Supernatural thriller takes Houdini’s niece from Coney Island to upstate’s Esopus Island
Brooklyn BookBeat
Glenn Herdling, a former editor and writer for Marvel Comics, has published “Piper Houdini: Nightmare on Esopus Island,” the second book in a series about the fictional niece of the legendary Harry Houdini. The character is a 12-year-old girl living in Coney Island during the 1920s.
While the bulk of the action in the new novel takes place on Coney Island’s famed boardwalk, the plot culminates on an island called Esopus, a deserted strip of wooded land with rocky outcroppings in the middle of the Hudson River.
“This island was the perfect setting for the conclusion to my story because it has an eerie history that continues to pique the curiosity of Hudson Valley residents and visitors alike,” Herdling said. “That’s because in the summer of 1918, the renowned British occultist Aleister Crowley canoed out to Esopus Island and spent 40 days and nights there in meditative isolation.”