In the Joints of Their Toes: A ruse that gave rise to the spiritualist movement

> Two hundred years earlier [...]; in the mid-nineteenth century they became show-business celebrities.

As Chesterton wisely almost said "When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing,— they believe in anything." ( http://www.chesterton.org/ceases-to-worship/ )

Drunk History just did a version of this story: http://www.cc.com/full-episodes/0kxro9/drunk-history-sibling...

On the subject of Doyle's interest in Spiritualism, a fascinating account of:

A Haunted Friendship - Houdini & Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

http://www.prairieghosts.com/doyle_houdini.html

Newage rhymes with Sewage.