Smurl Haunting. The Briefing... The home of jack and Janet Smurl in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, was the scene of an alleged terrible, terrifying haunting from 1985 to 1987. The case received wide attention in the media. Although the house went through three exorcisms and investigation by demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, the demon apparently refused to leave. Skeptics, however, considered the case to be a hoax, or at the least not to be caused by anything paranormal. The alleged hauntings were chronicled in a book and portrayed in a movie. The Story... The house involved is a duplex, built in 1896 on a quiet street in a middle-class neighborhood. After Hurricane Agnes flooded much of northeastern Pennsylvania in 1972, the Smurl family was forced to leave their home in Wilkes-Barre. Jack's parents, John and Mary Smurl, bought the house in West Pittston in 1973 for $18,000. They lived in the right half, and Jack, Janet and their first two daughters, Dawn and Heather, moved into the left half. The Smurls spent time and money redecorating and remodeling, doing much of the work themselves. The Smurls say they are a close, loving family. Both Jack and jante grew up inthe area, meeting in 1967 and marrying in 1968. Jack served in the Navy, becoming a neuropsychiatric technician. Both Smurls were brought up in practicing Catholic homes and having strong religious beliefs. They enjoyed living with Jacks' parents and had no trouble sharing the duplex with them. The first 18 months on Chase Street were happy ones. But strange things began to occur after that, according to the Smurls. In January 1974, a strange stain appeared on new carpet. Jack's television set busts into flame. Water pipes leaked even after repeated soldering. The new sink and bathtub in the remodeled bathroom were found severely scratched, as if a wild animal had clawed at them. Freshly painted woodwork in the bathroom showed scratches as well. In 1975, their oldest daughter Dawn repeatedly saw people floating around in her bedroom. By 1977, the Smurls realized their house was in some way spooked. - Toilets flushed without anyone using them. Footsteps were heard on the stairs; drawers opened and closed when no one was in the room. Radios blared even when unplugged. Empty porch chairs rocked and creaked. Strange sour smells filled the house. jack felt ghostly caresses. By now there were 2 more Smurls (twins Shannon and Carin were born in - 1977), and the family was tired of the nonsense. In 1985, what had been annoying disturbances became frightening experiences. the house was often ice cold. John and mary Smurl heard loud and abusive, obscene language coming from Jack and Janet's side when they were not even arguing. Then in February, Janet heard her name called several times when she was alone in the basement. Two days later, icy cold announced the arrival of a black human- -shaped form, about five feet nine inches tall, with no facial fea-- tures. First it appeared to Janet in her kitchen, then it demateria- lized through the wall and appeared to mary Smurl. From that point on, the haunting increased, according to the fami- ly's reports. A large ceiling light fixture crashed down on Shannon, nearly killing her, on the night 13-year-old Heather was to be confir- med. Jack levitated. In June, Janet was violently pulled off her bed after making love to her husband while Jack lay paralyzed, gagging -- from a foul odor. The family's German shepherd, Simon, was repeatedly picked up, throuwn around or whipped. Terrible rapping or scratching noises were heard in the walls. Phantom dogs ran through the duplex. Shannon was tossed out of bed and down the stairs. Invisible snakes hissed, bedspreads were shredded, and heavy footsteps crossed the at- tic. Even neighbors were not spared; several heard screams and strange noises coming from the house when the Smurls were not there, and other detected the presence in their own homes. Most of the neighbors were sympathetic. The Smurls vowed to fight. In January 1986 , Janet heard about Ed and Lorraine Warren, psychical researchers and demonologists from Monroe, Connecticut. Although skeptical, the Smurls called the Warrens. When the Warrens arrived, accompanied by Rosemary Frueh, a registered nurse and psychic, they began the investigation by quizzing the Smurls carefully about their religious beliefs, the happiness of their family life and whether thy had ever practiced Satanism, used a Ouija board or in any way invited the supernatural into their home. Then the Warrens and Frueh walked the house, identifying the bedroom closet as the crossover point between the 2 sides of the duplex. The team said they detected the presence of 4 evil spirits. 3 were minor, but the fourth was a demon. Without any evidence of family discord, occult invitation or tragedy, the Warrens could only surmise that the demon must have been dormant, probably for decades, and had arisen to draw on the emotional energy generated by the girls' entrance into puberty. The Warrens tried twuice to get the demon to expose itself by plying tapes of religious music and confronting it with prayer. The demon reacted by shaking the mirror and dresser drawers; another time by spelling out "You filthy bastard. Get out of this house." The portable television emitted an eerie silvery white glow. Only prayer and holy water seemed to stop the manifestations. Phenomena continued. The eerie glow returned, the pounding in the walls worsened, Jack and Janet were slapped, bitten and viciously tickled. Small items dissapeared. One day, Janet tried to talk to the demon, asking it to rap once for yes and twice for no. When she asked the demon if it were there to harm them, it rapped once. 2 women dressed in Colonial clothing appeared to Jack. Even more horryfying, Jack was raped by a scaly succubus posing as an old woman with a young body. Her eyes were red and her gums green. Ed Warren was choked and also suffered terrible flu symptoms. An incubus sexually assaulted Janet, and pig noises (supposedly signs of a serious demonic infestation) could be heard in the walls. The Smurls said they tried several times to obtain support and action from the Church. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton said it would consult with experts, but official involvement seemed unlikely. At one point, Janet thought she was getting help from a Father O'Leary, but discovered he didn't exist: it was the demon allegedly impersonating a priest. The Warrens brought in Father (now Bishop) Robert F. McKenna, a traditionalist priest who refused to abide by the changes in ritual mandated by the Second Vatican Council. He said mass in Latin and had performed more than 50 exorcisms for the Warrens. He conducted the ancient rite, infuriating the demon. The haunting continued. Daughter Carin fell seriously ill from a strange fever and nearly died. Dawn was nearly raped by the presence. Janet and Mary had slash marks and bites on their arms. Everyone was depressed. Ed Warren explained they were in the 2nd demonic stage, oppression, which follows infestation and is followed by possession and death. McKenna performed a second exorcism in late spring, but to no avail. The demon even accompanied the family on camping trips in the Poconos and harrassed Jac at work. The family could not move to another house since the demon would just follow. After repeated refusals by the Church to help, the Smurls decided to appear on television. Remaining anonuymous behind a screen, the Smurls were interviewed by Richard Bey on a local Philadelphia show called "People Are Talking." The demon retaliated. it levitated janet and then hurled her against the wall. It appeared to Jack as a monstrous creature resembling a pig on 2 legs. A human hand came up through the mattress and grabbed Janet by the back of the neck. Jack was raped again. In august 1986, the Smurls felt that the risk of ridicule did not outweigh the need to tell their story to a wider audience and granted an interview to the Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent newspaper. Almost immediately their home became a tourist attraction for the press, curious onlookers and skeptics who whished to investigate. Some skeptics, who included some of the Smurls's neighbors, said they believed the family was concocting the story in order to profit from book and movie contracts. Paul Kurtz, chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) in Buffalo, NY, sought to investigate but was rebuffed by the family and the Warrens. The Smurls contacted a medium, Mary Alice Rinkman, who examined the house and corroborated the Warrens' finding of 4 spirits. She identified on as a confused old woman named Abigail and another as adark mustachioed man named Patrick who had murdered his wife and her lover and had then been hung by a mob. She could not identify the 3rd, but the 4th was a powerful demon. Press coverage finally pushed the Scranton diocese into action, and they archly offered to take over the investigation. The Warrens, meanwhile, planned a mass exorcism with several priests. Prayer groups came to the house to give comfort. Rev.Alphonsus TRavold of St.Bonaventure University, asked by the diocese to investigate, said he believed the Smurls were sincere and disturbed by the events, but he could not say whether demonic presence was the true cause. McKenna came a 3rd time to exorcise the house in September 1986; this time the ritual seemed to work. There were no disturbances for about 3 months. Right before Christmas 1986, Jack again saw the black form, beckoning him to the 3rd stage of posession. He clutched his rosary and prayed, hoping this was an isolated incident. But the bangin noises, terrible smells and violence started again. The Smurls moved to another town shortly before the book about their ordeal, The Haunted, went to press in 1988. The Church performed a fourth exorcism in 1989, which finally seemed to give them peace. A movie version of The Haunted was released in 1991. Pheeew! This was a long one, wasn't it? //Arturo ---#STONEFREE Brought to you by Stone Free BBS -- 606.885.1715 Fido: 1:2370/69 Sysop: Chef Groovy/FaTSacK