Jillian Chantal

I’m not an expert by any means about seances. Not at all. But this is Friday Facts and I’m editing my historical novel that is set in 1920.  If you didn’t know, seances were all the rage in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There were mediums all over England and other countries. There was a huge effort to communicate with the dead. Houdini partook in this activity and promised his wife that he’d try to contact her after his death. They even had a code set up so no false mediun could scam them. As far as I can tell from my research,  he was never successful in sending a message to his wife.

One of my favorite writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was also a fan of the seance. He was a very popular writer in his time, writing books, selling stories in serial form to The Strand magazine, and of course we all know of his famous consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes.  Sir Arthur had many seances at his home due to his fascination with the after life. 

It was a popular way to entertain in those days. There were even demonstrations in large theatres. It’s a fascinating subject and I think it would be cool to integrate a seance or two into your writing. I know I have one in Redemption for the Devil and it plays a role in the heroine realizing she loves the hero. So, research this phenomenon yourself and use it in a story sometime. Lots of potential in such a plot point.