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The scariest stories are not always the ones whispered around campfires.
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Sometimes they begin as a childhood dare in a dark
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bathroom mirror. Sometimes they come in the middle of the night,
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when your eyes open, your body won't move, and something
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impossible seems to be standing beside your bed. Sometimes they're
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born on movie sets, inside hotel rooms, in isolated mansions,
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or in ordinary suburban homes, where bottles pop open, furniture moves,
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and witnesses swear they saw the impossible happen. And sometimes
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the horror isn't supernatural at all. Sometimes it's human cruelty, rumor, panic, greed, obsession,
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and the terrible things people do when fear gives them permission. Tonight,
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we're opening the case files on some of the most
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unforgettable stories from terrifying and true urban legends, real life hauntings,
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cursed films, unsolved mysteries, and true crimes that feel like
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they were written by nightmares. From Bloody Mary to Sleep Paralysis,
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from the Poltergeist Curse to Room one oh four six,
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from chain Letters to Corpsewood Manor, and finally to one
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of America's strangest real Poultergeist cases. These are the stories
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that remind us the line between legends and reality is
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thinner than we want to believe, and once fear crosses
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that line, it rarely comes back alone. So get cozy
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and we'll start with Bloody Mary. The legend of Bloody
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Mary is one of those eerie tales that has been
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whispered in schoolyards and at sleepovers for generations. You might
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remember hearing it as a child, the same story now
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circulating among your younger siblings and relatives. Rooted in a
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blend of urban myths and folklore, It's said that if
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you dare to stand before a mirror in the dark,
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enchant Bloody Mary three times, or sometimes thirteen for the
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particularly daring, the specter of a woman may appear. This
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isn't just an apple. She's often described as a ghost,
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a ghastly figure, sometimes covered in blood, with an expression
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twisted in rage or eternal torment. But who exactly is
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Bloody Mary. Well, that's where things get quite murky. Her
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origin story is not clear cut. Instead, it's a patchwork
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of history and horror. Initially, the legend may seem like
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a simple ghost story, but it unfolds into a narrative
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filled with darkness and terror involving witches, mysterious disappearances, and
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the brutal revenge of a bygone era. So now it's
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time to learn a little bit more about the scary
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reality of Bloody Mary, to find out where exactly it
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came from and why it's still not a good idea
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to repeat Bloodoody Mary three times in front of a mirror.
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One prevailing theory suggests that Bloody Mary is none other
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than Queen Mary the First of England, whose tragic life
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and untimely death might have trapped her spirit between the
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mortal realm and the afterlife, seeking to emerge through the
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mirror's glass. Mary Tudor, better known as Queen Mary the
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First of England, was consumed by her duties to her
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kingdom and her steadfast beliefs. Plagued by the political and
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religious turmoil that defined her reign, Some speculate that her
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restless spirit may be the one summoned by the incantations
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of Bloody Mary. Born into the tumult of Tudor politics,
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Mary the First Queen Regnant of England ascended the throne
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in a time fractured by religious strife. Her ascension marked
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the beginning of a reign that would be remembered for
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its zealous attempts to reverse the Protestant Reformation initiated by
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her father, King Henry the eighth. Mary's conviction to restore
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Catholicism as the state religion set the stage for a
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period of intense persecution, etching her name into history with
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the moniker Bloody Mary. Mary's reign was characterized by the
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Maryan Persecutions, a dark era during which over two hundred
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and eighty Protestants were executed. These executions were most commonly
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by burning at the stake, a method chosen for its
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public spectacle and the belief that it cleansed the soul
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of heresy. Historians recount harrowing tales of men and women,
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clergy and lay persons alike, who were condemned to die
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in for their refusal to renounce their Protestant faith. The
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infamous burnings, many of which took place in prominent public
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spaces like Smithfield in London, were designed not just to
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punish heretics, but to deter others from following in their footsteps.
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The memory of these events cast a long shadow over
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Mary's reign. The accounts of smoldering pyres and the smell
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of burning flesh forever associated with her efforts to unify
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England under the Catholic Church. Beyond the public and violent
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spectacle of her religious persecutions, another more personal tragedy colored
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Mary's rule, her desperate and ultimately fruitless desire for an air.
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Mary's two phantom pregnancies are well documented phenomena where her
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fervent hope and belief that she was carrying a ch
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child led to physical manifestations of pregnancy that ultimately ended
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in disappointment and confusion. These episodes, occurring against the backdrop
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of her persecutions, added a layer of pathos to her legend.
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Mary's deep yearning for a child was not just about
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continuing her line. It was tied to her vision of
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a restored Catholic England and England where her child would
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solidify the return to the faith she fought so hard
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to enforce. The absence of an heir left her throne
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and her religious campaign vulnerable, a weakness that her half
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sister Elizabeth would have no problem exploiting to usher in
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a Protestant England after Mary's death. Queen Mary the First
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of England is a complicated figure because of her harsh
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religious policies and personal sadness that she faced. When you
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take away the myths and stories about Bloody Mary, you
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see a woman who was really fighting for what she
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believed was right for her country. This fight was very costly,
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leading to the deaths of many people and eventually overwhelming
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Mary herself. Remembering her attempts and failures to continue her
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family line and strengthen her religion, adds a sad layer
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to her story. It reminds us that underneath the title
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of a queen, there's a person with struggles and disappointments,
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making the scary nickname Bloody Mary feel more real and
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even more tragic. As we dig deeper into the dark
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grave of Bloody Mary's legend, it becomes evident that the
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origins of this tale are as complex as the stories themselves.
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Among the many threads that compose Bloody Mary's backstory, one
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name frequently rises to the surface. Mary Worth, a woman
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whose life is shrouded in mystery and darkness. Mary Worth,
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often associated with the sixteenth or seventeenth century, lived on
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the outskirts of a village, her home nestled deep within
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the woods, secluded in solitary, Mary's presence stirred unease among
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the villagers. Whispers of witchcraft followed her, tales that grew
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more sinister with each passing year. It was said that
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Mary possessed knowledge of ancient rituals and dark arts, knowledge
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she used to extend her life and beauty through the
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most macabre means. The legend deepens with the disturbing disappearances
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of young girls from the village. Each disappearance was cloaked
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in mystery, with no trace left behind save for the
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whispered rumors that they were last seen heading towards Mary's
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secluded dwelling. The villagers, their fear turning to anger, accused
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Mary of using the girls in her dark rituals, an
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accusation that sealed her grim fate. In the dark of night,
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a mob formed their torches, casting long shadows as they
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marched towards Mary's home. They found her, so the story goes,
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in the midst of a ritual, surrounded by the trappings
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of witchcraft. Without trial, They pronounced their judgment, and the
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woods lit up with the fiery blaze of their vengeance
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as the flames in gold. Mary is said to have
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uttered a curse, vowing to return from death to seek
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retribution against those who dare to summon her spirit. Building
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on the myriad of tales that have shaped the legend
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of Bloody Mary, Elizabeth Bathory stands out with a story
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so dark it might just eclipse all the others. While
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figures like Mary Worth remain shrouded in mystery and Queen
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Mary the First carries the weight of historical tragedy, Elizabeth
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Bathory's life ventures into the grotesque, further complicating the search
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for the true identity behind the Bloody Mary myth. Elizabeth Bathory,
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often referred to as the Blood Countess or the Queen
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of Blood, was a Hungarian noble women whose existence is
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well documented, contrasting the speculative nature of other candidates tied
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to the Bloody Mary legend. Between fifteen ninety and sixteen ten,
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Bathroom was implicated in the horrific murders of at least
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eighty young women and girls, although folklore and sensational accounts
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have inflated this number to as high as six hundred
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and fifty. The brutality of these alleged murders is the
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stuff of nightmares. Reports suggest that Bathory engaged in unspeakable
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torture practices, sowing the mouths of her victims shut, mercilessly
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beating them, and using hot irons to burn their skin.
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Perhaps most infamously, rumors swirled that she bathed in the
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blood of these young women, believing it would preserve her
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youthfulness and beauty. The trial of Elizabeth Bathory brought forth
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a witness who claimed to have seen a diary maintained
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by Bathory herself, in which she tallied her victims. The
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number listed in this supposed diary far surpassed the official accusations,
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sparking further horror and fascination through the centuries. This element
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of personal record keeping adds a chilling layer to Bathory's legacy,
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suggesting a degree of premeditation and pride in her atrocities
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that is truly and deeply unsettling. Amidst the gruesome tales. However,
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some argue that Elizabeth Bathory was the victim of a conspiracy.
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They suggest that the heinous charges against her were part
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of an orchestrated effort to discredit her, possibly motivated by
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the significant debts owed to her by the Crown following
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her husband's death. This angle introduces a layer of political
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intrigue and raises questions about the reliability of historical narratives,
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especially those concerning powerful women. This backdrop of skepticism and
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horror makes Elizabeth Bathory a compelling yet controversial figure in
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the quest to identify the real Bloody Mary. Her story
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both contrasts and compliments the narrative of Queen Mary, the first,
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intertwining with the broader tapestry of legends that have captivated
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imaginations for generations. Regardless of the factual accuracies of the
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charges against her, Elizabeth Bathory's legacy has undeniably contributed to
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the dark attraction surrounding the Bloody Mary legend. So who
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exactly is or was Bloody Mary, you may ask, Well,
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that's the million dollar question. Wrapped in the tattered cloak
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of history, shrouded in the whispers of folklore, and energized
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by our innate thrill of fear, she endures a spectral
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figure whose name chills the air and frosts the mirror.
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The legend of Bloody Mary, far from fading into obscurity,
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thrives in the darkest corners of our culture's psyche, and
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is as robust and shiver inducing today as ever before that.
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Mary the First of England, with her heart wrenching history
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steeped in blood during her violent attempt to bring back
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Catholicism to her realm, is the original face behind the
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Bloody Mary narrative. Her infamous moniker Bloody Mary was earned
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as her rule was marred by the burning of over
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two hundred and eighty religious dissenters, an act that seared
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her name into the annals of history with crimson flames.
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Then there's the elusive and mysterious Mary Worth, cloaked more
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in dark rumor than hard evidence, swirling amidst whispered campfire
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stories and eerie sleepover dares. This Mary is said to
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be a witch, executed long ago for her vile practices,
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Her story a patchwork of sinister threads that make her
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as intangible as a wisp of mist, yet no less haunting.
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But let's not overlook the blood soaked gowns of Elizabeth Bathory,
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the nightmarish figure drenched in the crimson tales of youth
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and beauty, maintained through the most grotesque of measures, infamously
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dubbed the Blood Countess, her legacy is a macabre painting
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of at least eighty confirmed murders of young women. The
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grotesque folklore suggests she bathed in their blood, a fountain
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of eternal youth at a horrifying cost. A trial and
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supposed diary of Elizabeth Bathory filled with a horrifying list
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of victims adds a dark and serious tone to her story.
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The mix of historical figures associated with Bloody Mary makes
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figuring out who she really was both intriguing and mysteriously appealing.
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Whether you doubt the legends or think there might have
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been some truths to the tales, the miss of Bloody
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Mary's true identity is indeed fascinating. It draws in everyone
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who loves to explore unanswered questions and enjoys a good scare.
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The legend of Bloody Mary, like an eternal curse, found
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its way through time, morphing into a ghostly game known
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by children and thrill seekers worldwide. The ritual of summoning
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Bloody Mary before a mirror in a darkened room became
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a test of courage, a rite of passage whispered about
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in hushed tones during sleepovers and Halloween parties. Yet the
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question lingers in the air, as palpable as the chill
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that accompanies her invocation. What happens when Bloody Mary answers
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the call reports of avery. Some see a shadowy figure
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in the mirror, others a blood soaked apparition, and a
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few claims to hear a voice whispering dark secrets and
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warnings from beyond. The experiences, though varied, share one common thread,
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the eerie feeling that the legend of Bloody Mary and
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the spirit of Mary might just hold a grain of truth.
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Will you light the candle and call out her name?
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Or will you heed the warnings? Woven into the fabric
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of this ghastly narrative, Whether myth or reality, the tale
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of Bloody Mary endures a ghostly whisper in the dark
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that dares us to look closer, always questioning, always fearing
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what might stare back from the other side. Now, let's
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talk about sleep paralysis. An old occurrence. Sleep paralysis arises
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in the stillness of a moonless night, as the earth
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drifts from one day to the next. The most interesting
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and scary things that humans have ever experienced take place
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in this world, which is a gap between our actual
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reality and the dream world. Let's explore this mysterious nighttime
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phenomenon where the line between the real and the supernatural
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blurs and secret stories are passed down through the ages.
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In whispers, imagine that you are lying in bed and
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the moonlight is bathing the recognizable shapes of your room,
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except for your own breath. There's complete silence. All of
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a sudden, Your chest feels a weight that you can't see,
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and your limbs are and refuse to move. Even if
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you're conscious, the dream won't let go of you, seized
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by your own body, a captive inside yourself. This is
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the condition known as sleep paralysis. Under the cloak of night,
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when everything seems tranquil and the world is quieted down,
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an unseen storm bruise in the minds of the unsuspecting.
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That's when the serene night takes a turn. The heart
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kicks into a frantic pace, thudding against the chest as
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if trying to escape. There's an urge to move, to
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flee the stillness, to call out for anyone who might hear,
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but the movement is an impossible wish. The body lies
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heavy as stone, arms and legs betraying their owner, refusing
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to budge. Screams, get trapped in the throat, leaving only
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a silent plea for freedom. Suddenly, a weight presses down
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on the chest, making each breath a struggle. Shadows drift
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in the corners, forming shapes that seem to inch closer
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with every passing second, feeding the terror of being watched
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by unseen eyes. The desire to escape is overpowering, but
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paralysis holds firm, binding the body in an invisible grip.
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This harrowing state is the essence of sleep paralysis. It's
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a limbo between the worlds of sleep and wakefulness, where
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one is conscious but ensnared by the remnants of a dream.
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It's not just the immobility that horrifies. It's the vivid hallucinations,
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the lurking shadow men, or the ominous presence of the
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old hag that invades the room, amplifying the dread. The
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ordeal might last seconds or stretch out, warping time into
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a drawn out nightmare, but eventually it dissipates. Mobility returns,
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shadows retreat, and the oppressive weight lifts, leaving behind a
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racing heart and a mind swirling with questions. Sleep paralysis
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is a strange and spooky phenomenon. No doubt about it.
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But even in its eeriness, there's something deeply human about it.
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It's a reminder of the mysteries of our minds, the
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secrets of our sleep, and the thin line between the
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waking world and that of our dreams. It's a journey
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into the unknown that, while often scary, connects a us
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all to the shared experience of our own vulnerabilities. In
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the dead of night, when the sleep paralysis hallucinations begin.
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It starts, perhaps with a faint whisper, a voice that
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doesn't quite belong to the night. You strain to see,
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but your head is cast in stone, your eyes the
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only sentinels to the growing dread. Shadows flicker and converge
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into sinister forms that shouldn't exist outside the playground of nightmares.
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A figure, dark and menacing creeps into your periphery. It
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hovers a silent wraith at the foot of your bed,
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and you can feel its gaze, cold and relentless. Maybe
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this phantom creeps closer the air, chilling us with its approach,
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its features blurry and ever changing, like a storm cloud
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ready to burst. To some, these apparitions might speak in
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strange tongues, or remain quiet heralds of an ancient terror.
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The room around you might warp, walls breathing, and floors
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tilting into impossible geometries. There are no chains, no sounds
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of footsteps, but the unshakable feeling that you are not alone,
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that something other has come to visit in the witching hour,
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gripping you hard with ghostly fingers. As the minutes stretch
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into what feels like small eternities, the grip of the
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paralysis finally begins to wane. The specters fade into the
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calming embrace of reality as it begins to reassert its dominance.
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Limbs regain warmth and function, the weight lifts, and breath
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flows freely once more. Heart beats that once thundered in
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terror now settle into a rhythmic normalcy, and you are
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left with the chilling memory of an encounter with the unknown,
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a narrative of the night your waking mind walk through
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the valley of dreams and phantoms. While this tale echoes
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the ghastly scripts of folklore, science offers its explanations. In
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these moments, our most primal fears are crafted into hallucinations
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by a brain caught between worlds. The stages of sleep
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have been disrupted, and so the mind paints a haunting
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picture over the canvas of reality. But despite the terror,
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the light of day brings solace, a reminder that the
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spectral grip of sleep paralysis is but a temporary visitor
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in the night, and morning's warmth holds the promise that
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we are indeed safe and sound. Allow me to share
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with you a collection of unsettling anecdotes from individuals who
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have encountered sleep paralysis, Originally shared with BuzzFeed. These chilling
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accounts dig into the terrifying encounters of people who have
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experienced the unsettling phenomenon of sleep paralysis, shedding light on
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the mysterious space between being awake and trapped in a nightmare.
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Every night, Alice Lang would hold her breath fearing the
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arrival of dusk. In her sleep, a consistent, yet uninvited
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intruder would creep into her peaceful slumber. She would awaken,
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heart racing to the sound of heavy, deliberate footsteps inching
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closer to her bedroom. Paralyzed, Alice's eyes would dart frantically
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around the dimly lit room until they fell upon a
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chilling sight at her doorway. A towering, shadowy entity in
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the frame of a minotaur, wielding what looked like a
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shining knife. Each attempt to scream or move proved futile,
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and it was only when the sun peeked through her
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curtains that Alice truly woke, the monster gone, leaving her
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in a pool of cold, sweat and silence. Night after night,
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Rheanne would find herself in an all too familiar limbo
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between consciousness and sleep. A presence would stalk her, never seen,
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but deeply felt, a weight upon her chest that no
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light could reveal. Tethered to her bed, she would endure
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this invisible torment, gasping for breath until her only means
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of salvation, Her carefully practiced signal of rapid breathing was
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noticed by her partner. Only his gentle touch could shatter
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the specter's hold on her, guiding her back to the
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waking world, where she could finally draw a full, unburdened breath.
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Ting Deu's tormentor would always commence its haunting in the
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most unassuming manner. With Ting positioned on his back. Sleep
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would usher in a darkness that stretched beyond the room.
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A shadow would detach itself from the ceiling, a silent
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predatory force that would inch ever closer with each skip
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of Ting's heart. This specter, formless yet suffocatingly close, would
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whisper horrors into the void, until with a frantic jerk
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of the head, Ting would break the chains of paralysis,
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the room returning to its still undisturbed state. Amber's experience
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was uniquely unsettling, marked not by sight but by sensation.
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As she drifted into sleep, the murmur of distant conversations
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would weave into her consciousness, and an all too real
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feeling of another's breath against her skin would emerge. She
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would feel the dip of the mattress, hear the fabric rustle,
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and sense the warmth of another presence behind her, snoring softly.
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Yet when she'd manage to wrestle free from paralysis, she'd
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find her bed empty, the ghostly whispers and breathing gone,
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leaving her enveloped in a suffocating solitude that mocked her senses.
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For Marama, the hotel stay that began as a simple
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layover quickly descended into a waking nightmare. Pinned beneath invisible restraints,
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Her attempts to cry out for her partner were swallowed
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by some unseen force. With each imagined awakening, her relief
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would shatter as she'd find herself locked in a struggle
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against the one person she trusted most, fighting a suffocating
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assault on her life, his hands around her throat. It
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was only upon finally breaking through the veneer of sleep
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that she could breathe again, the horror of these false
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awakenings lingering long after the lights had turned on. Now
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that we've had our spooky fare with some first hand experiences,
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let's break down what science has to say about sleep paralysis.
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When we hit the hay every night, our brain has
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this neat trick it does. It sends out a signal
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that's basically a do not disturb sign for our muscles,
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keeping us from acting out all those crazy dreams. But
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sometimes our brain and body get their wires crossed. You
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start waking up, but that signal doesn't turn off right away.
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That's when you find yourself awake but frozen. It's like
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your body is still dreaming of being in bed, all
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cozy and asleep, but your brain is tapping its watch,
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ready to start the day. They just aren't on the
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same page quite yet. Now onto why it can feel
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so terrifying. Being frozen is one thing, but our brains
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can sometimes throw in extra special effects, like seeing shadows
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or hearing strange sounds. It's like your brain is trying
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to make sense of being stuck in this in between state,
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so it fills in the blanks with stuff from your
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dreams as well as your fears. It is, of course
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all in the mind, though these visions and sounds aren't real,
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but knowing that doesn't always make it less frightening in
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the moment. If you're wondering is this something I should
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worry about, the answer is mostly no. Sleep paralysis is
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more common than you might think. A lot of people
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myself included, have experienced it at least once in their lives.
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While it's not usually a sign of anything serious health wise,
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if it happens a lot, it might be your body's
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way of saying you need better sleep or less stress.
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Some tip to keep it at bay include getting enough sleep,
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sticking to a regular sleep schedule, and finding ways to
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unwind before bed. These steps might help your brain and
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body sync up better and reduce those unwonted wake up glitches.
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Dealing with sleep paralysis hallucinations can be very traumatizing, but
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there are some simple ways to handle them better. So
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let's talk about how you can cope the next time
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you're stuck in that weird half a sleep state. Firstly,
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try to keep your cool. I know it sounds easier
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than done right, but remember those scary things you might
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see or hear. They're not real. There just tricks your
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mind plays when it's caught between dreaming and waking up.
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Telling yourself this isn't real can help calm you down. Next,
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work on your breathing. When you realize you're in sleep paralysis.
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Focus on taking slow, deep breaths. This can help relax
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your body and might make the hallucinations fade away faster.
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Here's a sneaky trick for you. Try moving just a
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small part of your body, like your fingers or toes.
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It may sound amusing, but sometimes moving a tiny part
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of you can help wake up the rest of your
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body from the paralysis. Another thing you can do is
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make your sleep routine as steady as possible. Go to
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bed at the same time each night and get up
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at the same time each morning. Keep your bedroom comfy
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and just for sleep. This can help lower the chances
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of sleep paralysis happening. Also, watch out for things that
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can mess with your sleep, like caffeine or screen time
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before bed. Instead, try calming activities like reading or listening
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to gentle music to help your mind wind down, or
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maybe your favorite spooky podcast Naturally. If sleep paralysis keeps
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bothering you a lot, or if it's really stressing you out,
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talking to a doctor can be a good idea. They
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might be able to help you figure out ways to
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deal with it better, or check if something else is
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interfering with your sleep. Remember, even though it can feel
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very intense, very real, sleep paralysis is something you can handle.
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With some practice and a few changes to your bedtime routine,
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you can lessen how often it happens, or at least
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feel in control when it does. So next time the
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shadowy figures visit, you'll be ready to say not tonight
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and guide yourself back to the dreamland or wakefulness with ease,
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happy dozing, My spookies. The Poltergeist film curse. Let me
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tell you a chilling story about one of the scariest
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haunted house films ever made. The nineteen eighty two movie Poltergeist,
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directed by Toby Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame and
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produced by Steven Spielberg, this film tells the harrowing tale
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of a family whose home is invaded by vicious spirits
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that snatch their young daughter away to another world. But
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what's even more troubling than the eerie events in the
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movie and its sequels are the real life tragedies that
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seem to follow those involved with these films. The series,
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marked by several unexpected deaths and some really strange happenings
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during production, led fans to talk about something they call
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the Poltergeist curse. Now, I'm not saying I believe in curses,
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but I can't ignore how unusually tragic the legacy of
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the Poltergeist movies has been. Here's a detailed look at
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this mysterious and somber history, starting with some odd facts
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that might just give you goosebumps. The saga of the
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Poltergeist films extends far beyond their plot lines, engulfed by
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a series of real life misfortunes and eerie incidents that
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fuse the film's chilling narratives with an equally disturbing reality.
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The original movie acclaimed for pushing the boundaries of haunted
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House storytelling unwittingly set the stage for a series of
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events that would lead to talks of a curse, a
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notion both unsettling and intriguing, adding a layer of unease.
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This dark legacy begins with the decision that might send
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shivers down your spine. Back in the days of the
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original Poltergeist, the filmmakers used real human skeletons as props,
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a choice dictated by budget more than morbidity, since back
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in those times it was somehow cheaper than crafting a
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fake one. But as revealed in the docu series Cursed Films,
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some believe these human remains brought with them restless spirits,
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sowing seeds for unsettling occurrences both on and off the set.
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Further exploring the eerie anecdotes, An episode of e True
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Hollywood Story dedicated to the Poltergeist Curse paints a vivid
468
00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:56.639
picture of the peculiar mishaps that plagued the crew during
469
00:39:56.679 --> 00:40:00.880
the filming of Poltergeist II. The other side, it tells
470
00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:05.199
of unexplained disturbances that wrapped an air of apprehension around
471
00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:10.039
the entire production, a production that daringly continued the use
472
00:40:10.719 --> 00:40:16.639
of real skeletons. Amidst this storm of unexplained phenomena. Craig T. Nelson,
473
00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:21.639
returning as Steve Freeling, shared a particularly spine tingling tale.
474
00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:25.360
He spoke of how his colleague Will Sampson felt a
475
00:40:25.400 --> 00:40:29.480
malignant force at play behind the scenes. Driven by a
476
00:40:29.559 --> 00:40:33.239
need to quell this darkness, Sampson, under the veil of night,
477
00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:37.320
performed an exorcism on the set. According to Nelson, this
478
00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:41.480
brave act seemed to calm the troubled waters, allowing the
479
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:46.679
film to proceed without further unexplained disruptions. These stories weave
480
00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:51.159
a compelling, albeit harrowing narrative about the series. They elevate
481
00:40:51.239 --> 00:40:55.000
the Poltergeist legacy from simply a collection of horror films
482
00:40:55.280 --> 00:40:59.880
to a saga marred by mystery and misfortune, where fact
483
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:05.360
and fiction intertwine in the most unsettling of dances. One
484
00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:09.599
scenario in the terrifying Poltergeist film series stands out as
485
00:41:09.679 --> 00:41:14.840
particularly disturbing and tragic. It's about a young actress named
486
00:41:14.880 --> 00:41:19.639
Dominique Dunn, who played the role of Dana Freeling, the
487
00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:24.039
eldest daughter in the family haunted by spirits. Dominique was
488
00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:27.119
not just a rising star in Hollywood. She was also
489
00:41:27.239 --> 00:41:30.840
the younger sister of Griffin Dunn, a well known actor.
490
00:41:31.480 --> 00:41:35.360
Poltergeist was her big break, her first major film, but
491
00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:40.840
tragically it turned out to be her last. Not long
492
00:41:40.920 --> 00:41:45.599
after Poltergeist graced movie theaters and captivated audiences with its
493
00:41:45.639 --> 00:41:51.719
ghostly tale, Dominique's own story took a dark turn, mirroring
494
00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:55.880
the horror of her film in a real and devastating way.
495
00:41:56.880 --> 00:42:00.360
At only twenty two years old, her life was cut
496
00:42:00.400 --> 00:42:03.599
short in an act of violence that shocked everyone who
497
00:42:03.719 --> 00:42:06.960
knew her. The New York Times covered this tragedy in
498
00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:11.000
November of nineteen eighty two, detailing how Dominique was attacked.
499
00:42:11.719 --> 00:42:15.440
She was strangled, leaving her unconscious, and despite being rushed
500
00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:18.320
to the hospital, she fought for her life on life
501
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:24.199
support for five days before she finally passed away. The
502
00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:27.639
person behind this heinous act was none other than her
503
00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:31.519
former boyfriend John Sweeney, a twenty six year old chef
504
00:42:31.559 --> 00:42:34.639
at the time. In a twist that adds to the horror,
505
00:42:34.679 --> 00:42:37.719
he confessed to the act, claiming it happened during an
506
00:42:37.800 --> 00:42:42.519
argument about getting back together. What followed was a trial
507
00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:45.559
that received a great deal of attention, not just for
508
00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:54.920
the act itself, but for the verdict. John Sweeney was
509
00:42:55.000 --> 00:43:00.599
convicted not of murder but of involuntary manslaughter, a ruling
510
00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:06.159
that outraged many, including Dominique's father, Dominic Dunn. Dominic, a
511
00:43:06.199 --> 00:43:09.440
writer known for his pieces in Vanity Fair, shared his
512
00:43:09.480 --> 00:43:12.719
grief and disbelief in an article he penned in two51300:43:12.800 --> 00:43:16.639
thousand eight, giving a voice to the pain of losing51400:43:16.679 --> 00:43:21.199
Dominique and the frustration he had with the legal system.51500:43:21.519 --> 00:43:25.519
Dominique's story is not just a chapter in the Poltergeist saga,51600:43:26.320 --> 00:43:28.840
but a reminder of the real life horrors that can51700:43:28.880 --> 00:43:32.599
strike in anyone's life, leaving behind a legacy of sorrow51800:43:32.679 --> 00:43:37.280
and unanswered questions. Her promising career and life were both51900:43:37.360 --> 00:43:43.199
cut tragically short, leaving us to wonder what if in52000:43:43.239 --> 00:43:48.000
a tale as haunting as any ghost story. After the52100:43:48.039 --> 00:43:52.239
strange and sad story of Dominic Dunn, the Poltergeist series52200:43:52.280 --> 00:43:57.360
saw another eerie occurrence, this time involving Julianne Beck. Beck52300:43:57.480 --> 00:44:00.239
brought to life one of the most haunting characters in52400:44:00.320 --> 00:44:03.800
Poltergeist two The Other Side, a film that left many52500:44:03.880 --> 00:44:08.119
trembling with fear, not least because of Beck's portrayal of52600:44:08.159 --> 00:44:14.119
the terrifying Reverend Henry Kane. This character, a preacher with52700:44:14.280 --> 00:44:22.199
sinister intentions, became iconic, largely due to Beck's deeply unnerving performance. Sadly,52800:44:22.320 --> 00:44:25.719
this role would be his last, as Julian Beck passed52900:44:25.760 --> 00:44:29.360
away at the age of sixty just a few months53000:44:29.400 --> 00:44:33.480
after the movie was completed. Some people have pointed to53100:44:33.480 --> 00:44:36.280
Beck's death as another piece of evidence of the so53200:44:36.480 --> 00:44:41.119
called Poltergeist curse that seems to loom over those involved53300:44:41.159 --> 00:44:45.880
with the films. However, it's important to note, as reported53400:44:45.920 --> 00:44:49.280
by the Los Angeles Times, that Beck was battling stomach53500:44:49.320 --> 00:44:55.000
cancer diagnosed two years prior in nineteen eighty three. Knowing53600:44:55.039 --> 00:44:58.360
this adds an even more profound layer to Beck's portrayal53700:44:58.400 --> 00:45:04.079
of Reverend Kane. Imagine for a moment amidst his struggle53800:45:04.119 --> 00:45:08.199
with terminal illness, he delivered a performance that captured the53900:45:08.400 --> 00:45:12.239
essence of fear and despair, making it all the more54000:45:12.320 --> 00:45:18.119
powerful and disturbing. Many, myself included, find that Beck used54100:45:18.119 --> 00:45:22.920
his illness to truly terrify audiences all over the world.54200:45:24.199 --> 00:45:27.639
The dedication Beck showed pouring his energy into such a54300:45:27.719 --> 00:45:31.480
dark and demanding role while facing his own mortality is54400:45:31.519 --> 00:45:36.039
both admirable and heart wrenching. It brings a sense of54500:45:36.079 --> 00:45:39.559
real human struggle to the forefront of the spooky legends54600:45:39.639 --> 00:45:43.840
surrounding the Poltergeist films, reminding us of the bravery and54700:45:43.960 --> 00:45:49.280
resilience of those who entertain us even in their own54800:45:49.400 --> 00:45:54.239
darkest hours. Heading into a deeper layer of the Poltergeist54900:45:54.320 --> 00:45:59.280
series mysteries, we stumble upon another somber tale. This time55000:45:59.320 --> 00:46:02.960
it's about Willis Sampson, known for his gentle strength and55100:46:03.039 --> 00:46:07.320
deep presence on the screen. In Poltergeist IWO the Other Side,55200:46:07.360 --> 00:46:12.159
Samson portrayed Tailor, a kind hearted Native American shaman, a55300:46:12.280 --> 00:46:16.360
role that mirrored his own Muscogee heritage. He stepped into55400:46:16.360 --> 00:46:20.239
this role hoping to aid the haunted Freeling family. However,55500:46:20.320 --> 00:46:23.360
a year after the movie's release, in June of nineteen55600:46:23.400 --> 00:46:27.039
eighty seven, when Will was only fifty three years old,55700:46:27.599 --> 00:46:32.400
he said goodbye to the world. Will's health had been55800:46:32.440 --> 00:46:36.320
wavering for a while. He had scleroderma, a disease that55900:46:36.400 --> 00:46:40.360
hardens the skin in connective tissues. This truly made his56000:46:40.440 --> 00:46:45.559
battle an uphill one, even as he gifted us with56100:46:45.599 --> 00:46:49.000
a performance of a man of healing. Behind the scenes,56200:46:49.039 --> 00:46:53.400
he sought healing of his own. You see, Will underwent56300:46:53.440 --> 00:46:57.880
a lung transplant, a surgery that seemed successful at first,56400:46:58.199 --> 00:47:02.360
but as days turned into weeks, his body struggled. He56500:47:02.519 --> 00:47:06.400
suffered from not having enough nutrition, faced down an infection,56600:47:07.039 --> 00:47:11.400
and eventually had kidney failure which no one could fully explain.56700:47:12.440 --> 00:47:16.039
This tragic mix led him into a coma from which56800:47:16.039 --> 00:47:20.360
he never awoke, his last breath, drawing a close on56900:47:20.480 --> 00:47:25.400
his forty three day fight post surgery. Before his role57000:47:25.440 --> 00:47:28.639
in Poltergeist, Io, Will had left an imprint on the57100:47:28.639 --> 00:47:32.360
hearts of many through his acting journey. His career took57200:47:32.400 --> 00:47:35.800
flight with his portrayal of Chief Bromdon in the acclaimed57300:47:35.800 --> 00:47:39.159
movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in nineteen seventy five.57400:47:39.920 --> 00:47:44.199
He stood tall alongside Clint Eastwood in the outlaw Josie Wales.57500:47:44.280 --> 00:47:47.400
Soon after, and he brought life to the big screen57600:47:47.440 --> 00:47:50.519
in the thrilling film and to many myself included a57700:47:50.559 --> 00:47:56.480
beloved Jaws ripoff Orca. Will Sampson's journey, both on screen57800:47:56.519 --> 00:48:00.039
and in his quieter personal struggles, touches us with it57900:48:00.039 --> 00:48:03.199
its weight and poignancy. It's another chapter in the book58000:48:03.199 --> 00:48:07.079
of stories surrounding the people who brought Poltergeist from script58100:48:07.519 --> 00:48:12.199
to screen. A tale wrapped in talent and shrouded by58200:48:12.239 --> 00:48:17.079
an unkind fate, the story of Poltergeist IIE is one58300:48:17.119 --> 00:48:20.199
that many fans and critics see as the darkest chapter58400:48:20.320 --> 00:48:24.119
in the series, not just for its eerie content, but58500:48:24.239 --> 00:48:28.199
due to the real life tragedies and strange happenings surrounding58600:48:28.239 --> 00:48:31.719
its production. At the center of it all was Heather O'Rourke,58700:48:32.239 --> 00:48:36.199
the talented young actress who, despite being diagnosed with Crohn's disease,58800:48:36.679 --> 00:48:40.360
courageously stepped into her role as Carol Ann for the58900:48:40.440 --> 00:48:45.000
third time. Zelda Rubinstein, known for her role as the Psychic,59000:48:45.119 --> 00:48:49.239
also returned, though they were the only main cast members59100:48:49.639 --> 00:48:53.320
to do so. Trouble seemed to follow the production from59200:48:53.360 --> 00:48:57.480
the start. The film's set was plagued by accident after accident.59300:48:57.920 --> 00:49:02.920
One such incident involving a malfunctioning underwater catapult that injured59400:49:02.960 --> 00:49:06.719
a stuntman, and another accident saw the director Gary Sherman59500:49:07.199 --> 00:49:11.880
breaking his leg. The choice of Chicago's John Hancock Tower59600:49:11.920 --> 00:49:16.079
as a primary location added an eerie backdrop, given the59700:49:16.159 --> 00:49:22.280
tower's grim history. Of construction accidents. The spookiness didn't end there.59800:49:22.960 --> 00:49:27.320
During filming, Zelda Rubinstein claimed to experience a sudden psychic59900:49:27.440 --> 00:49:32.519
shock that tragically coincided with her mother's passing, adding to60000:49:32.559 --> 00:49:36.159
the supernatural aura. A photo taken of Rubinstein during this60100:49:36.320 --> 00:49:40.360
time showed her surrounded by an unusual halo of light,60200:49:40.840 --> 00:49:44.760
leading some to wonder if it captured the moment of60300:49:44.800 --> 00:49:49.320
her mother's passing. A special effects failure caused a terrifying60400:49:49.360 --> 00:49:52.159
moment when what was supposed to be a controlled explosion60500:49:52.639 --> 00:49:56.719
turned into a horrific blaze, endangering the lives of firefighters60600:49:56.719 --> 00:50:00.760
and trapping a maintenance worker inside. In a r heroic effort,60700:50:00.960 --> 00:50:04.559
a stuntman not only saved the trapped worker, but also60800:50:04.599 --> 00:50:08.760
salvaged the film and cameras. This bravery earned him high60900:50:08.800 --> 00:50:13.800
praise from the director. However, the most heartbreaking event occurred61000:50:13.840 --> 00:50:18.480
away from set. Heather began experiencing severe health issues, which61100:50:18.480 --> 00:50:25.039
her family initially thought were complications from her diagnosed condition. Tragically,61200:50:25.079 --> 00:50:29.400
Heather's bright future was unexpectedly dim She was just twelve61300:50:29.480 --> 00:50:36.000
years old when she left the world in nineteen eighty eight. Sadly,61400:50:36.039 --> 00:50:38.440
it was discovered too late that she had a serious61500:50:38.519 --> 00:50:42.639
congenital intestinal problem. Heather passed away in the hospital from61600:50:42.679 --> 00:50:46.519
septic shock, leaving behind a haunting moment when her mother61700:50:46.639 --> 00:50:51.480
reported seeing an apparition of Heather telling her quote, I'm61800:50:51.519 --> 00:50:56.239
not coming back, even though her physical body was still61900:50:56.280 --> 00:51:00.280
in the care of doctors. The story of Poltergeist three62000:51:00.360 --> 00:51:03.280
is filled with more than its share of mystery and sorrow,62100:51:03.840 --> 00:51:09.119
concluding what many believed to be a cursed trilogy. Yet62200:51:09.159 --> 00:51:11.840
at its heart, it's a tale of a young star's62300:51:11.920 --> 00:51:15.639
bravery and a series of coincidences so strange that they62400:51:15.639 --> 00:51:21.599
blur the line between reality and the supernatural. The tale62500:51:21.639 --> 00:51:24.199
of the Poltergeist movies might as well be its own62600:51:24.280 --> 00:51:27.639
horror story, set against the backdrop of actual events that62700:51:27.679 --> 00:51:31.320
could make one question the line between fiction and reality.62800:51:31.760 --> 00:51:34.159
At the heart of these films lies a series of62900:51:34.199 --> 00:51:38.360
misfortunes so profound that they've sparked debates on whether the63000:51:38.440 --> 00:51:42.199
series was simply cursed or if there could be possibly63100:51:42.280 --> 00:51:46.400
any other explanation. From the outset, the Poltergeist series drew63200:51:46.440 --> 00:51:49.760
attention not just for its spine chilling narrative, but for63300:51:49.840 --> 00:51:53.840
the ominous cloud of tragedies that seemed to hang over63400:51:53.880 --> 00:51:57.599
its cast. The sudden and tragic deaths of several actors63500:51:57.639 --> 00:52:01.800
associated with the films were particularly harrowing, painting a grim63600:52:01.840 --> 00:52:05.719
picture that no script could match. Off the screen, the63700:52:05.800 --> 00:52:09.800
cast and crew faced numerous challenges, from accidents on set63800:52:10.039 --> 00:52:13.199
to a disturbing oversight that involved the use of real63900:52:13.280 --> 00:52:17.679
human skeletons as props, adding a macabre layer to the64000:52:17.679 --> 00:52:21.280
film's lore. But beyond the chills and thrills of the64100:52:21.320 --> 00:52:25.480
on screen hauntings, these incidents evoke a sense of profound64200:52:25.559 --> 00:52:30.239
loss and sorrow. While horror enthusiasts might find the tales64300:52:30.280 --> 00:52:34.880
surrounding the films intriguing, it's a stark reminder that sometimes64400:52:34.960 --> 00:52:39.119
reality can be as frightening as fiction, and perhaps it64500:52:39.119 --> 00:52:43.000
would be kinder if such tragedies remain confined to the64600:52:43.039 --> 00:52:49.880
realm of make believe. This saga leaves us pondering are64700:52:49.960 --> 00:52:54.159
these series of unfortunate events merely coincidental or is there64800:52:54.280 --> 00:53:00.000
something more sinister at play. It's a question that remains unanswered,64900:53:00.639 --> 00:53:05.000
leaving Poltergeist as a curious case study at the intersection65000:53:05.079 --> 00:53:11.840
of horror cinema and real life tragedy. Room one oh65100:53:12.079 --> 00:53:23.159
four six eighty seven years ago. In nineteen thirty five,65200:53:24.000 --> 00:53:27.280
Kansas City, Missouri, became the home of one of the65300:53:27.400 --> 00:53:33.280
strangest unsolved cases in American history. After a young man65400:53:33.400 --> 00:53:38.119
displayed peculiar behavior after checking in to the President Hotel.65500:53:39.039 --> 00:53:41.400
He was found slumped over in a pool of his65600:53:41.480 --> 00:53:46.880
own blood. His body showed signs of torture as he65700:53:47.000 --> 00:53:52.320
was bound with cords and stabbed numerous times. The man65800:53:52.480 --> 00:53:57.920
was still semi conscious, though, so the detectives asked who65900:53:58.000 --> 00:54:05.960
did this to him, applied nobody before falling unconscious and66000:54:06.079 --> 00:54:11.039
later dying in the hospital. After two years of the66100:54:11.159 --> 00:54:15.559
case running cold, the investigators believed they'd found what they66200:54:15.599 --> 00:54:20.559
were searching for. However, this discovery only left every one66300:54:20.679 --> 00:54:26.440
more puzzled and with many many more questions. On Wednesday,66400:54:26.840 --> 00:54:32.280
January second, nineteen thirty five, a lone man walked into66500:54:32.280 --> 00:54:38.280
the President Hotel at fourteenth and Baltimore Street in Kansas City, Missouri.66600:54:39.159 --> 00:54:42.400
He didn't have any luggage with him, but he dressed66700:54:42.400 --> 00:54:47.840
neatly in his black overcoat and appeared polished. The hotel66800:54:47.960 --> 00:54:51.679
staff recalled that he was well mannered and signed the66900:54:51.719 --> 00:54:57.719
register as Roland t Owen. Roland requested a single room67000:54:58.039 --> 00:55:03.360
on one of the upper floors, specifically an interior room67100:55:03.599 --> 00:55:09.000
without access to the outdoors. Witnesses later described him as67200:55:09.039 --> 00:55:11.400
being someone who could easily look like he was in67300:55:11.480 --> 00:55:14.639
his early twenties, or he could very well pass for67400:55:14.760 --> 00:55:19.000
his late thirties. Roland had dark brown hair and a67500:55:19.079 --> 00:55:23.880
noticeable scar on the side of his scalp, rising horizontally67600:55:23.920 --> 00:55:27.719
above his ear. He also had a cauliflower left ear,67700:55:28.440 --> 00:55:31.679
which is a deformity of the outer ear that's caused67800:55:31.679 --> 00:55:35.320
by blunt force trauma. This kind of injury is from67900:55:35.400 --> 00:55:38.880
repeated blows to the ear and is typically found on68000:55:38.960 --> 00:55:44.320
professional boxers and amateur wrestlers. The hotel clerk gave Roland68100:55:44.400 --> 00:55:47.079
a key to room one O four six on the68200:55:47.119 --> 00:55:51.239
tenth floor and sent the bell boy on duty. Randolph68300:55:51.239 --> 00:55:55.400
propsed to escort him. While the two chatted on the68400:55:55.440 --> 00:55:58.960
elevator ride, Roland told the bell boy that he stayed68500:55:59.000 --> 00:56:02.400
at the neighboring mule Bach Hotel the night before, where68600:56:02.440 --> 00:56:06.920
they had charged him an outrageous amount for his accommodations.68700:56:07.679 --> 00:56:10.679
When they entered the room, Roland walked through the short68800:56:10.800 --> 00:56:14.320
entryway and Randolph watched as he took out a black68900:56:14.360 --> 00:56:17.480
hair brush from his coat pocket, as well as a69000:56:17.519 --> 00:56:21.519
black comb and toothpaste. He then placed them above the69100:56:21.559 --> 00:56:27.000
bathroom sink. These were the only items he had on him.69200:56:27.719 --> 00:56:31.440
The housekeeper for the day, Mary Sooptik, was making her69300:56:31.519 --> 00:56:33.960
rounds at noon when she knocked on room one O69400:56:34.119 --> 00:56:39.039
four six. Most of the hotel guests weren't there during midday,69500:56:39.679 --> 00:56:43.360
so she was surprised when Roland opened the door. She69600:56:43.440 --> 00:56:47.320
said she could come back later, but Roland insisted she'd69700:56:47.480 --> 00:56:51.599
just go ahead. Once she was in the room, Roland69800:56:51.639 --> 00:56:54.119
asked her to not lock the door, as he was69900:56:54.159 --> 00:56:58.039
expecting a friend. In a few minutes, Mary noticed that70000:56:58.119 --> 00:57:01.440
all the shades were completely closed and the only source70100:57:01.480 --> 00:57:04.559
of light in the room was the dim lamp on70200:57:04.679 --> 00:57:08.440
the desk. Mary told the police that his face showed70300:57:08.480 --> 00:57:14.440
anxiety and uneasiness. While Mary was cleaning, Roland put on70400:57:14.559 --> 00:57:18.159
his coat, brushed his hair in the bathroom, and then left.70500:57:19.159 --> 00:57:22.000
He reminded her to still leave the door unlocked for70600:57:22.079 --> 00:57:25.719
the friend he was expecting. Mary would return to the70700:57:25.800 --> 00:57:29.440
room several times over the next few days, and each70800:57:29.480 --> 00:57:36.960
time she did, Roland's behavior grew stranger. Mary finished, and70900:57:37.039 --> 00:57:41.079
as she continued working throughout the hotel. She didn't see Roland,71000:57:42.000 --> 00:57:45.039
but at four p m. She stopped by room one71100:57:45.039 --> 00:57:48.960
O four six to give him fresh towels. The door71200:57:49.039 --> 00:57:52.760
was unlocked just as she left it, but the room71300:57:52.920 --> 00:57:57.760
was now completely dark. She could see from the light71400:57:57.840 --> 00:58:00.960
in the hallway, though, that Roland was lying across the bed,71500:58:01.639 --> 00:58:05.400
completely dressed. She also noticed a note on the desk71600:58:05.480 --> 00:58:09.880
that read, don I will be back in fifteen minutes. Wait.71700:58:11.039 --> 00:58:14.800
The following morning, on January third, Mary went to room71800:58:14.840 --> 00:58:18.119
one O four six at around ten thirty am to clean.71900:58:19.079 --> 00:58:22.280
She assumed Roland was checked out, so she used her72000:58:22.320 --> 00:58:25.639
master key to unlock the door that was now locked.72100:58:26.039 --> 00:58:29.400
When she entered, she found Roland sitting in the dark.72200:58:31.159 --> 00:58:34.960
This is when she realized that someone else had locked72300:58:34.960 --> 00:58:39.559
his door from the outside. Before she would say anything72400:58:39.639 --> 00:58:45.159
to him, the phone rang. Roland answered and responded to72500:58:45.199 --> 00:58:49.079
the caller, No, don I don't want to eat. I'm72600:58:49.119 --> 00:58:53.880
not hungry. I just had breakfast, And then after a moment,72700:58:53.960 --> 00:58:59.039
he replied again, no, I am not hungry. After he72800:58:59.119 --> 00:59:03.360
hung up the phone, Roland began interrogating Mary with questions72900:59:03.400 --> 00:59:06.920
about her did she work by herself on the entire floor,73000:59:07.760 --> 00:59:10.760
was the president a resident hotel where guests can live.73100:59:11.559 --> 00:59:15.760
Then he began complaining about the Mulebach Hotel's prices, as73200:59:15.760 --> 00:59:19.480
he did with the bell boy. Mary answered his questions73300:59:19.519 --> 00:59:22.480
and made small talk as she finished cleaning and gathering73400:59:22.519 --> 00:59:26.480
the soiled linens. Around four pm, she went back up73500:59:26.519 --> 00:59:29.480
to Room one O four six to deliver a fresh73600:59:29.519 --> 00:59:34.719
set of towels, but when she approached, she overheard two73700:59:34.719 --> 00:59:38.960
men talking. When she gently knocked on the door and73800:59:39.000 --> 00:59:42.559
announced that she had fresh towels, a loud and deep73900:59:42.639 --> 00:59:49.880
voice told her to leave, claiming they didn't need them.74000:59:50.280 --> 00:59:53.199
Mary found this odd because she knew they didn't have74100:59:53.320 --> 00:59:56.639
any towels, but she left the two men alone, not74200:59:56.800 --> 00:59:59.679
wanting to intrude on what sounded like a very private74300:59:59.679 --> 01:00:04.480
compan cosation. That same afternoon, the President Hotel checked in74401:00:04.599 --> 01:00:08.400
two more guests, whose statements would later contribute to the74501:00:08.480 --> 01:00:12.000
mystery of what happened in Room one O four six.74601:00:13.039 --> 01:00:16.840
Around six p m, thirty year old Gene Owen, who74701:00:16.920 --> 01:00:20.320
had no relation to Roland, arrived at the hotel and74801:00:20.440 --> 01:00:24.639
registered shortly thereafter. She had come from Lee's summit to74901:00:24.679 --> 01:00:27.559
do some shopping and meet up with her boyfriend, but75001:00:27.800 --> 01:00:30.480
she began feeling ill and decided to check into the75101:00:30.519 --> 01:00:34.920
hotel rather than driving the thirty minutes back home. Her75201:00:35.000 --> 01:00:38.199
room number was one O four eight and shared a75301:00:38.239 --> 01:00:42.559
wall with room one O four six. Her boyfriend visited75401:00:42.599 --> 01:00:47.119
her around eight pm and then left around ten later.75501:00:47.519 --> 01:00:50.000
Jean told police that during the night of her stay,75601:00:50.719 --> 01:00:53.599
she heard a lot of noise. She said she heard75701:00:53.679 --> 01:00:58.480
men and women talking loudly and swearing. She almost called75801:00:58.480 --> 01:01:02.599
the front desk, but decided against it. The noise continued75901:01:02.639 --> 01:01:06.639
throughout the night. The other guest was a regular at76001:01:06.679 --> 01:01:10.239
the President Hotel. One of the bell hops described her76101:01:10.280 --> 01:01:14.960
as a commercial woman who frequented the hotel with male patrons.76201:01:15.719 --> 01:01:20.320
Charles Blocker, the elevator operator on the graveyard shift, escorted76301:01:20.360 --> 01:01:22.679
the woman to the tenth floor around two a m.76401:01:23.679 --> 01:01:27.079
She made inquiries about room one O two six, but76501:01:27.159 --> 01:01:30.199
couldn't find the man she was looking for, despite her76601:01:30.239 --> 01:01:35.400
reporting that he was very prompt in his appointments. After76701:01:35.480 --> 01:01:38.480
searching for hours and calling Charles up and back down76801:01:38.519 --> 01:01:42.320
the elevator, she finally gave up and left the hotel.76901:01:43.639 --> 01:01:46.719
Could she have been looking for Roland in Room one77001:01:46.760 --> 01:01:53.280
O four to six on the tenth floor. The following morning, Randolph,77101:01:53.519 --> 01:01:57.000
the same bellhop who escorted Roland the first day, was77201:01:57.079 --> 01:02:01.599
called by the telephone operator reported that the telephone in77301:02:01.679 --> 01:02:04.559
Room one O four six had been off the hook77401:02:05.280 --> 01:02:09.000
for ten minutes. When Randolph went to check it out,77501:02:09.440 --> 01:02:12.719
he noticed the do not disturb sign hanging on the77601:02:12.760 --> 01:02:17.039
door knob. He knocked on the door and Roland told77701:02:17.079 --> 01:02:22.159
him to come in, but the door was locked and77801:02:22.280 --> 01:02:26.480
Randolph didn't have a master key. He told Roland this77901:02:27.079 --> 01:02:29.159
and yelled for him to put the phone back on78001:02:29.199 --> 01:02:33.719
the hook, but he got no response, assuming he was78101:02:33.800 --> 01:02:39.199
simply just drunk. Randolph left. However, an hour and a78201:02:39.280 --> 01:02:43.199
half later, the telephone operator told Randolph that the phone78301:02:43.239 --> 01:02:46.079
in Room one O four six was still off the78401:02:46.119 --> 01:02:52.039
hook and had been the entire time. This time, Randolph78501:02:52.079 --> 01:02:56.239
took a master key up with him. Roland was lying78601:02:56.320 --> 01:02:59.000
naked on the bed, and the bell boy assumed he78701:02:59.119 --> 01:03:03.400
was passed out, Not trying to invade his personal space78801:03:03.800 --> 01:03:06.760
or be in there any longer than needed, he simply78901:03:06.800 --> 01:03:09.960
put the phone back on the receiver and locked the79001:03:10.000 --> 01:03:14.360
door after he left. But an hour later, at around79101:03:14.400 --> 01:03:18.320
ten thirty a m. The phone was again off the hook.79201:03:19.000 --> 01:03:22.920
When Randolph went a third time to investigate. What he79301:03:23.000 --> 01:03:28.760
walked into shocked him to his very core. Just within79401:03:28.920 --> 01:03:32.079
two feet of the door. The man was curled over79501:03:32.119 --> 01:03:35.320
his knees and elbows, holding his head in his hands,79601:03:35.639 --> 01:03:40.000
and the room was now splattered with blood all over79701:03:40.039 --> 01:03:45.880
the walls, the bed, and the bathroom. He immediately left79801:03:45.920 --> 01:03:48.119
the room, and his manager hurried to the room in79901:03:48.159 --> 01:03:52.360
his wake, but could barely open the door. Now Roland80001:03:52.400 --> 01:03:57.320
had collapsed on the other side. Police arrived to investigate80101:03:57.360 --> 01:04:00.119
and saw that the man had been restrained with cord80201:04:00.119 --> 01:04:04.920
wrapped around his neck, his wrists, and his ankles. It80301:04:05.039 --> 01:04:09.239
was a clear sign of torture as he had multiple80401:04:09.320 --> 01:04:12.960
knife wounds bleeding in his chest just over his heart.80501:04:13.639 --> 01:04:16.480
The man's skull had been fractured on the right side,80601:04:16.679 --> 01:04:21.079
and he was struck forcibly more than once, bruising braided80701:04:21.119 --> 01:04:25.280
his neck, suggesting strangulation was used as one of the80801:04:25.360 --> 01:04:31.920
many methods of torture. But Roland was still semi conscious,80901:04:31.960 --> 01:04:35.199
so Detective Ira Johnson asked who had been in the81001:04:35.280 --> 01:04:42.119
room with him. Roland replied nobody. After being asked how81101:04:42.159 --> 01:04:47.519
this happened, he said, I fell against the bathtub. They81201:04:47.599 --> 01:04:50.800
asked if he attempted to commit suicide, to which he81301:04:50.880 --> 01:04:56.480
mumbled no before falling unconscious. After he was rushed to81401:04:56.519 --> 01:05:02.400
the hospital, investigators noticed the blood on his body was dry,81501:05:02.440 --> 01:05:06.559
indicating the stabbing and cutting would have taken place well before.81601:05:06.599 --> 01:05:10.159
The bellboy went to room one O four six at81701:05:10.199 --> 01:05:13.400
seven in the morning, and when they searched the room,81801:05:14.320 --> 01:05:18.599
no clothes were found anywhere. The black coat he'd arrived81901:05:18.639 --> 01:05:23.440
in was gone, There was no shirt, no pants, and82001:05:23.480 --> 01:05:27.159
no socks or shoes. The closest thing to clothing was82101:05:27.199 --> 01:05:31.880
the label from a necktie. Also missing from the room82201:05:31.920 --> 01:05:37.280
were the toiletries, soap, shampoo, and towels, and anything that82301:05:37.280 --> 01:05:41.119
could have been the weapon was also nowhere to be found. This,82401:05:41.239 --> 01:05:44.679
along with Roland being bound by cord, set aside the82501:05:44.760 --> 01:05:49.199
possibility of suicide. The only things in the room were82601:05:49.239 --> 01:05:53.880
two empty water glasses, an unlit cigarette, a hairpin, a82701:05:53.920 --> 01:06:00.960
safety pin, and a bottle of diluted sulfuric acid. One82801:06:00.960 --> 01:06:04.119
of the glasses had a broken piece missing, and the82901:06:04.159 --> 01:06:10.119
other had four small fingerprints, possibly from a woman. The83001:06:10.199 --> 01:06:15.119
hotel guests were all questioned, but nothing was resolved. Since83101:06:15.199 --> 01:06:19.159
Roland had listed his hometown as Los Angeles. The detectives83201:06:19.199 --> 01:06:22.119
reached out to the LA Police, but there were no83301:06:22.320 --> 01:06:27.840
records of a Roland t Owen, and after finding nothing83401:06:27.880 --> 01:06:31.239
about him, they were beginning to think that a Roland83501:06:31.320 --> 01:06:37.199
t Owen did not exist. Tragically, they weren't able to83601:06:37.239 --> 01:06:40.519
speak to him because he had died from his injuries83701:06:40.639 --> 01:06:45.960
just after midnight on the fifth of January. A possible83801:06:46.039 --> 01:06:49.400
sighting of Roland on the night of January third was investigated,83901:06:49.400 --> 01:06:56.400
but eventually ruled out. One lead seemed promising after speaking84001:06:56.440 --> 01:06:59.880
to the staff about Roland complaining about the neighboring hotel's price.84101:07:00.000 --> 01:07:04.320
As detectives checked the register in the Mulebach Hotel and84201:07:04.400 --> 01:07:07.840
didn't find a Roland t Owen, but the front desk84301:07:08.000 --> 01:07:11.159
did recognize the man as staying in the hotel the84401:07:11.239 --> 01:07:14.679
night before he went to the President. His home address84501:07:14.800 --> 01:07:18.280
was also listed as Los Angeles, but the name he84601:07:18.400 --> 01:07:25.360
used was Eugenie K. Scott. Yet, after searching for this man,84701:07:25.719 --> 01:07:29.840
they realized this was just another false name, and after84801:07:29.920 --> 01:07:34.639
another name, Cecil Werner, arose through the search, the police84901:07:34.639 --> 01:07:37.679
were beginning to wonder if they would ever identify the85001:07:37.800 --> 01:07:42.000
John Doe. An announcement was made in the papers that85101:07:42.039 --> 01:07:45.000
the man who claimed to be Roland t Owen would85201:07:45.039 --> 01:07:49.880
be buried. Later, the funeral home received an envelope containing85301:07:50.000 --> 01:07:54.760
cash from an anonymous sender. The cash was just enough85401:07:54.760 --> 01:07:58.679
to pay for the funeral expenses and the burial. Along85501:07:58.760 --> 01:08:02.320
with this was a floral trie to Roland and a85601:08:02.400 --> 01:08:10.079
card that read Love Forever Louise. Even after this mysterious donation,85701:08:10.960 --> 01:08:15.840
the case went extremely cold. That is until two years later,85801:08:16.119 --> 01:08:18.560
when the Kansas City Police received a letter from a85901:08:18.600 --> 01:08:23.560
woman named Ruby Ogletree. She claimed a friend of hers86001:08:23.600 --> 01:08:26.359
saw the picture of Roland t Owen in a newspaper86101:08:26.640 --> 01:08:31.399
along with the description of the bizarre murder. When Ruby86201:08:31.439 --> 01:08:36.920
saw the picture, her heart sank. She positively identified the86301:08:36.960 --> 01:08:40.399
scars and other features and claimed he was her seventeen86401:08:40.439 --> 01:08:46.079
year old son and his real name was Artemis Ogletree.86501:08:46.680 --> 01:08:51.000
The detectives expected this lead to flourish new evidence, but86601:08:51.199 --> 01:08:54.279
it ended up leaving them with more questions than they86701:08:54.319 --> 01:08:58.720
had before. Artemis left home in nineteen thirty four to86801:08:58.840 --> 01:09:03.560
travel America and initially would pen handwritten letters to his mother,86901:09:04.399 --> 01:09:08.239
but in nineteen thirty five, Ruby began receiving letters from87001:09:08.279 --> 01:09:12.840
a typewriter after Artemis's murder, three letters were sent to87101:09:12.880 --> 01:09:17.000
her from some one claiming to be him. The sender87201:09:17.000 --> 01:09:19.600
of the letters also claimed he was leaving the United87301:09:19.640 --> 01:09:25.279
States and was off to Egypt in nineteen thirty six.87401:09:25.399 --> 01:09:28.960
Ruby tried locating him through the US consul in Cairo, Egypt,87501:09:29.359 --> 01:09:32.319
but they weren't able to confirm that an Artemis Ogletree87601:09:32.720 --> 01:09:36.840
had ever traveled there. Detectives were able to find out87701:09:36.880 --> 01:09:39.560
that Artemis had shared a room with another man in87801:09:39.600 --> 01:09:44.359
a different hotel in Kansas City some time before his murder.87901:09:45.039 --> 01:09:48.520
They wondered if this man was the Don Artemis spoke88001:09:48.600 --> 01:09:51.760
of and referred to in his note, and if Don88101:09:51.920 --> 01:09:54.960
was the rough voiced man who told Mary Sooptik through88201:09:55.000 --> 01:09:57.920
the locker door of Room one O four six that88301:09:58.000 --> 01:10:02.079
they didn't need any towels. The strange murder of now88401:10:02.279 --> 01:10:08.520
Artemis Ogletree leaves endless room for theories and speculation. A88501:10:08.600 --> 01:10:11.960
major thread in the case is the involvement of Don.88601:10:12.760 --> 01:10:16.680
It's believed the mysterious man beat and tortured Artemis to88701:10:16.800 --> 01:10:20.520
death in Room one O four six. But how did88801:10:20.560 --> 01:10:23.840
no one in the hotel see Don or hear such88901:10:24.239 --> 01:10:29.479
violence taking place? Many also believed Don did not act alone.89001:10:30.000 --> 01:10:33.439
On the night of the murder. The elevator operator Charles89101:10:33.479 --> 01:10:38.000
Blocker claimed the commercial woman was attempting to find the89201:10:38.039 --> 01:10:41.479
man and was looking all night. Could she have been89301:10:41.600 --> 01:10:47.199
somehow connected to Artemis? This theory is also backed by89401:10:47.199 --> 01:10:50.800
the four small finger prints found on the broken glass89501:10:50.880 --> 01:10:55.279
in the room. Additionally, the guest Gene Owen, who stayed89601:10:55.279 --> 01:10:57.960
in Room one O four eight, claimed to hear the89701:10:58.000 --> 01:11:02.439
loud voices of both a man and a woman. Although89801:11:02.439 --> 01:11:05.520
the police were able to identify their John Doe, this89901:11:05.720 --> 01:11:10.239
case still remains a baffling mystery, and everyone is still90001:11:10.279 --> 01:11:15.439
asking the same questions. Why was Artemis killed and by who?90101:11:16.479 --> 01:11:20.359
What exactly went on in Room one O four six90201:11:20.439 --> 01:11:24.439
that night? Who was Don and who was the anonymous90301:11:24.439 --> 01:11:28.680
donor Louise? Could she have been the woman whose voice90401:11:29.279 --> 01:11:33.920
was heard? When Artemis's mother Ruby watched as her seventeen90501:11:33.960 --> 01:11:36.520
year old son left and went to travel the country,90601:11:36.840 --> 01:11:40.279
she wasn't aware he would become entangled in one of90701:11:40.319 --> 01:11:45.119
the twentieth century's most peculiar crimes, a crime that remains90801:11:45.239 --> 01:11:50.760
unsolved eighty seven years later. The Mystery of Room one90901:11:50.800 --> 01:12:05.079
O four six. The history of chain letters, share or die.91001:12:05.279 --> 01:12:10.239
This message has been cursed. Once you open it, you91101:12:10.359 --> 01:12:14.520
must send it. Forward this to at least ten of91201:12:14.560 --> 01:12:18.920
your friends for good fortune. These are just a few91301:12:18.960 --> 01:12:24.000
of the messages you've likely received or scrolled past online.91401:12:24.039 --> 01:12:27.920
They are vastly common and come in various topics, with91501:12:28.039 --> 01:12:31.479
either of the two specific incentives too good to be91601:12:31.560 --> 01:12:38.359
true results or tremendously horrific consequences, and nothing in between.91701:12:39.279 --> 01:12:42.520
As you're hearing this, you're likely thinking you would never91801:12:42.680 --> 01:12:48.319
fall victim to such ridiculous messages. However, there's a reason91901:12:48.479 --> 01:12:54.199
you still see them today. People are continuing to forward them.92001:12:55.000 --> 01:12:58.720
These fall into the categories of people in desperate need92101:12:58.800 --> 01:13:04.079
of hope and prosperity, those who are easily persuaded and credulous,92201:13:04.439 --> 01:13:09.119
or those who think to themselves might as well, what92301:13:09.199 --> 01:13:13.960
could it hurt? These spam messages are more commonly referred92401:13:14.000 --> 01:13:18.199
to as chain letters, and though it might seem as92501:13:18.239 --> 01:13:22.840
if the Internet fabricated them, it's believed they began hundreds92601:13:22.880 --> 01:13:28.239
of years ago, hence the word letters. When it comes92701:13:28.279 --> 01:13:32.079
to the origin of the chain letter, many historians place92801:13:32.159 --> 01:13:35.159
it near the end of the first century, over two92901:13:35.279 --> 01:13:39.399
thousand years ago. It's believed the letter came from no93001:13:39.560 --> 01:13:44.960
less a person than Jesus Christ himself in heaven. Fifty93101:13:44.960 --> 01:13:48.319
five years after he had been resurrected and sent to heaven,93201:13:48.359 --> 01:13:52.359
a young boy found a letter beneath a rock. The93301:13:52.479 --> 01:13:56.119
letter was then copied and circulated for hundreds of years93401:13:56.159 --> 01:14:02.840
to follow, bearing the same strange warn He that copieth93501:14:02.960 --> 01:14:07.039
this letter shall be blessed of me. He that does93601:14:07.079 --> 01:14:12.039
not shall be cursed. Whether or not the letter actually93701:14:12.119 --> 01:14:15.760
came from Jesus Christ in heaven, it grabbed people's attention.93801:14:16.520 --> 01:14:19.880
Copies of the letter survive from as early as seventeen93901:14:20.039 --> 01:14:25.439
ninety five, proving that chain letters tug at people's superstitions94001:14:25.479 --> 01:14:30.920
and innate curiosity. The chance of receiving awful luck, being cursed,94101:14:31.000 --> 01:14:35.359
or even dying isn't worth the risk. Copying a letter94201:14:35.439 --> 01:14:40.560
settles superstitious minds. If there's a possibility of prosperity or94301:14:40.680 --> 01:14:46.039
religious enlightenment just by forwarding a message, humans are all94401:14:46.079 --> 01:14:51.079
for it. In the year eighteen eighty eight, chain letters resurfaced.94501:14:51.720 --> 01:14:56.119
A Methodist academy for women missionaries was struggling to financially94601:14:56.159 --> 01:14:59.880
support the business. They were up to their eyeballs in debt.94701:15:00.680 --> 01:15:04.560
The group leaders prayed for assistance from God, but they94801:15:04.600 --> 01:15:09.079
also knew they were desperate to try anything. A woman94901:15:09.159 --> 01:15:12.119
had heard of their troubles and offered a possible solution.95001:15:13.119 --> 01:15:17.279
If they could arrange a chain letter asking for small donations,95101:15:17.720 --> 01:15:22.000
they could quickly dig their way out of debt. Lucy Meyer,95201:15:22.319 --> 01:15:26.199
the head of the congregation, took this advice earnestly and95301:15:26.279 --> 01:15:30.039
created a letter that contained a solicitation to send just95401:15:30.159 --> 01:15:33.319
one dime and then send a copy of the letter95501:15:33.840 --> 01:15:37.479
to three friends. The goal was that the recipients would95601:15:37.520 --> 01:15:42.239
continue this chain and the dimes would quickly multiply. Lucy95701:15:42.319 --> 01:15:45.399
mailed off one thousand, five hundred copies of the letter95801:15:45.960 --> 01:15:50.319
and patiently waited, Likely doubtful of the scheme, she was95901:15:50.359 --> 01:15:55.600
surprised when responses began pouring in. Through the donations, the96001:15:55.640 --> 01:16:01.359
academy eventually raised six thousand dollars, with many recipients sending96101:16:01.520 --> 01:16:06.159
much more than a dime. Six thousand dollars may seem96201:16:06.279 --> 01:16:11.119
like a reasonable amount of money, however, when adjusted for inflation,96301:16:11.800 --> 01:16:15.680
that would be roughly one hundred and seventy four thousand dollars.96401:16:16.600 --> 01:16:20.520
Many others also used the letter as inspiration to join96501:16:20.600 --> 01:16:26.960
the missionaries. The chain letters seemed to be a huge success. However,96601:16:27.720 --> 01:16:33.479
a few complained of being targeted numerous times. They felt exasperated,96701:16:33.880 --> 01:16:37.840
and rather than discarding the letters, they wrote back, criticizing96801:16:37.880 --> 01:16:41.840
the ordeal and even making accusations that the Academy seemed96901:16:41.840 --> 01:16:47.079
to have an abundance of money already. The Missionaries named97001:16:47.119 --> 01:16:52.279
the chain letter a peripatetic contribution box, like a donation97101:16:52.479 --> 01:16:56.199
bin or a postal hat passing. They quickly grew in97201:16:56.319 --> 01:17:01.880
popularity in hundreds of other organizations and businesses began using them.97301:17:02.199 --> 01:17:05.880
The contribution box was seized upon in Britain that same year.97401:17:06.239 --> 01:17:09.720
In eighteen eighty eight, as a weapon against the infamous97501:17:09.920 --> 01:17:15.560
Jack the Ripper. The unknown assailant was terrorizing London, specifically97601:17:15.640 --> 01:17:21.439
targeting and brutally murdering prostitutes in the impoverished district of Whitechapel.97701:17:22.279 --> 01:17:25.560
The area offered a breeding ground for violent crimes and97801:17:25.640 --> 01:17:30.199
poor behavioral habits. In November of eighteen eighty eight, a97901:17:30.279 --> 01:17:35.319
woman named Missus Campbell oversaw a snowball collection to aid98001:17:35.399 --> 01:17:38.760
the Bishop of Bedford in funding a home for destitute98101:17:38.760 --> 01:17:43.760
women in Whitechapel. The chain letter requested donations, along with98201:17:43.840 --> 01:17:47.960
writing two copies, then adding your name and address at98301:17:47.960 --> 01:17:50.800
the end of each. The three letters were to be98401:17:50.880 --> 01:17:55.760
mailed to Missus Campbell Brookvilla, Bedford until there were fourteen98501:17:55.880 --> 01:18:00.800
names and addresses listed. If anyone couldn't continue knew the chain,98601:18:01.479 --> 01:18:04.399
they were asked to mail the letter to their returned98701:18:04.479 --> 01:18:07.960
letter office so they knew where the chain had been broken.98801:18:08.640 --> 01:18:12.199
If the instructions were followed, four hundred pounds would have98901:18:12.239 --> 01:18:17.640
been collected. However, early in the sequence, an ingenious lady99001:18:17.760 --> 01:18:20.960
accidentally changed the number of times for it to multiply,99101:18:21.239 --> 01:18:26.800
from fourteen to one hundred and forty, then another changed99201:18:26.840 --> 01:18:30.640
it from one hundred and forty to one thousand, four hundred,99301:18:31.399 --> 01:18:36.520
then to fourteen thousand, rather than the abundance of money99401:18:36.520 --> 01:18:41.239
going solely to Missus Campbell, though many other recipients accidentally99501:18:41.239 --> 01:18:44.159
mailed the letters to the Bishop of Brighton and the99601:18:44.159 --> 01:18:49.279
Bishop of Bradford instead of Bedford. Missus Campbell left the99701:18:49.359 --> 01:18:52.800
area for Scotland, but the letters continued to follow her.99801:18:53.199 --> 01:18:56.000
As late as April of eighteen eighty nine, she was99901:18:56.039 --> 01:19:01.520
receiving sixteen thousand letters a week. Messages were printed in100001:19:01.600 --> 01:19:08.359
newspapers asking to stop the flow. However, it only continued snowballing.100101:19:09.359 --> 01:19:12.560
A new variant arose, with doctor Campbell from the Bishop100201:19:12.600 --> 01:19:17.920
of Banger, receiving thousands of donations. Meanwhile, Missus Campbell was100301:19:17.960 --> 01:19:21.960
also receiving an overwhelming amount of letters from people wanting100401:19:22.000 --> 01:19:26.199
to know if the appeal was genuine or just a scam.100501:19:26.560 --> 01:19:30.079
Many other attempts were made to stop the snowball of letters,100601:19:30.680 --> 01:19:35.479
but it's unclear when it truly ended. Chain letter fundraising100701:19:35.600 --> 01:19:38.439
was used for an array of things in the eighteen nineties,100801:19:38.439 --> 01:19:41.840
including to raise money for a bicycle path in Michigan.100901:19:42.720 --> 01:19:46.039
In eighteen ninety eight, the New York World newspaper printed101001:19:46.119 --> 01:19:49.079
chain letter forms to raise money for a Spanish American101101:19:49.119 --> 01:19:53.399
War soldier's memorial. It read, do not break the chain,101201:19:53.640 --> 01:19:56.239
which will result in honoring the memory of the men101301:19:56.279 --> 01:20:01.000
who sacrificed their lives. Chain letters had their own incredibly101401:20:01.039 --> 01:20:04.119
popular and soon caught the eye of a con man101501:20:04.479 --> 01:20:09.520
who used them for a fictitious charity case in Las Vegas. Soon,101601:20:10.159 --> 01:20:13.680
the growth of chain letters with a pyramid scheme payment developed.101701:20:14.119 --> 01:20:18.760
Recipients were asked to mail dimes to previous senders removing101801:20:18.840 --> 01:20:22.760
the top name and adding theirs to the bottom chalked101901:20:22.840 --> 01:20:27.600
up as a get rich quick deal. After these circulated102001:20:27.640 --> 01:20:31.159
throughout the US and Great Britain, the US Postal Service102101:20:31.199 --> 01:20:35.000
had seen enough they declared the dime letter to be102201:20:35.119 --> 01:20:40.079
a violation of lottery laws. Chain letters never went away,102301:20:40.199 --> 01:20:43.960
though during World War One they were used by pro102401:20:44.119 --> 01:20:49.399
German Americans to send a substantial sum to Field Marshal Hindenburg.102501:20:50.119 --> 01:20:53.199
In nineteen seventeen, The New York Times reported them as102601:20:53.279 --> 01:20:57.880
being a German plot to clog the United States mails.102701:20:58.720 --> 01:21:01.920
The most devious scheme was the Circle of Gold chain102801:21:02.039 --> 01:21:05.279
letter in nineteen seventy eight. It began in the San102901:21:05.319 --> 01:21:09.800
Francisco Bay area and completed its own circle around the country.103001:21:10.600 --> 01:21:14.439
Unlike the other letters, and to avoid postal enforcements, it103101:21:14.520 --> 01:21:18.720
was passed around hand to hand at parties or small groups.103201:21:19.319 --> 01:21:22.000
The only time the postal service was used was when103301:21:22.039 --> 01:21:25.960
members would send the money to the top name. As103401:21:26.000 --> 01:21:29.600
a participant, one would put up one hundred dollars, then103501:21:29.680 --> 01:21:32.920
would pay the seller fifty dollars and mail the other103601:21:33.039 --> 01:21:35.359
fifty dollars to the top name on the list of103701:21:35.439 --> 01:21:39.279
twelve in the letter. After this, the participant would put103801:21:39.279 --> 01:21:41.960
their name at the bottom of the list and sell103901:21:42.000 --> 01:21:44.479
the letter to someone else who agreed to the same104001:21:44.640 --> 01:21:49.039
financial transaction. Some people were reported to have received up104101:21:49.079 --> 01:21:53.039
to thirty thousand dollars, while others received no money and104201:21:53.079 --> 01:21:56.359
were one hundred dollars in the hole. It circled the104301:21:56.399 --> 01:21:59.880
country from San Francisco to New York City, down south104401:22:00.039 --> 01:22:04.279
in North Carolina, before heading back west towards Texas and104501:22:04.359 --> 01:22:09.479
then California. It was even reported to have landed in Hawaii,104601:22:09.960 --> 01:22:13.760
all through hand deliveries. The originators of the Circle of104701:22:13.840 --> 01:22:18.800
Gold scheme were never prosecuted. While that chain letter system104801:22:18.880 --> 01:22:22.079
traveled the country, it didn't quite beat the craze of104901:22:22.199 --> 01:22:26.760
nineteen thirty five. After the Great Depression, Americans reverted to105001:22:26.800 --> 01:22:32.119
the fascination with the dime letters. Springfield, Missourians created a105101:22:32.159 --> 01:22:36.039
plan of chain letter stores. Beauty shops sold the letters105201:22:36.079 --> 01:22:40.079
to their customers while administering facials and haircuts. A few105301:22:40.159 --> 01:22:44.239
residents in Springfield even attempted a drunk chain, doubling their105401:22:44.279 --> 01:22:47.199
crowd in size with each round of high balls at105501:22:47.239 --> 01:22:51.239
a new bar. The originators hazily tried to figure out105601:22:51.319 --> 01:22:53.960
how long it would take to get the entire city105701:22:54.000 --> 01:22:58.640
of Springfield drunk in the end, though they all passed105801:22:58.680 --> 01:23:03.600
out before complete reading their calculations. A few weeks later,105901:23:03.920 --> 01:23:07.520
the chain letter market crashed and chain letter brokers fled106001:23:07.600 --> 01:23:12.359
town with thousands of dollars. A Springfield newspaper wrote, sad106101:23:12.439 --> 01:23:15.079
faced men and women walked around in a daze tonight,106201:23:15.479 --> 01:23:19.279
seeking vainly for someone to buy their chain letters. In106301:23:19.399 --> 01:23:22.560
July of nineteen thirty five, the US Postal Service was106401:23:22.640 --> 01:23:26.399
left between two million to three million letters in the106501:23:26.439 --> 01:23:31.159
dead letter offices. In the nineteen nineties, just before email106601:23:31.279 --> 01:23:34.399
and the Internet replaced physical letters, one of the most106701:23:34.439 --> 01:23:39.119
bizarre chain letters surfaced from an unknown source. It stated,106801:23:40.039 --> 01:23:43.600
send one pair of pretty underwear of your choice to106901:23:43.720 --> 01:23:47.000
the person listed below, and send a copy of this107001:23:47.199 --> 01:23:50.920
letter to six friends. If you can't do this in107101:23:51.039 --> 01:23:55.000
seven days, please notify me because it isn't fair to107201:23:55.039 --> 01:23:59.439
those who have participated. You will receive thirty six pairs107301:24:00.000 --> 01:24:05.399
of pretty panties. Although this seemed outlandish, the circulation of107401:24:05.439 --> 01:24:10.119
this chain thrived. The Baltimore Sun reported several happy enrollees107501:24:10.319 --> 01:24:15.720
who were mailed many, many pairs of underwear every week. Today,107601:24:16.039 --> 01:24:18.880
chain letters are rarely sent through the mail and are107701:24:18.920 --> 01:24:24.239
often referred to as chain emails or spam messages. However,107801:24:24.760 --> 01:24:28.279
they are much more common today due to the unlimited107901:24:28.359 --> 01:24:33.399
chain letter resources and unlimited mailbox space. They're sent to108001:24:33.479 --> 01:24:36.560
a vast number of people and many times are just108101:24:36.800 --> 01:24:41.319
used to amuse recipients. Late in the twentieth century, emails108201:24:41.359 --> 01:24:44.720
were the go to for chain letters, but throughout the108301:24:44.840 --> 01:24:50.560
years it's changed from emails to MySpace, to Facebook and108401:24:50.640 --> 01:24:54.720
many other platforms. Many people who create them are just108501:24:54.840 --> 01:24:58.840
looking for likes, comments, and reshares on their social media108601:24:59.279 --> 01:25:04.760
to gain law larger followings. However, con artists lurk behind108701:25:04.840 --> 01:25:10.319
the scenes, tugging at people's morality and trusting personalities. Spammers108801:25:10.359 --> 01:25:13.880
may use chain letters to collect new email addresses to108901:25:13.960 --> 01:25:19.079
send advertisements for their products or services. Others are much worse,109001:25:19.439 --> 01:25:22.520
asking the recipient to donate money for a charity, but109101:25:23.199 --> 01:25:26.279
the money actually just ends up in the sender's accounts.109201:25:27.000 --> 01:25:30.479
Identity theft is also a great concern among chain letters.109301:25:30.880 --> 01:25:33.880
People's personal data can be taken and used to perform109401:25:33.960 --> 01:25:39.239
illicit actions on the recipient's behalfs. Both internet and physical109501:25:39.279 --> 01:25:43.800
security can also be threatened, so why do people fall109601:25:43.880 --> 01:25:48.439
for chain letters. It's because they leverage human emotions and109701:25:48.479 --> 01:25:53.840
empathy children needing money for expensive operations, petitions for a109801:25:53.880 --> 01:25:59.359
social cause, or any other charity cases. Monetary rewards are109901:25:59.399 --> 01:26:02.119
often used us to pique the interest of those who110001:26:02.119 --> 01:26:06.479
were in desperate need of financial help. Scammers lure them110101:26:06.520 --> 01:26:10.640
with get rich quickly pyramid schemes and promise certain amounts110201:26:10.680 --> 01:26:14.359
of money for each new recipient added to the chain.110301:26:15.239 --> 01:26:18.159
They also play into people's fear by warning them of110401:26:18.199 --> 01:26:22.239
a threat to their phones or computers, urging them to110501:26:22.359 --> 01:26:26.720
strengthen their Internet security. Or they can make you fear110601:26:27.159 --> 01:26:31.880
severe consequences by threatening bad luck and death if the110701:26:31.920 --> 01:26:37.239
recipient doesn't do as they say. They often contained testimonials110801:26:37.479 --> 01:26:40.600
that detailed the name of the past recipient who either110901:26:40.640 --> 01:26:44.720
followed the instructions and were met with great fortune, or111001:26:44.840 --> 01:26:48.560
didn't follow the instructions and were immediately struck by a111101:26:48.640 --> 01:26:54.159
bus or died in some horrific fashion. The original chain letter,111201:26:54.439 --> 01:26:58.039
dating back to the very first century, isn't far off111301:26:58.079 --> 01:27:01.760
from what we see online today. The original warning of111401:27:01.800 --> 01:27:05.039
a curse to those who do not copyeth and forward,111501:27:05.760 --> 01:27:09.880
and many chain letters, messages, and posts are still used111601:27:10.119 --> 01:27:16.239
for religious enlightenment and genuine, harmless prosperity. However, it's the111701:27:16.279 --> 01:27:20.159
perfect market for fraudsters and con artists to thrive in.111801:27:20.920 --> 01:27:24.119
You might not believe in being cursed or facing violent111901:27:24.199 --> 01:27:29.239
consequences if you don't abide and follow instructions, but almost112001:27:29.239 --> 01:27:33.439
everyone has shared a humorous chain post or simply shared112101:27:33.520 --> 01:27:38.079
thinking why not, or might as well? What could it hurt?112201:27:38.760 --> 01:27:44.399
Exasperating the hundreds of more recipients to follow, and perhaps112301:27:44.520 --> 01:27:55.960
leaving others to wonder what if. The nineteen eighty two112401:27:56.119 --> 01:28:02.479
murders at Corpsewood Manorville, Georgia, home to more than four112501:28:02.560 --> 01:28:07.119
thousand residents. Chattooga County is located near the Chattooga River112601:28:07.560 --> 01:28:11.119
and is about a two hour drive from the state's capital, Atlanta.112701:28:12.000 --> 01:28:16.359
Charles Scudder and his longtime partner Joseph Odom will soon112801:28:16.439 --> 01:28:20.279
construct the Corpsewood Manor on a forty acre plot of land,112901:28:20.680 --> 01:28:24.960
but the story starts much earlier than that. On October sixth,113001:28:25.119 --> 01:28:30.760
nineteen twenty six. Charles Scudder was born in Wawatosa, Wisconsin.113101:28:31.520 --> 01:28:36.560
He attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. There he met113201:28:36.600 --> 01:28:40.600
Helen Kilbourne Hayslette in college, and the two were soon113301:28:40.680 --> 01:28:46.800
married on September tenth, nineteen forty six, but they divorced113401:28:47.239 --> 01:28:52.840
soon after. Charles remarried Boratai Bunting, the daughter of British113501:28:52.840 --> 01:28:56.520
modernist poet Basel Bunting, a few years later in the113601:28:56.600 --> 01:29:00.279
nineteen fifties. The couple had four sons in an ended113701:29:00.359 --> 01:29:06.800
up getting a divorce. Charles Scudden went to Chicago's Loyola University.113801:29:07.319 --> 01:29:11.840
He became an associate professor for doctor Alexander Karchmar, a113901:29:11.920 --> 01:29:18.600
neuroscientist specializing in the pharmacology department. Doctor alex described Charles114001:29:18.840 --> 01:29:22.520
as being out of the ordinary. He had a pet monkey,114101:29:22.960 --> 01:29:27.039
and frequently dyed his hair various colors, such as purple.114201:29:27.920 --> 01:29:30.239
Charles had a love for playing the harp and was114301:29:30.279 --> 01:29:34.359
invited to play with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As owner114401:29:34.399 --> 01:29:37.680
of the nineteen o four mansion on West Adams Street114501:29:37.720 --> 01:29:42.359
in Chicago, Charles Scudder furnished the palatial estate with baroque114601:29:42.359 --> 01:29:46.680
furniture he purchased from the Chicago Theatre. Charles hires a114701:29:46.720 --> 01:29:51.319
man named Joseph Odom also known as Joey or Joe114801:29:51.640 --> 01:29:54.760
in nineteen fifty nine to help with the care of114901:29:54.800 --> 01:29:59.920
his four children. Joseph Odom was twelve years younger than Charles.115001:30:00.880 --> 01:30:03.560
Joey dropped out of school in the fifth grade, and115101:30:03.680 --> 01:30:07.640
he was known for his culinary skills. Joseph moved into115201:30:07.680 --> 01:30:11.359
the mansion with Charles, his four children, and two English115301:30:11.399 --> 01:30:16.159
Mastiff dogs in nineteen seventy six. Charles was growing weary115401:30:16.279 --> 01:30:19.720
of living a routine life. He was tired of working115501:30:19.760 --> 01:30:23.800
with students, the rush hour traffic, and his neighborhood. He115601:30:23.920 --> 01:30:27.039
was still mourning the loss of his youngest son, who115701:30:27.079 --> 01:30:31.600
had died in nineteen seventy Charles and Joseph both valued115801:30:31.640 --> 01:30:36.199
simplicity in life. They disliked city life's bustle and preferred115901:30:36.199 --> 01:30:39.560
to live off the grid. Charles Scudder writes about his116001:30:39.680 --> 01:30:42.920
perspective when he bought the house in a castle in116101:30:42.960 --> 01:30:46.520
the country. He claimed that after having a soul searching116201:30:46.600 --> 01:30:50.479
conversation with joe they decided they wanted to live somewhere116301:30:50.520 --> 01:30:54.880
with four seasons, no harsh cold winters, a plentiful supply116401:30:54.960 --> 01:30:58.920
of water, wood for heating and cooking, and their isolation,116501:30:59.359 --> 01:31:02.359
which was the most important thing of all. In the116601:31:02.399 --> 01:31:07.079
foothills of the Appellachians, Charles discovered forty acres of land116701:31:07.319 --> 01:31:11.439
that was surrounded by national forest. To acquire a sense116801:31:11.520 --> 01:31:14.680
of the area and take a look around, Charles traveled116901:31:14.680 --> 01:31:20.800
to Georgia. He said he saw hummingbirds, butterflies, great oaks, bobcats,117001:31:21.000 --> 01:31:24.359
and the rolling mountain woodland, and as he put it,117101:31:24.960 --> 01:31:30.000
I was hooked. In nineteen seventy six, on his fiftieth birthday,117201:31:30.520 --> 01:31:34.399
Charles resigned from his job. He then sold his property,117301:31:34.760 --> 01:31:38.880
gave away all of his electrical appliances, auctioned off all117401:31:38.960 --> 01:31:42.479
of his furniture and possessions, and hired a moving company117501:31:42.840 --> 01:31:45.920
to move the things he wanted to keep to Georgia.117601:31:46.960 --> 01:31:50.560
Charles wrote, then joe and I plus my two English117701:31:50.600 --> 01:31:55.439
mastiffs left for our kingdom. Charles describes the move by saying,117801:31:55.880 --> 01:31:58.560
cutting ties that have taken a lifetime to form is117901:31:58.640 --> 01:32:03.039
a draining experience, and throwing away professional security in all118001:32:03.079 --> 01:32:07.319
its opposed conveniences and luxuries is like losing a piece118101:32:07.359 --> 01:32:11.239
of oneself. But for me, the change was like crawling118201:32:11.239 --> 01:32:16.479
out of an old, outworn skin. Charles and Joey departed118301:32:16.560 --> 01:32:19.640
Chicago in the middle of a blizzard, got lost a118401:32:19.680 --> 01:32:22.960
few times on the way, and when they finally arrived118501:32:23.000 --> 01:32:28.399
at their destination, they weren't entirely sure where the property was.118601:32:29.239 --> 01:32:32.720
They were content with waiting the storm out. After the118701:32:32.800 --> 01:32:36.159
storm passed, they discovered the corpse of a horse on118801:32:36.199 --> 01:32:40.520
a logging road and decided to name it Dead Horse Road.118901:32:41.439 --> 01:32:45.640
Charles and Joey decided to call their new property Corpsewood119001:32:46.199 --> 01:32:50.239
after taking a look around and noticing the haunting tree.119101:32:50.479 --> 01:32:55.119
Forty five thousand bricks, three layers thick with a two119201:32:55.159 --> 01:32:58.880
inch wide air space between the layers for insulation, were119301:32:59.039 --> 01:33:03.800
used to build draining systems, and pipes for sinks were119401:33:03.840 --> 01:33:07.479
installed on the first floor. They soon had a kitchen,119501:33:08.000 --> 01:33:11.520
dining room, and a living room. Next year, they got119601:33:11.520 --> 01:33:14.560
a roof over the two upstairs bedrooms and built a119701:33:14.600 --> 01:33:18.159
three story chicken coop. The top floor of the coop119801:33:18.279 --> 01:33:21.640
was known as the Pink Room since it was completely119901:33:21.760 --> 01:33:25.760
pink and it was where they entertained guests. The first120001:33:25.800 --> 01:33:28.880
floor of the coop was for poultry and food storage.120101:33:29.319 --> 01:33:33.119
The second floor was for canned goods and their extensive120201:33:33.199 --> 01:33:39.119
pornography collection. Building the house took six years. Joey loved120301:33:39.119 --> 01:33:42.760
to cook and had a rose garden. They became friends120401:33:42.800 --> 01:33:45.439
with the locals, and Charles used the fruit that his120501:33:45.439 --> 01:33:50.359
neighbors gave him to make wine. Charles loved art, using120601:33:50.479 --> 01:33:53.600
stained glass and paintings. He would decorate the house with120701:33:53.680 --> 01:33:59.319
Satanic artifacts. He used stained glass to construct a Baphomet signal,120801:33:59.760 --> 01:34:03.880
the symbol of the Church of Satan. Pentagrams were painted120901:34:03.920 --> 01:34:07.319
on the jeep's doors. Charles claimed to be an atheist121001:34:07.359 --> 01:34:11.159
who had the same belief system as Anton LeVay, the121101:34:11.199 --> 01:34:15.680
founder of the Church of Satan and the religion Leveyan Satanism.121201:34:16.119 --> 01:34:20.119
Many people believed Charles was foretelling his own demise when121301:34:20.119 --> 01:34:23.239
he painted a self portrait in which he had five121401:34:23.319 --> 01:34:27.039
bullet holes in his head with duct tape over his mouth.121501:34:27.840 --> 01:34:31.479
Many visitors frequently got permission to hunt on their property,121601:34:31.920 --> 01:34:35.960
and many of them enjoyed the couple's hospitality and, of course,121701:34:36.479 --> 01:34:41.159
Charles's homemade wine. Kenneth Avery Brock was one of the121801:34:41.239 --> 01:34:44.960
hunters who felt Charles and Joey were extremely wealthy, when121901:34:45.000 --> 01:34:48.840
in fact, Charles claimed we live in a grand style122001:34:48.920 --> 01:34:52.199
on little over two hundred dollars a month about seven122101:34:52.279 --> 01:34:56.239
hundred and twenty dollars when adjusted for inflation in late122201:34:56.439 --> 01:35:00.359
nineteen eighty two, Kenneth Brock moved into a t trailer122301:35:00.479 --> 01:35:05.239
owned by Samuel West. Kenneth then told Tony about the122401:35:05.279 --> 01:35:11.199
wealthy queer devil worshippers. They made a plan to rob122501:35:11.319 --> 01:35:16.640
the couple. On the night of December twelfth, nineteen eighty two,122601:35:17.199 --> 01:35:20.960
Kenneth and Tony drove to Corpsewood Manor with a twenty122701:35:21.000 --> 01:35:25.319
two Remington rifle obtained from Kenneth's mother and made up122801:35:25.319 --> 01:35:29.359
a lie about going rabbit hunting. They picked up Joey Wells,122901:35:29.520 --> 01:35:34.880
Tony's nephew, and his date, Teresa Hudgens. They inhaled alcohol,123001:35:35.039 --> 01:35:40.119
paint thinner and glue known as a tutelou. When they arrived,123101:35:40.439 --> 01:35:43.399
Charles took them to the pink Room, where he gave123201:35:43.439 --> 01:35:46.680
them some of his homemade wine while Joey was cleaning123301:35:46.760 --> 01:35:50.760
up the place. Kenneth then supposedly went to sniff more123401:35:50.840 --> 01:35:55.159
two dlou, but in reality he went to get the rifle.123501:35:56.199 --> 01:36:00.720
Charles was drinking when Kenneth returned. When Charles saw the gun,123601:36:00.960 --> 01:36:04.880
he didn't take it seriously because he was drunk and123701:36:05.000 --> 01:36:09.640
said bang bang. He was then held at knife point123801:36:10.039 --> 01:36:14.000
and ordered to hand over his money. Teresa and Joey123901:36:14.119 --> 01:36:16.760
rushed to the car to try and start it, but124001:36:16.880 --> 01:36:21.560
it wouldn't. Kenneth entered the kitchen, shooting four times and124101:36:21.680 --> 01:36:25.680
killing Joey Odom. In addition, he killed the two English124201:36:25.720 --> 01:36:30.560
Mastiff dogs. Charles was taken into the house while being124301:36:30.640 --> 01:36:34.439
bound and gagged, and there he saw his dead partner.124401:36:35.199 --> 01:36:39.000
Kenneth then took Charles to the library, placed him in124501:36:39.039 --> 01:36:42.560
a chair, and removed the gag from his mouth. The124601:36:42.560 --> 01:36:46.560
final words of Charles Scudder were I asked for this.124701:36:47.920 --> 01:36:53.319
Then Tony West fired a close range shot at Charlie's head.124801:36:53.960 --> 01:36:57.800
He was then shot once again, sending his body toppling124901:36:57.840 --> 01:37:02.159
into the bookcase, and was shot three more times, also125001:37:02.239 --> 01:37:06.319
in the head, much like the self portrait he had created.125101:37:07.000 --> 01:37:11.079
They raided the residence for cash after the murders. They125201:37:11.159 --> 01:37:15.760
tried to lift Charles's gold encrusted harp, but they couldn't125301:37:16.239 --> 01:37:21.319
because it was misleadingly heavy. In Charles's black jeep, they125401:37:21.399 --> 01:37:26.760
left with coins, jewelry, silver candelabras, and a gold plated dagger.125501:37:27.720 --> 01:37:31.560
Two days later, the bodies of Charles and Joey were125601:37:31.640 --> 01:37:35.640
found when their friend Raymond Williams visited the house to125701:37:35.760 --> 01:37:40.079
let them know that a friend had passed away. When125801:37:40.159 --> 01:37:43.399
Raymond saw the bullet holes in the kitchen door, he125901:37:43.520 --> 01:37:46.840
made the decision to call the police instead of entering126001:37:46.920 --> 01:37:50.800
the house. That same day, Teresa came forward to the126101:37:50.800 --> 01:37:55.920
police and a man hunt began. Tony and Kenneth abandoned126201:37:55.960 --> 01:37:59.319
the black jeep in favor of a less noticeable vehicle.126301:38:00.079 --> 01:38:04.159
They stopped in Boneva, Mississippi, where they kidnapped Navy Lieutenant126401:38:04.239 --> 01:38:07.960
Kirby Phelps, tied him to a tree, and stole his car.126501:38:08.159 --> 01:38:11.439
While they were at a rest stop, Kirby Phelps was126601:38:11.479 --> 01:38:16.640
shot twice and killed by Tony West. They traveled to Austin, Texas,126701:38:16.960 --> 01:38:20.000
where they got into an argument over their strategy and126801:38:20.119 --> 01:38:25.479
parted ways. On December twentieth, Kenneth Brock turned himself in126901:38:25.479 --> 01:38:29.840
in Marietta, Georgia, and on Christmas Day, Tony West was127001:38:29.880 --> 01:38:35.800
taken into custody. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, police discovered two human skulls,127101:38:36.119 --> 01:38:39.880
three vials that were allegedly filled with LSD, a cult127201:38:39.920 --> 01:38:43.560
tools and a cult library, and a large collection of127301:38:43.600 --> 01:38:48.840
homosexual pornography. The Chattanooga County Sheriff's Office called Charles Scudder127401:38:48.880 --> 01:38:53.279
and Joey Odom devil worshippers. Due to the First Amendment,127501:38:53.640 --> 01:38:57.199
Sheriff Gary McConnell was unable to file charges against Charles127601:38:57.199 --> 01:39:01.319
Scudder and Joey Odom because of their behavior and beliefs.127701:39:01.680 --> 01:39:06.399
While the name Satanism may be quite misleading, modern practitioners127801:39:06.439 --> 01:39:10.319
do not worship or believe in the devil as understood127901:39:10.359 --> 01:39:14.199
in Christian mythology. When the trials started and the story128001:39:14.319 --> 01:39:17.520
was covered by the media, Charles and Joey were referred128101:39:17.520 --> 01:39:23.000
to as homosexual devil worshipers. The Satanic Panic, which was128201:39:23.079 --> 01:39:27.439
extremely prevalent in the nineteen eighties and nineteen nineties, turned128301:39:27.520 --> 01:39:32.039
them into targets. The term Satanic panic was used to128401:39:32.119 --> 01:39:36.479
characterize a belief that devil worshipers were abusing people through128501:39:36.600 --> 01:39:41.159
rituals all over the United States of America. The defense128601:39:41.199 --> 01:39:45.159
accused Charles Scudder of spiking his homemade wine with LSD128701:39:45.680 --> 01:39:48.479
so he could have oral sex with Kenneth and Tony.128801:39:49.279 --> 01:39:52.880
The wine was tested for LSD and other hallucinogens, but128901:39:53.000 --> 01:39:58.079
the results were negative. The defense then tried a different angle,129001:39:58.479 --> 01:40:02.359
claiming that Tony West would he was involuntarily intoxicated and129101:40:02.439 --> 01:40:06.079
that Charles was motivated to do so because he was129201:40:06.079 --> 01:40:10.960
a homosexual. According to the prosecution, Tony West admitted to129301:40:11.000 --> 01:40:14.640
a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent that he and Kenneth129401:40:14.680 --> 01:40:18.239
Brock had planned the murder and robbery a few days before.129501:40:18.920 --> 01:40:22.159
West also told the GBI agent that he wanted to129601:40:22.279 --> 01:40:26.239
murder Charles because Charles wanted to have oral sex with him.129701:40:26.600 --> 01:40:29.439
Tony West said, all I can say is they were129801:40:29.439 --> 01:40:32.279
devils and I killed them. That's how I feel about it.129901:40:32.880 --> 01:40:36.560
They got in contact with doctor Alex the professor at130001:40:36.560 --> 01:40:41.319
Loyola University who worked with Charles. He claimed that Charles130101:40:41.359 --> 01:40:44.359
did not use drugs of any kind, he wasn't a130201:40:44.399 --> 01:40:47.880
devil worshiper, and he would disapprove of drugs rather than130301:40:48.000 --> 01:40:51.800
use them. Many others felt that because of Charles and130401:40:51.920 --> 01:40:57.640
Joey's beliefs on certain things, their murders were justified. However,130501:40:57.880 --> 01:41:02.359
everyone regardless of moral or religious leanings, was outraged over130601:41:02.399 --> 01:41:07.000
the murder of Navy Lieutenant Kirby Phelps. After pleading guilty,130701:41:07.079 --> 01:41:11.600
Kenneth Brock was given three consecutive life sentences due to130801:41:11.640 --> 01:41:14.479
an error in the jury's gender makeup. The number they130901:41:14.520 --> 01:41:17.760
had on the jury for women was wrong. In that trial,131001:41:17.840 --> 01:41:21.239
Tony was originally sentenced to death, but because of the131101:41:21.279 --> 01:41:24.439
miscount he was given a second trial where he was131201:41:24.439 --> 01:41:28.399
found guilty of double murder and sentenced to life in prison.131301:41:29.199 --> 01:41:32.239
Kenneth Brock is serving his sentence at the Coffee Correctional131401:41:32.239 --> 01:41:35.960
Facility in Nichols, Georgia. At the Wilcox State Prison in131501:41:36.039 --> 01:41:40.520
Wilcox County, Georgia, Tony West is serving his life sentence.131601:41:41.680 --> 01:41:44.880
Joey Odom's ashes were scattered in the rose garden he131701:41:45.039 --> 01:41:49.000
cherished so much during a private funeral at Corpsewood Manor.131801:41:49.640 --> 01:41:53.479
Charles Scudder's ashes were transported by his sister to Wisconsin,131901:41:53.920 --> 01:41:57.640
where they buried him in the family plot. Charles's sons132001:41:57.720 --> 01:42:00.960
hired renowned defense a lawyer, Bobby l. Y Cook, a132101:42:01.079 --> 01:42:05.119
native of Somerville, Georgia, to represent their claim to the estate.132201:42:05.920 --> 01:42:09.920
Joey's sister claimed the estate because in Charles's will he132301:42:10.039 --> 01:42:14.560
left everything to Joey. Bobby Lee Cook took possession of132401:42:14.600 --> 01:42:17.920
the gold encrusted harp that Kenneth and Tony didn't take132501:42:18.239 --> 01:42:21.279
the night of the murders due to its heft. Bobby132601:42:21.359 --> 01:42:25.680
Lee Cook also has the statue of Mephistopheles. Bobby Lee132701:42:25.720 --> 01:42:28.800
Cook passed away in twenty twenty one at the age132801:42:28.800 --> 01:42:32.479
of ninety four after being a defense attorney for sixty132901:42:32.520 --> 01:42:38.039
five years. According to many stories, Andy Griffith's character of133001:42:38.079 --> 01:42:41.840
a Georgia lawyer in the TV show Mattlocke is inspired133101:42:41.880 --> 01:42:45.439
by the defense attorney Bobby Lee Cook. The Chicken Coop133201:42:45.520 --> 01:42:49.319
and Corpsewood Manor were destroyed in a fire January fifth,133301:42:49.439 --> 01:42:53.399
nineteen eighty three. Still today, a small part of the133401:42:53.479 --> 01:42:58.199
manor is standing. Many people who hear about this story133501:42:58.239 --> 01:43:02.800
and go to the location report feeling in eerie sadness133601:43:02.840 --> 01:43:10.159
and hearing gunshots, dogs barking, and Charles's dog Beelzebub's luminous133701:43:10.359 --> 01:43:14.239
eyes in the dark. People who took things from the133801:43:14.279 --> 01:43:17.960
house said they felt like they were being watched and133901:43:18.079 --> 01:43:23.000
had bad luck, believing the objects were cursed in some way.134001:43:24.680 --> 01:43:27.920
That is the story of the nineteen eighty two murders134101:43:27.920 --> 01:43:32.520
of Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom at their home Corpsewould Manner.134201:43:33.279 --> 01:43:36.319
Two men packed up and sold most of their life134301:43:36.359 --> 01:43:40.159
to live in isolation, and were then later killed because134401:43:40.199 --> 01:43:44.920
someone believed they had money and who following their deaths,134501:43:45.199 --> 01:43:48.319
were belittled in the media for their beliefs and their134601:43:48.399 --> 01:43:53.960
sexual orientation. Many individuals believed the killings were justified due134701:43:53.960 --> 01:43:58.119
to their unusual beliefs, while others believe it was just134801:43:58.199 --> 01:44:02.359
a botched robbery, and still yet others believe it was134901:44:02.399 --> 01:44:15.600
a hate crime. The Herrman family poltergeist case. In early135001:44:15.720 --> 01:44:19.960
February nineteen fifty eight, the peaceful routine of a suburban135101:44:20.039 --> 01:44:23.840
family in Seaford, Long Island was suddenly shattered by an135201:44:23.920 --> 01:44:29.199
invisible intruder. James and Lucille Herman lived with their two children,135301:44:29.960 --> 01:44:33.520
thirteen year old Lucille and twelve year old James Junior,135401:44:34.319 --> 01:44:38.079
in a typical ranch style house in a quiet neighborhood.135501:44:39.239 --> 01:44:44.800
On the afternoon of February third, nineteen fifty eight, strange135601:44:44.840 --> 01:44:49.359
noises rang out. As the Herman children returned from school.135701:44:50.159 --> 01:44:54.199
Lucille Herrman heard a rapid series of pops echoing through135801:44:54.239 --> 01:44:59.520
the house. Moments later, she discovered, to her astonishment that135901:44:59.600 --> 01:45:04.760
several sealed bottles in various rooms had inexplicably popped open,136001:45:05.319 --> 01:45:11.399
their caps scattered in contents spilled in the kitchen, bathroom, basement,136101:45:11.479 --> 01:45:18.560
and bedrooms. No. Two bottles were alike, holy water, starch, turpentine, shampoo,136201:45:19.039 --> 01:45:23.760
and other liquids all had burst open simultaneously. All the136301:45:23.800 --> 01:45:28.199
bottles in the house are blowing their tops. Missus Harman136401:45:28.319 --> 01:45:32.000
frantically told her husband over the phone that day six136501:45:32.119 --> 01:45:36.439
bottles with screw on caps, from rubbing alcohol to bleach136601:45:36.760 --> 01:45:41.039
to holy water, had opened on their own, ejecting their136701:45:41.079 --> 01:45:45.760
lids as if flung by some unseen force. The family136801:45:45.840 --> 01:45:49.399
cleaned up the odd mess in confusion. Since no one136901:45:49.520 --> 01:45:54.239
was hurt and no further disturbances occurred immediately, they initially137001:45:54.279 --> 01:46:00.560
wrote it off as a freak incident or a chemical coincidences. Herman,137101:46:00.720 --> 01:46:05.359
an airline employee with a logical mindset, theorized that perhaps137201:46:05.520 --> 01:46:10.279
unusual humidity or a chemical reaction had built up pressure137301:46:10.520 --> 01:46:14.640
in the containers. But to his puzzlement, all the bottles137401:46:14.640 --> 01:46:20.119
had secured twist caps, not loose corks. What natural process137501:46:20.640 --> 01:46:26.399
could unscrew them. Two uneventful days passed, lulling the Hermanns137601:46:26.439 --> 01:46:30.560
into thinking the episode was a one time fluke. Then,137701:46:30.720 --> 01:46:34.520
on February sixth, just as the children arrived home from school,137801:46:35.039 --> 01:46:40.680
the mysterious phenomenon recurred again. A half dozen household bottles137901:46:40.720 --> 01:46:46.279
abruptly popped their lids and spilled their contents in rapid succession.138001:46:47.039 --> 01:46:50.640
A bottle of nail polish, a container of rubbing alcohol,138101:46:50.920 --> 01:46:55.319
a detergent, a bottle of bleach, some starch, even the138201:46:55.359 --> 01:46:59.439
same holy water flask on missus Herman's dresser all suddenly138301:46:59.479 --> 01:47:04.239
sprang over in an almost identical replay of the initial incident.138401:47:05.239 --> 01:47:09.479
Startled and alarmed, the family began to realize something truly138501:47:09.600 --> 01:47:14.840
bizarre was happening in their home. When the bottle lids138601:47:14.960 --> 01:47:19.840
popped for a third time the following evening, Friday, February seven,138701:47:20.640 --> 01:47:25.920
James Hermann's initial skepticism gave way to suspicion. He began138801:47:26.039 --> 01:47:30.560
to eye his science loving son Jimmy, as a potential138901:47:30.600 --> 01:47:37.239
prankster behind these cap popping capers. Perhaps, he theorized the139001:47:37.319 --> 01:47:41.079
boy had secretly rigged the bottles with some chemical pellets139101:47:41.159 --> 01:47:45.239
or homemade trick to scare the family, timing the pops139201:47:45.279 --> 01:47:49.680
to coincide with his return from school. Determined to catch139301:47:49.760 --> 01:47:56.319
the culprit, the father spent that weekend quietly observing Jimmy's139401:47:56.520 --> 01:48:04.159
every move, searching for any evidence of tampering. On Sunday,139501:48:04.279 --> 01:48:10.000
February ninth, James Herman's watchfulness was rewarded, but not in139601:48:10.039 --> 01:48:13.840
the way he expected. That morning, as the family went139701:48:13.880 --> 01:48:20.479
about their routine, several caps abruptly popped off bottles of starch, turpentine,139801:48:20.760 --> 01:48:24.199
and holy water right in front of him, the bottles139901:48:24.319 --> 01:48:29.119
rocking on the shelves as their contents spewed out. Mister140001:48:29.199 --> 01:48:32.600
Herman had been keeping a close eye on Jimmy the140101:48:32.800 --> 01:48:37.439
entire time, and the boy was nowhere near these containers.140201:48:38.239 --> 01:48:42.199
How could the child have possibly engineered this from afar?140301:48:43.199 --> 01:48:46.840
Baffled and growing fearful, the father confronted his son in140401:48:46.920 --> 01:48:52.359
the bathroom, where Jimmy was calmly brushing his teeth. James140501:48:52.399 --> 01:48:56.800
Herman angrily accused the boy of staging an elaborate hoax.140601:48:57.680 --> 01:49:01.319
But before Jimmy could protest too much much, two more140701:49:01.399 --> 01:49:04.960
bottles moved on their own, as if to testify to140801:49:05.000 --> 01:49:10.439
the boy's innocence. Right before the father's eyes, a medicine140901:49:10.439 --> 01:49:15.039
bottle slid across the bathroom vanity and plopped into the sink,141001:49:15.680 --> 01:49:19.680
and a moment later, a shampoo bottle glided in a141101:49:19.720 --> 01:49:24.720
different direction and tumbled to the floor. Both bottles had141201:49:24.760 --> 01:49:29.760
been sitting securely on the counter just seconds before. Mister141301:49:29.840 --> 01:49:34.199
Hermann's skepticism evaporated. He could no longer deny that an141401:49:34.279 --> 01:49:38.920
unseen force was at work in his home. After checking141501:49:39.000 --> 01:49:43.079
under the sink and around the bathroom for wires, magnets,141601:49:43.359 --> 01:49:48.600
or any trickery and finding nothing, the deeply unsettled father141701:49:48.840 --> 01:49:55.560
realized these incidents defied any conventional explanation, at least that141801:49:55.680 --> 01:50:00.560
he could imagine. Unsure where else to turn, je Herman141901:50:00.720 --> 01:50:05.000
reached out to local authorities. He phoned the Nassau County142001:50:05.039 --> 01:50:09.359
Police Department, struggling to convince the desk lieutenant that this142101:50:09.640 --> 01:50:15.239
was not a prank call. Detective Joseph Tozzi, a level142201:50:15.279 --> 01:50:19.479
headed veteran officer, was assigned to investigate the Herman home,142301:50:20.079 --> 01:50:24.199
though he suspected there must be a rational explanation or142401:50:24.279 --> 01:50:29.760
perhaps a mischievous human hand behind it all. That same day,142501:50:29.960 --> 01:50:33.800
patrolman James Hughes was dispatched to the house to take142601:50:33.840 --> 01:50:39.640
an initial report. Hughes arrived skeptical, surely this would turn142701:50:39.680 --> 01:50:43.239
out to be nothing more than an overwrought homeowner or142801:50:43.319 --> 01:50:49.359
a practical joke, but within minutes Officer Hughes personally witnessed142901:50:49.600 --> 01:50:54.159
the otherworldly activity and had a dramatic change of heart.143001:50:54.920 --> 01:50:58.359
As the entire family gathered nervously in the living room,143101:50:58.800 --> 01:51:03.560
a sudden crack echoed from the bathroom. Hughes rushed to143201:51:03.640 --> 01:51:08.239
investigate and found that yet another bottle had overturned on143301:51:08.359 --> 01:51:13.359
its own. He had just inspected that bathroom moments before,143401:51:13.760 --> 01:51:18.880
and swore that everything had been in order. Even more shocking,143501:51:19.479 --> 01:51:24.279
several bottles abruptly popped their caps and shot their contents143601:51:24.319 --> 01:51:28.680
toward the startled officer, as if he were being deliberately targeted.143701:51:29.560 --> 01:51:34.319
Hughes was astonished. He later admitted he briefly wondered if143801:51:34.800 --> 01:51:46.279
the nutcase call might actually be real. Convinced now that143901:51:46.319 --> 01:51:51.640
the family truly needed help, the patrolman radioed in a144001:51:51.680 --> 01:52:00.600
perplexing report something unexplainable was occurring at the Hairman residence.144101:52:00.680 --> 01:52:04.680
By the second week of February nineteen fifty eight, the144201:52:04.720 --> 01:52:10.479
Herman home had become a locusts of unpredictable chaos. Detective144301:52:10.520 --> 01:52:14.159
Tasi began around the clock vigil at the house on144401:52:14.279 --> 01:52:19.319
February eleven, intent on observing the occurrence's first hand and144501:52:19.439 --> 01:52:25.159
catching any possible hoaxer in the act. Initially, Tazi remained144601:52:25.239 --> 01:52:31.239
doubtful and methodical, making detailed notes of each incident, interviewing144701:52:31.279 --> 01:52:36.560
the family and neighbours, and systematically testing theories. But as144801:52:36.600 --> 01:52:40.399
he spent day and night in the residence, the disturbances144901:52:40.479 --> 01:52:45.920
only escalated in number and intensity, gradually convincing the detective145001:52:46.319 --> 01:52:52.279
that something truly anomalous was unfolding. Over the next several days,145101:52:52.640 --> 01:52:57.199
seemingly no room or object was safe from the inexplicable activity.145201:52:58.119 --> 01:53:02.199
Small porcelain and plastic figures began to move and fly145301:53:02.359 --> 01:53:06.840
about as if of their own accord, in some cases145401:53:06.960 --> 01:53:11.479
hurling themselves with such force that they shattered on impact.145501:53:12.399 --> 01:53:18.479
One particularly unsettling incident occurred on February fifteenth. While the145601:53:18.560 --> 01:53:23.439
Hermann children and their visiting cousin, thirty four year old145701:53:23.560 --> 01:53:28.439
Marie Mirtha, sat in the living room watching television, A145801:53:28.479 --> 01:53:32.800
delicate porcelain figurine on an end table began to twitch145901:53:33.000 --> 01:53:37.079
and wobble on its own, then suddenly launched into the146001:53:37.119 --> 01:53:41.680
air in front of their eyes. The figurine shot about146101:53:41.720 --> 01:53:44.640
two feet through the air and crashed to the floor146201:53:44.920 --> 01:53:50.840
with a sharp report. Yet astonishingly, it did not break.146301:53:51.800 --> 01:53:56.880
Miss Mirtha was flabbergasted. She insisted to Detective Tazzi that146401:53:56.960 --> 01:54:00.399
neither she nor the children had been anywhere near the146501:54:00.399 --> 01:54:04.039
figurine when it flew. They could not have touched it146601:54:04.119 --> 01:54:08.720
even if they'd wanted to. This dramatic display left the146701:54:08.760 --> 01:54:13.319
family badly shaken and provided the first non family eye146801:54:13.319 --> 01:54:19.359
witness aside from police, to the poltergeist's antics. As the146901:54:19.439 --> 01:54:24.119
days went on, the invisible assailant grew bolder, toppling larger147001:54:24.159 --> 01:54:29.479
and heavier pieces of furniture, Lamps flipped over, end tables147101:54:29.479 --> 01:54:34.680
were found mysteriously overturned, and in one case, a large147201:54:34.680 --> 01:54:39.479
wooden night stand in Jimmy's bedroom up ended itself without warning.147301:54:40.479 --> 01:54:44.439
A twenty five volume set of encyclopedias in the basement147401:54:45.000 --> 01:54:49.079
was strewn about after the hefty bookcase that contained them147501:54:49.840 --> 01:54:54.600
was found flipped upside down, dumping its contents. Even a147601:54:54.680 --> 01:54:58.439
solid mahogany coffee table flipped over in front of witnesses147701:54:58.920 --> 01:55:04.439
as if yanked by unseen hands. On one occasion, Detective147801:55:04.479 --> 01:55:08.319
Tozzy and young Jimmy were walking side by side down147901:55:08.359 --> 01:55:12.680
the basement stairs when a bronze horse statue weighing nearly148001:55:12.760 --> 01:55:17.880
one hundred pounds came hurtling across the cellar and struck148101:55:17.920 --> 01:55:23.239
the detective in the legs. Jimmy was several steps behind148201:55:23.319 --> 01:55:26.279
Tozzy at the time, and no one else was down148301:55:26.319 --> 01:55:29.680
in the basement. The sheer force with which the heavy148401:55:29.720 --> 01:55:35.600
statue had flown was terrifying. Tozzi luckily suffered no serious injury.148501:55:36.479 --> 01:55:40.039
The normally stoic detective found himself at a loss to148601:55:40.119 --> 01:55:45.039
explain how such a thing could happen. Each new incident148701:55:45.079 --> 01:55:50.640
had a random, capricious quality. Objects seemed to leap, slide,148801:55:50.760 --> 01:55:55.039
or smash at different times in different rooms, with no148901:55:55.279 --> 01:56:00.520
consistent pattern beyond one. Twelve year old Jimmy was often149001:56:00.600 --> 01:56:05.319
nearby when trouble struck. In fact, a review of Tozzi's149101:56:05.319 --> 01:56:08.920
notes showed that Jimmy was present or close at hand149201:56:09.239 --> 01:56:13.119
in roughly three out of four incidents, a fact that149301:56:13.199 --> 01:56:18.279
did not go unnoticed by investigators or by mister Harman,149401:56:18.640 --> 01:56:23.800
who had already harbored suspicions about his son. However, there149501:56:23.840 --> 01:56:28.560
were also disturbances that occurred when Jimmy was clearly elsewhere,149601:56:29.079 --> 01:56:32.359
or even when the children were out of the house entirely,149701:56:33.319 --> 01:56:38.439
and multiple independent witnesses had now seen objects move with149801:56:38.640 --> 01:56:42.079
no one near them, seeming to rule out any kind149901:56:42.159 --> 01:56:46.640
of trick that could be done by a bored child.150001:56:47.239 --> 01:56:51.600
By mid February, the relentless parade of phenomena had the150101:56:51.600 --> 01:56:56.560
Herman family nearing a breaking point for the first time.150201:56:56.720 --> 01:57:00.680
They began to flee the house for relief, spent nights150301:57:00.680 --> 01:57:04.920
with relatives on at least four occasions when the activity150401:57:05.000 --> 01:57:10.079
became too intense. The children, who initially might have found150501:57:10.119 --> 01:57:14.119
the odd bottle popping to be a curious thrill, were150601:57:14.159 --> 01:57:18.960
now truly afraid to sleep in their own rooms. The150701:57:19.039 --> 01:57:23.760
Harman's once comfortable home had become a nerve racking stage150801:57:23.880 --> 01:57:29.079
for nightly outbursts of clattering noises and flying objects that150901:57:29.159 --> 01:57:34.359
no one could predict or control. Even ordinarily mundane sounds151001:57:34.840 --> 01:57:39.159
had put them on edge. The family described low rumbles151101:57:39.239 --> 01:57:43.239
echoing through the walls like the whole house was almost151201:57:43.279 --> 01:57:48.199
caving in at times. Detective Tazzi meanwhile was accumulating a151301:57:48.239 --> 01:57:54.079
thick case file documenting each unexplained occurrence in precise detail.151401:57:54.920 --> 01:57:59.560
By his count, Dozens upon dozens of incidents were logged151501:57:59.600 --> 01:58:02.920
over the course of a few short weeks. Sixty seven151601:58:03.119 --> 01:58:08.279
separate disturbances by the end of the episode. Yet despite151701:58:08.399 --> 01:58:12.640
his careful cataloging of events and his dogged attempts at151801:58:12.800 --> 01:58:18.239
rational investigation, Tozi was no closer to identifying a culprit,151901:58:18.880 --> 01:58:23.720
let alone a cause. After roughly two weeks of this152001:58:23.920 --> 01:58:29.319
inexplicable siege, word of the Herman House poltergeist leaked out152101:58:29.399 --> 01:58:32.960
to the press. What had begun as the Herman's private152201:58:33.079 --> 01:58:39.600
nightmare soon became public spectacle. By late February nineteen fifty eight,152301:58:40.159 --> 01:58:44.359
news media from across the country descended on sixteen forty152401:58:44.399 --> 01:58:48.960
eight Redwood Path in Seaford, turning the quiet suburban lane152501:58:49.399 --> 01:58:55.560
into a carnival of reporters, photographers and curiosity seekers. The152601:58:55.560 --> 01:58:59.600
strange case of the Long Island Poultergeist made headlines in152701:58:59.680 --> 01:59:04.760
major newspapers. Journalists from the New York Times, Newsday, and152801:59:04.920 --> 01:59:09.279
even the London Evening News traveled to witness events firsthand.152901:59:10.359 --> 01:59:15.319
Life Magazine ran a photo essay titled House of Flying Objects,153001:59:15.680 --> 01:59:20.199
A ghostly mystery plagues a family and baffles the Experts153101:59:20.640 --> 01:59:24.359
and Time magazine published an article in its religion section153201:59:24.680 --> 01:59:30.439
dubiously titled Long Island's Poltergeist. The Herman home was soon153301:59:30.560 --> 01:59:35.640
besieged by television crews with bright lights and bulky nineteen153401:59:35.760 --> 01:59:40.880
fifties cameras, hoping to catch the mischievous spirit on film.153501:59:41.239 --> 01:59:45.199
In fact, the case became noted as perhaps the first153601:59:45.239 --> 01:59:50.840
haunting broadcast on American television, with news programs airing footage153701:59:50.880 --> 01:59:54.840
of the aftermath of incidents and live reports from the153801:59:54.960 --> 02:00:06.119
haunted house. Wide eyed TV audiences across the nation watched153902:00:06.399 --> 02:00:10.079
as the Harmans stood by a fallen bookcase in their154002:00:10.159 --> 02:00:14.239
cellar or pointed out dens in walls and furniture from154102:00:14.279 --> 02:00:20.640
airborne objects. The unseen entity, nicknamed Popper by the press154202:00:20.680 --> 02:00:24.800
for its penchant for popping bottle caps, seemed eager to154302:00:24.880 --> 02:00:29.840
perform for this wider audience, or at least the phenomena154402:00:30.000 --> 02:00:36.359
continued unabated under the media spotlight. One visiting reporter, Dave154502:00:36.479 --> 02:00:41.000
Kahan of Newsday even camped overnight in the house and154602:00:41.119 --> 02:00:46.720
personally witnessed multiple disturbances on February twenty three to twenty five,154702:00:47.439 --> 02:00:51.800
including an overturned dresser and a toppled lamp, which lent154802:00:51.920 --> 02:00:58.359
further credibility to the Hermann's claims. Another journalist, John Gold154902:00:58.439 --> 02:01:02.359
of The London Evening News was present in early March155002:01:02.760 --> 02:01:06.800
and saw flashbulbs lift off a table and hurdle through155102:01:06.840 --> 02:01:12.119
the air during his visit. The fact that skeptical newsmen155202:01:12.199 --> 02:01:17.600
were coming away convinced that something unexplained was occurring only155302:01:17.760 --> 02:01:24.319
fueled the public fascination. The Harmans, meanwhile, now faced not155402:01:24.399 --> 02:01:28.560
only a mysterious disturbance in their home, but also the155502:01:28.600 --> 02:01:33.720
overwhelming glare of public attention. It was worse than the155602:01:33.760 --> 02:01:38.439
phenomena in some ways, mister Harman later said of the155702:01:38.479 --> 02:01:43.000
crowds of gawkers on his lawn. Day after day, Their155802:01:43.119 --> 02:01:47.680
yard and street were crowded with reporters scribbling in notepads,155902:01:48.279 --> 02:01:54.840
photographers setting off flashbulbs, and neighbors and curiosity seekers peering156002:01:54.920 --> 02:01:58.920
in hopes of catching a glimpse of moving furniture or156102:01:59.119 --> 02:02:03.720
phantom figure. Some onlookers took it upon themselves to offer156202:02:03.840 --> 02:02:08.760
help or interpretation, ranging from the well meaning to the156302:02:08.800 --> 02:02:13.560
outright bizaarre. Letters and phone calls flooded in from far156402:02:13.720 --> 02:02:19.039
and wide. Amateur sleuths proposed all manner of logical solutions,156502:02:19.359 --> 02:02:26.520
while occult enthusiasts confidently offered supernatural diagnoses. The Hermans were156602:02:26.560 --> 02:02:31.079
told that Martians had landed nearby and caused the disturbances,156702:02:31.359 --> 02:02:34.640
that the house had somehow been built on an ancient156802:02:34.800 --> 02:02:39.159
Indian burial ground, angering the spirit of a long dead156902:02:39.279 --> 02:02:43.880
Indian chief, or even that the Russians were tunneling under157002:02:43.960 --> 02:02:49.079
Long Island a prelude to an invasion. It was, after all,157102:02:49.640 --> 02:02:52.800
the height of the Cold War and Sputnik had only157202:02:52.880 --> 02:02:58.960
recently orbited the earth. Some callers screamed religious warnings, convinced157302:02:59.000 --> 02:03:03.439
the family was being punished by dark forces. Anonymous voices157402:03:03.560 --> 02:03:08.319
late at night shouted repent over the phone, or claimed157502:03:08.359 --> 02:03:12.239
the devil's tricks were at work. The Hermans tried to157602:03:12.279 --> 02:03:16.760
take it all in stride. They patiently listened to every theory,157702:03:17.479 --> 02:03:22.319
no matter how outlandish, or politely endured lectures from self157802:03:22.359 --> 02:03:27.239
appointed prophets. They even allowed a number of volunteer exorcists157902:03:27.520 --> 02:03:33.119
and spiritualists onto their property. Ministers of various obscure sects158002:03:33.520 --> 02:03:38.920
conducted impromptu prayer vigils on the front lawn, sprinkling holy158102:03:39.000 --> 02:03:44.319
oil or chanting blessings. One self proclaimed holy man arrived158202:03:44.359 --> 02:03:47.279
in a blue suit, knelt in the yard praying for158302:03:47.359 --> 02:03:51.840
ten minutes, then solemnly stood and announced to the assembled crowd,158402:03:52.720 --> 02:03:58.640
everything is all right. You have been forgiven. With that pronouncement,158502:03:59.079 --> 02:04:04.479
he departed, yet Pauper remained as active as ever. The158602:04:04.600 --> 02:04:09.720
carnival atmosphere was surreal. Each morning, Lucille Hermann would shew158702:04:09.840 --> 02:04:13.439
people off her porch before sending the children to school,158802:04:13.720 --> 02:04:18.800
and each night the family peered through closed curtains at158902:04:18.840 --> 02:04:25.760
the silhouettes of curious strangers outside, all while wondering if159002:04:25.800 --> 02:04:32.840
the next flying object would be aimed at them. Throughout February,159102:04:33.000 --> 02:04:39.000
as the Poltergeist incidents continued, Detective Tozzi worked tirelessly to159202:04:39.079 --> 02:04:44.479
find a rational source for the disturbances. Every possible physical159302:04:44.600 --> 02:04:51.239
or environmental factor was examined. Structural engineers inspected the house159402:04:51.399 --> 02:04:56.239
for shifts or subsidence, finding nothing amiss in the foundation159502:04:56.800 --> 02:05:01.680
or framework. The seaford fired a apartment analyzed an old159602:05:01.760 --> 02:05:04.840
well on the property to see if changes in the159702:05:04.880 --> 02:05:09.760
water table or underground pressure might be causing the bizarre159802:05:09.880 --> 02:05:15.359
bottle explosions. The wells water level had not changed appreciably159902:05:15.920 --> 02:05:20.399
in five years. Tazzi inquired with the US Air Force160002:05:20.439 --> 02:05:25.479
about aircraft flight patterns, suspecting that shock waves from passing160102:05:25.600 --> 02:05:30.600
jets or sonic booms might coincide with the incidents, but160202:05:30.760 --> 02:05:35.439
flight log showed no correlation, and in any case, the160302:05:35.479 --> 02:05:39.680
force needed to knock over heavy furniture far exceeded any160402:05:39.760 --> 02:05:44.560
rumble from distant planes. He reached out to radio engineers160502:05:44.560 --> 02:05:49.239
at RCA to check for stray radio frequency or electromagnetic160602:05:49.279 --> 02:05:54.439
interference in the neighborhood. Perhaps a powerful transmitter or radar160702:05:55.039 --> 02:05:59.720
was triggering some reaction in the home. These tests, too,160802:05:59.760 --> 02:06:03.600
toned up nothing unusual. A neighbor with a Ham radio160902:06:03.720 --> 02:06:08.159
set hadn't used it in years, and no abnormal radio161002:06:08.239 --> 02:06:13.079
waves were detected during the incidents. The local power company,161102:06:13.520 --> 02:06:17.319
Long Island Lighting, set up a delicate ascilloscope in the161202:06:17.359 --> 02:06:23.840
basement to monitor vibrations or electrical disturbances during the poltergeist's161302:06:23.920 --> 02:06:28.319
peak hours. On a few occasions, the apparatus was running161402:06:28.359 --> 02:06:33.359
when objects moved or bottles popped, but it registered no161502:06:33.640 --> 02:06:39.840
unusual tremors or surges at those moments. Likewise, an aciligraph161602:06:40.239 --> 02:06:46.279
vibration sensor recorded calm readings even as crashes were heard upstairs.161702:06:47.359 --> 02:06:51.520
The idea of air pressure or drafts received attention as well.161802:06:52.119 --> 02:06:55.600
Recalling a tip from a woman in Massachusetts, who had161902:06:55.640 --> 02:06:59.079
written about furniture moving around in her home from a162002:06:59.119 --> 02:07:03.920
strong downdren of her chimney. Mister Harman eagerly installed a162102:07:04.039 --> 02:07:09.159
rotary turbine chimney cap to neutralize any weird air currents162202:07:09.600 --> 02:07:15.000
in their fireplace, but Popper seemed unfazed. No sooner had162302:07:15.039 --> 02:07:19.720
the workmen finished than a porcelain figurine launched itself twelve162402:07:19.720 --> 02:07:23.840
feet across a room and smashed into a desk, making162502:07:23.880 --> 02:07:28.720
a loud impact and denting the wood. That dent, in fact,162602:07:29.239 --> 02:07:32.600
became one of the most tangible pieces of evidence. They162702:07:32.720 --> 02:07:37.600
had shown off for news reporters and even captured on162802:07:37.760 --> 02:07:50.039
camera for local TV. One by one, mundane explanations fell short.162902:07:50.760 --> 02:07:55.479
The house was structurally sound. There were no underground streams163002:07:55.600 --> 02:08:00.680
or magnetic anomalies beneath the foundation. A brookhete, a National163102:08:00.760 --> 02:08:05.760
Laboratory physicist named doctor Robert Zeider, came with dowsing rods,163202:08:05.800 --> 02:08:09.880
originally speculating that it could be underground water creating a163302:08:09.920 --> 02:08:17.000
freak magnetic field, but geological surveys disproved this idea. Household163402:08:17.000 --> 02:08:21.600
appliances and wiring were inspected for shorts or unusual outputs.163502:08:22.439 --> 02:08:27.319
Everything was normal. Even the plumbing was scrutinized in case163602:08:27.439 --> 02:08:32.720
water hammer or pipe vibrations were jolting the house. Nothing163702:08:32.760 --> 02:08:36.439
of the sort was found. In fact, the neighbour's house163802:08:36.520 --> 02:08:41.640
had worse pipe rattle and no hauntings. The caps and163902:08:41.720 --> 02:08:45.840
bottles themselves were tested by police labs for any prank164002:08:46.000 --> 02:08:51.000
substance that could cause a fizzing eruption. None was found,164102:08:51.680 --> 02:08:56.399
and despite the elaborate measures taken, the incidents continued to164202:08:56.479 --> 02:09:00.720
defy any predictable pattern that would allow to Tazi to164302:09:00.800 --> 02:09:05.680
catch someone faking it. At one point, the detective dusted164402:09:05.800 --> 02:09:11.399
certain vulnerable objects with a fine powder detectable under ultraviolet light,164502:09:12.119 --> 02:09:17.159
hoping to see fingerprints or disturbances, but whichever pesky ghost164602:09:17.279 --> 02:09:23.199
or human was responsible avoided those items entirely. Tazi grew164702:09:23.279 --> 02:09:28.399
increasingly frustrated. By February twentieth, he admitted to being all164802:09:28.560 --> 02:09:32.800
out of fresh ideas. In a report to his superiors,164902:09:33.279 --> 02:09:36.520
The weary detective wrote that while he was not prepared165002:09:36.560 --> 02:09:41.920
to declare the house haunted, he had exhausted every conventional lead.165102:09:43.039 --> 02:09:46.119
It was around this time that he began to accept165202:09:46.680 --> 02:09:50.720
that the Hairman case might exist outside of the scope165302:09:50.920 --> 02:09:56.000
of normal police work, with the phenomena only growing more violent.165402:09:56.560 --> 02:10:00.880
By late February, objects were not just moving, but often165502:10:00.960 --> 02:10:06.079
flying dangerously at people. The Hermann sought help from spiritual165602:10:06.119 --> 02:10:12.000
authorities as well. Being devout Roman Catholics, the family turned165702:10:12.039 --> 02:10:16.399
to their parish priest, Father William MacLeod of Saint William165802:10:16.439 --> 02:10:21.279
the Abbot Church, hoping a blessing or exorcism might succeed165902:10:21.920 --> 02:10:27.079
where science had failed. Father MacLeod visited the home around166002:10:27.119 --> 02:10:32.199
mid February and performed a simple house blessing, reciting prayers166102:10:32.239 --> 02:10:37.439
in Latin and sprinkling holy water in each room. The166202:10:37.439 --> 02:10:41.640
family joined in fervent prayer for deliverance from whatever evil166302:10:41.800 --> 02:10:45.760
or energy was at play. For a short while after166402:10:45.800 --> 02:10:51.399
the priest's intervention, Pauper's antics subsided, leading the Hermans to166502:10:51.439 --> 02:10:55.000
feel a sense of relief, But the respite was brief.166602:10:55.560 --> 02:10:59.520
The poltergeist soon resumed its mischief, almost as if to166702:10:59.600 --> 02:11:05.119
show defiance. In fact, holy water itself seemed to become166802:11:05.199 --> 02:11:09.399
a favorite target of the entity itself. The small bottle166902:11:09.439 --> 02:11:13.079
of holy water in the master bedroom was found spilled167002:11:13.199 --> 02:11:17.399
or knocked over repeatedly in those days, its screw cap167102:11:17.520 --> 02:11:20.560
popping off again and again, as if to taunt the167202:11:20.600 --> 02:11:25.479
priest's efforts. On one occasion, mister Harman dashed into the167302:11:25.520 --> 02:11:29.279
bedroom after hearing the now familiar pop of that vial.167402:11:30.000 --> 02:11:33.880
He found it on the floor and curiously noted that167502:11:33.920 --> 02:11:37.920
the glass bottle felt warm to the touch, far warmer167602:11:38.000 --> 02:11:41.359
than you would expect a bottle sitting at room temperature.167702:11:42.439 --> 02:11:46.960
Such eerie details only reinforced the family's belief that a167802:11:47.000 --> 02:11:51.600
malicious or mischievous spirit was actively operating in the house.167902:11:52.479 --> 02:11:57.159
Father MacLeod, deeply concerned, prepared to escalate the matter to168002:11:57.319 --> 02:12:01.880
church authorities. He reportedly saw permission from the diocese and168102:12:01.960 --> 02:12:08.319
bishop to conduct a formal exorcism if the disturbances continued. However,168202:12:09.000 --> 02:12:14.199
the church's involvement would eventually be overtaken as events got168302:12:14.800 --> 02:12:20.079
out of hand. As the mystery reached its climax, late168402:12:20.119 --> 02:12:25.199
February nineteen fifty eight saw the poltergeist activity crescendo in168502:12:25.279 --> 02:12:31.600
both frequency and ferocity. On February twentieth, multiple disturbances erupted168602:12:31.640 --> 02:12:37.399
in rapid succession. While Detective Tazzi stood watch, a figurine168702:12:37.479 --> 02:12:41.439
once again launched through the air and smashed against a desk,168802:12:42.279 --> 02:12:46.359
this time shattering to pieces on impact. A moment later,168902:12:46.800 --> 02:12:50.439
a bottle of ink on a table abruptly exploded with169002:12:50.520 --> 02:12:54.720
a loud bang, its screw cap flying off, and the169102:12:54.760 --> 02:12:59.479
bottle itself hurdling several feet before crashing and splattering ink169202:13:00.000 --> 02:13:04.399
cross the living room walls and furniture. A heavy ceramic169302:13:04.479 --> 02:13:08.199
sugar bowl then lifted off the dining table and flew,169402:13:08.600 --> 02:13:13.239
landing on the floor with a thud. These incidents occurred169502:13:13.239 --> 02:13:17.319
in plain view of the Herman's and Detective Tazzi. The169602:13:17.319 --> 02:13:21.680
sugar bowl notably took flight while Jimmy was nearby but169702:13:21.840 --> 02:13:27.359
clearly not touching it. As Tazzi later documented, the escalation169802:13:27.640 --> 02:13:32.119
deeply unnerved the detective. This was no longer just parlor169902:13:32.199 --> 02:13:37.119
tricks with small bottles, but large objects moving with dangerous force.170002:13:38.000 --> 02:13:42.720
That night, the Herman family packed overnight bags and sought170102:13:42.800 --> 02:13:47.800
refuge at a relative's home, leaving Detective Tazzi alone in170202:13:47.880 --> 02:13:51.840
the haunted house to monitor what Popper might do in170302:13:51.880 --> 02:13:57.760
their absence. Interestingly, the poltergeist was inactive the whole night170402:13:58.399 --> 02:14:01.720
while the family was gone, as if it had no170502:14:01.920 --> 02:14:06.720
audience to play to, but when the Hermans cautiously returned170602:14:06.760 --> 02:14:11.239
the next day, the phenomena resumed, as if on q170702:14:12.520 --> 02:14:16.399
On the evening of February twenty first, the same sugar170802:14:16.399 --> 02:14:20.119
bowl that flew earlier suddenly leaped from the table once more,170902:14:20.680 --> 02:14:24.319
this time shattering into pieces on the floor as soon171002:14:24.359 --> 02:14:28.399
as the family had re entered the home. Clearly, whatever171102:14:28.520 --> 02:14:32.119
force was at work seemed tied to the family's presence171202:14:32.520 --> 02:14:36.680
and possibly to the emotional energy in the home, a171302:14:36.760 --> 02:14:41.880
pattern not lost on investigators. The nights of February twenty171402:14:41.920 --> 02:14:45.960
fourth and twenty fifth marked the peak of Popper's mayhem.171502:14:46.760 --> 02:14:50.720
On February twenty fourth, a thunderous crash from Young James's171602:14:50.720 --> 02:14:56.319
bedroom sent Tozzi and mister Harman running upstairs. They found171702:14:56.319 --> 02:14:59.960
that a large wooden bookcase, which had been standing firmly171802:15:00.119 --> 02:15:04.399
against the wall, was now inexplicably face down on the171902:15:04.479 --> 02:15:09.000
floor amid a tangle of books. No one had been172002:15:09.039 --> 02:15:13.199
in the room at the time. The following evening, February172102:15:13.239 --> 02:15:18.319
twenty fifth, saw a rapid fire series of events unfold172202:15:18.399 --> 02:15:22.000
across different rooms of the house, almost as if the172302:15:22.159 --> 02:15:32.560
entity was showing off its full range of tricks. While172402:15:32.680 --> 02:15:36.920
Jimmy sat at his desk doing homework, his portable record172502:15:36.960 --> 02:15:41.239
player lifted up off its table and traveled fifteen feet172602:15:41.279 --> 02:15:45.560
across the room before coming to rest, startling the boy.172702:15:46.479 --> 02:15:51.520
Almost simultaneously, in the master bedroom, a heavy statue of172802:15:51.520 --> 02:15:54.680
the Virgin Mary flew a distance of about twelve feet,172902:15:55.279 --> 02:15:58.600
striking the wooden frame of a mirror and clattering to173002:15:58.680 --> 02:16:04.720
the floor. Downstairs, a glass centerpiece that usually adorned the173102:16:04.760 --> 02:16:09.239
dining room table suddenly soared into the air and smashed173202:16:09.279 --> 02:16:14.079
into a cupboard, splintering a piece of molding, before crashing down.173302:16:15.079 --> 02:16:18.800
As the household rushed about reacting to each noise, a173402:16:18.840 --> 02:16:23.159
globe from Jimmy's desk shot down the hallway at high speed,173502:16:23.880 --> 02:16:29.640
narrowly missing Detective Tazzi's head by inches. Amid this chaos,173602:16:30.159 --> 02:16:34.319
a Life magazine photographer attempting to document the scene was173702:16:34.360 --> 02:16:38.719
astonished to see his camera flashbulbs slide off a table173802:16:39.159 --> 02:16:43.120
and fling themselves against a wall, as if the poltergeist173902:16:43.440 --> 02:16:47.559
were playfully sabotaging the efforts to capture it on film.174002:16:48.360 --> 02:16:52.280
The house rang with crashes and thuds from multiple rooms.174102:16:52.920 --> 02:16:58.760
Perhaps most unnerving of all unexplained knocking sounds began to174202:16:58.799 --> 02:17:03.319
emanate from the wall. Loud, insistent raps that seemed to174302:17:03.360 --> 02:17:07.520
have no point of origin, almost as if Popper were174402:17:07.639 --> 02:17:13.440
literally knocking for attention. The Hairmans did not attempt any174502:17:13.559 --> 02:17:18.639
kind of spirit communication, such as asking questions for knocks174602:17:18.680 --> 02:17:23.040
in reply. They were too startled and frightened to play174702:17:23.079 --> 02:17:28.280
parlor games. But the knocking added another layer of menace174802:17:28.799 --> 02:17:35.159
to the already terrifying situation around them. Detective Tazzi was174902:17:35.200 --> 02:17:39.479
alarmed by this new level of violence. Up until that week,175002:17:39.680 --> 02:17:43.600
no one had been injured, and the incidents, while unnerving,175102:17:44.040 --> 02:17:49.920
had almost prankish quality popping caps, minor objects tipping over.175202:17:50.760 --> 02:17:55.799
But now the potential for harm was real. Heavy furniture175302:17:55.959 --> 02:18:00.319
was toppling and hurtling across rooms. The family began to175402:18:00.360 --> 02:18:03.000
fear that if the mysterious force could fling a one175502:18:03.079 --> 02:18:06.639
hundred pound statue or send a globe flying at a175602:18:06.680 --> 02:18:11.559
person's head, what might it do next. Tozzy himself later175702:18:11.639 --> 02:18:15.280
admitted that by the end of February he feared someone175802:18:15.319 --> 02:18:20.680
could get seriously hurt if this continued. Having run through175902:18:20.799 --> 02:18:24.959
every scientific test and police technique he could think of,176002:18:25.479 --> 02:18:31.920
the detective finally looked outward for help. Around this time,176102:18:32.040 --> 02:18:36.000
the Hermann case caught the attention of an unusual team176202:18:36.120 --> 02:18:43.120
of investigators the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University in North Carolina.176302:18:44.079 --> 02:18:48.000
Doctor J. B. Rhyne's pioneering lab had spent the nineteen176402:18:48.120 --> 02:18:56.120
fifties studying psychic phenomena, extrasensory perception ESP. Telepathy, and haunting176502:18:56.280 --> 02:19:01.680
cases with an aim to find scientific explanations for the paranormal.176602:19:02.559 --> 02:19:06.479
When doctor Rhyan's staff read the newspaper accounts of objects176702:19:06.520 --> 02:19:10.040
flying around a Long Island home, they felt it was176802:19:10.079 --> 02:19:15.479
a prime opportunity to study what they termed recurrent spontaneous176902:19:15.520 --> 02:19:21.959
psychokinesis in real time. Ryan dispatched one of his top researchers,177002:19:22.479 --> 02:19:27.799
doctor J. Gaither Pratt, to Seaford, to observe and assist.177102:19:28.440 --> 02:19:32.120
Pratt arrived at the Herman home on February twenty sixth,177202:19:32.440 --> 02:19:36.520
nineteen fifty eight, bringing a trained but open mind to177302:19:36.600 --> 02:19:40.639
the chaotic household. He had been following the reports closely.177402:19:41.440 --> 02:19:47.200
Pratt's working hypothesis aligned with Rhyin's theories. He suspected that177502:19:47.239 --> 02:19:51.000
the disturbances might not be caused by a traditional ghost177602:19:51.399 --> 02:19:56.920
or spirit, but by psychokinetic energy unknowingly generated by a177702:19:57.040 --> 02:20:01.600
human agent in the household. In after case of so177802:20:01.719 --> 02:20:06.760
called poltergeist's. Ryan's team had noted the presence of an adolescent,177902:20:07.399 --> 02:20:12.760
usually female, coinciding with the phenomena, and they theorized that178002:20:12.879 --> 02:20:18.360
repressed emotional tensions in a teenager could manifest as unconscious178102:20:18.440 --> 02:20:23.520
telekinetic outbursts. In the Herman family, twelve year old Jimmy178202:20:23.639 --> 02:20:28.639
fit the classic profile of the focus of poltergeist activity,178302:20:29.040 --> 02:20:33.799
even though he himself appeared just as terrified and baffled178402:20:33.799 --> 02:20:39.239
as everyone else. Pratt was careful not to jump to conclusions. However,178502:20:40.239 --> 02:20:45.360
he also knew that historically poltergeist cases often ended up178602:20:45.399 --> 02:20:52.920
being pranks or exaggerations. Once carefully observed. With the Herman's blessing,178702:20:53.440 --> 02:20:56.440
by now, they were willing to welcome any expert who178802:20:56.520 --> 02:21:00.479
might help. Doctor Pratt moved into the house for an178902:21:00.520 --> 02:21:05.920
extended stay. He spent the next several days quietly monitoring179002:21:05.959 --> 02:21:10.719
the family's routines. Notably, he devoted a lot of friendly179102:21:10.799 --> 02:21:15.559
attention to young Jimmy, chatting with him, helping with homework,179202:21:16.000 --> 02:21:19.719
even playing cards, both to put the boy at ease179302:21:19.959 --> 02:21:23.559
and perhaps to see if calming the child's stress might179402:21:23.680 --> 02:21:28.920
calm the phenomena. Strangely enough, During Pratt's first several days179502:21:28.959 --> 02:21:32.879
in the house, Popper's activity came to a screeching halt.179602:21:33.879 --> 02:21:38.200
The poltergeist that had so boisterously upended the home now179702:21:38.280 --> 02:21:43.680
went silent and dormant, as if it refused to perform179802:21:43.959 --> 02:21:48.760
under the scrutiny of the Duke scientist. From February twenty179902:21:48.840 --> 02:21:52.760
sixth through the end of that month, barely a single180002:21:52.799 --> 02:21:57.600
disturbance occurred, much to the frustration of the media camped180102:21:57.639 --> 02:22:02.280
outside and to Pratt's own discipline appointment. He half wondered180202:22:02.280 --> 02:22:06.399
if his presence had somehow exerted a calming influence on180302:22:06.479 --> 02:22:13.319
the boy or the household atmosphere, quelling the phenomena. Pratt's colleague,180402:22:13.479 --> 02:22:17.479
doctor William g Roll, soon joined him in Seaford as180502:22:17.559 --> 02:22:22.920
February turned to March. Together, Pratt and Roll interviewed each180602:22:23.040 --> 02:22:27.399
family member in depth, looking for any clues of fraud180702:22:27.840 --> 02:22:32.920
or psychological triggers. They emerged convinced that the Hermans were180802:22:33.000 --> 02:22:38.319
honest and genuinely distressed. The family was much too shaken180902:22:38.479 --> 02:22:41.920
for it to be a colossal hoax, Pratt told a181002:22:42.079 --> 02:22:46.920
United Press reporter, emphasizing that none of them seemed capable181102:22:46.959 --> 02:22:53.600
of orchestrating such elaborate tricks. Pratt even suggested administering lie181202:22:53.639 --> 02:22:58.360
detector tests to the family in order to silence the skeptics,181302:22:58.760 --> 02:23:10.760
but mister and Missus Harriman ultimately declined. Just when it181402:23:10.879 --> 02:23:14.639
seemed the mysterious force might have finally died out, the181502:23:14.719 --> 02:23:19.520
poltergeist roared back to life in March. On March second,181602:23:20.200 --> 02:23:25.440
nineteen fifty eight, exactly one month after the first bottle popping,181702:23:26.239 --> 02:23:29.440
the Harmans and the visiting Duke researchers were all in181802:23:29.520 --> 02:23:34.840
the house when a new wave of activity erupted. First,181902:23:35.079 --> 02:23:39.200
a porcelain dish vaulted out of a kitchen cabinet and182002:23:39.399 --> 02:23:44.040
smashed onto the floor in front of everyone. Moments later,182102:23:44.600 --> 02:23:48.719
a night stand in Jimmy's bedroom flipped over completely, as182202:23:48.760 --> 02:23:52.760
if tossed by an invisible hand. After a few days182302:23:52.799 --> 02:23:58.000
of quiet, Popper was announcing his return with emphasis. Two182402:23:58.120 --> 02:24:01.920
days later, on March fourth, another burst of chaos struck182502:24:02.520 --> 02:24:06.799
A bowl of fresh flowers slid inexplicably across the dining182602:24:06.879 --> 02:24:10.959
table and then leapt into the air, landing with a182702:24:11.040 --> 02:24:15.840
crash in the cellar. Yet another heavy bookcase was found182802:24:16.239 --> 02:24:20.239
turned end over end on the floor, Pratt and Roll182902:24:20.440 --> 02:24:25.159
witnessed some of these final incidents, finally getting the direct183002:24:25.319 --> 02:24:30.559
encounters they needed to round out their investigation. It was183102:24:30.600 --> 02:24:34.079
as if the poltergeist had simply been waiting for them183202:24:34.159 --> 02:24:39.600
to leave, only to decide begrudgingly to put on one183302:24:39.799 --> 02:24:45.719
last show, even with the scientists present. The grand finale183402:24:45.840 --> 02:24:51.200
came on March tenth, nineteen fifty eight. That evening, missus183502:24:51.200 --> 02:24:55.559
Herman and the two children were preparing for bed. Mister183602:24:55.639 --> 02:24:59.559
Herman was away on business, while doctor Pratt and doctor183702:24:59.680 --> 02:25:04.840
Roll remained on hand in another part of the house. Suddenly,183802:25:05.360 --> 02:25:10.559
a sharp popping sound rang out from the basement. Everyone183902:25:10.719 --> 02:25:15.479
rushed downstairs together. In the cellar, they discovered that a184002:25:15.520 --> 02:25:19.360
bottle of bleach, which had been sitting innocuously in a184102:25:19.399 --> 02:25:24.680
cardboard box, had somehow blown off its plastic cap with force.184202:25:25.639 --> 02:25:29.520
The bottle itself had tipped over, and bleach was trickling184302:25:29.559 --> 02:25:33.079
out into the box. There were no witnesses to the184402:25:33.159 --> 02:25:37.440
exact moment it happened, only the loud report had been heard.184502:25:38.239 --> 02:25:41.639
But this incident fell perfectly in line with the others.184602:25:42.520 --> 02:25:48.200
Pratt and Roll carefully noted the time and circumstances unbeknownst184702:25:48.200 --> 02:25:52.399
to them at that moment, this would be Popper's final gasp.184802:25:53.280 --> 02:25:58.399
For reasons still unknown. After March tenth, the disturbances simply184902:25:58.559 --> 02:26:03.760
ceased completely. The Herman home returned to an eerie silence,185002:26:04.200 --> 02:26:09.319
as if the mysterious energy had expended itself and finally departed.185102:26:10.360 --> 02:26:14.079
In total, the Hermans had endured over two months of185202:26:14.120 --> 02:26:19.959
intermittent terror, with sixty seven separate documented disturbances between early185302:26:20.079 --> 02:26:24.559
February and March tenth. In that time, they had been185402:26:24.600 --> 02:26:30.639
trailed by detectives, swarmed by journalists, prayed over by priests185502:26:30.680 --> 02:26:36.639
and self styled mystics, and scrutinized by scientists and skeptics alike.185602:26:37.680 --> 02:26:41.200
When it was over, the family was left exhausted but185702:26:41.360 --> 02:26:45.799
grateful that their lives could return to normal. In the185802:26:45.840 --> 02:26:50.479
weeks that followed, investigators of all stripes continued to knock185902:26:50.559 --> 02:26:56.440
on the Herman's door, from academic researchers to professional debunkers,186002:26:56.479 --> 02:27:00.200
each eager to analyze the case now that it it186102:27:00.200 --> 02:27:05.440
wrapped up. By August nineteen fifty eight, five months after186202:27:05.479 --> 02:27:09.760
the last incident, even doctor Rhine's Duke team had to186302:27:09.840 --> 02:27:14.000
admit they were no closer to a definitive answer. They186402:27:14.040 --> 02:27:18.680
had piles of data and eyewitness accounts, but no single186502:27:18.799 --> 02:27:23.760
theory that could fully account for what happened. The Hermans186602:27:23.799 --> 02:27:27.799
had grown tired of the spotlight and the endless questioning.186702:27:28.879 --> 02:27:33.799
I don't think there is a definite solution. Missus Lucille186802:27:33.840 --> 02:27:39.079
Herman told an Associated Press reporter that summer it was186902:27:39.280 --> 02:27:42.360
just one of those things with no rhyme or reason187002:27:42.440 --> 02:27:46.399
to it, but there was a definite physical force behind it.187102:27:47.200 --> 02:27:51.600
Her husband, James, echoed that sentiment. It no longer mattered187202:27:51.600 --> 02:27:54.680
to him why it happened, only that it was over187302:27:55.079 --> 02:27:59.280
and his family was safe. In the wake of the187402:27:59.319 --> 02:28:05.000
Hermann Altergeist, numerous theories have been proposed, but none fully187502:28:05.120 --> 02:28:09.799
settles the matter. Investigators in nineteen fifty eight and later187602:28:09.959 --> 02:28:14.680
poured over the evidence, splitting into roughly three camps of187702:28:14.760 --> 02:28:25.159
explanation fraud or hoax, psychological, psychokinetic or paranormal entity. Skeptical187802:28:25.200 --> 02:28:29.040
investigators have long suspected that the cause might have been187902:28:29.079 --> 02:28:34.920
a human trickster, most likely young James Junior. As early188002:28:35.000 --> 02:28:39.719
as the incidents themselves, Detective Tazzi and mister Hermann had188102:28:39.799 --> 02:28:44.360
considered that possibility. Indeed, Jimmy was at the scene of188202:28:44.399 --> 02:28:49.280
the action over seventy five percent of the time. Could188302:28:49.319 --> 02:28:53.360
a clever twelve year old have staged all this stage188402:28:53.360 --> 02:28:59.559
Magician Milburn Christopher, a prominent skeptic, later examined the case188502:29:00.079 --> 02:29:04.920
and argued that many of Popper's feats could be replicated188602:29:04.959 --> 02:29:10.520
with sleight of hand and misdirection. Christopher even offered to188702:29:10.559 --> 02:29:15.000
come to the Herman home during the disturbances to investigate,188802:29:15.719 --> 02:29:19.680
but mister Herman refused to let a magician in, perhaps188902:29:19.719 --> 02:29:26.239
fearing such an offer implied his family was deceitful. Undeterred,189002:29:26.360 --> 02:29:31.959
Christopher demonstrated for reporters how hidden accomplices and simple tricks189102:29:32.040 --> 02:29:36.559
could mimic poltergeist effects. In one stunt, he had his189202:29:36.680 --> 02:29:41.959
wife secretly flip bottles and create popping noises in another room,189302:29:42.719 --> 02:29:48.239
fooling onlookers into thinking bottles were moving by themselves. He189402:29:48.360 --> 02:29:52.959
also described using invisible threads to tug objects from a189502:29:53.040 --> 02:29:58.920
distance and make them topple with no one nearby. Decades later,189602:29:59.159 --> 02:30:03.719
skeptical reas researcher Joe Nickel obtained the original sixty page189702:30:03.760 --> 02:30:09.520
police case file and noted telling patterns. Almost no incidents189802:30:09.559 --> 02:30:12.159
occurred when Jimmy was known to be out of the189902:30:12.239 --> 02:30:16.760
house or even just out of the immediate room, and190002:30:16.840 --> 02:30:23.040
when detectives tried proactively testing certain objects like dusting bottles190102:30:23.079 --> 02:30:30.360
with fluorescent powder, those particular items curiously never moved, implying190202:30:30.479 --> 02:30:35.920
that a conscious perpetrator might have been avoiding traps. Nickel190302:30:36.079 --> 02:30:41.319
concluded that every single incident could be explained by simple trickery,190402:30:41.840 --> 02:30:46.159
such as a boy could effect given moments of distraction190502:30:46.840 --> 02:30:50.959
and the chaos of the situation. Skeptics point out that190602:30:51.040 --> 02:30:55.639
adolescents can bring not just angst, but also boredom and190702:30:55.680 --> 02:31:00.000
a desire for attention. Perhaps Jimmy started with a few190802:31:00.000 --> 02:31:04.840
few prank bottle explosions using some unknown method, and then190902:31:04.959 --> 02:31:09.959
felt unable to stop as the situation snowballed beyond his control.191002:31:16.360 --> 02:31:20.000
It's important to note, however, that no evidence of fraud191102:31:20.200 --> 02:31:24.879
was ever found. During the events, The boy was closely191202:31:24.959 --> 02:31:29.319
watched by police and family, even being subjected to stern191302:31:29.399 --> 02:31:35.680
interrogations at times, and he consistently denied any involvement, sometimes191402:31:36.000 --> 02:31:41.440
to the point of tears. The Hermann parents, detective Tazzi,191502:31:41.799 --> 02:31:46.079
and later doctor Pratt and doctor Roll all ultimately concluded191602:31:46.360 --> 02:31:50.879
that Jimmy did not appear to be consciously behind the disturbances,191702:31:51.600 --> 02:31:59.520
and crucially, multiple incidents were witnessed by reliable third parties reporters, officers, cousins,191802:32:00.079 --> 02:32:04.360
while neither child was near the affected object. These make191902:32:04.440 --> 02:32:09.479
the hoax theory plausible in some instances, but difficult to192002:32:09.600 --> 02:32:15.479
extend to every occurrence without invoking an almost superhuman level192102:32:15.520 --> 02:32:21.360
of trickery and timing by a preteen. Another school of192202:32:21.440 --> 02:32:25.079
thought views the Herman case not as a deliberate prank,192302:32:25.520 --> 02:32:32.239
but as a psychological phenomenon, specifically a manifestation of subconscious192402:32:32.559 --> 02:32:38.440
psychokinetic ability. Doctor Pratt and doctor Roll of Duke's Parapsychology192502:32:38.520 --> 02:32:43.719
Lab favored this explanation. They categorized the events as a192602:32:43.719 --> 02:32:49.760
classic case of recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis r s p K.192702:32:51.079 --> 02:32:55.639
According to this theory, Jimmy Herman himself was the unwitting192802:32:55.760 --> 02:33:01.520
source of the kinetic disturbances. In times of an emotional stress,192902:33:01.559 --> 02:33:06.879
such as puberty, some individuals might unconsciously release pent up193002:33:06.959 --> 02:33:11.760
psychic energy that can physically affect objects in their environment.193102:33:12.680 --> 02:33:17.760
Pratt and Roll noted suggestive clues the poltergeist's focus on193202:33:17.879 --> 02:33:22.319
bottles of household products used by missus Herman and on193302:33:22.479 --> 02:33:28.559
items belonging to the parents, furniture in their rooms, religious objects, etc.193402:33:29.319 --> 02:33:35.079
Could symbolically reflect Jimmy's inner feelings, perhaps anger toward his193502:33:35.239 --> 02:33:40.840
strict father or dependency needs relating to his mother. In193602:33:40.879 --> 02:33:46.520
a two thousand three retrospective analysis, doctor William Roll pointed193702:33:46.520 --> 02:33:51.920
out that psychological evaluations of young James indicated he harbored193802:33:52.000 --> 02:33:56.680
strong repressed anger toward his father, and the pattern of193902:33:56.799 --> 02:34:03.120
targets mother's holy water father furniture might represent an unconscious194002:34:03.200 --> 02:34:08.680
outlet for those emotions. The Duke researchers also observed a194102:34:08.799 --> 02:34:14.360
tantalizing physical correlation. The closer objects were to Jimmy, the194202:34:14.440 --> 02:34:19.040
more frequently they seemed to move, with effects diminishing at194302:34:19.120 --> 02:34:24.159
greater distances. This distance decay of force fits a model194402:34:24.239 --> 02:34:29.760
proposed by parapsychologists that psychokinetic waves emanating from a person194502:34:30.280 --> 02:34:36.079
might weaken with range. Role even speculated in theoretical terms194602:34:36.360 --> 02:34:40.799
that perhaps these psychic forces interact with quantum level energies194702:34:41.399 --> 02:34:46.239
like zero point field fluctuations to momentarily suspend the normal194802:34:46.319 --> 02:34:50.840
laws of inertia and gravity, allowing objects to move without194902:34:51.000 --> 02:34:56.319
visible cause. Though such ideas venture far into the speculative,195002:34:56.799 --> 02:35:00.840
the psychokinetic hypothesis does align with one one key fact.195102:35:01.639 --> 02:35:09.239
Similar poltergeist cases have occurred worldwide, often involving adolescence under stress,195202:35:09.280 --> 02:35:14.360
with no apparent fraud. In some well documented instances. The195302:35:14.399 --> 02:35:20.520
Herman case itself spurred parapsychologists to investigate other contemporary incidents,195402:35:20.959 --> 02:35:26.120
and the patterns were often alike. Still, mainstream science remains195502:35:26.200 --> 02:35:32.120
highly skeptical of RSPK, as no controlled experiment has ever195602:35:32.239 --> 02:35:37.239
conclusively demonstrated a person's mind moving objects at will, let195702:35:37.319 --> 02:35:43.879
alone unconscious teenage angst doing so spontaneously. Pratt and Roll195802:35:44.079 --> 02:35:49.040
conceded that RSPK was a working hypothesis rather than a195902:35:49.120 --> 02:35:53.520
proven mechanism. It was simply the explanation that best fit196002:35:53.639 --> 02:36:02.760
the peculiar constellation of evidence once outright trickery seemed less likely. Finally,196102:36:02.920 --> 02:36:06.399
there are those who hold that the Hermann family truly196202:36:06.479 --> 02:36:12.959
experienced a paranormal entity, a genuine poltergeist or spirit. The196302:36:13.079 --> 02:36:18.319
very word poltergeist comes from German for noisy ghost, and196402:36:18.520 --> 02:36:23.200
historically such hauntings were often attributed to troublesome spirits or196502:36:23.200 --> 02:36:29.159
demonic forces. The Hermann case occurred in a devout Catholic household,196602:36:29.680 --> 02:36:34.799
and even Time magazine mused that a diabolical force might196702:36:34.879 --> 02:36:38.799
be at play. Many observers pointed to the pattern of196802:36:38.840 --> 02:36:43.760
religious items being targeted, for example, the Holy Water font196902:36:44.120 --> 02:36:47.799
and the Virgin Mary statue being flung, as if an197002:36:47.879 --> 02:36:54.159
unholy presence was intentionally desecrating sacred objects. Some local clergy197102:36:54.200 --> 02:36:57.959
and lay people indeed felt the family was under demonic oppression,197202:36:58.719 --> 02:37:05.200
hence the calls for an exorcism. However, nothing overtly supernatural197302:37:06.040 --> 02:37:11.799
like apparitions or voices ever accompanied the disturbances. The phenomena197402:37:11.840 --> 02:37:16.959
were entirely psychokinetic. In classic parlance. This case had all197502:37:17.000 --> 02:37:22.680
poltergeist and no ghost, loud physical activity with no clear197602:37:22.799 --> 02:37:27.920
message or ghostly identity attached. If a restless spirit was present,197702:37:28.360 --> 02:37:31.840
it kept itself to raps on walls and chaotic pranks197802:37:32.360 --> 02:37:38.040
rather than delivering any intelligible communication. The Catholic Church never197902:37:38.159 --> 02:37:42.799
formally declared it a demonic case, and Father MacLeod's attempted198002:37:42.840 --> 02:37:48.920
blessing did not drive it away. Still, some paranormal researchers198102:37:49.120 --> 02:37:52.680
argue that a discarnate entity could have been the cause,198202:37:53.360 --> 02:37:57.600
Essentially a ghost playing poltergeist tricks. They note that the198302:37:57.680 --> 02:38:03.239
occurrences stopped as abruptly as they began, after about five weeks,198402:38:03.920 --> 02:38:07.840
perhaps when the spirit decided to move on. A spiritual198502:38:07.879 --> 02:38:12.440
explanation is inherently hard to prove or refute. It boils198602:38:12.520 --> 02:38:17.520
down to one's belief framework. To skeptics, invoking a ghost198702:38:17.760 --> 02:38:23.040
is unnecessary when a teenager or trickery could be the source.198802:38:23.840 --> 02:38:28.600
To believers, the very inexplicability and mischievous intelligence of the198902:38:28.680 --> 02:38:42.239
events suggests an unseen spirit is at work. The Hermann199002:38:42.239 --> 02:38:46.680
family poltergeist case remains one of the most famous and199102:38:46.840 --> 02:38:52.239
well documented American hauntings of the twentieth century. In the199202:38:52.280 --> 02:38:57.719
words of magician Milburn Christopher, it was the most discussed199302:38:57.799 --> 02:39:03.879
poltergeist case of the century, generating countless newspaper stories, radio199402:39:04.000 --> 02:39:09.200
and TV broadcasts, and magazine articles in many languages. It199502:39:09.319 --> 02:39:13.520
also had a lasting influence on popular culture and the199602:39:13.559 --> 02:39:18.840
scientific study of the paranormal. The intense media coverage and199702:39:18.920 --> 02:39:24.520
public intrigue surrounding the Seaford happenings spark new interest among199802:39:24.639 --> 02:39:31.479
parapsychologists in investigating poltergeists. Doctor Roll, for instance, went on199902:39:31.559 --> 02:39:36.479
to study several other high profile cases with similar patterns200002:39:36.479 --> 02:39:41.159
in the nineteen sixties and seventies, including a Miami warehouse200102:39:41.200 --> 02:39:46.120
poltergeist in nineteen seventy one and the famous Columbus, Ohio200202:39:46.280 --> 02:39:52.319
case of nineteen eighty four involving a teen girl. Each time,200302:39:52.440 --> 02:39:56.520
echoes of the Hermann case were seen, and researchers continued200402:39:56.520 --> 02:40:02.280
to refine theories of RSPK and environ triggers. It's widely200502:40:02.440 --> 02:40:07.520
noted that the nineteen eighty two Stephen Spielberg film Poltergeist200602:40:07.840 --> 02:40:12.319
took inspiration from the Hermann case, transplanting the idea of200702:40:12.360 --> 02:40:19.079
a household under supernatural siege into cinematic history. Despite all200802:40:19.120 --> 02:40:23.399
the analysis and speculation, the core mystery of the Hermann200902:40:23.399 --> 02:40:29.239
Poltergeist remains unsolved. What really set those objects in motion.201002:40:30.040 --> 02:40:34.639
We know for certain what was observed. Bottles popped open201102:40:34.719 --> 02:40:39.799
by themselves, furniture overturned, objects flew through the air in201202:40:39.879 --> 02:40:43.600
the presence of credible witnesses, and all of it centered201302:40:43.639 --> 02:40:48.360
around a perfectly ordinary family with no apparent motive to201402:40:48.479 --> 02:40:54.079
fake such chaos. Decades later, no definitive evidence has emerged201502:40:54.319 --> 02:40:57.879
to prove it was a hoax, Yet no scientific mechanism201602:40:58.159 --> 02:41:01.719
has been identified to explain how these events could occur201702:41:01.920 --> 02:41:07.520
naturally or via psychokinesis. The case stands as a tantalizing201802:41:07.600 --> 02:41:12.079
example of a boundary phenomenon hovering at the edges of201902:41:12.159 --> 02:41:19.479
belief where psychology, physics, and folklore intersect. The Hermann family202002:41:19.520 --> 02:41:24.319
eventually reclaimed their normal life and rarely spoke publicly of202102:41:24.360 --> 02:41:29.079
the ordeal again. But for those tumultuous weeks in nineteen202202:41:29.200 --> 02:41:33.360
fifty eight, their modest Long Island home was the site202302:41:33.360 --> 02:41:40.600
of something truly extraordinary. The Popper Poltergeist case forces us202402:41:40.680 --> 02:41:45.000
to confront the limits of our understanding, a reminder that202502:41:45.040 --> 02:41:48.559
there are events recorded in our own time and place202602:41:49.040 --> 02:41:54.959
which still elude explanation. And so the Hermann Poltergeist lives202702:41:55.000 --> 02:41:59.319
on in legend as enigmatic now as on the day202802:41:59.479 --> 02:42:03.879
at rock the walls of a quiet house and then202902:42:04.479 --> 02:42:18.079
vanished into thin air. And that brings us to the203002:42:18.239 --> 02:42:24.120
end of this special collection of terrifying and true A mirror,203102:42:24.399 --> 02:42:29.239
a bedroom, a movie set, a locked hotel room, a203202:42:29.360 --> 02:42:34.200
forwarded warning, a lonely house in the woods, a quiet203302:42:34.239 --> 02:42:42.440
suburban home where the impossible came knocking. Different stories, different decades,203402:42:43.000 --> 02:42:47.559
different kinds of fear, but each one leaves behind the203502:42:47.600 --> 02:42:53.040
same uneasy question. What do we do when the things203602:42:53.120 --> 02:42:59.440
we tell ourselves are just stories start leaving fingerprints in203702:42:59.520 --> 02:43:04.399
the real world. Maybe Bloody Mary is only a dare203802:43:04.879 --> 02:43:09.479
whispered in the dark. Maybe sleep paralysis is only the203902:43:09.559 --> 02:43:17.120
brain misfiring between dreams and waking. Maybe curses our only coincidences,204002:43:17.760 --> 02:43:22.840
chain letters are only manipulation, and hauntings are only folklore204102:43:23.360 --> 02:43:28.959
wearing a new face, or maybe fear has always been204202:43:29.120 --> 02:43:33.360
one of the oldest forces we know, and sometimes when204302:43:33.479 --> 02:43:38.079
enough people believe in something, repeat it, share it, and204402:43:38.319 --> 02:43:43.680
pass it on, it starts to feel alive. Thank you204502:43:43.760 --> 02:43:47.760
for joining me on this very special Terrifying and True collection,204602:43:48.600 --> 02:43:51.479
and remember we bring you a brand new episode of204702:43:51.559 --> 02:43:56.840
Terrifying and True diving into true crime, folklore and everything204802:43:56.920 --> 02:44:02.440
in between every single Monday. You're at Weekly Spooky, So204902:44:02.639 --> 02:44:07.600
make sure you're subscribed on your favorite podcast app Until then,205002:44:08.440 --> 02:44:11.920
keep the lights low, keep your eyes on the mirror,205102:44:12.040 --> 02:44:17.600
and whatever you do, don't forward the warning unless you're205202:44:17.680 --> 02:44:27.920
sure you're ready for what follows.
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