Apparently, some drivers, upon seeing the phantom carriage suddenly appear, would slam on their brakes or swerve to avoid hitting it, resulting in a collision with other vehicles. Upon further research, I also learned that this apparition was said to be responsible for a number of traffic accidents at the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Lookout Mountain Road. However, I later discovered that other people had also witnessed the same thing at the very same location. The silent apparition lasted for only a second or two before vanishing into thin air, and at the time I thought I had simply imagined it due to the fact that I was extremely tired and my eyes were strained from hours of card readings. It was at that moment that I spotted an old-fashioned carriage pulled by two white horses racing madly down Lookout Mountain Road toward the intersection. I reached the bottom of Lookout Mountain and then turned left onto Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

I packed my tarot cards, got into my car, and began heading home. It turned out to be quite a festive event, lasting for about six hours and attended by actress Fairuza Balk and many other people who worked in the entertainment industry. In the summer of 2000, I was hired to do tarot readings for a birthday party at a house on Lookout Mountain Road. It is an area of frequent ghost sightings. If we should happen to sell out by the time this post is published, we will be hosting another séance in the fall.Up in the Hollywood hills, above the hustle and bustle of the city and not far from the allegedly haunted ruins of Harry Houdini’s old burned-out mansion, lies the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Lookout Mountain Road.

[Are you curious to attend a séance? Villa Finale will be hosting “Springing Into Spiritualism,” on Mato mark the 175th anniversary of the first ever séance led by our friends at The Austin Séance (ticket information here: ). “Doyle’s spirit” was recorded saying, “Take care of my boys and my good wife, Jean.” You can listen to “Doyle’s spirit” here: Four years later in a séance attended by nearly 600 people in London, Doyle reportedly made contact again, and this time is was supposedly recorded on 26 acetate discs. Now you may be thinking, if Houdini, the unbeliever didn’t make contact, what about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Did he ever manifest himself during a séance? Mediums claimed Doyle made contact as early as one week after his death in 1930. (Harry Ransom Center, University of Austin at Texas) Lady Jean Doyle and one of Sir Arthur’s sons sit for a spirit photograph one year after Doyle’s death. The property has been sold a few more times since then and can now be rented for film shoots and private events: The Houdini Estate. We didn’t see Houdini’s ghost, but we did find burned out candles and the like, evidence that the magician’s admirers were still trying to “make contact.” The property was sold in 1997 and the new owner cleaned up all the debris and began a restoration.

Attracted by reported sightings of Houdini’s ghost, I made a visit to the site in 1990 with a group of friends. Located on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, the original mansion and guest house, where the Houdinis likely stayed, burned down in 1959 leaving what eventually became overgrown ruins. The property is referred to as “Houdini’s Estate” even though the property had been owned by one of his friends, Ralf Walker not Houdini. Purportedly, people still hold seances on Halloween night near where Harry Houdini was living in Los Angeles. These are no longer visible from the street. “Houdini Ruins” off Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, ca. The seemingly “undefeatable” Harry Houdini died of sepsis on Halloween, 1926. Doctors discovered his appendix had ruptured and immediately had it surgically removed, but by then it was too late.

Again, rather than seek medical attention, Houdini soldiered on with his shows until his wife, Bess convinced him to go to the hospital once her husband developed a 104 degree fever. And, of course, it was said to be haunted The remains of the house and gardens with overgrown stairways and stone arches where open and visible to motorists driving through Laurel Canyon, so the 'Houdini Mansion' was a well-known and somewhat mysterious Los Angeles landmark. – but without warning, Whitehead punched Houdini (reportedly more than once) which sent the magician writhing to the floor in pain. Of course, this required physical preparation by Houdini – tensing his abdomen muscles, etc. While in Montreal Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead, a student at McGill University, asked Houdini if he could punch him, as the illusionist was famous for withstanding a punch to the gut. Ever the showman, he refused to get medical attention choosing instead to continue his travels to Montreal where he was scheduled to speak on the fakery of mediums. On OctoHoudini broke his ankle during a show. Houdini’s words couldn’t have been more prophetic. Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (on the right) (from ).

Houdini mansion laurel canyon haunted