SÉANCE CENTENNIAL 1926-2026
THE LAST SÉANCE
A NEW PLAY BY JENNIFER BERMAN
October 31, 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of HOUDINI’S death at 1:26 pm at Grace Hospital, Detroit Michigan
Bessie made a promise to Houdini to hold a seance on the anniversary of his death. After 10 years Bessie stopped officiating the annual seance, but the seance continued.
Walter B Gibson, who wrote many books with Houdini, continued the yearly event. Before his death in 1985, he educated Dorothy Dietrich to take over. She has conducted the seance every year to this date.
Join the Houdini Museum and the new play The Last Séance in honoring this event - The Houdini Centennial Seance Year.
We can talk for hours regarding the Houdini Seance. When Houdini discovered that scammers were claiming that they could communicate with your dead loved ones in heaven, he looked into it. At first he thought maybe some were real and some were scammers. In Houdinis book “Houdini A Magician Among The Spirits” he said… “This is not a study of a few days or weeks or months, but one that has spanned over 30 years. In that time, I have not found one single case that savored of the genuine." He could not find anyone that was real. The thing that riled him the most was the people claiming that when you die… They could get you connected with your loved ones in Heaven. You just have to bequeath your entire inheritance to them. After many years of exposing them, Houdini realized that when he died… they would be claiming to have contact in Heaven with Houdini. They would be getting messages from the great Houdini from Heaven. Thats why Houdini set up a seance with his wife and friends with a specific code that if it wasn’t that specific code… it was fake. Houdini’s wife Beatrice did the seance for the first 10 years. She then asked Walter B. Gibson to continue the Houdini Seance, and she made him pledge that he would not fake it, that any communication with Houdini was real or nothing. They felt it was okay to not have a message... Walter did the seance for many years. When we acquired the Magic Towne House, he asked if he could do it there. Of course, we were honored to hold it there. When Walter got up in years, he asked me to take charge and continue doing them each year. He made us swear not to have anything fake set up. Like Houdini, Bess felt that Houdini’s work of exposing the frauds should continue beyond his lifetime. I have been the Medium every year since the seventies. Over the years we have had many unexplained mysteries occur to this day. Last year, the Houdini Seance was very interesting. There are so many things that are unexplained that happened over the years. Was it Houdini? Who Knows? -Dorothy Dietrich, Houdini Museum
HOUDINI SEANCE HISTORY
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