This is exactly right.

This story contains adult content and language.

Listener discretion is advised.

They were terrified that he would come to town. They were terrified that he would come to town.

They were terrified that he was in the room disguise.

He was their worst nightmare.

I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a nonfiction author and journalism professor in Austin, Texas.

I'm also the co-host of the podcast, Buried Bones on Exactly Right.

And throughout my career, research for my many audio and book projects has taken me around the world.

On Wicked Words, I sit down with the people I've met along the way.

Amazing writers, journalists, filmmakers, and podcasters

who have investigated and reported on notorious true crime cases.

This is about the choices writers make, both good and bad,

and it's a deep dive into the unpublished details behind their stories.

Harry Houdini, the world's greatest magician,

wowed audiences around the world in the 1920s.

He must have felt invincible,

but then an evil spirit cursed him during a seance,

and soon Houdini would wage war against spiritualism.

He set out to debunk fraudulent mediums and exposed charlatans for lying to people in mourning.

Author Brad Ricca tells us about Houdini's crusade from his book, Lincoln's Ghost,

Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency.

...