Season 09 Episode 09: The Uninvited (Pt.2 of 2)

Hi, it's Jill Winterstein, host of the Spirit Daughter Podcast, where we talk about astrology, natal charts, and how to step into your most vibrant life. And today I'm talking with my dear friend, Krista Williams. It can change you in the best way possible. Dance with the change, dance with the breakdowns. The embodiment of Pisces intuition with Capricorn power moves. So I'm like delusionally proud of my chart. Listen to the Spirit Daughter Podcast starting on February 24th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story? I've just been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed. What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe? Oh my God, I think she might be innocent. Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Let Me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton Eckerd. In 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. But here's the thing. Bachelor fans hated him. If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would. That's when his life took a disturbing turn. A one-night stand would end in a courtroom. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 1969. Malcolm and Martin are gone. America is in crisis. And at Morehouse College, the students make their move. These students, including a young Samuel L. Jackson, locked up the members of the Board of Trustees, including Martin Luther King Sr. It's the true story of protest and rebellion in black American history that you'll never forget. I'm Hans Charles. I'm Menelik Lumumba. Listen to The A-Building on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, it's Richard McLean-Smith here, host of Unexplained. I'm very excited to announce it's going to be a triple whammy of CrimeCon appearances this year. As I can now confirm, I will also be attending CrimeCon in the US, as well as CrimeCon UK. CrimeCon is the world's number one event for true crime and mystery. It's going to be such a fun and fascinating event and I really can't wait to see you all there. CrimeCon 2026 will be in Las Vegas, May 29th to the 31st. Just go to CrimeCon.com and use promo code UNEXPLAINED when purchasing your ticket for 10% off. That's promo code UNEXPLAINED. For those in the UK, I'll be at CrimeCon UK in Birmingham on April 25th and London on the 3rd and 4th of October. For that, head to crimecon.co.uk and again use promo code UNEXPLAINED for 10% off your ticket. Please note this episode contains adult themes. Parental discretion is advised. You're listening to the second and final part of Unexplained, Season 9, Episode 9, The Uninvited. These days, most people know of Lorraine and Ed Warren because of the hugely successful horror franchise The Conjuring and its numerous spin-offs. In those movies, the Warrens are portrayed as superheroes of Christ, a source of impeccable and photogenic morality, pitched in a battle against a demonic threat, forever on the cusp of corrupting domestic America. Their claims were always larger than life. Ed Warren was a self-professed, self-taught demonologist, while Lorraine declared herself a medium and clairvoyant. Together, they founded the New England Society for Psychic Research and claimed to have worked on over 10,000 cases. It's a hard number to swallow, and critics of the couple have pointed to fabrications and possible fraudulence in the Warrens' investigations over the years. Yet the Warrens were present at many of the most high-profile supposed hauntings of the 1970s and 80s, some of which we've covered on this podcast. These include the torment of the Perron family in Rhode Island, the focus of Season 4, Episode 14, Negative Space, and the infamous Enfield poltergeist, as detailed in Season 6, Episode 4, The Widening Gyre. They were also the first investigators on site at 112 Ocean Drive during the renowned Amityville Haunting, a future episode perhaps. Inarguably then, the Warrens are key figures in the mid-20th century fascination with the paranormal and the diabolical. They almost single-handedly reorientated the culture to pose the home, and by extension the American family, as the front line of a war between good and evil. Regardless of what we might think about their motives or methods, few of their peers have any doubt that the Warrens, at least, had complete and genuine belief in their spiritual mission. So when they answered a call on a cold morning in January 1986 to hear a distraught Janet Smell begging for their help, they felt compelled to answer. Thus began the next and most terrifying chapter in the extraordinary haunting of an average American family. In the months prior to the Warrens' involvement, life at 328 to 330 Chase Street in West Piston, Pennsylvania had reached a very dark point for the Smurls. After Janet's night-time assault, when she was supposedly pulled roughly from her bed by an invisible assailant, everyone was living under a cloud of unseen threat. Jack and Janet were scared for themselves, but even more so for their children. After six-year-old Shannon was seemingly thrown down the stairs by something in the night, there was no longer any doubt among the children that something was deeply wrong in their home. The Smurl's oldest, Dawn, along with her sisters, Heather, Karen and Shannon herself, had each begun reporting strange disturbances in their bedrooms, fluttering rushing sounds like the wings of an enormous bird beating in the dark. As the family would later tell author Robert Curran, who wrote the foremost book on the haunting, only prayer had kept them calm during this period, Meanwhile, just a wall away, on the other side of the duplex, Jack's parents, Mary and John, also claimed to be suffering from some kind of supernatural harassment. However, since they felt their experience had been fairly minimal in comparison, they were more anxious about how it was affecting their family next door. In June 1984, Janet was still fragile after the strange event in her and Jack's bedroom, and now, in her mind at least, there was no doubt that some kind of demonic entity was stalking their home. The one constant, the family's quiet source of comfort, had been their loyal German shepherd, Simon. Simon had always been gentle with the children, a steady presence in a house that no longer felt safe. One afternoon, Janet was alone with him in the kitchen. She sat at the table, taking a moment for herself, while Simon laid sprawled at her feet. Then, without warning, the dog was wrenched violently into the air. Janet later said it happened so suddenly, she barely had time to react. Simon was supposedly lifted off the floor and held there, suspended, as if caught in invisible hands. A second later, he was hurled across the room, crashing into the doorframe with a sickening thud Janet screamed as Simon fell limply to the floor He stayed there whimpering while Janet did her best to comfort him The next day, the pair were alone again in the kitchen When out of nowhere, Simon began to yelp and cringe His legs began to shake and buckle Then from out of his mouth came a hideous wail of pain, like nothing that Janet had ever heard from him before. She later said it was as though he were being invisibly flayed right in front of her. Janet crouched down and held him tenderly until the pain abated. Later that night, Janet and Jack resolved to finally seek help. As head of the local Catholic church, Father Raymond Karsiak had known the family for years. When Janet and Jack reached out to him for help, he was only too happy to assist. Over dinner at the Smurls home, Karsiak listened with concern as the family detailed the litany of unnerving events that had taken place over the last few years. Karsiak didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but felt at the very least that blessing the house might offer the family some comfort. They should begin upstairs, he suggested, since so much of the activity seemed to be focused on the bedrooms. Taking the small black Bible that he always travelled with out of his bag, along with a small vial of holy water, Father Karsiak asked Janet to lead the way. As they slowly made their way up the stairs and stepped onto the landing, Father Kasiak had the sudden sense that something in the air had shifted. As Janet showed him toward her and Jack's bedroom, she couldn't help but notice how the priest's brow had begun to sweat, how nervous he seemed. Taking a spot at the end of the couple's bed, he called out into the air, In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask that any evil spirit or influence leave this home. May this dwelling be filled with the peace and protection of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then he shook the vial of holy water and sprinkled it liberally around the room. And so it went, room after room, until the whole house had been treated. With each blessing, Father Karsyak became more and more pale and nervous. By the time they returned to the kitchen, he was sweating profusely and barely able to keep upright. he slumped down at the table. Jack rushed round to help ease him into a chair as Janet made up a fresh batch of coffee and quickly brought him a cup. Mercifully, the father's strength steadily returned as he sipped his drink. It was a great relief to see him feeling better, but seeing what effect the house had on him did little to ease the family's increasingly troubled minds. Karciak couldn't explain exactly what it was that had set him off, but he hoped his blessing would do the trick, and for a short time it did, until it didn't. said when I was 16, you're going to have a terrible time with men. Actor, storyteller, and unapologetic Aquarian visionary. Aquarius is all about freedom loving and different perspectives. And I find a lot of people with strong placements in Aquarius like are misunderstood. A sun and Venus in Aquarius in her seventh house spark her unconventional approach to partnership. He really has taught me to embrace people sleeping in different rooms, on different houses, and different places, but just an embracing of the isness of it all. If you're navigating your own transformation or just want a chart side view into how a leading artist integrates astrology creativity and real life this episode is a must listen Listen to the Spirit Daughter podcast starting on February 24th on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief. The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict? A villain? A nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was. No voicing of any skepticism or doubt. It'll cause so much harm at every single level if the British establishment of this is wrong. Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines. It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search for it. This is unlike anything I've ever seen. before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of he said, she said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. I have done nothing except get pregnant by the bachelor. Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the A-Building. I'm Hans Charles. I'm Menelik Lumumba. It's 1969. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had both been assassinated, and Black America was out of breaking point. Rioting and protests broke out on an unprecedented scale. In Atlanta, Georgia, at Martin's alma mater, Morehouse College, the students had their own protest. It featured two prominent figures in Black history, Martin Luther King Sr. and a young student, Samuel L. Jackson. to be in what we really thought was a revolution. I mean, people were dying. 1968, the murder of Dr. King, which traumatized everyone. The FBI had a role in the murder of a Black Panther leader in Chicago. This story is about protest. It echoes in today's world far more than it should, and it will blow your mind. Listen to The A Building on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the first few days after Father Karsiak's visit, Paul appeared still in the Smurls duplex. Then, according to Jack's mother Mary, it was a few nights later, while alone in the house, that she awoke suddenly in the night. At first, she didn't notice anything strange in the dim light, only the vague sense that the dynamics of the room had somehow changed. Then she realised what it was. She and her mattress were floating several feet in the air. In terror, she quickly shuffled off it and carefully lowered herself to the ground. Moments later, as she told it, the mattress crashed down onto the bed frame. Meanwhile, next door, Janet and Jack's home was once again pummeled with all manner of bizarre occurrences, from creepy, inexplicable knockings to closet doors being furiously whipped open and shut, seemingly on their own accord. In desperation, the family called Father Kasiak again. He returned with his more senior colleague, Monsignor Francis Kane, in the hope of lending further support and guidance. This time, he told the family flatly that he was also now certain that a malignant entity was menacing them and their home. He and Monsignor Kane reiterated the original blessings and once again, things appeared to quieten down. Over the years, the family sought refuge in the countryside at the weekends, using their campervan to get away from it all. It was during these times that the Smurls' extraordinary claims gained the most credibility, because, as many neighbours are said to have attested, the apparent haunting didn't stop when the house was supposedly empty. Though no one saw anything untoward, it was said that horrific screams were frequently heard emanating from inside the property, despite no one being inside. On one occasion, the screams were so intense, residents called the police, concerned that someone was being murdered inside the Smurls' home. But when police arrived to investigate, they found nobody there and no sign of a disturbance. Before long, the news spread throughout the neighbourhood that something very disturbing was occurring at 328 and 330 Chase Street. For the most part, the community rallied around the family This is how you find out who your friends are, Jack explained and though there were a few people who wanted us to move the neighbours talked to us and tried to come to some sort of peace with it Indeed, it was a neighbour who finally offered a lifeline Carla Davis was a friend of Janet's who lived locally and was well aware of the family's situation She and Janet had been friends for a long time, and more crucially, she believed Janet when she told her about everything that had been going on. It was Carla who informed Janet about an article she'd read regarding a pair of psychic researchers, Lorraine and Ed Warren, who specialised in what the article described as demonic infestation. The article concerned an apparent haunting at West Point Military Academy that the Warrens had been investigating. Perhaps, Carla thought, since they'd worked with the US military, they might be credible enough for Janet to get in touch with them. At first, however, Janet was sceptical. She and Jack had always considered occultists to be at best misguided and at worst out-and-out charlatans. But they were also desperate, so she gave them a call. It was a dark, overcast day when the Warrens pulled up to the Smurls duplex on Chase Street, accompanied by Rosemary Freutch, a regular member of their team. Thunder rumbled overhead as Ed regarded the property with unease. He sensed a sinister energy, even from inside the car. However, both Lorraine and Rosemary, who Ed considered more attuned than him, felt little as they got out and made their way to the front door. After being welcomed warmly by Janet and Jack, the three of them were invited to take a seat in the kitchen, as the Smurls filled them in on everything. Then the Warrens asked them some quick questions. Had they engaged in any kind of ritual in the house, or played with a Ouija board perhaps? Janet and Jack looked to each other and shook their heads. The Warrens then asked if anyone in the property had been reading books on witchcraft and Satanism. Janet was confused. Both she and Jack had read widely on the topic since the strange occurrences had begun. But why would that matter, she asked. Ed explained solemnly that in the past they'd helped people who they believed had unwittingly drawn demonic attention to themselves precisely because they delved too deep into the literature. Janet was horrified. Had they made things even worse for themselves and their family? Jack reached for Janet's hand and gave it a squeeze. He promised that everything would be okay. Then, as Ed continued the interview, Lorraine and Rosemary went upstairs to explore. When they returned, Janet could see the unmistakable look of concern on Lorraine's face. What is it? she asked. There are four spirits in your home, replied Lorraine without pause. Oh God, said Janet, leaning into Jack. As Lorraine went on to explain, one of them was an old and senile woman. She wasn't violent, just confused, she assured them. There was also a younger woman. This spirit was potentially dangerous, she said. Insane and violent, but, according to Lorraine, probably placatable by prayer. The third spirit, she continued, was much harder to discern. All she could tell was that he was a man with a moustache and blonde hair who was enveloped in sorrow. The fourth was something else. According to Ed's account of this conversation in Robert Curran's book, the Smurls looked at them with weary understanding. You think it's a demon, don't you? Yes, replied Lorraine sternly. A dangerous, malicious one that was hell-bent on causing the family harm. Jack Smell felt an angry frustration rising up inside him. Like most people who fell victim to random, nefarious incidents, He just needed to understand why. Why was this happening to them, an ordinary, faithful American family? Ed explained that, in his opinion, the demon had likely been present at Chase Street for a long time, lying dormant. Such things tended to latch on to turbulence or emotional energy, he believed, especially that of children going through puberty. As if all that wasn't disturbing enough, he also suggested that in all likelihood, Janet and Jack's oldest daughters, Dawn and Heather, may well have been the catalyst. With the Warrens' assessment over, they proceeded to perform a number of experiments and interventions in the Smurl home. They sprinkled holy water and said prayers. They played liturgical music loudly into each corner of the home. They set up infrared cameras in Jack and Janet's bedroom and ran tape recorders to trace any visual or voice phenomena. But these interventions only seemed to provoke the entity further. Over the coming days and weeks, the smurls were apparently beset by more supernatural events than ever before. Those random knocking sounds that had been occurring throughout the house now became deep pounding thuds that seemed to shake the very foundations of the building. The family also claimed to be repeatedly woken from sleep by what they took to be invisible fingers pouring at their faces. On one occasion, Janet also claimed to have woken suddenly with the unmistakable sensation that she'd just been slapped across the face. Another time, Jack was woken in terror by the sound of his wife thrashing about in bed beside him. Unable to calm her down, he could only watch in horror as she appeared to wrestle with an invisible assailant. When it was finally over, he switched on the bedside lamp and gasped. Her skin was covered in inexplicable red marks. By mid-February in 1986, the Warrens agreed it was time to bring their wider team to bear on the case Charles Cravatas a nurse was the most sceptical of the group After arriving at the Smurls home he took the family aside and explained his position to them Having assisted on numerous cases with the Warrens, more often than not, he found that most supposed hauntings were, in fact, just the result of overactive imaginations or psychological distress. Having heard everything about the Smurls case so far, he wasn't shy in letting them know that despite what the Warrens had told them, he was almost certain that there was no paranormal phenomena occurring in the property. Charles spent 24 hours at 328 Chase Street, mostly rushing from room to room, trying desperately to capture the host of bizarre sounds that seemed to emanate from the property's walls. Drawers rattled and rustled, and on several occasions the lights went out entirely, periods of darkness in which loud, strange tearing noises could be heard from inside the walls. It was an experience, he later said, that went far beyond anything he'd previously encountered in all his years of working with the Warrens. Another member of the Warrens team, Al Vogel, was tasked with videoing anything untoward that happened in the Smurls' home. One time, while following Jack around the house with a video camera, Al later claimed he suddenly felt an electric charge fill the room that made his teeth and sinuses tingle. A second later, he felt a rough grip on his shoulders that jerked him back and forth. Later, when the Warrens reviewed recordings taken from inside the property, it's claimed they saw footage of a mirror that seemed to bend and flex within its frame. In another segment, it was said the couple noticed something peculiar about a TV set in the background. On its screen, despite the power being off, an image of a human figure appeared. The Smurls were beginning to wonder if they'd ever be rid of the supposed demonic menace, and the worst was still yet to come. One morning, Charles Cravatas was in the kitchen when he heard Jack scream out from upstairs. Moments later, he came rushing down the stairs, still soaking wet, having come straight from the shower. Cravitas quickly grabbed a camera and began taking photos of Jack's earlobe that seemed to have become suddenly inflamed. As Jack explained, he'd just stepped into the shower when he felt something prickle on his skin as though he'd just been stung by a bee. As he looked about for any sign of the culprit, he felt something clamp down on his earlobe. As Cravitas took the pictures, he reeled back in amazement. A third mark had just appeared on Jack's skin that looked for all the world, like the markings of teeth. For Lorraine, it was all in keeping with their initial assessment. The demon wanted to hurt them, and its presence in the material world was getting stronger. By this point, she claimed to have already seen it herself, the very same thing that both Janet and her mother-in-law Mary had also apparently seen. Lorraine described it as a hunched figure that although it rarely stood upright, was immensely powerful, both psychically and physically. In June, during a rare lull in the chaos, the Smurls took the opportunity to enjoy a quiet dinner together, followed by a movie. Later that night, they all retired to bed a little calmer than usual, except for Janet, who decided to sleep on the couch due to the hot weather. As he later told it to author Robert Curran, Jack knew something was wrong the moment he woke up. He didn't know what had roused him, but from the moment he opened his eyes, he was instantly alert, on the verge of panic. There was a figure standing by his bed. In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief. The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict, a villain, a nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was. No voicing of any skepticism or doubt. It'll cause so much harm at every single level if the British establishment of this is wrong. Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Aquarian Visionary. Aquarius is all about freedom loving and different perspectives. And I find a lot of people with strong placements in Aquarius like are misunderstood. A sun and Venus in Aquarius in her seventh house spark her unconventional approach to partnership. He really has taught me to embrace people sleeping in different rooms, on different houses, in different places, but just an embracing of the isness of it all. If you're navigating your own transformation or just want a chart side view into how a leading artist integrates astrology, creativity, and real life, this episode is a must listen. Listen to the Spirit Daughter podcast starting on February 24th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it, all I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines. It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search warrant. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of he said, she said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. I have done nothing except get pregnant by the f***ing bachelor! Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the A-Building. I'm Hans Charles. I'm Menelik Lumumba. It's 1969. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had both been assassinated, and Black America was at a breaking point. Writing and protests broke out on an unprecedented scale. In Atlanta, Georgia, at Martin's alma mater, Morehouse College, the students had their own protest. It featured two prominent figures in Black history, Martin Luther King Sr. and a young student, Samuel L. Jackson. to be in what we really thought was a revolution. I mean, people were dying. 1968, the murder of Dr. King, which traumatized everyone. The FBI had a role in the murder of a Black Panther leader in Chicago. This story is about protest. It echoes in today's world far more than it should. And it will blow your mind. Listen to The A-Building on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As Jack's eyes adjusted in the dark, he took the figure to be a woman, almost albino-like, with pale white skin mixed with reptilian scales. Jack recoiled at the sight of her body, which seemed to be covered in rupture wounds, running with pus. The figure, that he described as looking about sixty to seventy years old, leered over him, opening its mouth to reveal a set of gums gone putrescent with sores. The woman, creature, or whatever it was, jumped forward, pinning the naked Jack to the bed, then proceeded to mount him. Jack could only lie transfixed as the apparent succubus, arched violently back and forth above him until appearing to climax. Jack later claimed he felt no pleasure during the whole encounter, only a bright, complete panic, and then it vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. After a quick shower to wash himself, Jack raced downstairs to tell Janet, but before he could explain what had happened, they were joined by their 17-year-old daughter Dawn, who looked deeply troubled. She couldn't sleep, she said, after having a terrible dream, but she didn't want to talk about it. According to Janet and Jack, after some gentle cajoling from them, she finally divulged what it was. She had found herself standing in the doorway to her parents' bedroom, forced to watch, as some kind of hideous monster, with sores all over its skin, had sex with her father. Devastated by the apparent assault, Janet knew they had to try something even more drastic. For a good year, the family had tried repeatedly to convince the local diocese to take their haunting seriously without success. This time, the phone was picked up by a friendly voice who introduced himself as Father O'Leary. Having gone over everything again for what seemed like the millionth time, to Janet's great relief, Father O'Leary was keen to help. More than that, he criticised the church for its reticence to get involved in what was clearly a very serious matter. He even offered to go directly to the Chancellor of the Diocese to plead the case on the family's behalf. It shouldn't be a problem, he told Janet. Call me tomorrow, dear. The next morning, Janet called for O'Leary again, but this time someone else answered the phone. This person was confused by her request to speak to a father O'Leary, because no one by that name had ever worked in the diocese office. In the second half of 1986, believing they too had to do more, the Warrens brought in a priest named Father Robert McKenna, who worked in the Diocese of Monroe, Connecticut, close to where the Warrens lived. McKenna was a 59-year-old staunch traditionalist who held to the older rites of exorcism. He claimed to have officiated over 50 of them, but worryingly admitted that only 20 had been successful. On his first visit to the house, He was apparently greeted with a number of bizarre occurrences, from the usual cupboard doors rattling and slamming shut, to a noxious odour that seemed to hang in every room. While he was there, everyone present also heard the sound of a young child screaming, coming from some unreachable place high up in the property. Though the visit did seem to dampen things somewhat, McKenna was disheartened that he hadn't been able to fully cleanse the house. To that end, he returned a few weeks later, where he felt he done enough to finally banish the apparent demonic entity After a cautiously celebratory dinner with the family he drove away leaving the Smurls with hopeful optimism but it took less than six hours for the furore to begin again. That night, Jack and Janet's mattress was said to have shaken so violently they were thrown to the floor, all while that infernal, ceaseless banging reverberated through the walls. At some point in the next few months, Jack claimed that he woke one night to find a pair of female figures standing in their bedroom, one younger and one older, conforming to Lorraine Warren's description of the two female spirits. Another time, he was staring at his face in the bathroom mirror when he apparently morphed into the decomposing face of a much older man. Meanwhile Janet continued to be tormented by shakes and slaps, waking her up in the middle of the night. And throughout it all, the pounding in the walls refused to let up. It was so incessant, the family began to worry that it might drive them all mad. Then one day, Janet received a panicked call from the 23-year-old daughter of one of the Smurl's closest friends on the street. Janet was horrified to hear how the young woman's radio kept switching itself on at top volume and the locks in her house began to open and close on their own accord. Then another neighbour, Maureen Cowles, is said to have phoned the Smurls home one afternoon, not knowing that they were on a vacation at the time. Her call was apparently answered by what sounded like a young girl who responded to Maureen's questions with a strange laughter and told her that the Smurls didn't live there anymore. All in all, Janet claimed that six different neighbours complained of inexplicable incidents in their own homes. Much to the family's alarm, the haunting, it seemed, was spreading. like the smells the warrens also tried their hardest to gain permission from the scranton diocese to conduct an official exorcism in the house but the diocese refused the request and so in october father mckenna came back to try and finish the job he'd started back in june That night, along with McKenna, the Smurls were joined in their home by the Warrens and a number of friends, in the hope that together they might finally banish the demonic entity from the property. After candles were lit throughout both apartments of the duplex, everyone gathered in Janet and Jack's apartment to pray, while at the same time, Father McKenna proceeded solemnly from room to room, with Bible and holy water in hand, blessing each space and demanding the entity be gone. In previous attempts, he'd only concentrated on Janet and Jack's apartment. This time he left no stone unturned and blessed each nook and cranny of both apartments. He even blessed the backyard. When he finally left, it was with a shared sense of exultation. Father McKenna, the Warrens, and most importantly, the Smurls, had the intense feeling that something had changed. Jack later described how in that moment the scent of roses flooded the home, seemingly banishing for good the foul odour that had become an ever-present since the father's last visit. On October 28th, the Smurls released a statement to the press, who'd been following the story closely, eagerly awaiting each update. Jack announced that for several weeks all has been quiet in our home and it would appear that our problem has been resolved. Thanksgiving was more meaningful that year than any that the Smurls had ever celebrated at Chase Street. They had a lot to be thankful for. For the first time in nearly 14 years, they were able to enjoy their time together in their home without fear or suspicion. It was mid-December 1986 when Jack awoke from a light doze in his armchair. He turned off the TV and looked happily over at the soft glow of the lights on the Christmas tree and froze in horror. In the mirror opposite, as he later described it, he saw that familiar dark shape standing behind his chair, the same hunched posture the same billowing cape it appeared to be beckoning him he said by now a veritable expert on demonic activity Jack knew all the theories about how the process moved in stages first infestation then oppression then finally possession and now it was here for him Jack watched in stunned silence as the figure glided closer, still beckoning. As fast as he could, he bolted from his chair and ran for the stairs. After reaching the top landing, he looked back in horror to see the figure staring up at him from the bottom step. Then it took one step up, and then another. Jack grabbed the rosary from his pocket, which he now always kept with him, then closed his eyes and repeated the prayer that he'd been taught by Father McKenna and the Warrens. When he gathered the courage to open his eyes again, the figure was gone. He didn't tell Janet or the girls what had happened. He didn't want to puncture their newfound hope. Instead, as he lay that night, sleepless and silent beside his wife, he decided enough was enough. Whatever it was that inhabited 328 to 330 Chase Street, it had won. It had stamped its claim to ownership. If it wouldn't leave, they would have to. In January 1987, the Smell family put their house up for sale. They asked the press to leave them alone, to regather the threads of their lives, but tales persisted for years. Some said that the haunting followed the family to the Pennsylvania suburbs. There are stories that Janet saw spectral black masses in the basement of their new home and that they were only truly freed once the church agreed to conduct a secretive final exorcism for them. But none of this is verified or traceable beyond the supernatural rumour mill endlessly turning on Reddit and ghost hunting websites. What is known is that 328-330 Chase Street was purchased by a rental landlord named Richard Bridle. He claimed that the property was almost impossible to rent out, due to the history attached to it. Later that same year, a woman named Deborah Owens bravely moved in. She lived there for 20 years and in 2008 told the local West Pitston newspaper, The Times' leader, that she never encountered anything supernatural. Janet Smell still lives in the West Pitston area with her youngest daughter, Karen. Today, Karen offers her services as a paranormal consultant. Jack Smell, who sadly died in 2017 at the age of 75, never once changed his account regarding everything that had apparently happened to him and his family during those strange, unsettling years on Chase Street. The true depth and grain of that shadow will remain forever unexplained. This episode was written by Neil McRobert and produced by Richard McLean Smith Thank you as ever for listening Unexplained is an AV Club production podcast created by Richard McLean Smith All other elements of the podcast, including the music are also produced by me, Richard McLean Smith Unexplained the book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide you can purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or a story of your own you'd like to share. You can find out more at unexplainedpodcast.com and reach us online through X and Blue Sky at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at facebook.com forward slash unexplainedpodcast. Thank you. 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