There are many people who have claimed to be able to contact the dead. Some identify as mediums or seers or psychics, saying they have a special ability to connect to the other side. For the purposes of this episode, we’re not exploring or questioning the practice of séances or the identity of mediums; we’re specifically looking at historical figures who have been exposed as frauds who were in the business solely to make money. Their crimes, which were extremely widespread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were not victimless and ended up tarnishing the reputation of genuine spiritualists and investigators, still affecting the validity of paranormal research to this day.
The photo above was taken by William Hope, a spiritualist, who was later discovered to be a fraud himself.