The Séance That Ended a Friendship

In June 1922, in an Atlantic City hotel, Arthur Conan Doyle's wife wrote out what she said was a message to Houdini from his dead mother. Houdini later told Doyle the message was "written entirely in English" and that his mother "could not read, write or speak the English language."

The story as it is told

They were the best of friends. One had created Sherlock Holmes and believed in spirits. The other was the greatest escape artist alive and believed only what he could test. Then, in June 1922, in a hotel in Atlantic City, the two men and their wives sat down in a darkened room for a séance.

Lady Doyle, the story goes, channelled the voice of Houdini's dead mother. Houdini, who had come hoping, called it a fraud on the spot. The friendship ended there, and the two men fought in the newspapers for the rest of Houdini's life.

What we can confirm

The record is more careful than the feud. It is a sadder story about grief, and it ends on Houdini's own written account.

Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle were friends who disagreed about the one thing Doyle cared about most. Doyle was a committed Spiritualist. Houdini said he wanted to believe and had never seen proof.

In June 1922 the Doyles were staying at the Ambassador Hotel in Atlantic City and invited the Houdinis down. Houdini's own account, in his 1924 book A Magician Among the Spirits, says Doyle left the beach for a nap, came back, and offered him a special séance with Lady Doyle, who did automatic writing. Bess was asked to stay behind.

Before he went, Bess signaled him with the private code from their old mind-reading act. The night before, she told him, she had talked to Lady Doyle at length about how much he loved his mother.

In the darkened suite, Lady Doyle's hand shook and beat the table, and then, "making a cross at the head of the page," she started writing. Doyle tore off each page and handed it to Houdini. The message was from his mother, overflowing with love. Houdini noted that the date was June 17, 1922, her birthday, and that the message never mentioned it. In a later letter to Doyle he put the objection plainly: "the letter was written entirely in English and my sainted Mother could not read, write or speak the English language."

Then came a second puzzle. Houdini picked up a pencil and wrote the name "Powell." Doyle took it as a sign from his late friend Dr. Ellis Powell, who had just died. Houdini said he meant Frederick Eugene Powell, a magician friend who was ill. Doyle wrote back on June 20: "No, the Powell explanation, won't do."

That fall Houdini wrote in the New York Sun (October 30, 1922) that he had seen no evidence of survival after death. Doyle answered privately on November 19: "I felt rather sore about it." He said he would not discuss it any more. In his reply of December 15, Houdini explained why he did not believe the message: "the letter was written entirely in English and my sainted Mother could not read, write or speak the English language" (A Magician Among the Spirits, 1924, pp. 157-158). Houdini printed the whole exchange in his 1924 book. The letters show the two men's friendship ending over this séance. For the medium case that came next, see Margery, the bell box and the Scientific American prize.

The facts

• Ambassador Hotel, Atlantic City; invitation; Bess's cue via stage code; "making a cross at the head of the page"; June 17, 1922 his mother's birthday, footnote that Lady Doyle did not know it; "Powell" episode; Doyle June 20 letter "No, the Powell explanation, won't do."; NY Sun article Oct 30, 1922; Doyle letter Nov 19, 1922 ("I felt rather sore about it"); Houdini reply Dec 15, 1922 ("written entirely in English..."). Harry Houdini, A Magician Among the Spirits (Harper & Brothers, 1924), pp. 150-158, Internet Archive, archive.org

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