⚡ TL;DR: The Houdini Code Rosabelle, Believe, and the Final Séance. Harry and Bess Houdini agreed that whoever died first would try to contact the other using a secret code: “Rosabelle, believe.” In January 1929, the medium Arthur Ford claimed to deliver it, and Bess briefly endorsed him before the claim was attacked as a hoax. After ten Halloween séances, Bess ended the attempt on October 31, 1936, announcing that Houdini had not come through.
📋 What You’ll Learn
In this comprehensive guide about The Houdini Code Rosabelle, Believe, and the Final Séance we’ve compiled everything you need to know. Here’s what this covers:
- Learn about the “pact” – Understand why Harry Houdini and his wife Bess agreed on a secret code message.
- Discover the code – The two part message that Houdini and Bess designed to avoid having a Medium guess.
- Understand the Halloween Seances – The anniversary of Houdini’s death, a group gathered to try to reach him.
- What the Houdini Code teaches magicians – The same word-to-letter principle has powered mind-reading acts for generations.
The Pact
Harry Houdini spent the last years of his life exposing fraudulent mediums. He was not closed to the idea of life after death. He simply never saw proof that convinced him.
So he and his wife, Bess, made a pact. Whoever died first would try to contact the survivor from the other side. To rule out fakes, they agreed on a secret coded message that only the two of them knew. If no genuine contact came within ten years, the attempts would end.
Houdini died on October 31, 1926. Bess began waiting.
The Code: “Rosabelle, Believe”
The message had two parts.
- “Rosabelle” was the song Bess sang in her act when she and Harry first met. The word was also engraved inside her wedding band.
- “Believe” was not spoken as a word. It was spelled out using the word-to-letter code the couple had used in their two-person mind-reading act, where each cue word stood for a letter.
The full message ran: Rosabelle, answer, tell, pray-answer, look, tell, answer-answer, tell. In the couple’s system, for example, “answer” signaled the letter B, and “answer-answer” signaled V. Decoded, the cue words spell BELIEVE.
For a magician, the design is elegant. It used a method only a trained performer would recognize, so a medium could not stumble onto it by guessing.
Arthur Ford’s Séance, January 1929
On January 8, 1929, the medium Arthur Ford held a séance at Bess’s home in New York. Speaking through his “spirit guide,” Fletcher, Ford delivered the message: Rosabelle, answer, tell, pray-answer, look, tell, answer-answer, tell.
Bess was in poor condition. About a week earlier she had fallen down stairs, and she was ill with influenza. She signed a statement saying Ford had delivered the correct message, and the next day she told the New York World that the word “believe” had come as a surprise to her.
The Hoax Accusations
The endorsement did not last. On January 10, 1929, the New York Evening Graphic called the séance a hoax and reported that Ford had admitted getting the code from Bess herself. Reporter Rea Jaure said she confronted Ford in her apartment while editors listened from another room, and the newspaper staff signed sworn statements. Ford denied everything and called the story a blackmail attempt.
Critics raised a second problem. In 1928, the year before Ford’s séance, Harold Kellock’s biography Houdini: His Life-Story, written with Bess’s cooperation, had published details of a code the couple used. Sources disagree on exactly how much of the séance message it revealed, but the code was no longer purely private.
Bess later disavowed the Ford message more than once before her death in 1943, blaming the episode on an illness that had left her vulnerable. Ford never collected the $10,000 reward that had been offered for the message.
Ten Halloween Séances
Each Halloween, the anniversary of Houdini’s death, a group gathered to try to reach him. None of the sittings produced the code.
The tenth and final attempt took place on October 31, 1936, on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. Edward Saint, Bess’s business manager and companion, led the séance before about 300 invited guests, and it was broadcast on radio. More than 20 other séances were held across the country at the same time.
Houdini did not come through. At the end of the broadcast, Bess announced that she no longer believed spirit communication was possible, turned out the light that had been kept burning for him, and closed with “Good night, Harry.”
The event was not spontaneous. Its radio script, now held by the Library of Congress, was written in advance.
The Tradition Today
The pact ended in 1936, but the ritual did not. For decades, magicians and fans have held Houdini séances every Halloween. The Society of American Magicians, which Houdini once led as president, also holds a Broken Wand Ceremony at his grave in Queens, a tribute based on his funeral.
October 31, 2026, marked 100 years since Houdini’s death. For a family-friendly look at his life, see Houdini facts for kids.
What the Houdini Code Teaches Magicians
- A good test uses knowledge the claimant cannot have. The Houdinis built their test around a private performer’s code, not a guessable phrase.
- A secret stops being proof once it is written down. The moment a code appears in print, anyone can repeat it.
- Grief makes people vulnerable. Bess was ill and grieving when she endorsed Ford, and she spent years correcting it.
- Two-person codes are classic mentalism. The same word-to-letter principle has powered mind-reading acts for generations.
Read the full story in Houdini Unmasked: Code Message Received by Beatrice Houdini, a 1947 publication available as a digital download.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Houdini code?
“Rosabelle, believe.” Rosabelle was the song Bess sang when the couple met, and “believe” was spelled out in the cue-word code from their mind-reading act.
What does “Rosabelle” mean?
It was the title of the song Bess performed when she and Harry first met. The word was also engraved in her wedding band.
Did Arthur Ford really receive Houdini’s message?
He claimed to on January 8, 1929, and Bess briefly endorsed him. A newspaper soon accused him of a hoax, a code used by the couple had already appeared in print, and Bess later disavowed the message.
When was the final Houdini séance?
October 31, 1936, on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. Bess declared that Houdini had not come through and ended the attempts.
Why are Houdini séances held on Halloween?
Houdini died on Halloween, October 31, 1926. The annual séances marked the anniversary of his death.
Are Houdini séances still held today?
The tradition has continued for decades. Magicians and fans hold Houdini séances on Halloween, and the Society of American Magicians holds a Broken Wand Ceremony in his honor.
Sources
- Hollywood, Houdini and the Halloween Séance of 1936, Library of Congress
- The Houdini Code, Genii Magazine Wiki
- Arthur Ford entry, The Skeptic’s Dictionary
- The Enduring Tradition of a Houdini Séance on Halloween, Mental Floss
By Steven Warburton. Last reviewed: November 2026.
