The finality of death is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the act. The idea that once it’s over – it’s indeed truly over. Nothingness is a frightening thought, a thought which can be so daunting and truly terrifying that we will look for any glimmer of hope that it’s something we don’t need to even consider.  False hope can come in many forms – a faulty religion, being deluded by a personality’s false claims of power or allowing one to push aside disbelief, toss aside gut instincts, and allow oneself to be soothed by trickery.  From the late 1800's to the early 1900's many found their way to fortune by preying on such fears and claiming to prove the existence of the afterlife.  They were known as mediums, and one of the most renowned (and dubious) of his time was a man named Daniel Dunglas Hume.