SHORT TAKES : Media Haunted Kreskin Deal
The Amazing Kreskin will not be buying an 18-room Victorian mansion on the Hudson River that local lore says is haunted by three ghosts.
Kreskin, who calls himself the world’s leading mentalist, had considered buying the house in Nyack, north of New York City, if the ghosts proved to be real. He had planned a seance to determine whether they are.
But William Ackley, son of owner Helen Ackley, decided to charge media members $50,000 to attend the seance.
“We felt we were exploited. We were getting tired of the hassles and headaches,” Ackley said Monday.
The demand spooked the deal for Kreskin.
“Checkbook journalism isn’t something I had ever been remotely involved with,” Kreskin said.
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