Pleasant Nightmares
by William V. Rauscher

Dr. Neff and His Madhouse of Mystery

This book is a must for anyone interested in the history of Magic and one of it's most colorful characters, an eerie entertainer who specialized in the supernatural. Bill Neff, called "The Master of Many Haunts" brought to his midnight audiences an assortment of zombies, goofy spooks, glamorous ghosts, and other varied and weird spirits. Newspapers proclaimed "Neff's show makes eyes pop, pulses hop, and hearts skip a beat."

Author William V. Rauscher presents an incisive and penetrating look at a complex man who succumbed to his own creation. With a foreword by McCarl Roberts.

Pleasant Nightmares is the story of one of the best spook magicians of his time, whose theatrical attraction was entitled "Madhouse of Mystery", a show that guaranteed suspense, shudder, shakes and shivers.

Rauscher has brilliantly documented a small but significant era in mid-twentieth century American stage Magic- the 'spook show'. His focus is Bill Neff, a talented but tragic figure who was undoubtedly the greatest of the 'ghost masters'.

This meticulously detailed book covers all aspects of the "Dr. Neff' Show from the illusions presented, the working details of the obligatory 'black-out' (a particularly fascinating chapter written by Neff himself), to the booking of the show in theatres large and small throughout the USA. It is required reading for anyone interested in the arcana of American stage Magic. I learned a lot from it and cherish my copy of this large and beautifully produced book.