The Magician and the Spirits: Harry Houdini and the Curious Pastime of Communicating With the Dead

"Noyes makes history accessible and irresistible . . . Excellent."*

A century ago, the curious idea that spirits not only survive death but can be contacted on the "other side" was widespread. Psychic mediums led countless s ances, claiming to connect the grieving with their lost relations through everything from frenzied trance writing to sticky expulsions of ectoplasm.

The craze caught Harry Houdini's attention. Well-known by then as most renowned magician and escape artist, he began to investigate these spiritual phenomena. Are ghosts real? Can we communicate with them? Catch them in photographs? Or are all mediums "flim-flammers," employing tricks and illusions like Houdini himself?

Peopled with odd and fascinating characters, Houdini's gripping quest will excite readers' universal wonderment with life, death, and the possibility of the Beyond.

*School Library Journal, starred review of Ten Days a Madwoman

Deborah Noyes is the author of nonfiction and fiction for young readers and adults, including Ten Days a Madwoman, Encyclopedia of the End, One Kingdom, and The Ghosts of Kerfol. She has also compiled and edited the short story anthologies Gothic!, The Restless Dead, and Sideshow. You can learn more at deborahnoyes.com and follow her on Twitter @DeborahNoyes.