s many years of effort collecting and sharing information regarding Harry Houdini. Cox’s Facebook page, website (wildabouthoudini.com) in conjunction with the Patreon site, offers pictures and information available nowhere else. The publication of his book, Escaping Obscurity - The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899, is a significant accomplishment and contribution to the community. It is these, and many other considerations, that supported the presentation of this honor.
Magicians around the world will celebrate Harry Houdini in 2026 recognizing one hundred years since the death of Houdini. NEMCA’s next Yankee Gathering will take place in early November and a portion of the conference will be dedicated to scholarship and celebration of Houdini’s memory.
John Cox, through his work on Wild About Harry, has done much to preserve the very rich history of magic and its practitioners, as well as to promote magic to newer generations. The Board of the New England Magic Collectors Association can think of no more deserving organization than Wild About Harry and its founder, John Cox, to receive its 2025 Founders Award. NEMCA congratulates him for all he has done, and continues to do, on behalf of magic history.
I'm excited to read that a portion of their 2026 "Yankee Gathering" will be dedicated to scholarship and celebration of Houdini’s memory. That sounds like my kind of gathering!
Thank you to the New England Magic Collectors Association and all its members. This is amazing.
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Dixie Dooley's annual Houdini Séance in Las Vegas
Our friend Dixie Dooley will hold his annual Houdini Séance at Balkan Bar and Grill in Las Vegas on Halloween. Doors open at 2PM.
Balkan Bar and Grill is located at 953 E Sahara Ave, Suite B-26, in Las Vegas. Website: balkanbarandgrill.com
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Houdini playing cards deal out $35,000 at auction
A deck of playing cards purported to have belonged to Houdini in his early years sold for $35,000 (43K including premium) at a Goldin auction on Sunday. Wild to think this might have been "one of the first decks used by Houdini," as the accompanying note reads.
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Offered is a legendary piece of illusionist history, a deck of playing cards personally owned by the great Harry Houdini, famed escapist and stunt performer. This relic has a long history in the magic community after originally leaving the possession of Houdini in 1926. Houdini passed away in 1926, leaving this deck of playing cards to his wife, Bess Houdini. Bess gifted the deck to a fellow magician Audley S. Dunham, who after Bess' death gifted the deck to legendary "Society Magician," J. Elder Blackledge. Blackledge was well regarded amongst magicians of the time, and worked from the 1920s through the 1950s as a "society magician," performing in the White House for Franklin D. Roosevelt on several occasions. Blackledge popularized in America the famous magic act, "The Chinese Linking Rings," and performed them on occasion in Leland, Michigan. After Blackledge's passing in 1961, the deck was gifted by his widow to fellow magician and Leland resident William B.F. Hall. Hall passed in 1968, and his widow Sally Hall would pass the deck to their final owner Lawrence L. Michaels.The deck of cards consists of 46 individual pieces. There are 45 playing cards in the offered deck, including a single Joker card. The deck appears to be missing a single Ace, Queen, 10, 9, 6, 5, 4, and 3. The reverse of the cards features a detailed blue/white back design, and traditional Jugendstil design on the obverse. The deck is also accompanied by a blank card, with "THIS DECK was one of the first used by Houdini (about 1890). Mrs. Houdini gave it to Audley S. Dunham who gave it to me December 14, 1943," along with a blue ink signature seemingly of J. Elder Blackledge. The playing cards exhibit heavy general wear, small tears, and associated creases, with soiling throughout the obverse and reverse of each card. Some cards display some minor peeling from the corners, separating the front and back of the card. Some of the cards detailing on the obverse have faded, partially removing the corner symbols on some cards. Several cards display corners that have been clipped or torn.
The auction does not specify the make of this deck, but if you've read that fine book Escaping Obscurity, you'll know that early in his career, Houdini endorsed U.S. and National Playing Cards as "the very best and finest." Those may be what Houdini is handling in the famous image from 1898 that was later used to illustrate his "King of Cards" poster. You can see that the Ace of Spades and card backs do not match the auction cards.
Thanks to Jim Klodzen for the Ace of Spades image and Roger Dreyer for the King of Cards photo.
Monday, October 20, 2025
'Halloween with Houdini' at the Palmdale Playhouse
Join us for a mesmerizing one-man show that brings the legendary escape artist to life! The Great Houdini takes center stage to recount his rise to fame, his lifelong fascination with magic and the death-defying feats that made him a legend. Don't miss out on an unforgettable evening of magic and mystery!
Sunday, October 19, 2025
Explore Houdini’s Appleton, Oct 29
Here's another October event for your calendar. The History Museum at the Castle will conduct a historic Houdini walking tour of Appleton, Wisconsin, on October 29, 2025, from 6 PM to 7:30 PM.
October 29: Houdini’s Appleton. Explore the myths and reality of Houdini’s brief life in Appleton. Visit the location where his childhood home once stood, sites of fictional magical feats, and his father’s synagogue. Explore the city that Houdini called home.
Friday, October 17, 2025
Steven Frayne (Dynamo) will honor Houdini's 100th
According to a source, "Steven will be carrying out death-defying challenges, just like his hero Houdini, who is considered the world’s greatest ever illusionist and escapologist. But the stunts will be carried out in combination with his own brand of street magic as he journeys across the US to mark this special anniversary."
More details will be announced in due course.
The Voyages of Patrick Culliton
Here's something special. These three videos by Mike Clark chronicle the story of our great friend and leading Houdini expert Patrick Culliton a.k.a. "Houdini's Ghost." While Patrick's Houdini activities do get a mention, these primarily focus on his acting career and relationship with producer Irwin Allen, especially his time working on Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. These are very well done and really interesting. Enjoy.
PART I: THE HOLLYWOOD KID
PART II: INCREDIBLE VOYAGES
PART III: TO HELL AND BACK
Thank you, Patrick!
Thursday, October 16, 2025
The Last Séance of Harry Houdini in Austin
The Bottle Alley Theatre Company presents The Last Séance of Harry Houdini, October 23 through November 2, 2025, at the Flower Hill Center in Austin, Texas. Nick Gilley plays Edward Saint and Kathleen Fletcher plays Bess Houdini.
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Join Edward Saint and Bess Houdini to conduct the tenth and final séance to conjure the spirit of Harry Houdini. They have gathered their peers, friends, enemies, and you at the Knickerbocker Hotel on Halloween night, 1936. An immersive piece centered around the historical event, The Last Séance of Harry Houdini explores themes of love, fame, and grief and the ways each of these can change us. The night unfolds with drinks, mingling, ghosts, and the consequences of disturbing a man’s final rest. Staged within the iconic Flower Hill Center on West 6th, The Last Séance of Harry Houdini will offer a truly immersive experience for those seeking the perfect spectral adventure for an October night. Warning: this production features strobing lights that could affect photosensitive viewers.
Visit the Bottle Alley Theatre website for more info and to buy tickets.
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