Houdini's Centennial Haunts Detroit

Harry Houdini died on October 31, 1926, exactly one hundred years before this Halloween. The magician passed away in Detroit, the city where he performed nineteen times between 1894 and his final show. His death occurred in a hospital after a series of failed attempts to recover from a ruptured appendix, a condition that followed a blunt force injury to his abdomen.

The injury happened in Montreal before Houdini traveled to Detroit. A college wrestler punched Houdini in the stomach during a break in a show. Houdini had previously boasted he could withstand such blows. Dorothy Young, who served as Houdini's stage assistant, recalled in a 2004 interview that the magician had shown her how to protect his midsection. She noted that the wrestlers did not give him the chance to brace himself.

Doctors advised Houdini to rest, but financial pressure forced him to keep his Detroit contract. Jeremy Dimick, a curator at the Detroit Historical Museum, described Houdini's physical state during that final performance at the Garrick Theater. Dimick said Houdini lacked the strength to apply his makeup and collapsed during intermissions. Staff carried him from the theater to his hotel. He was later taken to Grace Hospital, where physicians diagnosed the ruptured appendix. Two surgeries failed to save him. He died four days later.

The physical locations tied to Houdini's final hours have largely disappeared. The Garrick Theater, his hotel, and Grace Hospital no longer stand. The funeral home that embalmed him became a girls' art school before that institution also closed. In 2004, Juanita Hammond, the then-head of the school, showed visitors a locked storage room with an indented floor. Hammond said students believed Houdini's presence lingered in the building.

Houdini's wife, Bess, held numerous séances for a decade after his death. She believed she saw a sign from him during a séance on Halloween, ten years after his passing. She appeared in a film reenacting the event. She stated that the incident proved Houdini was right that the dead could not return, as she had received no other signs in ten years.

John Sherwood, associated with the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan, holds séances using artifacts from Houdini's workshop. One such item is a metal milk can. Houdini used this can for a trick where he submerged himself in warm water while locked with six Mastodon locks. Sherwood said some séance groups have placed a lox and bagel sandwich in the can to appeal to Houdini's Jewish heritage. Sherwood plans another séance for this Halloween. He believes the centennial might draw the magician out for one last display of showmanship.

Conspiracy theories have surrounded the timing of Houdini's death. Some speculate his death certificate was altered to show a Halloween date. Others suggest the wrestler was a hitman sent by psychics Houdini had exposed. The magician spent his final years debunking spiritualists, yet his death has fueled the very mythology he sought to dismantle.