Answer - Tell - Pray

It's fitting Harry Houdini died on Halloween. In 1926, after a student tested Houdini's abs of steel with repeated blows, Houdini wound up in the hospital with what looked like a ruptured appendix. Many believe Houdini had appendicitis before the student punched him in the gut, but was too stubborn to seek medical attention. 

Before his death, Houdini asked to be buried in a bronze casket along with letters written from his mother. He also left a secret code with his beloved wife, Bess, and said if she ever held a seance that he would make his presence known with the code, which was later revealed to be:

 Rosabelle- answer- tell- pray, answer- look- tell- answer, answer- tell.

The name Rosabelle came from a song that Bess sang when she and Houdini first met. The other words related to secret messages used between a magician and assistant during an act. Apparently each word corresponds to a letter, which ultimately spells out the word "believe". 

Every Halloween, Bess would try to contact her famous husband, but to no avail. Finally, after ten years, she threw in the towel, announcing: "My last hope is gone. I do not believe that Houdini can come back to me, or to anyone...The Houdini Shrine has burned for ten years. I now, reverently... turn out the light. It is finished. Good night, Harry!"

Even so, every Halloween there have been seances to try and contact the escape artist. As part of their "31 Days of Halloween", Atlas Obscura has some nice photos of Houdini's gravesite here.  

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

My friend sent me this gorgeous photo she took of an old graveyard in PA. It definitely conjures the spirit of the season and has also inspired me to start the "Photo of the Week" post.

GHOST EXPERIENCE FOR SALE: EBAY LISTING OF THE WEEK

This week a guy was selling his ghost "experience" on Ebay. He visited an abandoned mental asylum in Marlboro, NJ and recorded 30 minutes of audio in the hospital graveyard. The auction closed with 0 bids, but it's still worth checking out. There are a lot of photos of the buildings and some orb pictures around the headstones.

Here's a little bit about the place from his listing:

"Even its beginnings were tainted w death and suffering. The land the hospital sits on was originally a slaughterhouse/cattle farm. The owner was referred to as Old Man Sam. He was said to live in a house painted with blood, and used to hang slaughtered carcasses on the property to warn people away. The State wanted his land so they could build the hospital complex, but he refused their offers. They eventually just seized the land. Old Man Sam swore revenge. He eventually was driven insane and wound up as an inmate in the hospital. Years later he escaped and was never found. There have been many reports of a "Watcher" in these woods by the staff and patients, and many people believe this to be Old Man Sam. He doesn't move or make a sound, he just stands there, watching. If you turn for a second he disappears. It is said whenever someone would report seeing this Watcher in the woods, someone would turn up missing or dead within a short time of the sighting."