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Seance Party Request

A

Anonymous

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My fellow Forteans, I am in dire need of your assistance! I wish to host a Seance Party in the coming months for my friends. My goal is to base it upon the Victorian tradition of "Spirit Parties." Basically, rig up a few spooky effects that will send a chill down everyone's spines! All in good creepy fun of course. Also, the more "vintage" the effect the better.
My problem is where to find info on how to go about this. I have searched the net but keep coming up empty-handed. I was hoping that some of the Forteans here could perhaps point out some useful links? I humbily thank you in advance for any assistance you could offer.
 
What sort of effects are you after?

I have read that the appearance of 'ectoplasm' was often accompanied by a foul smell, which wasn't surprising as it was really muslin cloth hidden in the medium's, er, body cavities......
That in itself is a good party trick!
 
A friend and I are doing a similar party this coming October, only ours is a seance party set in the 1920s (these sorts of events were popular up through the 20s and early 30s). We picked the 1920s mostly because I have a 20's style bob haircut...

My friend is a magician and mentalist, and most of our effects have been purchased from commercial magic suppliers. Have you looked yet at any of those? There are thousands of online magic dealers. We like Hocus Pocus Magic in California, but really any good magic shop could set you up. Here's some links:http://www.hocus-pocus.com, http://www.magicfact.com, http://www.daytonamagic.com. If you're in England, there are also lots of magic dealers there. An internet search should turn them up. When you get to a site, you'll find these sorts of effects usually listed under headings like "mentalism", "bizarre magic", or "spooky effects." Everyone does it different: you kind of just have to poke around.

There is a WONDERFUL book on this subject by the magician Eugene Burger called "Spirit Theater" (another name for this sort of event). He had a long-running act of this nature that he hosted out of a spooky old house in the Chicago area. This book has clear instructions for many of his effects, and great history and anecdotes about seances in general. It's not available from regular booksellers, only from magic dealers. There are many, many books on this subject that you can find by browsing magic shop booklists. Denny and Lee Magic Studio has a huge booklist. They're at: http://www.dennymagic.com.

For our party, we're planning a floating table, some slate-reading, objects moving on their own, stuff like that. At the Hocus-Pocus site, there was a whole kit you could buy that I believe was called "Manifestations": it was a collection of audio tapes that taught routines. You can also buy little "spirit cabinets" from which all sorts of objects like trumpets, ectoplasm, and such things will fly out, as if they're being tossed by spirits. Hocus Pocus sells those too.

Good luck to you!
Tracy
 
Ectoplasm in body cavities...

Icky, but true. One of the most famous mediums who used this tactic was named Margery...can't remember any more details of her name or country of origin at the moment. She was supposedly quite beautiful.

She was caught several times during her seances when suspicious sitters grabbed the "spirit" that was flitting about the room and then turned on the lights. It was usually Margery, stark naked, covered with a glowing substance. She was even seen pulling "ectoplasm" made of cheesecloth out of, um, a large body cavity.

There were also many reports that for an extra fee, Margery would provide "astral sex", that is, she would impersonate the deceased loved one and then she and the sitter would get it on...

Ta,
Tracy
 
Table tilting requires no cash output or gizmos if you have a round table and is a standard of such party themes.
 
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