; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

'It' Came At Night


I received the following email last evening:

Hello - many years ago, a couple with 2 young boys moved into a venerable one-story house a few miles outside Portland, Oregon. The property was just down the road from us. We had known the wife through our church. After they had been in the house for a few months, they both began reporting strange activity. They had both heard something large and heavy enough to shake the ground with its footsteps come from the forest and walk around the outside of their house. In fact, it attempted to get in the house on several occasions. It also made growling and snorting noises. This happened several times, always at night.

On one occasion, the older of the two boys, then about 4, was heard talking with someone in his room during the late evening. The parents distinctly heard both the boy and a second, male voice. Both parents hurried into the room, to find the child reaching toward the open window, yelling, "No! No! Don't go! Don't go!" This was at first written off as an "invisible playmate", except that the window had been closed to keep the child warm and that he was not strong enough to open it alone.

The unknown being continued to prowl outside the house, and the family became horrified of what might happen if it got inside. They refused to go outside after sundown for any reason. After 6 months of fear and without the means to move, they discussed the situation with us one evening. We decided to try to eliminate it. Since both our husbands hunted deer and elk, they both had rifles if needed.

The men rigged spotlights all around the house, which was connected to a single switch inside. Late in the afternoon, they got into an old car that was parked on the property in plain sight of the house, and hunkered down out of sight. They remained there with some food, coffee and a walkie-talkie radio.

Shortly after sundown, we were inside the house and began to hear something walking the perimeter of the building. The ground shook with each step. We heard it slamming the walls, doors, and windows. I threw the switch for the lights, and the men stormed out of the car with rifles at the ready. They saw the tall weeds moving as though something large walk through it, but could not see what caused it. I was in contact with my husband by radio while we were inside hearing the sounds. The men heard nothing other than my voice on the radio.

We were terrified but, as a result of that night, there were no further disturbances at the house (as far as I know) and the family moved out a few months later. There had been several families in the residence since then, though none had reported any activity. The house was demolished recently to make room for a larger residence.

I will never forget the sound and fury we experienced that night. Most times when I mention the incident to others they usually say that it may have been a Sasquatch or another large animal roaming around. I doubt that very much since the men never heard or witnessed anything outside the house.

The real reason I am writing you is to get your opinion on a theory I have about this incident.

The woman had emotional issues and had several 'episodes' after she had given birth to her boys. I suppose this would be classified as postpartum depression nowadays. She was also very young, aged 16, when she was married to her 32 year-old husband. He was a member of a fundamentalist religious sect that is very strict when it came to family. In particular, she was expected to cater to all his needs - literally. I suspect that there was a lot of abuse, which then resulted in her emotional problems.

My question is - could this have been poltergeist activity? Could she have manifested a dark being or force?

I will end this email with one more disturbing detail. After the couple moved away, we rarely communicated again. They had moved to Idaho and lived in a very rural community. I was told later that the woman had died while giving birth to a fifth child - but I discovered soon after that she actually died of unknown circumstances that had never been made public. She was only 27. Thank you for reading - Rita

NOTE: though I don't know the full details of what happened in the family home, it is conceivable that this situation could have manifested into a poltergeist. These 'thought-form' entities are rarely benign and become quite strong in light of substantial emotional distress. If this fervent abuse continued after the family moved away, I suspect that the paranormal activity continued at the new location. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated circumstance. Stark abuse in any household can very easily result in a similar situation...Lon

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The Secret History of Poltergeists and Haunted Houses: From Pagan Folklore to Modern Manifestations

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