Witnessing a séance in his London home, he became convinced of Margery’s supernatural powers. The most famous of its 14 million believers was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries and a man of impeccable reputation. In the summer of 1924, Margery occupied the red-hot center in the raging national debate over Spiritualism, an 80-year-old religious movement that centered around the possibility of communicating with the dead. Margery herself had become a messiah to hundreds of thousands of Americans. And as reputable magazines and newspapers increased their coverage of paranormal phenomena, mediums became rock stars. Spirit guides emerged to help the bereaved, usually for hefty fees. Reeling from losing an estimated 15 million people in the Great War and 21 million more to the Spanish-flu pandemic, people were searching for ways to connect with the dead. Today we remember the era’s jazz, speakeasies, and glitz, but the ’20s were also the zenith of America’s obsession with the spirit world. Photos show this otherworldly substance flowing from her nose and ears, but mostly it emerged from beneath a sheer kimono like a string of entrails-an “ectomorphic hand” that Walter used to carry out his commands. Margery, by contrast, was charming and attractive-at least when she wasn’t showing off her most convincing psychic talent: extruding a slithery, viscous substance called “ectoplasm” from her orifices. Even by ghost standards, Walter was unfriendly, answering questions and quoting scripture in a gruff disembodied voice.

And she was renowned for conjuring the voice of her dead brother, Walter, whose spirit rapped out messages, tipped tables, and even sounded trumpets.

Followers called her “Margery” detractors knew her as the Blonde Witch of Lime Street. They had come to witness the psychic feats of the nation’s most credible spirit medium, a pretty 36-year-old flapper with blue eyes and a bob. Munn, editor of Scientific American, and an esteemed panel of scientists. The evening temperature hovered in the high 80s when the famed magician Harry Houdini trudged up to the fourth floor séance room at 10 Lime Street. On July 23, 1924, Boston was suffering from a brutal heat wave.

Houdini famous tricks