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Did Harry and Bess Houdini make contact at the 90th consecutive Official Houdini Séance in Cleveland, Ohio?


November 2, 2017

Whether you believe in an afterlife or not, attending a Houdini Séance is an entertaining (and often spooky) way to celebrate the legendary escape-artist’s lifelong commitment to the pursuit of knowledge. The Magic Castle hosts its own Houdini Séances, but there’s also an Official Houdini Séance hosted at a different location each year on Halloween—the anniversary of Houdini’s death. And this year, on the 90th consecutive performance of the Official Houdini Séance in Cleveland, Ohio, Harry Houdini and his wife Bess apparently made contact with a spirit medium.

Houdini was incredibly skeptical of the existence of spirits and the paranormal, but made a pact with his wife Bess that should either of them die first, the other would attempt to make contact with the other. Bess attempted contact for years, and then other magicians and purveyors of the spirit world continued the tradition for nearly a century.

A short video posted by Cleveland.com (embedded above) chronicles the event, showing a small, intimate gathering of magicians and members of the public at the Crop Bistro as they await a potential response from Houdini. Houdini, speaking through the medium, mentions getting screwed out of money at a theater in Cleveland, and Bess talks about stopping the Séances as they only continued to bring up memories of the loss of her husband. 

Did Harry and Bess Houdini actually make contact on Halloween after nearly 100 years of silence? Or is this all a load of hogwash? We leave it to you to decide.