Wizard and warlocks are wild about Harry Houdini. But the one day of the year his legion of fans most wan’t to pay tribute to the greatest magician ever — Halloween, the date of his death — they can’t.
That’s because his Queens resting place —Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale — isn’t open for business that day for fear of real-life goblins.
The legendary illusionist and escape artist was 52 when he died in 1926.
For many years members of the American Society of Magicians gathered on Oct. 31 at his grave to break a magic wand over Houdini’s memorial, according to the McGill Office for Science and Society.
But the “Ritual of the Broken Wand” will not be performed this year because of the closure.
“The operators of the cemetery have sadly discovered through experience that the holiday invites acts of vandalism. Indeed, Houdini’s grave has been desecrated several times, and was severely damaged in 1993,” the McGill site says.
But all is not lost. The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pa. is holding its annual seance Monday afternoon — Harry died at 1:26 p.m. Eastern time — in attempt to contact the mystic GOAT from the beyond.
The group claims past attempts have featured spine-tingling moments of candles flickering and chandeliers swaying
Houdini originally made his bones doing card tricks and garden variety magic acts, but was most famous for his ability to escape just about anything, including handcuffs, water torture cells, ropes and straitjackets.
“I don’t think anybody could ever compare to Houdini and his ability to smile and escape under the most crazy, crazy conditions. You don’t have anybody doing that today,” mentalist “The Amazing Kreskin” told the Post. “He captured the imagination of audiences all over the world.”
He’s interred under a granite monument that bears his stage name in block letters.
For years, graveyard ghouls made the pilgrimage to Machpelah to see its most famous resident. These days, the cemetery is pretty much rundown, save for its headliner Houdini.
Born Erik Weisz in Budapest in 1874, Houdini lived in the former Mrs. Leffler’s Boarding House on East 79th Street between Second and Third avenues from the age of 9 into his 20s — and reportedly climbed out of his top-floor apartment to practice his magic on the roof.
Houdini’s widow Bess, who died in 1943, had wished to be buried next to her soulmate and business partner, but her Catholic family instead had her interred 35 miles north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, rather than a Jewish cemetery.
The uber illusionist once promised his wife that if it were possible to communicate with the dead, he would come back to her.
