Sometimes, in Fox Nation’s Houdini: Back From The Dead, I can see the future of documentaries like the Ken Burns ones. Fox advertised the documentary as using AI to bring Houdini back to life, and there are moments where you do feel like the dead have been resurrected. Then a Scarlet Johansson lookalike flashes some distinctively ahistorical cleavage to make Houdini’s wife jealous and that marvelous vision of the future of documentaries disappears as neatly as Houdini would disappear an elephant.
WILD ABOUT HARRY
Where Houdini Lives
- Home
- Life
- Escapes
- Magic
- Movies
- Houdini's Movies
- Les merveilleux exploits de Houdini à Paris (1909)
- The Master Mystery (1918)
- The Grim Game (1919)
- Terror Island (1920)
- The Man From Beyond (1922)
- Haldane of the Secret Service (1923)
- Velvet Fingers (1925-26)
- Medium Well Done (1937)
- Religious Racketeers (1938)
- Houdini Picture Corp.
- Film Developing Corp.
- Filming locations
- Unmade Movies
- Deconstructing Houdini '53
- Spiritualism
- People
- Beatrice Houdini
- Theo Hardeen
- Cecelia Weiss
- Mayer Samuel Weiss
- Jim Collins
- Franz Kukol
- Martin Beck
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Margery
- J. Gordon Whitehead
- Edward Saint
- Jacob Hyman
- Leopold Weiss
- Carrie Gladys Weiss
- Bernard M.L. Ernst
- Charmian London
- Jess Willard
- H.P. Lovecraft
- Sherlock Holmes
- Assistants
- Imitators
- Other magicians
- Media
- Full Bibliography
- By Houdini
- Biography
- Fiction
- Foreign
- For Kids
- Methods
- Wild About Harry Bookshelf
- Houdini His Life Story (1928)
- Houdini The Man Who Walked Through Walls (1959)
- Houdini The Untold Story (1969)
- The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini (1993)
- Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss (1996)
- The Secret Life of Houdini (2006)
- The Metamorphosis: The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini (2012)
- The Witch of Lime Street (2015)
- The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini (2019)
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
LINK: Can AI slop even have an aesthetic?
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
The Official Houdini Séance 2026 to be held at The Magic Castle
Houdini experts gather to speak to the world’s greatest escape artist. Do the spirits return from the dead?
A committed group of Houdini experts and magic historians will convene at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA for The Official Houdini Séance on October 31. The event has been a tradition since Harry Houdini, one of the most memorable international superstars, died at 1:26PM on Halloween 100 years ago. He succumbed to peritonitis in Detroit, MI at the age of 52.Houdini’s wife, Bess, honored her husband’s wish to hold a séance every year on the day of his death for 10 years. In 1936, from the top of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood, her final séance was broadcast worldwide by radio. Despite her best efforts, no sign or manifestations appeared, and Mrs. Houdini ended her vigil.
“Besides the pact he made with his wife, Houdini enlisted other magicians and friends to conduct seances after his death,” said Séance director, William Radner of West Springfield, MA. “He boasted that if there was a way to make contact from the afterlife, he would do it. Our group follows that 100-year tradition.”
“Houdini was a very determined man,” said Radner. “His accomplishments were numerous. His story of overcoming tremendous odds inspires us to continue our attempts to break through.”
The Official Houdini Séance has taken place at numerous locations throughout the world. It is the second time the Magic Castle has hosted the séance. “We have enlisted the services of professional medium Rob Zabrecky to guide us during the evening," said Radner. "He comes to us with strong credentials. We remain hopeful."
The annual séance attracts a prestigious group of participants. This year, a very special Inner Circle member will be Debbie Hardeen Bloom, grandniece of Houdini. Others include handcuff expert Fred Pittella from Brooklyn, NY, Houdini collectors Arthur Moses from Texas, Dr. Bruce Averbook from Ohio, and Robert Somerdin from Florida, and Houdini historians Midge Markey from Washington and Tom Boldt from Wisconsin.
The Official Houdini Séance begins at 5PM PST, Oct. 31, 2026, at The Magic Castle, 7001 Franklin Ave, Hollywood, CA. The Magic Castle is a private club and open to members only. Limited members of the press will be admitted by invitation only. For press passes, please contact Dan Hewitt, 202-277-3972 or Dhewitt@MagicCastle.com.
For more information about the history of Houdini seances and Houdini, please contact Mr. Radner at 413-531-3333, Séance co-director Tom Boldt at 920-428-2335 or www.theofficialhoudiniseance.com.
Prior to the séance on Oct. 31, an important auction of Houdini memorabilia will take place at 10AM CST or 8AM PST. For further information on “Houdini Returns: The Centennial Auction” contact Potter and Potter Auctions, 773-472-1441 or info@potterauctions.com.
Monday, October 19, 2026
'Houdini and the Promise of Youth' by Jef Stevens
Harry Houdini could escape almost anything. Could he escape growing old?In the 1920s, doctors offered an extraordinary promise: renewed youth through animal-gland transplantation. Monkey glands in Europe. Goat glands in Kansas. For a performer whose livelihood depended on his body, the prospect of restored vigor had an obvious attraction.
Houdini watched operations, corresponded about their results, and knew a surgeon conducting transplantation research. But how far did his interest go?
In Houdini and the Promise of Youth, Jef Stevens follows this little-known trail through a world where medical ambition, show business and the search for another chance collided. Along the way emerges a complicated Houdini: devoted to his mother, fiercely protective of his reputation, relentless in his promotion, and determined to expose fraudulent mediums—even when it cost him his friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The investigation ends in Montreal and Detroit, with the celebrated punches, a final performance given while seriously ill, and the hospital struggle that became part of his legend.
Drawing on correspondence, contemporary reporting and medical history, this illustrated book explores Houdini’s fascination with rejuvenation, the possibility of a private operation, and the unanswered questions surrounding his death.
For magicians, magic historians, and anyone who enjoys the stranger corners of vintage history—a famous life viewed through an unexpectedly intimate mystery.
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Sunday, October 18, 2026
The Magical Manacles by Aldo de Pape
What a beautiful day it is! Our silvery hearts are very happy you noticed us. People call us manacles. We were used in the olden days to make sure naughty thieves could not escape when they were caught by the police. We are made to be strong, indestructible, and designed never to be taken apart.For centuries, we tied people's hands together.
That is, until we belonged to a bright star like yourself, called Erik Weisz. We would love to tell you more about Erik and how he became the greatest magician who ever lived.
Related:
Friday, October 16, 2026
LINK: Houdini Back From The Dead - A Review
A peek at the Premium Edition slipcase
Related:
- Patreon Priority Preorder
- End of the road (Patreon)
- Handcuff King wet proof (Patreon)
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Attend a magic show in Houdini's former film lab!
On the 100th anniversary of Harry Houdini’s death, Beni Coffee and Weehawken Gazette invite you to a night of magic featuring David Corsaro, inside Houdini’s very own former photography lab. Join us for an unforgettable evening celebrating the legacy of the legendary escape artist in a truly historic setting!
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Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Listen to 'Inescapable' by Cora Parago
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Guest Blog: Margery and Houdini: The Story I Had to Tell by Maryka Biaggio
Margery Crandon and Harry Houdini: The Story I Had to TellMaryka BiaggioI write historical fiction about real people, and I’m always looking for characters who might be interesting enough to warrant a novel. So when my editor at Doubleday mentioned I might consider writing about Margery Crandon, a spiritualist who did battle with Harry Houdini, my curiosity was piqued. Then she sent me a complimentary copy of The Witch of Lime Street by David Jaher. And I was hooked.Here’s what most intrigued me about the story: In the summer of 1924, Harry Houdini, the most famous escape artist in the world, sat in a darkened Boston parlor across from a woman in her thirties. She was glamorous, charming, and rumored to have the ability to summon the dead. Her name was Mina Crandon. The public knew her as Margery, and she was arguably the most famous psychic in the world.
I dug into the research and learned a great deal about the world of spiritualism, which was experiencing a renewal of interest in the 1920s. I acquired several books about Margery Crandon and delved into her background. If I was going to write about her, I needed to understand what made her tick.
Nothing in Margery Crandon’s early life suggested séance-room celebrity. She was born in 1888 to a farm family in rural Ontario. She and her brother, Walter, were apparently very close. He called her Mina. To her, he was the older brother she could confide in when their strict father punished them. When Walter came of age, he left the farm to work as a railroad worker in Buffalo, New York. A few years later, Margery moved to Boston, where she found a job working in the theatre. Before long, the lively and restless Margery met her first husband, Earl Rand, with whom she had a son.
When Walter died in a tragic trainyard accident in 1911, Margery was heartbroken. His death and their enduring bond would become a part of her legend.
In 1917, Margery experienced terrible abdominal pain, and Earl rushed her to the hospital, where she underwent surgery, possibly for appendicitis. Her surgeon was Dr. Roy Crandon, a wealthy and respected doctor. They met again while Crandon worked as a military physician at a Boston hospital and Margery volunteered as a military ambulance driver. Margery was unhappy in her first marriage and divorced Rand. She then married Dr. Crandon. She was his third wife, and his two divorces had apparently been acrimonious, so Margery may have worried about his constancy and her future with him.
Nevertheless, her marriage to Crandon provided her with two things she craved and hadn’t found with her first husband—prosperity and social recognition. Dr. Crandon was a distinguished Boston surgeon and Harvard man, well-connected and considerably older than Margery. Margery relished her newfound socialite status and welcomed many guests to their stately Victorian mansion at 10 Lime Street. Overnight, the Ontario farm girl became a fixture of Beacon Hill society, with a fashionable address, a wealthy husband, and the social access that came with them.
Margery launched her career as a spiritualist in the early years of her marriage to Crandon. Dr. Crandon wholeheartedly supported this endeavor and even had a carpenter build a special table for séances. The reasons Margery began holding séances are lost to history, but some say she relished her husband’s astonishment and admiration for the wonders she produced. Soon a voice began speaking through her—brash, joking, and irreverent. It said it was Walter.
Margery became a celebrity in Boston circles, and invitations to her séances were much sought after. Boston luminaries and colleagues of Roy Crandon were common attendees. A typical evening began at the dinner table, where the cook prepared excellent fare, and the doctor broke out wine from his cellar, which he’d managed to collect despite Prohibition. After the guests had enjoyed their sumptuous meal, the party trekked up to the fourth floor to sit around the séance table in a darkened room.
Dr. Crandon maintained careful contemporaneous records of all Margery’s séances, noting the extraordinary phenomena observed there: bells rang; tables tilted, and objects drifted. Walter whistled, cracked jokes, and delivered commentary in a gruff male voice. A Victrola played “Souvenir” and “Yes! We Have No Bananas.” Most startling of all, a live dove appeared and thumbprints were left in wax, prints that failed to match those of any person in attendance.
Margery was no shabby carnival act. She was a glamorous socialite. Her admirers included a magazine editor who wrote glowing accounts of her powers, and the press could not resist a story with so many enticing ingredients: a society beauty, a brilliant surgeon husband, and a dead brother. Unlike most spiritualists of the time, Margery did not charge attendees, which many took as a sign of her honesty and authenticity.
Yes, I had now decided that I would write about Margery, but how to tell the story? Should I have Margery narrate her tale? Should an omniscient voice hover over the whole story, giving the reader the inside scoop? I tried both approaches, and neither really took hold. I just wasn’t satisfied with either way of recounting this fascinating tale.
Then, surprise of surprises, Walter began speaking to me. He provided me with the first line of the novel: “Truth is, I understand Mina better than the whole lot of them, meaning those meddlers who wanted to know how the ‘Witch of Lime Street,’ as some dubbed her, acquired her psychic powers.” And I was off to the races. I won’t say the whole novel came as easily as that opening line, but it just made sense to have Walter tell the story. After all, he was a great wit who regularly appeared at Margery’s séances, and his salty repartee never failed to entertain the guests around the table. He and Margery had a close relationship, and he had access to her most private thoughts. Walter had a vested interest in Margery’s success, but he also worried about her.
Spiritualism had become wildly popular in the 1920s, but it had its detractors. Into the fray stepped the respected magazine Scientific American, which set out to test spiritualists and resolve the raging public debate. They offered $2,500 ($50,000 in today’s money!) for any medium who could produce a visible psychic manifestation under controlled conditions. The first several mediums the prize committee tested proved to be frauds. Then Dr. Crandon entered Margery into the contest. The committee expected her to be the first serious entrant.
The committee members devised all manner of tests, and Margery’s performance astounded them. But one member of the committee, Harry Houdini, insisted he be allowed to conduct his own tests. And Walter worried that Houdini would not give Margery a fair chance. The battle between Margery and Harry Houdini became the climax of my novel, and Walter did not disappoint at this crucial juncture.
I’m sure prospective readers wouldn’t want me to give away the ending, so I won’t. But in all my novels, I aim to stay true to the historical record. And the history of the epic battle between Margery and Houdini was worth all the struggles I encountered as I wrote the novel.
Maryka Biaggio is an award-winning novelist with a passion for history and the human spirit. She writes historical fiction inspired by real people—figures whose lives illuminate the complexities of their time. She lives in Portland, Oregon. Her novel Margery and Me, published by Regal House, has been hailed by distinguished author Valerie Martin as “a wry, lively, and wicked-good novel.”
Purchase Margery & Me from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk, or directly from Regal House Publishing.
Thank you, Maryka!
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Monday, October 12, 2026
Two new works of Houdini fiction
Harry Houdini escaped every prison built to hold him. Death was supposed to be the exception.One hundred years after his final performance, fraudulent medium Cassie Sparkowski attempts a livestreamed séance—and accidentally brings Houdini back. But he is not alone. Behind him waits an endless darkness filled with the restless dead…and something far worse. As Houdini unlocks door after door between worlds, ghosts begin returning to the people and places they left behind. Some come home in love. Some come hunting for vengeance. All of them carry a piece of the darkness with them.
Now Cassie and FBI agent Bradford Carter must stop the greatest escape artist who ever lived before he completes his final act: opening the door that can never be closed.
I Am Houdini brings that man to life once more, just in time for the 100th anniversary of his death on Halloween 2026. I Am Houdini is a fictionalized historical drama inspired by the life, words, relationships, performances, investigations, and final years of Harry Houdini. Historical material and Houdini's own words are woven together with imagined conversations and scenes to tell the story not simply of the Great Houdini, but of Erich Weiss—the man behind the legend.This isn't just the story of Houdini's escapes.
It's the story of Harry, a man whose dramatic flair for life, determination, and relentless curiosity may inspire you to find your own way through life's impossible challenges and say:
“I Am Houdini.”
You can purchase I Am Houdini in hardcover or paperback at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
Related:
Sunday, October 11, 2026
Centenary countdown: The accident in Albany
Friday, October 9, 2026
'Houdini: Back From The Dead' coming October 14
FOX NATION SET TO PREMIERE “HOUDINI: BACK FROM THE DEAD,” MARKING PLATFORM’S FIRST FULL-LENGTH PROJECT CREATED ENTIRELY WITH AI-GENERATED IMAGERYThree-Part Series Premieres Ahead of Halloween and 100th Anniversary of Harry Houdini’s Death
NEW YORK – October 8, 2026 – FOX Nation will premiere the new three-part series Houdini: Back from the Dead on Wednesday, October 14, announced Lauren Petterson, president of the platform. Marking FOX Nation’s first full-length, multi-episode production to rely entirely on AI-generated imagery, the series uses groundbreaking technology to bring the extraordinary life, daring feats and enduring legacy of Harry Houdini back to life, allowing the legendary magician to sit down and tell his own story. A trailer can be found here.
In commenting on the series, Petterson said, “FOX Nation is breaking new creative ground by using emerging technology to bring one of history’s most fascinating figures to life for a modern audience. We’re proud to showcase a new form of historical storytelling that allows viewers to experience Houdini’s remarkable life in his own words, while re maining rooted in extensive research and historical accuracy.”
Premiering ahead of the 100th anniversary of Houdini’s death on October 31, 1926, the series imagines the legendary magician performing one final impossible feat: returning from the dead to narrate his own story. Viewers will see Houdini step onto the set of a modern documentary interview, answering questions about his life, career, relationships, and greatest acts. His wife Bess, his mother, brother, friends, reporters, and business associates are also brought to life, speaking through words pulled from diaries, books, correspondence, and historical writings.
To achieve the series’ visual authenticity, the production licensed archival footage and more than 400 historic photographs, which served as source imagery for a team of AI artists. Actors portrayed the principal characters to capture authentic movement, cadence, and performance, while AI technology transformed their appearances to resemble their historical counterparts. The series’ scripts were written entirely by humans, with all historical claims supported by archival research and expert review.
Across three episodes, Houdini: Back from the Dead explores little-known chapters of the magician’s life, including a childhood accident in which he was shot in the hand; his relationship with his mother; a staged rivalry with his brother; his brief ambition to abandon the stage after becoming a pioneering aviator; his fascination with death and near-fatal attempt to escape from a grave; his complicated marriage to Bess; his relationship with author Charmian London; and his crusade against fraudulent spiritualist mediums that resulted in threats against his life.
Houdini: Back from the Dead is produced for FOX Nation by Red Rock Films. Red Rock Films specializes in responsible AI production and works with partners across the production process, including emerging creative technologies, workflow development, rights and clearances.
FOX Nation is a direct-to-consumer on-demand streaming service designed to complement the FOX News Channel experience with a members-only destination for its most passionate and loyal super fans. Launched in 2018, FOX Nation is available at foxnation.com and via app for iOS devices, Android devices, FOX One, Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV, Android TV, Roku, Xbox One, FuboTV, Vizio TVs, and Samsung TVs, as well as DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM, YouTube TV, Comcast Xfinity, Cox Contour, The Roku Channel, DISH and SLING.
Check out the trailer below. And watch for the series to debut on FOX Nation October 14.
Thursday, October 8, 2026
'Inescapable' on CBC Radio, October 12
The Great Houdinis turns 50
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| Syracuse Herald Journal, Oct. 8, 1976. |
Want more? I've shared an extra on my Patreon that nicely captures the time below.























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