Houdini and the grave robber

Here's one from the dark side of humanity via Planet Weird. I've been debating whether to share this because it's pretty disturbing. But it is Houdini related, and it's 20+ years old so it's all history at this point. Nevertheless, read on at your own risk.

Here's the story.

Sometime in the early 1990s, an underground video entitled "Grave Robbing For Morons" surfaced. It features a young man explaining the intricacies of grave robbing, something he claims he and his friends do "for the fun." He even shows off a freshly exhumed skull. He also claims there's a lucrative black market for the remains of famous people.

The identity of the man in the video remains unknown to this day, and there's debate online about whether or not it is for real. In hopes of trying to solve the mystery, last year Planet Weird posted the entire video here along with a email tip line.

What I'm sharing below is just the very end of the tape, which is the part that's relevant to us. But even this short except is disturbing, so watch at your own risk.

Houdini's grave did suffer major vandalism in 1993, but as far as I know, there were never any signs of attempted grave robbery. But as Planet Weird concludes: "If this video is the real deal, Houdini’s skull might be sitting on a shelf in someone’s basement."

However, having watched the entire tape (so you don't have to), I believe these guys, if for real, only robbed crypts and mausoleums and would never be able to exhume a coffin six feet underground. Houdini's grave is also visible from the street, and one of his "instructions" is to only rob graves well out of sight. So I think Harry is safe.

But I can imagine that on discovering the impossibility of robbing Houdini's grave, these guys deciding to vandalize it instead. So are we looking at the face of the '90s vandal? Maybe.

Told ya it was a dark one.

UPDATE: If you're interested in digging deeper into this (ha!) check out this thread on Reddit.

Related:

• 1996: Houdini's grave plot thickens
• The truth of what really happened to Houdini's bust
• Time to bury the Houdini exhumation