[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-486915-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-486915-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","harry-houdini-and-halloween","Harry Houdini and Halloween","","A passage describes the legendary escape artist Harry Houdini and his Halloween-linked life story. It highlights his fame for escaping handcuffs, ropes, and locked boxes, and explains his role as a “detective” who exposed fraudulent spirit mediums. It details how Houdini sought proof of claims about communicating with the dead, offered money for genuine demonstrations, and planned a coded message with his wife Bess. After his death on October 31, 1926, she waited for ten years, then ended the séances.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/","Literature",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/harry-houdini-and-halloween/486915/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/harry-houdini-and-halloween/486915.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"acoobca","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-12","2026-09-30",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What made Harry Houdini most famous?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"He became famous for escaping from handcuffs, ropes, and locked boxes.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What did Houdini do to expose fraudulent “spirit mediums”?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"He investigated their methods, sat in séances to reveal hidden tricks, and offered money to anyone who could prove real powers.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What plan did Houdini and Bess make before he died?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"They planned that if life continued after death, Houdini would send Bess a coded message known only to them, and she would wait each Halloween to hear from him.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},486915,1791211009,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,91,95,100,105,110,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":26,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":106,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},3985747870733,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Picture a packed theater in the early 1900s, the crowd leaning forward and holding its breath. A man dangles upside down inside a locked tank of water, his wrists chained tight. Seconds tick by, and then he bursts free, dripping and grinning! That was Harry Houdini, the most famous escape artist who ever lived, and he could slip out of handcuffs, ropes, and locked boxes as if they were made of paper.  \nEscaping from chains was only half of what made him a legend.  \nHoudini also became a kind of detective who chased down cheaters. In his time, people called\"spirit mediums\" claimed they could talk to the dead for a fee, making tables float and voices whisper in dark rooms. Houdini knew every trick they used, because he used similar tricks himself on stage, and he thought it was cruel to fool grieving families.  \nBecause he knew those secrets, he set out to expose the fakers. Sometimes he wore a disguise and sat quietly at a seance, then jumped up to reveal exactly how the \"ghost\" was really a hidden hand or a wire. He even offered money to any medium who could show him a real spirit, and no one ever collected it. To Houdini, believing something meant asking for proof, not just wanting it to be true.  \nHis hunt for proof followed him right to the end of his life. Houdini died on October 31, 1926 \\u2014 Halloween \\u2014 which felt almost too strange to be real. Before he died, he and his wife, Bess, made a secret plan: if there truly was life after death, he would send her a coded message that only the two of them knew. Each year on Halloween, Bess held a seance and waited to hear from him.  \nFor ten years she listened, and the coded message never came. In 1936 Bess finally blew out the candle and said she had waited long enough. Yet fans around the world still gather every Halloween to hold a \"Houdini seance,\"partly for fun and partly to honor him. The greatest escape artist of all time has never sent word back \\u2014 which is exactly the kind of proof he spent his life asking people to demand.  \nHarry Houdini and Halloween  \nName:  \n\n| Solve each problem.\u003Cbr>Use the article to answer the question.\u003Cbr>1) What did Harry Houdini become most famous for doing?\u003Cbr>A. Training animals for circus shows\u003Cbr>B. Painting portraits of famous performers\u003Cbr>C. Building the largest theaters in America\u003Cbr>D. Escaping from handcuffs, ropes, and locked boxes |  |  |  |  | Answers\u003Cbr>1.  \u003Cbr>2.  \u003Cbr>3.   |  |  |  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 2) What happened after Bess waited for ten Halloweens?\u003Cbr>A. She traveled the world exposing fake mediums\u003Cbr>B. She blew out the candle and stopped holding her seance\u003Cbr>C. She finally heard the coded message she wanted\u003Cbr>D. She began performing escapes of her own |  |  |  |  | 4.  \u003Cbr>5.  \u003Cbr>6.   |  |  |  |  |  |\n| 3) In the article, what does the word 'expose' mean?\u003Cbr>A. To pay someone a large amount of money\u003Cbr>B. To perform a trick in front of a crowd\u003Cbr>C. To lock something inside a strong box\u003Cbr>D. To reveal or show something that was hidden |  |  |  |  | 7.  \u003Cbr>8.  \u003Cbr>9.  \u003Cbr>10.   |  |  |  |  |  |\n| 4) How does the author mostly organize this whole passage?\u003Cbr>A. By comparing two different magicians side by side\u003Cbr>B. By listing problems and then their solutions\u003Cbr>C. By describing what a theater looks like inside\u003Cbr>D. By telling events in the order they happened over time |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |\n| 5) What plan did Houdini and Bess make before he died?\u003Cbr>A. She would hide his tools in a locked tank\u003Cbr>B. He would leave her a written list of all his tricks\u003Cbr>C. He would send her a secret coded message from the afterlife\u003Cbr>D. She would perform his escape act on Halloween |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |\n| 6) Why did Houdini decide to expose the spirit mediums?\u003Cbr>A. He thought it was cruel to fool grieving families\u003Cbr>B. He was paid by the newspapers to do it\u003Cbr>C. He wanted to become a medium himself\u003Cbr>D. He needed new tricks for his own a","cbCaiuIXoQbgiDPJ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuIXoQbgiDPJ","pdf",114889,"English","# Reading Questions\n## Comprehension Questions (1-10)","[{\"question\":\"What made Harry Houdini most famous?\",\"answer\":\"He became famous for escaping from handcuffs, ropes, and locked boxes.\"},{\"question\":\"What did Houdini do to expose fraudulent “spirit mediums”?\",\"answer\":\"He investigated their methods, sat in séances to reveal hidden tricks, and offered money to anyone who could prove real powers.\"},{\"question\":\"What plan did Houdini and Bess make before he died?\",\"answer\":\"They planned that if life continued after death, Houdini would send Bess a coded message known only to them, and she would wait each Halloween to hear from him.\"}]","Harry Houdini and Halloween | PDF",1790807422,11]