Will he come back? CAN he come back? The date was Halloween, Oct. 31, 1926. In Grace Hospital in Detroit, the world’s greatest magician lay dying of peritonitis. When his wife came in to see him, both knew his fate, but few words were necessary; the pact had been made long ago. Harry Houdini was born Erich Weiss on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary. When he was 4, his family immigrated to the place he always claimed as his hometown, Appleton, Wis. While there, he became fascinated with magic – an art that, in those days, was brought to the public by traveling shows, circuses and vaudeville performers. Weiss ran away from home at the age of 17 and took his show on the road. Thanks to his highly publicized, death-defying escape escapades, performed outdoors or in jailhouses all over the country, by the early 1900s he had not only re-christened himself; he had become the most famous magician in the world. There’s not enough room here to describe the magic of Harry Houdini; whether he was sealed in a bronze casket and thrown into the Hudson River, chained by the world’s strongest handcuffs, or locked in the world’s most secure bank vault – he always escaped.

But he also was the first to claim that every stunt, every escape, was merely a trick, nothing more. There was nothing supernatural about him, he admitted – his performances were all based on scientific knowledge. A favorite motto of the world’s greatest escape artist, one that he wrote in many books, was “My brain is the key that sets me free.”But what about freeing himself from the ultimate abductor – death?At the time, spiritualism was reaching new heights of popularity in the United States. Houdini himself, with his stage partner and beloved wife Bess, performed mock séances as far back as the 1890s, exhibiting the tricks that popular mediums used to fool the public. But in 1913, Houdini’s mother died – a blow to the magician, who had adored her. Her death prompted him to send out a call to mediums and spiritualists all over the world: $10,000 to anyone who could establish contact with her from beyond the grave.Houdini’s quest in spiritualism lasted for the rest of his life. He visited every famous medium in the country, often in disguise – and always caught them out in some form of trickery. He began a spectacular crusade to debunk the claims of fraudulent mediums who made money off of grieving relatives, and ended by exposing some of the most famous spiritualists of the era.

Yet a part of him still wanted to believe. He made a pact with Bess that, if he died first, he would try to come back. If it were at all possible, he would communicate with her. They established a secret coded message between them, part of which contained the words “Rosabelle, answer, tell, pray, answer, look, tell, answer, answer, tell.” “Rosabelle” was the name of a popular song Bess used to sing in her vaudeville act and was engraved in her wedding band; the other words represented an alphabetic code the two had used in a mind-reading act, the letters of which spelled out the word “Believe.” “Rosabelle, Believe.” This was the crux of the code.Houdini died on Halloween, 1926, of peritonitis brought about by an attack of appendicitis. It was exacerbated by a freak accident – while on tour, Houdini was approached by a college student who asked if he could sustain any punch. Houdini replied that he could, but before he could inhale and expand his diaphragm, an old magician’s trick, the student sucker-punched him – a blow which led to peritonitis. Three hours before his death, Houdini finalized the code with Bess, and also agreed to unlock a special pair of handcuffs – if he could come back.It’s a tribute to the man’s genius that, today, he is as famous as he was during his heyday in the 1920s – or perhaps even more so. One thing that has kept his legacy alive has been the Houdini Séance, held every Halloween afternoon since 1927. Bess agreed to hold the séance for 10 years after her husband’s death, and continued to offer the $10,000 reward to anyone who could prove contact with Houdini. Since the code was inadvertently leaked to the media in the late 1920s, it was no longer considered accurate proof – although the entire code has never been revealed.

Bess continued to hold the séance until 1936, with no success. Her last one was broadcast live on radio from the rooftop of Milwaukee’s Knickerbocker Hotel. After imploring Houdini’s spirit to give some sort of sign, the moderator turned to Bess and said, “Mrs. Houdini, the zero hour has passed. The 10 years are up. Have you reached a decision?”Bess replied, “Yes, Houdini did not come through. My last hope is gone. I do not believe that Houdini can come back to – or to anyone. The Houdini shrine has burned for 10 years. I now, reverently, turn out the light. It is finished. Good night, Harry!”The recording of that last is now available on CD; it moves one to tears. Bess never attended another séance. However, she gave permission for the Houdini Halloween séances to continue – and they do, all over the world, to this day. The official one is at the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pa., and if you want to see it live you can go to http://www.houdini.org this Oct. 31 at 1:26 p.m., the time of Houdini’s death. Or, if you want a local connection, you can visit the Tabor Grand Opera House in Leadville and stand on the very trap door Houdini used when he performed there in the 1920s. You never know – he might come back for an encore.