If you’ve ever wondered what kinds of things went on at spirit seances during their 19th Century heyday, this amazing performance will illuminate some of those mysteries – and leave you puzzling over how the mediums did it.
The history of seances, essays on seance performance, 6 close-up effects with spirit themes, Eugene’s own seance Hauntings, interviews with Tony Andruzzi and Max Maven, a reprint of the complete Sylvestre catalog of spirit paraphernalia from 1901, plus an annotated bibliography.
Table of Contents:
Part One: Setting the Stage
- First Words
- Point of Departure
- Spirits
- Spirit Theater
- Seances for Fun and ProfitPart Two: Ghostly Visitors in the Nineteenth Century
- Mesmer, Imagination and Suggestion
- The Summer-Land “One of the Great Points of Psychic Evolution”
- Manifestations from Beyond the Grave
- A Shooting Star
- Master MediumsPart Three: Performance
- Character and Claims The Man of Mystery: A Conversation with Tony Andruzzi
- Building a Better Performance
- A Central Principle
- Seance Presenation: A Conversation with Max Maven
- The Dark Room
- Hauntings: A Conversation with Eugene Burger
- Spirit Theater for the Close-Up EntertainerPart Four: Wanderings in the Spirit Field
- History
- Investigation
- Manifestations
- Performance
- Last Words