MORE TO EXPLORE

DEBUNKING THE SUPERNATURAL: Learn how modern-day magicians and investigators expose psychic fakes.

Nova, “Secrets of the Psychics”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc3uHqtH8bg
In this Nova episode, magician and psychic investigator James Randi, “the Amazing Randi,” follows in Houdini’s footsteps as he debunks reports of supernatural phenomena, including faith healing, palm-reading, astrology, spoon-bending, and psychic readings.

“Why People Believe Weird Things”
ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_why_people_ believe_weird_things
In this TED Talk, Michael Shermer (publisher of Skeptic magazine and director of the Skeptic Society) explains why people are easily deceived. He reveals the truth behind several phenomena that have been called supernatural.

“Brain Magic”
ted.com/talks/keith_barry_brain_magic
During this TED Talk, magician Keith Barry performs surprising tricks that fool his audience. It’s easy to think that he has supernatural power, but he’s just a clever conjurer.

“Penn and Teller Reveal the Secret to Pulling Off a Mentalist Trick”
youtube.com/watch?v=gky1-Ji_ArQ
Some psychics and mediums claim to have the mystical power to read minds. Watch several magicians demonstrate how mentalists accomplish this by using tricks and skill. Find out how to do a few of their tricks.

“Mentalism, Mind Reading and the Art of Getting Inside Your Head”
ted.com/talks/derren_brown_mentalism_mind_reading_and_the_art_of_getting_inside_ your_head Performer Derren Brown demonstrates sealed envelope reading, which mediums say is a sign of their psychic power. He declares that it’s all a trick.

REVEALING HOUDINI: Find out about the escape artist, magician, and ghost hoax debunker.

American Experience, “Houdini: The Man Behind the Myth.”
pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/ houdini/
Read articles about Houdini’s life and career; his escape secrets; his friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and his exposure of the medium Margery. The transcript of the broadcast is also available.

Houdini documentary
pbs.org/video/wpt-documentaries-houdini/
Watch a documentary about Houdini’s life and career. Be amazed as magician Doug Henning performs Metamorphosis in Appleton, Wisconsin, Houdini’s boyhood home.

Blog about Houdini
wildabouthoudini.com
This blog by Houdini historian John Cox is a treasure trove of information about Houdini’s career and personal life.

Houdini history
intervalmagic.com/houdini
The website by magician and magic historian Tom Interval has links to online sources about Houdini. Included are New York Times articles about the magician and his exploits beginning in 1910.

Click for SPIRIT SLEUTHS EDUCATOR GUIDE with discussion questions and curriculum connections in HISTORY, SCIENCE, and LITERATURE.

SPIRIT SLEUTHS contains Timeline, Glossary, Sources for More Information, Author’s Note, extensive Bibliography, and Index.

SPIRIT SLEUTHS begins with the earliest days of the spiritualist movement in the U.S. in the mid-1800s when mediums began holding séances to communicate with the dead. Magicians, detectives, and journalists have worked ever since to expose and publicize dishonest mediums, fortune-tellers, and psychics who take advantage of the vulnerable and gullible. The book follows their debunking efforts through the end of the 19th century and into the two post-World War periods of the 1920s and 1940s. The final chapter focuses on psychic scams today.

SPIRIT SLEUTHS includes several sections called “How Did They Do It?” Readers learn the techniques fraudulent mediums used at séances to convince customers that spirits were present––table tipping, mind reading, fortune-telling, ghostly appearances, spooky sounds, slate writing, and more. The tricks––like most magic–– use misdirection, physics, chemistry, and psychology to fool an audience. Readers are encouraged to think critically about what they see, hear, and read.