I like Burger's routine the best of any haunted deck. It's great.

Ian

If you're looking for a not-exactly gaff-less, but at least threadless version of Haunted Deck, you might want to check out Doug Edwards' take at it ("Really Haunted," available from tannensmagic.com).

One caveat: it does require a tabletop to do it per the instructions (although an in-the-participant's-hands version is possible).

A rubber band version called Impromptu Haunted Deck is in Modern Close-up Card Problems by Joseph Scmidt. It´s credited to Scmidt and Karl Fulves. The trick also appeared in Pallbearers Review in January 1974.

/Tommy

John MacMillan...

Finn Jon's Esoteric. The effect, as seen by audience.

3 Cards selected, placed back into the deck in 3 separate locations.

Deck placed on the FLOOR... Magician "mimes" taking an invisible thread and hands it to a spectator on right and says, "Pull" the top part of the deck moves toward he/she and moves back, leaving selected card protruding.

Repeat with other two, one at left, one straight ahead.

Believe me, this is SPOOKY... easy to do too.

I "nailed" Karrell Fox with this at a trade show one time... did it right out in the lobby of Cobo Hall, Detroit, and by the time I finished the routine had 50 or so people standing around watching.

Trick is available from Stevens Magic.

Thanks Pete, with that terrific endorsement I had to find out more for myself. I placed an order with Stevens today......keep an eye out for your referral comission check!

Loops are a bit fiddly for me. I prefer a gaffed deck.

Pete Biro also has a very funny yet effective way of finishing his "haunted deck" routine. For anyone here that is not aware, if Biro speaks, you should listen very carefully. He has forgotten more magic than most will ever learn in their lifetimes.
PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat

Earl Nelson has a very good way of doing this, in his Variations book called the haunted card. I have seen this done in person by Earl and it is in my opinion the best non gaffed version, that I have ever seen.

For the sake of completeness there is a version called Twister from Robert Swadling (an extremely kind gentleman) that uses no thread. It is gimmicked though.

My favourite remains Nick Einhorn's "Spooked". Without exception, anyone who has seen it wants it. It is difficult, it uses an utility gimmick, but it adds all the advantages of former methods and effects: Borrow a deck, have it shuffled, let them take a card, let them put it back, put the deck on the floor or table, wave your hands...the deck cuts by itself and the card SPINS out, sometimes 2 or 3 feet! Everything is examinable! Good Lord what an awesome effect!

Dan,
I see Hank Lee has "Spooked" available http://hanklee.org/xcart/customer/produc......p;page=1 It sounds very interesting. You said it is difficult, is it practical? I mean if you invest the time and effort to master this effect is it something you might include in table hopping? Thanks.
Bob

If anyone is interested, I have a gimmicked haunted deck that doesn't use the normal haunted deck gimmick. I'm not sure where i got this gimmick, I can describe it if any one want to pm me. The deck can be handed out with the gimmick in the deck. I know the original question is about non gimmicked decks but I thought I would throw this out. I only want people to pm me that will preform the effect, not people that just want to know the secret.

Bob, It is totally practicle. It is difficult in a sense that threadwork is difficult. You have to live with the gimmick to get the right feel of it. It is not difficult as in "one-handed-bottompalm" though.

To me Einhorn's trick comes close to perfect-cardtrick.
IMHO the ONLY reason this thing is not picked up worldwide is that Nicholas doesn't seem to be an aggressive marketeer, which is all the better...

StreetWalker,

Check out "The Mechanical Deck." It's part of The Ron Bauer Private Studies Series. It uses any deck and has a great story.

You can see a couple of 30 second videos of it at http://www.thinklikeaconjurer.com

Click on the cover, then click on the illustrations to see the video.

Tom

I have seen and I do an ungimmick haunted deck effect with borrowed cards.,. its from derren brown in his devil's picturebook series.,. one of the best I have seen strongly recommended.,. and I must say he's very good in sleight of hand not to mention his mentalism.,. check it out.,.

The original Al Baker routine is very strong...

You can check out McBride's version with a gimmick from Kundalini rising. It's in the magic of jeff McBride videos. And you can also check out al baker's haunted pack in Michael Ammar's etmcm vol 3

Derren Brown, (yes the mentalist), does a very good haunted deck and it's impromtu.
it's a bit knacky but works well on laymen. Check out his video.

I wondered, nobody mentioned Charlie Miller, who, AFAIK, was the very first to puiblish a version of using a normal deck for this effect..
IIRC, one could call it a *little finger* ruse handling..

Paul Harris has a nice haunted deck routine in his AOA set all you need is a deck and a rubberband.

I just recalled -it is stuffed away somewhere, so I can't recheck- Charlie Miller did publish his entierly impromptu handling in one of Magic Incs./Ireland/Marshals Yearbooks, must have been in the late 1950s or early 1960s..