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Home , Helen Duncan, Joe Nickell, Will Goldston

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[ INVESTIGATIVE FILES J OE NI CK E L L , PhD, is CSI’s senior research fellow and author of numerous books, including Looking for a . His website is at www.joenickell.com.

The Séances of ‘Hellish Nell’: Solving the Unexplained

s the Allied Forces prepared for mill worker to unwed mother to wife of a pair of black velvet curtains that hung D-day toward the climax of Henry Duncan, who would father seven from the ceiling and framed an armchair. A World War II, Britain’s highest more children with her while allowing The scene was dimly lit with a red light criminal court was trying celebrity spir- her to support their family with her that produced an “unearthly glow” itualist as a mediumistic séances. (Keene 1997, 101). The medium was first fraud under the 1735 Act. Today, Helen Duncan would be rec- strip-searched by women in an anteroom, Some thought she really was channel- ognized as having a fantasy-prone per- then confined in a large cloth sack that ing spirits from the Beyond. But was sonality (given her imaginary was closed at the neck with a drawstring, the trial even about her questioned friends, claimed magical powers such as and finally bound to the chair with the powers, or was it an attempt to silence , “trance” communications knots sealed with wax. her visionary revelations of top-secret with higher entities, and so on [see Wil- Soon, Duncan was in an apparent naval events? son and Barber 1983]). However, being trance, seemingly evidenced by her loud The case is treated in depth else- fantasy-prone does not preclude also snoring. In time, “” might be where (e.g., Shandler 2006), yet these being fraudulent if one wishes to con- seen creeping from the cabinet. Then treatments maintain an essential mys- vince others that he or she really does Duncan’s “,” one “Albert tery of the affair: the precise nature of have special powers—which brings us to Stewart,” would take over, engaging in Duncan’s séance materializations are ectopolasm. banter with the sitters. An ectoplasmic left unexplained. Do clues remain that Materializations blob might appear and be regarded as a may help solve this very cold case? baby’s head; a shrouded figure, then an- ‘Hellish Nell’ Ectoplasm is an imagined substance other, might appear. At times, a sitter supposedly emanating from a medium would be permitted to touch the ecto- Today it is easy to see Helen “Nell” Dun - in a trance state. Repeated exposés have plasm. It would often be described as can (1897–1956) as a successor to both revealed that ectoplasm is typically sim- feeling like soft cloth. One witness the biblical Witch of Endor (1 Samuel ulated with chiffon or cheesecloth. Eas- complained that the spirits were “fat and 28: 7–20) and a pair of nineteenth-cen- ily compressible, these light fabrics are clammy, undoubtedly human,” perhaps tury schoolgirls, Maggie and Katie Fox, ideal for hiding and could—by inviting like Duncan draped in muslin. who launched modern in imagination in the near-dark—simu- At the end of the séance, Duncan 1848. However, forty years later the sis- late the spirit of a baby in a dress or, un- might wander out from behind the cur- ters confessed that their otherworldly folded further, a person in a transparent tain, “Albert” having been kind enough communications had no more substance shroud. to free her from the tied sack. Yet the sack than the alleged spirits themselves Originally, spirit conjurers, such as would be undamaged and the knots in- (Nickell 2001, 194). In the 1940s, spiri- the , would be tied tact and still sealed. It was as if Duncan tualists still produced “materializations” up in a special “spirit cabinet” in which had been dematerialized to pass through (appearances of spirits in the near-dark were placed musical instruments. After the sack (Shandler 2006, 91–92). of séances), al though these were repeat- “spirits” were glimpsed outside the cab- Secrets edly exposed as fraudulent. inet and music was heard playing, the- Born Victoria Helen MacFarlane, ater lights would eventually come on, Duncan was arrested on the evening of the controversial medium had been a and the brothers would be found still January 19, 1944. Well into the séance, schoolgirl with “” tendencies, securely tied, “proving” no trickery was bright lights came on. Although spiri- earning her the sobriquet “Hellish involved (Nickell 2001, 18–27). tualists claimed light could be fatal to a Nell.” She progressed from adolescent Helen Duncan’s cabinet consisted of medium in the entranced state, Duncan

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was only dazed. She, her assistant, and rocket strike on the prison in the sum- can’s arrest in 1944, no trace of white the couple who ran the spiritualist mer of 1944, but she did escape injury cloth had been discovered. Un for tunately, church in were charged (Shandler 2006, 206, 270). while the séance room was thoroughly under the Witchcraft Act, which stated: Duncan’s trial provoked a curt note combed, the detective in charge chose “If any person shall pretend to exercise or from Churchill (1944) to the Home not to have the attendees searched— use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, en- Secretary, wishing to know “why the Duncan, her husband, her attendant, the chantment, or configuration, or under- Witchcraft Act of 1735 was used in a couple who ran the affair, and the sitters. take to tell fortunes, every person so of- modern Court of Justice” and officials Other detectives tried to catch Duncan fending shall suffer imprisonment by the “kept busy with all this obsolete tom- flagrante delicto by capturing her ectoplas- space of one whole year without bail” foolery.” It has been claimed that Dun- mic cloth. Psychical investigator Harry (qtd. in Shandler 2006, 102). can’s was the last witchcraft trial in Price had a doctor probe her orifices, but The charges against Duncan really Britain, but there was one more convic- when he planned to take X-rays, the resulted from belated assertions that tion under the act before Parliament re- medium ran away. Price wrote a book she was giving away wartime secrets: placed it in 1951 with modern legisla- (1931) suggesting that Duncan swal- twice, it was said, she revealed the sink- tion in the form of the Fraudulent lowed and regurgitated the cloth. Later, ing of a warship—on May 24, 1941, the Mediums Act (Shandler 2006, 217). however, watching a famous regurgitator, Kanich chka, the Human Ostrich, who gagged loudly and brought up only small materials, Price may have harbored doubts about the hypothesis (Shandler Duncan’s trial provoked a curt 2006, 165–66). And what about Duncan’s escape note from Churchill (1944) to the from the bag she was confined in or, on occasion, from a specially designed Home Secretary, wishing to séance suit? Recall that “Albert” freed her from the tied sack whose knots were still know “why the Witchcraft Act sealed. Once in the early 1930s psychical investigators placed her into a special suit of 1735 was used in a that was stitched up the back; at the close of the séance, “Albert” pulled it off and modern Court of Justice.” flung it into the group of spectators, who found it intact while the medium shiv- ered naked behind the curtains (Shandler 2006, 67–69). More Secrets Revelations great battleship the Hood and again on November 25 of that year, HMS Bar - Not everything was made clear by Materializations are largely a thing of ham. (A rumor claimed she material- Helen Duncan’s trial. True, there was the past, although in recent times I have ized the spirit of a sailor whose cap bore evidence enough of her trickery, includ- sat in dark-room séances including a the latter ship’s name [Shandler 2006, ing the results of a disastrous séance in “direct voice” scenario in which various 40].) Some officials were concerned by 1933. Duncan was observed creating a voices—all sounding like versions of these violations of Prime Minister “Little Miss Peggy” who peeped from a the medium’s—speak through a sup- ’s order to keep all nearby sideboard and lisped a nursery posedly levitating tin trumpet (Nickell naval losses secret. Were Dun can’s rev- rhyme. Duncan created the fake spirit 2004a, 42–43). As a magician and elations merely the lucky result of after- child and could be observed kneeling mentalist, I have studied séance the-fact matching of pronouncements behind a cupboard, manipulating what for years, performing some feats myself and events? Or was she a true medium? proved to be “a woman’s stockinet un- and experimenting with many others Or perhaps a spy? (Surely, if the last dervest” as if it were a sock puppet. As (Nickell 2001, 267–75). Once, under- were true, she was an especially fool- Shandler (2006, 172) describes it, “A cover, I was able to gain access to an hardy one!) dutiful sitter aimed a beam from a out-of-the-way historic séance room at Whatever the case, officials seemed handheld lamp at Duncan. Flooded the spiritualist camp at Cassadaga, to be unwilling to take chances with D- with light, the medium doubled over, Florida, where séances like Duncan’s day approaching. Duncan was jailed, [and] stuffed Peggy up her skirts, pre- had been held under the familiar red tried, and convicted; she lost her appeal sumably the shortest route back to the light (Nickell 2004b). and served out her sentence at Hol- Other Side.” I have researched the cold case of loway Prison. She failed to foresee a Still, at the séance that led to Dun- Helen Duncan’s materializations and

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have turned up some clues. Since Dun- siderable sewing skills to clever use in being gratuitously released by “Albert” can was actually caught and convicted perpetrating her spook-show deceptions. at the end of the séance, she probably of cheating, my hypothesis is that she Consider, for instance, a séance Price accomplished her own escape at the be- was always cheating and that, like both attended. He reports, “The medium ginning of the performance. She then honest and dishonest tricksters, she wore her own garments (a pair of black simulated the appearance of spirits and employed a variety of techniques. My sateen knickers, a man’s coat made of finally tried to disguise what really hap- friend William V. Rauscher (2006, the same material, and a pair of black pened by pretending she had been su- 537), an Episcopal priest and magician stockings).” Although Price says casu- pernaturally released. Her case is a who has exposed many spiritualistic de- ally, “We examined them carefully,” he study in audacity. A current movement ceptions, says that among materializa- does not convince us the examiners to have her posthumously pardoned tion cabinet mediums Helen Duncan turned the coat inside out, unstitched (The Official Helen Duncan Web Site “stands out in the history of psychical the lining, and looked for cheesecloth— 2009) demonstrates her ability to con- research as ultra devious, and even dis- although during the séance she was cov- tinue fooling the gullible from the gusting.” ered head to foot with seeming “yards” grave. n It cannot be doubted that Duncan’s of it (Price 1933, 203). Acknowledgments ectoplasm (or teleplasm when used to On other occasions, Duncan might effect mind-over-matter feats) was have used the search of her person as a I appreciate the research assistance of the cheesecloth. As pointed out by V.J. diversion, allowing a confederate (such as CFI Libraries’ staff, including Director Wooley, in the Journal of the Society for her assistant) to pass the cloth to her after Timothy Binga and librarian Lisa Nolan. Psychical Research (1932), ’s she was searched. Confessed fraudulent References permitted flash photographs reveal that medium M. Lamar Keene (1997, 100– Churchill, Winston. 1944. Letter to Home Secre - “the same holes and crease-marks [in 104) notes that mediums often used this tary, April 3. Quoted in Shandler 2006, 3. the cloth] appeared in the pictures method, along with other techniques. A Gibson, Walter B. 1930. Houdini’s Escapes and evening after evening.” A materialized small kit of materials could even be hid- Magic. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. Gibson, Walter B., and Morris N. Young, eds. hand was obviously “a housemaid’s rub- den in the folds of the séance curtain be- 1953. Houdini on Magic. New York: Dover ber glove.” Moreover, “the only non- forehand or placed there by a confederate Publications. photographic material secured was a while the medium was being searched. Houdini, Harry. 1921. Magical Rope Ties and Es- capes. London: , Ltd., 71–77. portion of alleged teleplasm removed (Houdini, who effected handcuff escapes Keene, M. Lamar. 1997. The Psychic Mafia. from the medium’s mouth [where she from a curtained cabinet, hid his lock- Amherst, New York: . was obviously disposing of the evi- picks and other tools in this manner Nickell, Joe. 2001. Real-Life X-Files: Investi gating dence] at the last sitting. This proved [Gibson 1930, 26–27].) the . Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. on analysis to consist of several layers of As to the sewn-up séance suit and ———. 2004a. The Mystery Chronicles: More cheap paper stuck together with white the cloth sack in which she was tied up, Real-Life X-Files. Lexington: University of egg.” Price (1933, 205) discovered Duncan might again have used her Press of Kentucky. ———. 2004b. Investigative notes, “Cassadaga” from one photo that the spirit “Peggy” sewing skills. She could have opened a file, March 22. was “merely a picture of a girl’s head cut seam (say, at the bottom of the sack) to The Official Helen Duncan Web Site. 2009. from a magazine cover and stuck on the free herself. The coils of rope wound Available online at www.helenduncan.org.uk/ printpages/print_index.html. Accessed June cheese-cloth.” about the sack would have presented 23, 2009. If the fake medium did not introduce little difficulty. As Houdini knew (and Price, Harry. 1931. Regurgitation and the Duncan the cheesecloth by regurgitation—and I learned as a boy imitating him), a sin- . London: National Laboratory of Wooley (1932) reminded readers that gle rope wound willy-nilly leaves lots of Psychical Research. ———. 1933. The cheese-cloth worshippers. In “Mrs. Duncan was never seen to swal- slack; so does tying it over a coat or sack Leaves from a Psychic’s Case-Book. London: low or regurgitate anything, nor was any (Gibson and Young 1953, 40). Subse- Victor Gollancz Ltd. foreign substance found in her phar- quently, while as “Albert” she was deliv- Rauscher, William V. 2006. Religion, Magic, and the Supernatural: The Autobiography, Reflec - ynx”—then she hid it somewhere, not ering a soliloquy, the freed medium tions and Essays of an Episcopal Priest. Wood - necessarily inside her body. could have used the time to quickly re- bury, New Jersey: Mystic Light Press. A very important clue, I believe, stitch the opened seam. (Interest ingly, Shandler, Nina. 2006. The Strange Case of Hellish Nell: The Story of Helen Duncan and the Witch comes from the work she did to support Houdini described various sack es- Trial of World War II. Cambridge, Massa - her family before becoming a profes- capes—including “The Spirit Sack”— chusetts: Da Capo Press. sional medium: she was a seamstress. as early as 1921.) Wilson, Sheryl C., and Theodore X. Barber. 1983. The fantasy-prone personality. In Imagery: Duncan went door-to-door by day— Duncan’s feat would actually have Current Theory, Research and Appli ca tion, ed- taking in sheets to be repaired, socks to been far more mysterious had she still ited by Anees A. Sheikh. New York: John be darned, collars and cuffs to be re- been sealed in the bag, since it would Wiley and Sons, 340–90. versed—then worked into the night have been nearly impossible for her to Wolley, V.J. 1932. Review of Harry Price’s Regurgi tation and the Duncan Mediumship. completing the tasks (Shandler 2006, return to the tied position and re-sew Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 27 143). She could well have put her con- the bag from inside. In brief, instead of ( January): 187–90.

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