Syfy developing ANOTHER project about Arthur Conan Doyle and Houdini...

We've already reported on not one but two projects in development about Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the legendary stage magician and escape artist Harry Houdini solving mysterious cases in the twenties.  Now there's a third.  Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Syfy is developing a series to be entitled "Among the Spirits," which is also about Houdini and Doyle solving mysteries in the twenties.

"Among the Spirits," named after Houdini's 1924 book "A Magician Among the Spirits," is based on a self-published graphic novel "Among the Spirits" by writers Steve Valentine and Paul Chart. The project, which is being put in development, is described by Syfy's President of Original Programming Mark Stern as "a turn-of-the-century 'Fringe.'"

A spokesman for the network also says:  "We have Houdini, who was the ultimate illusionist and was all about creating illusions, and Dolyle, who was all about getting to the truth underneath - the pragmatist and the dreamer - set against that 1920s world of America where technology is just starting to grow."

Not to get technical, but that statement actually somewhat reverses the temperments of the two men, pobably confusing Doyle with his fictional character, Sherlock Holmes.  In reality it was Houdini who was all about debunking fake mediums and spiritualists, a quest which apparently strained his relationship with Arthur Conan Doyle, who later in life was an ardent spiritualist. 

This is the third project to come to light recently with pretty much the same premise.  Earlier this week we reported on DreamWorks acquiring an original screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski called "Voices From the Dead," which is about Houdini and Doyle teaming up with a psychic in New York City in the twenties to solve a series of baffling murders.  In December we reported on "Edge of the Unknown," a movie being adapted from a self-published comic book about the two men teaming up with H.P. Lovecraft to solve a supernatural mystery in 1923 Hollywood.

On top of that, American mystery and horror writer Edgar Allan Poe is going to be portrayed as a real life crime-solver in a new ABC series called "Poe," and in the upcoming feature film "The Raven," which stars John Cusack as the legendary writer.

Finally, Seth Grahame-Seth's novel, "Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Hunter" is getting ready to go before the cameras.  In that one, in case the title isn't clear, the 16th President of the United States is portrayed as a vampire hunter. 

I may be going out on a limb here, but I think I sense a trend.