Putting on an HPL hat for a second:
If you peruse through the five volumes of "The Selected Lettres of H. P. Lovecraft" or the two bios, you may be interested to know that Lovecraft was contacted by Houdini to ghostwrite some tales for him for Weird Tales. Here, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, to whom Stephen King's "Danse Macabre" was dedicated:
Lovecraft writes: "(Baird) will introduce a column (in "Weird Tales") by the magician Houdini..." (Feb 7th, 1924). Here again on 14 Feb, 1924 to Frank Belknap Long:
"...Yes, Child, Weird Tales is certainly showin' a lot of work at your aged Grandsire! Entire new job-to rewrite a strange narrative which the magician Houdini related orally to Henneberger; a narrative to be amplified and formulated, and to appear as a collaborated product-'By Houdini and H.P. Lovecraft'."
Here is Lovecraft, sort of badmouthing Houdini: "He's supremely egotistical, as one can see at a glance. The more latitude Houdini allows me, the better yarn I can evolve- I’m asking Henneberger to get me as much as possible from the versatile showman."
The tale was "Imprisoned With the Pharoahs" and is set in Cairo, in a 'singular subterranean place betwixt the Sphinx and the second pyramid (Campbell's Tomb)'.
A while later Lovecraft paid a visit to Houdini in his apartment in New York, and enjoyed himself immensely. Later, someone hit Houdini in the stomach with a baseball bat.
I have a typed letter from Frank Belknap Long to someone towards the end of Long’s life. He was so impoverished they had to take up a collection for his burial.
www.mfkorn.com
