Harry Houdini died 100 years ago this Halloween. But he left behind an unfinished book about the dangers of magical thinking that is unfortunately more relevant than ever

By Kyle MacNeill

On October 22, 1926, Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead went straight for Harry Houdini’s greatest asset: his guts. Whitehead, a student at McGill, was aware of the world-renowned magician’s boast that he could withstand any man’s punch. Catching him off guard in his dressing room at the Princess Theatre in Montreal, he delivered a combination of knockout blows to the escape artist’s abdomen. Houdini, splayed on a couch, didn’t tense in time. Two days later, his appendix ruptured. He died from an infection just over a week later, on Halloween, exactly 100 years ago.

The impact of Whitehead’s fist has often READ ON