This eerie routine is a combination of two great influences from my youth. The first is Edgar Allan Poe. I devoured his stories with gusto and, as a sullen teenager (we’ve all been there), I memorized several of his poems. I can still recite them by heart.
The second is Spooky Tricks (1968), a Scholastic book I purchased in school at age 7. One of the things I treasured about this book was that some of the magic in it was guaranteed to produce shocked or even horrified responses. When a little kid is able to elicit a gasp or a shiver or a scream, especially from a grown-up, it’s not just symbolic power. It’s real power.
A prime example could be found on page 14, an effect called Stop Your Pulse, which is just as unsettling as the title implies. I remember adults reacting to this as if I was placing myself in genuine medical peril. I was thrilled, of course.
And the thrill has lasted decades. I continue to perform Stop Your Pulse, and I’ve written many different presentations for it. The one I’m sharing here was written for a Halloween show years ago.