Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency

"Impressive . . . A highly readable work of social history that, courtesy of Harry Houdini, takes us into odd realms indeed." -Kirkus Reviews

The incredible untold story of how the world's greatest magician, Harry Houdini, waged war upon Spiritualism, uncovering unknown magic, political conspiracies, and surprising secrets along the way.

You won’t live forever, Houdini. You’ve got to DIE. I put a curse on you . . .

During a séance in 1924, Houdini—the greatest entertainer in the world—was cursed by a vengeful spirit, who said his days were numbered. Houdini laughed. He believed talking to the dead was impossible.

By 1926, Houdini was dead.

This is the untold story of the last performance of Harry Houdini, who after becoming inspired by his hero Abraham Lincoln, devotes himself full-time to a personal crusade against Spiritualism, the practice of speaking to the dead. In a spellbinding journey across Jazz Age America, haunted by the aftermath of the Great War and a deadly pandemic, Houdini encounters all the modern forms of haunted houses, warlocks, and monsters, and uncovers a shocking conspiracy that stretches all the way back to Lincoln himself.

In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Houdini’s 1926 dramatic courtroom testimony before Congress and the last otherworldly cases he takes on that lead him there, Lincoln's Ghost is a powerful examination of deception, love, politics, the afterlife, and the very nature of magic itself. View Less