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GHOST WRITERS, GHOST STORIES & THE BLACKBURN HANDCUFFS




The universe is made up of stories, not atoms, the poet says. And the Houdini universe is made of stories escaping from other stories.

You never know where a good Houdini story will appear. Last week, for example, we were vacationing in the mountains of upstate New York when an old friend mentioned the name William Hope Hodgson.

“He’s one of my favorite writers, along with H.P. Lovecraft." 



We did not recognize the name Hope Hodgson. But we showed off how smartypants we were by saying, “You know, Lovecraft was Houdini’s ghost writer.”

“Wait, you must know about Hodgson. He had a famous encounter with Houdini. And Lovecraft is the one who discovered him.”

Did not ring a bell. Until our friend told us the story:

William Hope Hodgson was, like Houdini, small of stature but large of heart. Like Houdini, he was a fanatical body builder. He had been bullied and beaten as a sailor and had spent many years taking revenge by becoming one of the strongest men in England.



In 1902 Hope Hodgson was running a school for physical culture in his home town of Blackburn. His hero, Eugen Sandow, “the strongest man in the world,” had made this sweaty profession classy and fashionable by being appointed “Physician” to King George VI. Sandow was the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the Georgian era, even publishing a high tone magazine that featured writers like P.G. Wodehouse and H.H. Munro.



Hodgson envisioned escaping his family’s grinding poverty by becoming another Sandow. He was also impressed by the publicity skills of the rising star Harry Houdini. As Hodgson’s biographer, Sam Gafford, has written:

Hodgson would also show a gift of publicity nearly equal to Houdini’s when he rode a bicycle down a steep street that had been converted to a narrow flight of stairs.  The feat was reported in The Blackburn Weekly Telegraph on 30th August, 1902.  “There are some men, however, to whom fear is an unknown quantity and danger merely an element to be conquered and one of these is Mr. W. H. Hodgson, the well known professor of physical culture, who has this week cycled down the ‘Steppy’ precipice without breaking his neck.”

When the newspapers announced that Houdini was coming to Blackburn in October 1902, Hodgson realized it was his chance of a lifetime. Houdini had not only broken box office records in London, he was known to be a friend of Sandow’s.

Click to enlarge. From Northern Daily Telegraph





Hodgson issued a public challenge to cuff Houdini by his own method with his own irons, based on his detailed knowledge of anatomy and his eight years in the merchant marine. Houdini publicly accepted.

Click to enlarge.


The details of what Houdini called “that terrible Hodgson night” are well-known. Hodgson trussed Houdini up like a chicken. He pinioned his arms at the joints, stretching his elbows backward and his wrists frontward. His legs were similarly immobilized. Literally tearing his flesh to get slack, it took Harry two hours to set himself free. 

 Gafford summarizes the end of the ordeal thus:

Shortly after midnight, Houdini appeared, free of the locks and chains.  
         “…he came out with torn clothing and bleeding arms, and threw the last of the shackles on the stage, the vast audience stood up and cheered and cheered, and yelled themselves hoarse to give vent to their overwrought feelings.  Men and women hugged each other in mad excitement.  Hats, coats, and umbrellas were thrown up into the air, and pandemonium reigned supreme for 15 minutes.” (Star)  …. Houdini had the look of a man who had been tortured.  His shirt was torn from shoulder to cuffs and, in places, his flesh was raw.  He stood and addressed the audience when it had calmed.  “Ladies and gentlemen, I have been in the handcuff business for fourteen years, but never have I been so brutally and cruelly ill-treated.  I would just like to say again that the locks have been plugged.”  (Blackburn Standard) The crowd now looked around for Hodgson.  “A voice: ‘Where is Hodgson?  Why is he not here to offer his congratulations?’” (Blackburn Standard)   Hodgson had left the theatre at some time earlier.  “It was as well for Hodgson that he had left the theatre, apparently according to the Northern Daily Telegraph on the advice of a police sergeant fearing a disturbance….” The crowd eventually dispersed, aware that they had seen something historic. 

The papers labeled it the most remarkable scene in the history of the popular theater.


Click to enlarge.

Neither the newspapers nor the Houdini biographies have ever told the story within the story: One man's meat is another man's poison. Good things come out of bad things.

 The Blackburn Handcuff episode was a turning point for both men. It scarred both Houdini and Hodgson: Houdini bore the physical scars for the rest of his life. It destroyed Hope Hodgson’s career as a bodybuilding guru. He was disgraced and forced to close his school.

Houdini went on from one triumph to the next. Hope Hodgson sank lower, unemployed and broke, until he abandoned his career as a fitness trainer and decided to try his hand as a writer.

His first article, comparing Sandow’s training practices with “Dr. Thomas’ Vibration Method,” was written for Sandow’s magazine.

His next effort, “The Goddess of Death,” put him on the path of horror and science fiction, where he thrived. Wm. Hope Hodgson went on to write more than one hundred stories, poems and books. Many of his works are considered masterpieces of the genre. His greatest champion was none other than Houdini's ghost H.P. Lovecraft, who discovered Hodgson’s work after the writer’s death in combat during World War One. All this eventual glory thanks to his nemesis, Harry Houdini.

End papers by P. Druillet




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