Morbid - Episode 483: The Alleged Smurl Family Haunting pt 1

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

On August 19, 1986, a curious news item appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader regarding the home of West Pittston, PA family Jack and Janet Smurl. The couple claimed, for more than eighteen months their home had been a battleground of spiritual warfare that included everything from ghosts wandering the halls and tormenting the family dog to demons attacking the children and even sexually assaulting the adults in the house.The article in the Times Leader began a weeks-long fascination with the family and their ordeal, drawing reporters from all over Pennsylvania and the surrounding states, and eventually attracting the attention of self-proclaimed demonologist and psychic medium Ed and Lorraine Warren. At first, the Smurls' claims of demonic infestation were taken seriously by the church, many members of the press, and countless of the Smurls neighbors. As time wore on, however, the inability of both the Smurls and the Warren’s to produce any evidence of their supposed haunting led many to believe the claims were just a hoax perpetrated by the family for attention and fame. Thank you to David White for research assistance ReferencesCitizen's Voice. 2017. John James Smurl obituary. June 23. Accessed July 5, 2023. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/citizensvoice/name/john-smurl-obituary?id=15953106.—. 1986. "Ghosdt briefing turns into shouting match." The Citizen's Voice, August 26: 5.—. 1986. "Haunted family nregotiating movie deal." The Citizen's Voice, September 6: 2.Collins, Jim. 1986. "West Pittston Mystery: Is basis murder or mishmash." Scranton Times, August 22: 3.—. 1986. "If you like sideshows, there's one close to home." Times-Tribune, August 31: 23.—. 1986. "Screen exorcist Jason Miller visits site of demonic doings." Times-Tribune, August 22: 3.Corbett, Steve. 1986. "Family: Home is under siege by evil spirits." Times Leader, August 19: 1.Curran, Robert. 1988. The Haunted: One Family's Nightmare. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.—. 1986. "Brain surgery revelation casts demon dwelling doubts." The Scrantonia, August 24: 15.—. 1986. "Smurls credit prayers of many with cleansing house of demons." The Tribune, October 27: 3.DeAndrea, Francis. 1986. "Different kind of scare job." Times-Tribune, August 30: 3.Kurtz, Paul. 1987. "A case study of the West Pittston 'haunted' house." The Skeptical Inquirer 11 (Winter): 137-146.Lancaster New Era. 1986. "Scientists, priest skeptical about 'demons' in house." Lancaster New Era, August 23: 1.Morning Call. 1986. "Demons: Exorcisms fail to end family's nightmare." The Morning Call, August 22: 3.Porter, Jill. 1986. "A demon by any other name." Philadelphia Daily News, August 29: 2.Rotstein, Gary. 1986. "Bedeviled: Town is divided over 'haunted' family." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 25: 1.Shurmaitis, Dawn. 1986. "Demonologist says family is 'under attack'." Times Leader, August 19: 12.Singleton, David. 1986. "Publicity has cost haunted family." Danville News, August 23: 1.Trosky, Pat. 1986. "Are ghosts haunting West Pittston family?" Citizen's Voice, August 20: 3.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You're listening to a morbid network podcast. Okay, you guys went ham sandwich and ordered so many lunar dials in the in the presale there like I was like oh my god. You became entire ham hogees. What is that? What is that? Isn't it like a sub? But somewhere else? We're gonna call them hogees. A sub is a hoge? Yeah. I thought I was gonna see a hub is a sogey. Well, I don't know.

I know. Is that the mother fucking lunar dial is going to be available on the Wondery Shop starting August 1st. www.ww. That's 3w's.wonderyshop.com and that's starting August 1st. But if you're not one for the internet, that's fine. Because you can go out into the world. This is my favorite part and you can go to some of my fucking favorite places. Target. Target. Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble. and Amazon starting August

1st. And you can buy it there, baby! Play the game, play it, play it so hard. Go get it! Dun and Tion. A bunch of hoogies starting in August. August. Hey, weirdo's I'm Ash. And I'm Alaina. And this is morbid. This is morbid. That was AI-generated.

I liked that. It's not that way. No, never. Literally never. Never. Never. Never. Never.

Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. This is morbid. That was AI-generated.

I liked that. I wouldn't know that way. No, never. Literally. Never. We're not those kind of people. We're not those kind of girlies. We're not robots.

We're not robots over here. It's just a little feel. I feel a little robotic. Uh-oh. You glitched. I'm dumbed up. Everybody's like, oh. Gotcha.

I'm not like her your ears, sorry. Everybody's like, Oh! Kacha! Brother, you're here, sorry. That probably did, yeah. I was just saying, speaking of AI, or maybe just like, or lack the rough, or maybe just, you know, social media listening to you.

Oh, wait, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I'm doing that. You did, you meant to. I just did to my shirt. I didn't mean to interrupt you. Can you guys get a stay? It's wild. It's what she did to her shirt.

I bet a hole in it by accident. She did, she put a hole. A hole last hole into her shoe. Damn it, okay, Sims, you're feral. But yeah, we were, we were saying how TikTok listens to you and apparently according to Asher, I've been talking about the Sims a lot because I keep getting some fucking fun in the whole lot.

I keep getting Sims content all of a sudden and I'm not mad about it. No. What is Sims content all of a sudden, and I'm not mad about it. No. What is Sims content? Just people showing you their Sims builds and also showing you funny things that happen in the game. Okay. Because there's a lot of glitches that happen

in the Sims that are hilarious. And there's also a lot of hidden places you can go and hidden things you can do. Like creepy or like fun things. Like you can like, go inside of a tree, a fairy tree, and go to like a fairy realm, like a hidden fairy realm. I feel like your kids would love that. Oh yeah.

Is the Sims ever scary? Like do like bad things happen? I never, I can be, that's wild to me. I used to watch you, but. It can be very unintentionally scary because glitches happen and they can be terrifying sometimes. Like how so?

Like a horse apparently one of the new glitches, there's like a new expansion thing out, I guess. I don't have this one, but I saw a tick talk about it. Crazy. But it's like horse ranch is the thing, so you can like have a horse ranch. And the horse is like bend over backwards, like walk at you like these crazy.

Like a dude, it's like a glitch. I feel like that's not a glitch. I feel like that's just like somebody in the office board on the first day. Probably. Wow. Yeah, that's crazy. It's pretty fun.

That's the Sims is fun. Gotta say every, I think a lot of people agree with me. I know a lot of people, a lot of you play the Sims. I know this, because whenever I've mentioned it before, I post something people like Hell Yes Sims. You know what else people play a lot that I've never played? And I don't think you've ever played it, either Animal Crossing.

I've never played that. Do you remember during the panoramic when Animal Crossing just like took over the nation? No. To everyone. Everyone was buying the Nintendo Switch. That's what it's called. I didn't even know that.

Which drew on Star by one. And I was like, I don't know. Like, I don't know. A gamer boy. I don't know. No, no, no. I'm not a huge gamer. I'm not a gamer girl. I'm not a gamer girl.

I was a Sims gamer girlie. Yeah, and I do love a horror video game sometimes, but I haven't played one in like a billion years because it's, you know, when. But I'm not, and I never have been a video game girlie. Like, remember when Papa and I was sick and he got me those computer games? The Hobbit.

He got me the Hobbit and like an aerial game, which I fucking loved the aerial game, because you just like put clothes on her. Yeah. Like, it was like styling Ariel and I was like, sign me up. But then the Hobbit, I was like, do you know me, sir? But who took the Hobbit game? I gave that right to her. She was like, can I play this?

And I was like, yeah, I got it the fuck away from me. And this bitch over here spent that, I was actually just talking about this recently. I was telling Drew about it. We were talking. I think it was when we were talking about the Nintendo thing. But I was like, Alina overtook this fucking game. And I passed the point of meeting Sick. I was cured at this point. Oh yeah. You just thriving. You were on level after level after level.

That game ruled and I want to play it again. That was a cool game. That was a cool game. It was a cool game because I remember at that point when you started playing, I was like, could I play now? And you're like, no, I've only been speaking now. But it's hours when we had a computer room. Yeah, that's a one computer room was a thing.

It's a wild thing to think about. And the computer room just scare me. I'm on Puppet's house. Why did scare you? It's a freaky-ass room. Do you remember that room? I mean, yeah, the weird side closet and shit. I think that room was my room at one point. That room was also my room at one point.

I think it was everybody's room at some point. We all like love to switch rooms all the time. Yeah, but yeah, I think that was my room at one point. Was that like your childhood room? No. It was when I was like a teenager and I was like, I want this cool little room to myself. And that's funny.

I don't like this room. Yeah, that room's too small to be like a room, room, truly. Room. People like the way we say room. Oh yeah. I've heard people say that. I don't want people to say room. I don't think I'd say it differently.

We say room, room, like room. And other We say room. Room. Like, room. And other people say room. Like, this is my room. Room. Wait, people say room. Like room. This is my room. It just reminds me of room.

It reminds me of room. No, but no more girls. I think they say, or do they say, room, room. We say room. This is, we're losing all. They're like, okay, so everybody's like, and buy. That was Rum's rooms and video games for all.

That was Rum's rooms and rooms with a shinoleina. Yeah, I like that. But you know what, this is a spooky crazy episode. So, so make sense that we're being spooky and crazily noped to it. This case was particularly asked for by Dave. By Dave. By David. By David.

By David. By David. By David. By David. By David. By David. By David. By David.

By David. By David. By David. By David. By David. By David. By David. Murl family haunting. And Dave was like, this is a goody. And I was like, wow, so many wild things happen in this that like, oh my God. And you know what, with a name like Smurls, it has to be good. That's one of the things that I thought. That's one of the things that I thought. All right, so the story of the haunting

really gained traction on August 19th, 1986. Oh, in the 80s? No, it was very 80s. But on August 19th, 1986. Oh, in the 80s? No, it was very 80s. But on August 19th, 1986, that was when a rather interesting news story appeared in the Wilkes Bar Times leader. And the article was written about the Smirl Family Home in West Pitson, Pennsylvania,

and the Smirl Family Home was owned by Jack and Janet Smirl. Jack and Janet! Jack and Janet Smirl. Jack and Janet. Jack and Janet. But they claimed that's their couple songs. I was gonna say that's their theme song. Jack and Janet. Smirl. They claimed that for a period of about a year and a half

that they had been the victims of a truly insane haunt. They said their home was infested with ghosts wandering the halls. They were tormenting the family dog. Demons were attacking the kids in the house. They were allegedly sexually assaulting the adults in the house. Oh, no. It was a truly wild story from start to finish. Apparently. Apparently. I thought you said infested by ghosts at first, too.

But then I took the context clues later. That was a pretty good impersonation. I thought it was a goat that just walked in here. But it was just that. Color me a goat. Um, I don't know why, I just like, um, dot you that hard. I appreciate, I really like put us into business.

Yeah. I feel like it was like an um, get to business. So the article. So the article. In the Times Leader, it got a lot of attention. And soon reporters from all over Pennsylvania and even the surrounding states wanted to get an interview with the Smurls.

Of course. The prime time media, my guy. Yeah. And the Smurls, they were happy to give one. But unfortunately, during these interviews, like people would come to the house sometimes, and all activity would cease to exist. Like they could never show what was going on in the house. They could never prove that anything had actually happened.

But even though people couldn't see what had happened with their own eyes, the press at first and actually even the church believed the smurls. You know, like, you know, I see what you're saying. I don't see it, but like I could see it. Yeah, and like I get that ghosts don't have media training. So I understand why they wouldn't come out. Be a little shy, you know?

You know? And I think the thing was, what they were claiming was so wild that the people who believed them were like, they couldn't possibly make this up. Yeah, like this would be a reckless thing to make up. Exactly. But after a while though, people were like,

the lack of proof is really kind of like tugging at us. And people started questioning whether or not they had really experienced any kind of haunted all boy. So this went from like full blown hell, yes, murals. I'm so sorry you're going through that to like, what the fuck are you talking about, Kyle? Like are you, I am. Yeah.

So people just started to talk the whole thing up to a hoax that was created by the family for like a tension and fame and they eventually lost interest. But who knows? Maybe like something really did happen. We don't really know. Maybe. So let's get into the story and let's get into the key people

involved. We got John James, Jack. John James, Jack. That's Jack's moral. He was born December 19, 1942 in Wilkespar, Pennsylvania, to his parents, John, and Mary. He was the younger of two kids, and looking back, he said that he actually had a pretty ideal childhood. Spent a lot of time outside with friends. They would go exploring, they'd play sports, they'd adventure through the woods in the area. Yeah. I literally wrote, you know, side note, isn't it fucking wild that kids

just used to go off and play in the woods? Yeah, I used to play in the woods. Used to play in the woods? Yeah. In the 80s, they played in the, well, yeah, guess you grew up in more than 90s. Yeah, it was like, late 80s, early 90s, we would play in the woods. I didn't even know that you played in the woods. I was going to say we were talking to mom about that recently and she would play in the woods. Oh, yeah, the woods were the shit. For everybody came and made it awful. I know. We went to like woods parties in high school, but we never like played in the woods. So technically, like as a child played in the woods. Quote them quotes. Yeah, you're not wrong. Yeah, but, wow.

Yeah. But overall though, Jack, he was said to be a really easy-going kid. He was smart, got along with his peers, and everybody in high school really liked him. And he went to a Catholic high school in Wilkes Bar called St. Mary's. Now, even though he did well in school and he was clearly a pretty smart kid, after he graduated from high school, Jack was kind of just done with the whole school thing, which some people are relatable. But he wanted to, he just wanted like some kind of excitement,

he wanted a big adventure, and he wanted to go see more of the world than just Pennsylvania where he lived. Yeah. So in the early 60s, pretty much the best way to guarantee traveling was to join the military. So that's what Jack did. And he served in the Navy from June of 1960 until his honorable discharge in 1965. So he got a lot

of travel time under his belt. And it turned out that his personality, the fact that he was a worker, like he had a strong work ethic, and he was very attentive to rule following. It made him an excellent serviceman. So he did really well during his Navy years. And while he was enlisted, he trained as in, I'm gonna try this, electro-conclusive therapy technician. It was more intimidating than I thought. But it turned out that was another thing he was really good at.

And he was naturally empathetic and had like a lot of compassion when it came to people struggling with their mental health So this work was just as rewarding as his time in the Navy was. Oh Now once he was discharged he had big dreams of settling down Wanted to get married wanted to start a family and it just so happened that during his time in the Navy He had met a girl named Janet. Oh, I know her, I do too. He thought she would be the perfect girl to eventually marry.

He was a little bit older, and Janet wasn't high school when they met. But despite the age difference, Jack and Janet hit it off immediately. Oh. Janet was very into school. She was kind of like a bookworm. Robert Curin, who wrote the haunted One Family's Nightmare.

Ooh, put it that Janet, quote, had no interest in the drugs or promiscuity favored by the hippie movement. Oh, yeah, fuck those people. Fuck the hippies. Yeah. Okay, my people. I saw Janet was not like that and neither was Jack, so that's why they kind of meshed so well together. Guys, are you ready for the sentence that I'm about to say because I'm pretty excited

about it? Fall! Fall! It's right around the corner. And hello, freshers here to help you plan for that busy season ahead with tasty dishes delivered right to your door. All you have to do is choose your recipes and pick your delivery date, and then lay back and enjoy the last days of summer,

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They have family, friendly, they have fit and wholesome and you'll always find new and exciting recipes to try and love. I made a hello fresh meal the other night and I'm actually salivating right now thinking about it. It was the creamy garlic spinach ricotta ravioli. If you know me, I'm not gonna say no to any kind of ravioli. If you know me, I'm not going to say no to any kind of ravioli, but this specific one, I will say yes to like a zillion times over. Creamy

garlic spinach ricotta. Mmm, delicious. It was so yummy and so easy to clean up. You got to try HelloFresh. Go to HelloFresh.com slash 50 morbid and use code 50 morbid for 50% This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sometimes in life we're faced with tough choices. And the past forward is not always clear. I feel like a big part of that comes from anxiety and maybe sometimes depression. A lot of times, those little voices in the back of your head can tell you that you're not good enough and you can't make this choice. And what happens if you make this choice and everything will be ruined.

And it's like, at that point, you're not trusting yourself. But trusting yourself to make decisions that align with your values is like anything. The more you practice it, the easier it gets. And I personally think that therapy is going to be the number one thing that will help in a situation like that. I have benefited from therapy. I know so many of my friends and family members who have. I actually know that I have taken a little bit of a break from therapy and I thought I was doing really good for a little bit, but you know what, I think I'm going to head back because navigating life without therapy is not always easy. So listen, you're not alone. And if you're thinking of starting therapy, give better help, but try. It's entirely online designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited

to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with the licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. Let therapy be your map with better help. Visit betterhelp.com slash morbid today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.help.com slash morbid. Now, their initial meeting was actually pretty brief, but Jack just couldn't get Janet off of his mind as he finished his ears on the service. So he was really thrilled when they met up again by happenstance at the 1967 company Christmas Party for Topps Chewing Gum.

They actually both worked there, but in different departments. Oh, wow. And they didn't realize it until they met at the Christmas party. Oh, shit. So it kind of seems like they were meant to be a little bit. Go to those holiday parties, guys. Are you still faking a lot of my companies?

Holiday party. Some of them are fun. Some of them are fun. So like Jack, Janet, she was also raised at a devout Catholic. So they had similar morals and values, and they bonded over those. And like I said, their personalities

just really seemed to complement on each others. So they dated for one year, and then they decided to get married in this massive Catholic ceremony. Looking back on their relationship, Janet said, I think I knew right away. I really liked the way he presented himself and their respect he had, not just for me,

but all the things I valued. I like the way you move. That's really sweet. I think she was like, I like God, and you do too. And the church is awesome. And we like it together. You know, same thing. Morals.

They were like, OMG. OMG Morals. Have those me too. Yeah, we love those. Yeah. So Jack and Janet weren't the couple like out and about at parties. They weren't joining in on protest that a lot of people their age were joining in on at this time period.

But they were just, you know, readying themselves to make a family. Jack said, they're just vibing, making plans for a fam. And Jack said, we both wanted a family and we both wanted to make sure that the family would be raised properly. Just good old Catholic folk. Okay. So the early years of Jack and Janet's marriage went really well. It was particularly pleasant.

Jack was ever the hard worker. He got a promotion and a pay raise. And by the end of the 60s, Janet had given birth to the couple's two daughters, Dawn and Heather, which I think are really pretty names. Yeah, Dawn and Heather. Yeah. Now Janet had left work to be a full-time mom.

And she said she saw it as not only, quote, her sacred responsibility, but a privilege as well. That's cute. So she really loved being a mom. I loved that. Now, as a young couple with two children support, two support, excuse me, it wasn't always easy to make ends meet on one income.

So the family ended up moving in with Jack's parents, John and Mary Smirl, into their house in Wilkes bar. Now living with Jack up moving in with Jack's parents, John and Mary Smirl, into their house in Wilkes Bar. Now living with Jack's parents, but Jack's parents, that's hard to say, and it makes you feel like you're saying no. Yeah, it is hard. Jack's parents. Jack's parents, it's because of the two S's.

Also, how biblical, biblical of them is what I meant to say. John and Mary, I didn't, for some reason, that didn't hit before. Good old Catholic phone. You know, just, boom, just hit. Yep, you know. I was like, oh, Bible. Exactly. And then we got John and Janet.

Yeah. Janet from the Bible leader. I don't know. Janet. You know the Bible. Why can't it be that the last supper, right? I think. Shrews were the, I wasn't that like only men.

I thought it was that one. I think it was probably. I think it was were the... I wasn't that like only men. I thought it was that old fucking... I think it was probably... I think it was a guy's name. I think it was dudes just being bros. It was Saturday. I was for the boys. So they move in with Jon and Mary, not the Christkind, but the other ones.

Living with Jack's parents meant that he and Janet could save money to buy their own house and they also had John and Mary around to help with the kids. So that was an added bonus. With the kiddos. With the kids. Well, chicken dudes. Little chickadees. Little chickadees.

But unfortunately, the plan hit a major snag in the summer of 1972 when Hurricane Agnes swept through the East Coast. Hurricane Agnes. Bitch the East Coast. Hurricane Agnes, bitch. Sounds like a bitch. She was like, yeah. Like my grandmother's name was Agnes, so I'm allowed to say her mother's name was Agnes. But she was apparently awesome though. Yeah, she was the tears.

I didn't get to the tears. But like, I don't know, a Hurricane Agnes feels like she means business. Yeah, she does. Sorry, if you don't come in being like, hello, I like she means business. Yeah, she does, sorry. Like you don't come in being like, hello, I'm hurricane agnus. I'm just gonna rain a little bit. Yeah, I know you look like you fuck shit up.

Yeah, you fuck shit up. Yeah, and she did. And she did, actually, the storm caused billions of dollars in damage. Oh, really? And it actually, on a more serious note, it actually killed over 100 people. I didn't even know, I have to look up this storm.

I didn't know that. I hadn't heard of it either, actually. Because I think they'll have first major hurricane in my life. I think it was Hurricane Bob. I think it was Bob. On the East Coast. The one that sticks out to me the most is Aida, but she may have been recently.

I think she was recently. I'm pretty sure. I don't know. I get them confused. But Hurricane Agnes, I have not heard of. I'll have to look it up. Neither. But so it was a really devastating. Yeah. Hurricane for the area. But so it was a really devastating.

Yeah. Hurricane for the area. But luckily the Smurls, they were lucky in the sense that they didn't suffer nearly as much property damage as others did, and they were actually able to fix much of the damage. But what did happen to them was that the house was actually seized by the city through eminent domain. Oh, shit.

Isn't that, isn't that when they can turn it into like a hospital? Are they can turn it into like something for the city? No, that's the thing. I was like, I'm not really sure how all of that works. But Dave thought that the property was so ruined that they were probably tearing down the area and redeveloping, so the city kind of like took it back.

Okay, and caught. That's wild. But either way, now the family was forced to find a new home that could accommodate the entire Smurl family. Jack's parents included. Yeah, that's a six people. That's a lot of people that have to find shelter for. Exactly.

Now luckily, though, it actually didn't take long for Jack and Janet to find exactly what they were looking for. In a duplex at 330 Chase Street in the small town of Westpitson, Pennsylvania, about half hour outside of Scranton. Scrant! I literally wrote Q-A-Lina office reference here. You know. No, I don't. You all know. I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to everyone else. I know you don't know. Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do Westpitson, it really seemed to be like the perfect area for them. The town was filled with a lot of hard working young people, a lot like Jack and Janet, and

most of them were like working class people, again, just like Jack and Janet. So once they moved in, they wasted no time getting settled. And as the quintessential homemaker, stay at home mama of two, Janet got active in this community, which this is impressive, actually. She worked to establish a girl's softball league. Whoa. She joined a local chapter of students against drunk driving, and she spearheaded the town's

Cherry Blossom Festival. Damn, Janet, which I was like, okay, Janet. Oh, yeah. What's your wig made of? All right, Janet. You're going to the store. I had to find another place. I'm so pleased.

What's your wig, Beta? Sherry Blossom's from the festival. I spearheaded. That's what Janet said. That's right. Meanwhile, Jack was, I know, seriously. He was doing really well too. He was moving up the corporate ladder at tops

to a middle management position. And he joined the local Lions Club. Damn, look at him. Oh, no, assistant to the regional manager and everything. That's office, so that is. So years later Jack and Janet, they looked back on those early years living in that home on Chase Street and they actually agreed that they were some of the happiest times in their marriage, especially in light of all the chaos that followed. Uh oh. So when they found their duplex on Chase Street,

like I said, seemed to have everything they wanted in a home. As a duplex, it could easily accommodate the Jack's parents while still having more than enough space for everybody else. So actually, Jack ended up selling his parents their side of the living space for $4,000, which would be about $25,000 now. Which like, that's a fucking deal on a whole less home.

So when they bought the house, Jack and Janet didn't really know much about the owner. All they knew about him was that he was an elderly man who had been renting the property out for years. But otherwise, the house passed all the standard inspections and all the major utilities, plumbing, electric foundation roof, yada yada yada. They all seem to be in perfect working order, which made the house feel like a steal at just $10,000. Damn.

Yeah. I forgot to put in the translation of that, like what it would be today. I could see you were like, I want to know how much that is. Yeah, I forgot to put it in. It's okay. But perhaps there was a reason that it was that cheap. Perhaps there was. Duh-duh-duh.duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-uh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-uh-duh-duh-uh-duh-uh-duh-duh-duh-duh her in John's side of the house. But when the rug was delivered to the house and rolled out on the floor,

they were pretty disappointed. Because right in the middle, there was a huge dark stain that obviously wasn't there when Mary had bought it. Huh. So she was able to get the stain out of the rug. She just used like regular old carpet cleaner. But a few days later,

it inexplicably returned in the exact same spot, almost like she had never removed it in the first place. Huh. So they ended up throwing away the carpet and they just didn't think much of it. They were like, well, I was fucking weird, but maybe I didn't get all of it out. Like maybe it tried weird, you know? Yeah. They were just overall confused about the whole thing.

But I should say here that the timeline of the Smirl family haunt shifts around a lot. Because it seems like when they first went to the press, they said the whole thing lasted about a year and a half. But then the timeline shifts again and again throughout the entire story. And I think that was part of the reason why people started to have doubts. Okay. I honestly, I think like obviously a real, like true haunting where you have this evidence and you catch things on tape and like catch things and you know a video and all that,

that is fascinating and awesome and that's like my favorite kind. But there's something fascinating about one where you question whether a whole fucking family, including adults are making it up. Yeah. Like there's something so fat fucking family, including adults, are like, they get it up. Yeah. Like, there's something so fat

because I'm like, you all banded together. Why did you do this? Like, what a weird thing to fake is a whole haunting. It's funny that you say that in the way that you did. I don't know how to like, reiterate how you said it, but I'm excited to see how that, there potentially could be a reason not everybody. Oh, okay.

And I should mention that we might not get there until part two. Oh, sorry, forgot to tell you that. We're beginning spooky season early. Yeah, bitch. We'll kick off. It's October somewhere. Yeah, you know.

So while the stain on John and Mary's new carpet seemed relatively innocuous in the timeline that they do later put together, it was soon followed by a whole slew of issues in the home that they believed were supernatural forces. Okay. Now just a few months after the rug incident, Jack said that he was watching the TV one night, when suddenly the TV burst into flames without any warning or any sign of our problem. Were you buried that? He's gorgeous.

He was just watching TV one night and the television burst into flames, he said. These ghosts came in like a wrecking ball. Like they were just so hard. They never did. They were like, hey, I'm here. Like, what? Wow. And that's demonic.

That's pretty demonic. That's demonic. That's demonic. Or you're saying, like, that's given dark sadded or that's given faulty wire. And it's certainly that sinister wire. It's sinister wire. It's the problem there.

So that's the thing, Jack and Janet, we're like, we got some faulty wiring up in this bitch. Yeah. But then they were like, no, everything passed inspection when we bought the house. And then that TV fire was followed by other small fires in the house. They're new electric stove, cop fire, and so did Jack's car days after he brought it home from the dealership. Oh my god. Oh my god! Oh my god! There's a fire! There's an actual fire!

What? Oh my god! Is that demonic? Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god, it's giving sinister babes! What the fuck?

What the fuck? Oh my God. Oh my God. Should we leave that in? We were just talking about... We were just talking about a faulty fire and fire and then there was a fire. Oh my God.

I didn't even do any, I just stared. I was just like, oh my God, fire. I was staring at you. I was like, oh my God. I was like, oh my god. I was like, these damn, they're getting into this right here. Oh, fire, fire. Yeah, I was like, oh my god. I know why did we continue to yell it in Southern accent?

How did that happen? So that just happened. Like not even shitting your dick straight now. We left that on purpose. Yeah. And in the beginning, it kind of sounds like I'm being silly. No. A fire just top.

It was not at all. We had it. What happened? Because you saw it. So Ash was talking about Faulty Warr and I said fire multiple times. Wow. That was sinister and all that. And then I was just looking at Ash because right now you can't see it, but I can.

Ash is bathed in rainbow light right now because we have little rainbow things on our... Yeah, cause she's so gay. And so I looked at, I was like, well, she looks so energetic right now in this rainbow bath. And so I happened to look over to my right and I said, oh, that candle is really, really going. And then I looked and I was like,

oh, that's a bonfire in our room right now. And it just like lit. I don't even know what lit on fire. Was it like the paper underneath? No, because we have like a little candle like, but I guess you would call that like a candle holder. And I think it just, she's lit on fire. I don't really know what happened here.

That was so scary. And she was right next to Baffee. And she was. She was. Yeah, like my little Baffamette stuff. She was living over there. Yeah, he was like, as above, let's go. But yeah, I, yeah, I don't know what just happened,

but that was terrifying. That could be interesting. Real bad. Now it was big. I wish you guys had seen it. I was not like massive, but. I should have got control of my constitution and I should have taken a video of it while Mikey put it out. I don't remember here.

I know Mikey saved us all. I just want to be very clear. I didn't move an actual muscle. I did not move at all. When she says, didn't move a muscle, she didn't even uncross her legs from Chris Cross applesauce. No, I sure didn't. And I just said, oh my god, she's like a biker.

I forgot everything from stop-drop. I got up. But all I did was say, oh no, and stand over Mikey while he put it out. And I did open the door. Did you just like, yeah? I really hard. Yeah.

I was burnt my beard. Oh my god, I'm glad he didn't burn your beard. Okay, but uh, yeah, that just happened so that was interesting I'm glad we could take you guys along for that ride But we're okay now. Well smells a little crispy in here Like a little crispy in here. It smells like good though. Yeah, it's like crispy candle It's ball fire. It's a ball fire That just makes me think of our childish kid be you know, but I'm not gonna sing that. So anyways, so anyway.

So anyway, it's not no glove or your no-m's getting. So you got fire at the Spural Residence, cars, electric stove, TVs, the whole night. But to the Spurls, the first few unfortunate events in their home, they just kind of dismiss them as like, surprise, this is what makes me a law. They dismiss it as surprises that come along with being first time homeowners. Yeah. When I became a first time homeowner,

my card didn't burst into flames nor did my television. No. So like I wouldn't chalk that up to that. No, it definitely didn't happen to me either, but you know, everyone's experience is different, I suppose. It is. wow, it really does smell crispy in here. It does. But anyways, some of the issues like, you know, wiring, if that was the case, leaky plumbing, those things probably could have been the result of them buying a house with a pretty long history

of unknown repairs. Yeah, so they chart to death for a minute. I see why you don't want to immediately assume it is, you know, the Dark Lord. Yeah, no. I never want to go in with assumptions that it's the Dark Lord. I would like to avoid that at all costs. I can understand.

But here's the thing. There was, see, continuance to avoid the Dark Lord. Sorry, Baffy. There was also the fact that when these small problems would come up, usually it was Jack or John his father that would fix them, and neither of them had any handyman experience really. So that could have led to more issues. But John and Janet, they eventually became convinced

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sugar-free in bulk nationwide at Costco or get 20% off when you go to liquidiv.com and use code morbid at checkout. That's 20% off anything you order when you use promo code morbid at liquidiv.com. After they had installed a new sink and tub into their bathroom, they described it as looking, quote, as if the talons of some frenzy beast had clawed at the porcelain. Ooh. But maybe they had just scratched it all up during the installation. Maybe. Or maybe it was the talons of the phoenix beast.

I don't know. You don't know. I don't know. I wasn't there. That's the thing. So a lot of the unfortunate events in the beginning and the early years could be chalked up to, you know, porthcraftsmanship and shoddy work. But that kind of explanation would not cover the sudden change in behavior of the smirls oldest daughter Dom. In 1975, she started regularly going into her parents' room in the middle of the Smirils oldest daughter, Dom. In 1975, she started regularly going into her parents' room in the middle of the night and telling them that she had, quote, just seen people floating around her room. Oh.

Now, each time they would go into her room and look around, but find nothing out of the ordinary. They didn't see people floating. Unfortunately, no. No. Or maybe fortunately for them, but like, I would find that unfortunate. Yeah, I'd be like, what about her?

I'd be like, guys, you just said you saw floating people. Don't bullshit me. Thank you. Thanks, man. Thanks, man. So, but almost every night, Don would come back and say the same thing. And she wasn't on acid. She was like a child.

I was gonna say, and she was like a child. She's a child, yeah. So for the most part, the unusual and inexplicable things that happened in the Smirl House, they were just minor inconveniences, disruptions in their ordinary lives. Lots of random noises, radios would turn on by themselves, drawers would open and close, they would hear footsteps up and down the halls

in the middle of the night. None of those things seemed to have explanations. And whenever they would happen, Jack, Janet and the kids, they would usually just ignore them because they were kind of getting used to it. And it became much easier in 1977 when Janet gave birth to twin girls, Shannon, and Karen, I believe, or Karin.

I think it's Karin, sorry. So at this point, the family had their hands full. So the noises were not something they were focusing on because now there's like two scratches. Now it's noisy. Yeah, it's noisy. So you know, like by the 70s and the 80s, Jack, Janet and the parents, they were also busy with like the babies and just like other life things going on.

Yeah. But they weren't bothering with every little irritation or like footstep that would happen. Yeah. But that would start to change in 1983. When the couple noticed an inescapable quote, stench of smoke and rotten meat that seemed to permeate the house no matter what they did. Oh, imagine if your house just smelled like smoke

and rotten meat. Damn. And like no for breeze, no incense, no flammable candles. I was just gonna say right now, it smells like smoke in here, but not rotten, but not rotten meat. They couldn't do anything to fix it. And later, Jack would claim that the first time I was just gonna say right now, it smells like smoke in here, but not rotten, but not rotten meat. They couldn't do anything to fix it.

And later, Jack would claim that the first time he noticed the stench was, quote, while he was kneeling before his bed, saying the rosary. So it was almost like some kind of demon, didn't like that. It was some demon saying, cut that shit out. Cut that shit out, I don't know. I don't like that rosary of yours.

It's very demon-y. But at the time, he and Janet thought that there might be like a rational non-denominational Denominational Pay our Double-dumination Domination Sorry, demonic spooky cases make us crazy

Usually also fires do This is make us crazy. Usually. It's usually going to be. Also fires, too. I guess. I guess it's pretty crazy. But yeah, I feel like spooky is usually when we need like a little slowdown. That's when we really just shake out all the goofies. Yeah. You know. So yeah, they thought that no demons just rations and rationalities.

Yep. So they were worried though that the smell was being caused by subsidence from all the heavy mining going on in the area at the time. So subsidence for those who don't know because I didn't know. I also don't know. It's when a land of area, an area of land, excuse me, starts to cave in on itself. Oh.

And I guess it smells, I don't know. I was just thinking it's stinky. I think that, I don't know why they thought it was so smelly. But Jack contacted the Department of Mines and he was told to check the foundation of the house for signs of cracking and crumbling, but they didn't find any. There was no evidence that this was going on.

So once again, the smells were out of loss to explain the unexplicable happening in their home. Yeah. So since moving into the duplex in late 1973, they had endured more than a decade of unusual and like sometimes pretty frightening events in their home like for fires. And that's a long time to keep up a ruse.

It is. And after a while, they said they just stopped looking for any kind of rational explanation and they just came to terms with the fact that they lived at a haunted house. Yeah. And they were cool with that for a little bit. Yeah, they were just like, you know,

footsteps, the smell fires seemed to stop. I guess they figured out a way to make it not smell like rotten meat. Yeah, but then in 1985, all that changed again because the activity took a dark and decidedly more threatening turn. Ooh. One winter afternoon in late 1985,

Janet was in the basement, just separating laundry and running through her to-do list in her head, just stay at home mom of things. And she was loading up the washing machine while she did this. And as she was doing that, she thought she heard someone call her name. Janet. And so she stood up a little bit straighter and kind of like listened closer, just waiting to see if the voice would call out again.

And she was just about to explain it away as you know like coming from the TV upstairs or something when she heard it again, a soft female voice calling Janet. And it seemed like it was coming from behind her. So she whipped around to confront the voice, but like we know no one was there. So that experience seemed to contradict that like everything Janet knew about ghosts and hauntings just from watching TV and movies. It was the middle of the day. All the lights were on in the house. She was like, why would this happen right now? But still, here she was trying to listen over the sound of the washer and dryer for someone to call her name again. And she said, she was just thinking about how violating it was,

having something in her house that she couldn't see. Like she was just thinking that when she heard the voice call out her name again. And this time Janet made horror mistake movie, number, no fucking it, horror movie mistake number one. And she screamed at the voice, what do you want? Oh no. You never do that Janet.

You never do that. No, you don't say who's there and you don't say what do you want. And you don't say be right back. Nope, but obviously there was no reply. So she made her way toward the stairs and she started climbing up them slowly, backwards, all the way to the top, because she was fucking terrified.

Oh my God, when you just said that for some, for a split second, I was picturing like in like those scary like exorcism movies where they like throw themselves backwards and like spider up the stairs. So Janet just throw themselves backwards and spider up the stairs. So Janet just decided to back that to her way up the stairs. Whoa, in my head I was like, oh my god, you said that so casually, but no, you just met a normal person. She was backing up the stairs. She was all so geeked out.

Thank you for clarifying that for me. No problem, many times. I had the wrong idea. Imagine if she just dead-girled up the stairs. Yeah, haunted person. No problem, many times. I had the wrong idea. Imagine if she just like, like, dead girled up the stairs. Yeah. Like, you know, like haunted person. No big deal. But as soon as she got to the top, she heard her name again.

Like, the thing was fucking with her. So she ran to the kitchen and she said she dropped to her knees and immediately started praying. And she said that she continued to periodically return to the kitchen and pray like that for the rest of the night. Damn. And I guess it went away. It's exhausting. One would think. So according to The Smurls, they had spent more than a decade laughing off or, you know,

trying to rationalize the strange events that occurred in their home. But this was different. This time, something spoke Janet's name. It knew her. Yeah. And it was in her home without her permission. Yeah. So that night she went to Jack about it and she was like, I'm not cool with this, like this is something I can't ignore. No way, we're not on a first name basis here. No. That person think they are.

Exactly. Now, as a devotely Catholic couple, they had accepted a certain belief in a paranormal world, but it was one thing to believe in it, a totally different thing to actually experience. Of course. So they agreed that they should start looking

into options for help, but then the topic just kind of fell by the wayside and they continued about their day-to-day lives. That makes sense. So a few months went by, and after Janet's experience with the voice and the basement, nothing happened, but then something did happen.

But then it happened. She had a second experience, and this time it was way more convincing. So months go by and then one February morning after she had sent all the girls off to school, she was in the kitchen ironing. I feel like these ghosts don't like house chores. No, they don't. I think what are you doing?

They're honestly just telling her to live a little. Yeah. But she was ironing and she said that she felt a sudden cold chill rush into the room. And she said she looked up from her chores, like thinking, oh, she'd left a window open or something, only to see a quote, black human shaped form standing about 10 feet away from her. Oh.

And she later said, to be honest, I wasn't sure at first whether it even existed. I knew there was a possibility that I was hallucinating or something, but then it started moving toward me. And I knew then that there was no doubt about it. The thing, whatever it was, was real. Very real. But before the mass started moving toward Janet, she just stood there not really wanting

to run or like move any kind of muscle that would alert it. So she just stood there holding her iron in one hand and staring at the mass in her kitchen. She said eventually, quote, this is wild, a cape fluttered from its back. But what was most upsetting was that the face had no features at all. Huh, a cape. So it was a superhero?

It was stylish. Oh, excuse me. Obviously. Sorry, I thought it was a superhero. Maybe who might have said? Who, we don't know who this is. I'm not the local authority. I'm not either.

I'm big. They could be a stilish superhero. Oh, you know. Look at that. We don't know. So she said the thing didn't appear to be a solid mass. She could kind of see through it slightly. And she said it was the height of an average man.

But all of the sudden, the shape began moving toward her. And she's just standing there, frozen in place with shock. And it just kind of like moves through her. Like, like moves like, no. You know? No, I don't. So she just, I don't want to. You know how that happened?

You know, just be ironing and then like, you just let the mass move through you. Yeah, just move right through you. You don't know about that? No, I don't. Me either. But Janet does. And she said, after a minute or two,

had passed, she finally composed herself enough to look around the room, but it was gone. No, because now it's inside of you, I think. I don't know. I'm worried for you, Janet. Or maybe it went through a wall or something. Because I also just thought about the cape thing. Stylish and superhero are both pretty innocuous.

You're like, that's fun. Yeah. What if it's like Jack the Ripper? He's always wearing a cape. White literally know that you were going it's like Jack the Ripper? He's always wearing a cape. White literally know that you were gonna see that. In the pictures, he's always wearing a cape. And it's wild because you have a Jack the Ripper like a pub thing behind you.

Oh yeah. And that's a black figure with a cape about the height of a man. Ooh, I don't love that. Hate it. I don't love that. Hate it. So a few minutes later, she kind of went through the house

and checked the other rooms. But just like the voice she had heard in the basement, there was no sign of this figure anywhere. So when she was sure that it wasn't hiding anywhere in the house, she went over to her in-laws side of the house and knocked on the door, not really sure what the fuck she was going to tell her mother-in-law, but sure that she needed to talk to anybody.

About what just happened. Now, for as long as Janet had known her mother in law Mary, Mary had been this warm, comforting presence in her life. But on that day, there was something very off about Mary. So the two of them sat there in the living room, Janet, you know, just trying to figure out how to explain what the fuck she had just gone through to Mary.

When Mary leaned forward and said to her, I have to tell you something, Janet. Oh, no, there's something about Mary. There is. So Janet could tell that Mary was really upset, so she was like, okay, like, yeah, tell me. And Mary goes, maybe you won't believe me Janet. I don't know if I believe me. Maybe I'm getting old. And then she explained that she had been sitting in the living room praying a short time earlier. And she explained that she had been sitting in the living room praying a short time earlier. When she saw what appeared to be the hazy black shape of a man, come through her wall, as though it had simply walked through a door from Janet's side of the house. Damn.

The form. The form. Mary told Janet, I was sitting here in my chair, saying my... Novenos? I don't know. When I felt some kind of presence, I looked up and saw this black form up here. It walked past me and disappeared.

So they both had the same experience. Like whenever the shape left Janet, it just went straight to Mary. It went through the wall to Mary's side of the house. Wow. So even though it's doing anything though, I think he's just passing through. It's just vibing. It seems like he's just observing the house. Wow. Even though it's doing anything, though, I think he's just passing through. It's just vibing.

It seems like he's just observing seeing girlies go to lunch with each other. Yeah, be ladies who lunch. Just do something. At least he's not being, well, not yet. I assume this doesn't stay as doll style. I don't know. She is right now. I don't know.

So even though they were both still scared, absolutely shitless, they were both a little relieved that they both seen the same thing and they weren't necessarily losing it. Yeah. It was validating to know that they weren't hallucinating or having any kind of episode. And that validation only strengthened Janet's belief that they couldn't wait any longer

to do something about this. Like this presence in their home was getting more and more frightening as the months and days passed. But the problem was that Jack hadn't seen what his wife or his mother had seen and he was still very much of the belief that there was a rational explanation for what was going on. I don't know how you rationalize like a black sheepshifting thing with a cape walking through your house but that's so Jack. Talk to Jack about it. That's so jacked to try to rationalize.

Yeah, you know, very jack thing to do. And it is, I agree. So a few more weeks past without any unusual incidents in the home, and you know, Jack and Janet suspected that their ordeal was over, which extended one day. But their hopes went down the drain later that spring. When the light fixture in the kitchen came crashing down out of nowhere, almost landing on Janet and Heather, who luckily managed to get under the table to avoid all the falling debris. But Shannon, one of their daughters on the other hand, didn't move out of the way fast

enough, and the large fixture caught her in the shoulder and knocked her down to the floor. Oh. So Jack, he looks up at the ceiling and he was shocked because when he sees the hole in the ceiling It didn't look like the light had just fallen. It looked like it had been ripped out of the ceiling He said by some kind of force What? Yeah, so this incident reminded them about their commitment to find outside help for this problem They were experiencing but they didn't know where to start

Janet said after that we spent hours, days, weeks, talking to people who might possibly be able to help us. But unfortunately, a lot of the people that the Smirls reached out to in the beginning weren't really taking them seriously. Yeah, because remember, this is like the 80s and everybody's like, what the fuck are you talking about?

Not a lot of people had gone through this before. No. Now, one of the people that they reached out to just implied that maybe they were watching too many horror movies and were letting their imaginations run wild. Wow. And Jack and Janet were really pissed off about that.

Yeah, I would be pissed off too. Right? Yeah. So by the late spring, the Hanson, the Smirl House had escalated considerably and now included physical assaults. Ooh. This is strange. Okay. So in one instance Jack claimed that he woke up from a nap to find himself suspended in

the air above his bed. And at first, he thought that he was still dreaming, but as he emerged from a sleepy state, he realized that he was very much awake, and after thrashing around in the air for a few seconds, he dropped from the air and landed back on the bed with no sign of what had caused this experience. The only thing I can think of is he turned 16 years old and he became a witch finally. I'll ask Sabrina the teenage witch. But he had already turned 16 long ago, so it doesn't work.

It doesn't, I don't know if they officially don't have an explanation. That was my explanation. There's no explanation. No, it's going to get particularly steamy here. Oh, so weeks after that on a particularly steamy night in more ways than one in June, Jack and Janet had just finished getting together if you're picking up what I'm putting down.

Good for them. I know, you know. And they were laying in bed together when suddenly something grabbed Janet by her ankle and started pulling her from the bed, Allah. Oh. The movie we were talking about this morning, paranormal activity. Oh. So movie we were talking about this morning, paranormal activity. Oh.

So Jack grabbed a hold of Janet and he held tightly onto her as whatever it was that was trying to do whatever it was trying to do with her, was trying to rip her from the bed still. Oh my God. He said, it was like a tug of war going on. I was holding onto her as hard as I could because I had no idea what the thing wanted to do to her.

But the harder I tried to keep her next to me, the harder it pulled on her. I hate it. Now after a few more seconds, whatever was pulling Janet abruptly let go and just seemed to vanish. Huh. And it left behind a horrible odor

and started banging on the walls as it left. So far to the world. It's kind of did, I. It boosts and then it and then it I was trying to think I was going to say what else. It boosts and then it banished. It's self-boost and banished. Wow. Now that's rude. Right after they finished their, you know, moment together. Sure. Yeah. Moment together, it tries to steal her and then can't. So just far too much. Like that's so shitty.

It is. That'll ruin any hope of an encore. Any kind of, nothing can ruin like whatever just happened. Yeah, that's a bummer. I know. So in the months that followed the assault on the Smirl House continued and got worse and worse. Day after day, Jack and Janet said they could hear the hissing of phantom snakes, drawers and cupboards opening and closing on their own,

and heavy footsteps, of course, walking up and down the halls at night. So they were totally still at a loss for what to do because they're still even reaching out to people and getting doors slammed in their face everywhere they go. So Janet started reading about the supernatural and any book that she could get her hands on, and she also started keeping a diary of all the things that were happening in the house. And then soon, one afternoon in early 1986, a call from a friend changed the course of the Smirls lives in ways they never could have imagined. You don't say! I do say. After a blessing by their parish priests failed to resolve the haunting, Jack and Janet were starting to lose hope, but then a new solution presented itself in the form

of a phone call from Janet's friend Carla. I knew it was gonna be Carla who was gonna break this wide open. Tell John. Yeah. So Carla and Janet had been friends for years and Janet had confided in her girl Carla about all the things going on in the house and especially how much it had been affecting the family. Because at this point, it's affecting

their relationships with one another. Yeah. Clearly, you got a person ghost. So Carla mentioned that she had come across the name of a professor, professor, nope. Todd at Marywood College, which was a private Catholic school in Scranton. Scranton. Pennsylvania.

I thought you were going to do the whole thing. I was going to what I thought it would be annoying. And then I almost went to sing it, but then my brain said to sing the bluey song, which is always singing the bluey song, which is always the bluey song. Which is always the bluey song, but, but anyways. So Carla's like, hey, I know this professor who teaches at a Catholic school, and he has been studying the subject of demonic possession, and it kind of sounds like that's what you're

dealing with. Wow, that's pretty awesome. But, after all the negative experiences that Janet had contacting, like, academics like this in the past, she wasn't very hopeful. She was actually kind of worried, but it was going to be a waste of time. But she was like, you know what? My friend Carla is my good girl. I'm going to listen to her.

What do I have to lose? Let me appease my friend here and give this guy a call. So she does. And the professor at Marywood College explained that his interest in the subject was purely academic, and he really didn't think there was much he could do to help. But he did provide them with the contact information of two people who could most definitely help. Two people, are you talking about Ryan and Shane from Buzzfeed Unsolved? No, as much as I fucking love those two individuals, I'm talking about Ed and Lorraine Warren.

I fucking love those two individuals. I'm talking about Ed and Lorraine Warren. Oh! Oh! Hi, but you didn't even couldn't tell. I could never have guessed. I said I bet you didn't even couldn't tell. I didn't even couldn't have told. I didn't.

You were correct. In your assumption. Oh, man. And he described them as professional psychic researchers that quote, have even been hired by the United States Army. Fuck yeah. Which I know nothing about. I don't either.

But look at that. Now, by the summer of 1986, I had in Lorraine, they had built up quite a name for themselves on the talk show circuit and among certain circles, you know, for their involvement in dealing with the supposed haunting of George and Kathy Lutz's house in Amityville, New York. I don't know if you guys have heard of that one. I don't know.

Maybe you've heard of this one, the claims of demonic possession in the murder trial of Arnie Johnson, the wifey heart of that one. Elena covered it. And there was a bunch of other things that they were known for. So some people had faith in Ed and Lorraine, but most people were deeply skeptical, skeptical, even about their methods and motives. And the more vocal skeptics and scientific investigators usually pointed to documentation of fraud surrounding the warrants, like the Lutz's admission of fraud in the Amityville case, whoops, as evidence

of their sus intentions. Yeah. Now, for their part, Ed and Lorraine always maintained that their intentions were good, and that Lorraine had powers as a psychic medium, and those were genuine powers. Yeah. She said, we have a single message we want to get across to people. There's a demonic underworld, and that on some occasions, it could be a terrifying problem for people. Hey, you know, I agree with. Seems legit. Poor one out for Lorraine. Now, after a brief telephone conversation with the Smurls, Ed and Lorraine were pretty sure they could actually help the couple.

So they agreed to travel from their home in Connecticut to Pennsylvania as soon as possible. And in their initial interview with the Smurls, Ed and Lorraine kind of ran through their standard battery of questions regarding the couple's familiarity with Satanism, use of Ouija boards, practice of witchcraft, all the activities that the Warren said could lead to a demonic infestation. You know, yeah. Obviously.

You know, thought. Now as Ed Warren continued his interview with the smurls, when they finally got out there, Lorraine started exploring the house, and she was accompanied by her friend Rose Mary, who also claimed to have psychic abilities. And also had a baby. No. Oh, maybe I actually have no idea. But I guess how you're doing there. I picked up what you're putting in. Now the two psychic mediums immediately sensed the presence of evil.

Oh no. You won't get that unless you have to sponge bomb. But it seemed to get stronger as they made their way up the stairs to the second floor of the house. And after exploring the second floor, when they reached the door to Janet and Jack's bedroom, they sensed that they would find whatever it was they were looking for behind that door. Oh! sense that they would find whatever it was they were looking for behind that door. Oh, but they checked the bedroom and they found nothing in the actual bedroom. All that remained was to look in the couple's closet. So they did. Now up to that point, Lorraine and Rosemary claimed to have identified three ghosts in the small home.

Two were benign and one was very angry. Now later, when they were assembled at the kitchen table, Lorraine presented the profiles of the entity she believed were haunting the Smirral's home. The first was an elderly woman. Lorraine said that she was, quote, probably seen aisle but not violent. She's just confused.

OK. The second spirit was a young woman Lorraine described as, and this is her words now mine, an insane violent spirit who might want to harm you. Ooh, but she said the spirit could be quote, dealt with through prayer. And then there was the third ghost, a man with a mustache who quote, possesses the ability to carry out great harm. Oh, man. So Lorraine, that mustache. It's the mustache always. So Lorraine has problems everywhere. Mustaches. Oh man. So Lorraine, it's the mustache. It's the mustache always. So Lorraine. There's some problems everywhere. Mustaches. Oh, what did I say in Buffy the other day? They always tell lies. Don't trust a mustache. Never. They always lie. Yeah. Listen to Buffy,

the rewatcher. Do it. He had admitted that other than that, she received no information from this specific ghost at that time or entity. But finally, they got to the fourth entity in the house, which I believe they found in the closet. And they said, this demon, Lorraine said, was there to, quote, create chaos and destroy the family. Oh, shit. Destroy them. Damn.

So what? Total domination. Prepare for total domination. Domination. Domination. And then do the sparky art. Like he's doing the actual, the actual, the, the, the, for decades. But one thing I know is that your girls reaching puberty gave the demon energy gross.

Okay, I don't love that. I don't even like it. I don't even, I actually don't perceive that. I just don't perceive it. I don't accept it. He said, Ed, to Jack, he said, he told them about his belief that adolescence possessed a ton of psychic energy that had the potential to attract and even activate non-human entities leading to all manner of

Panera paranormal phenomena. Panera. All manner of cheddar broccoli soup. All manner of you pick, too. Are you getting a cookie on the side, Jack? Because it's time to end this shit. He's going to be hungry business. No, I'm glad you did it. A pattern or a bullpen on the back. There you go. He told the family, quote,

you should get the broccoli chat. You're like a battery it draws on for power. It's a real psychic explosion. It wants to keep you and your family confused and afraid. That's why it often appears to only one of you at a time. Oh, which is true. Okay. So based on their initial investigation, Ed and Lorraine concluded that in addition to the three ghosts haunting the house, a demon had latched onto the smurls and was drawing energy from the family, and because it was

able to draw this energy from the family, it was growing more powerful and more aggressive and it was wearing on them day after day after day. Janet remembered, as we listen to the warrants and rosemary talk, I remember feeling a strange combination of relief and dread. The dread came from knowing that Ed and Lorraine and Rosemary were confirming our worst suspicions. Our house had been taken over by a demon. A demon and the rest, you'll have to wait to hear in part two.

Ooh. But their house had been taken over by fucking demon y'all. It certainly has. And Panera. It has. Yeah,era. It has. Yeah, cheddar broccoli soup everywhere. That's the kind of hauntime in four. Because that seems kind of lactate.

It seems pretty rad, but a little sticky and smelly eventually. Smelly. Ooh. Maybe it wasn't a mischievous crack. The coat. It was cheddar broccoli soup. Went to Panera. Uh, Panera.

It's fun to say it like that. Do you ever say Panera instead of Panera? I wonder when they opened. Huh, that's good. We could fall. I'll update you in part two. Part two will let you know when Panera opens and if it was their fault. So yeah, we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it. We're not so worried that you don't get a U-pick too after this because why wouldn't you? Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morbid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Addfree with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts.

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