A Story of a Small House: A Novel Haunt in Newark, Ohio

N. Reiter, L. Schillig

19 February, 2002

Introduction:

In late fall of 2001, we were contacted by a gentleman from the Newark, Ohio, area regarding paranormal activity in his household. Mr. Bob Dunn (not his real name) decided to e-mail us following a Halloween lecture appearance by our ghost-author friend, Chris Woodyard, per Chris' suggestion.

Mr. Dunn claimed that he, his wife Carol, and their two daughters, Monica (9) and Lisa (6) had lived with a more or less continuous stream of disturbing and ghostly activity in their house since they purchased the property in 1993. Among the activity reported was:

1. Doors slamming
2. Anomalous re-location of household objects
3. Feelings of presence and dread
4. Mysterious whispered voices at night
5. Glimpses of a male apparition by the older daughter.
6. Unexplained rousing and disturbance of the household dogs.
7. Unexplained appliance and faucet tampering
8. Household objects thrown about when no observer was present.

As weather finally permitted, we made arrangements to visit the Dunn house. In the meantime, Bob Dunn had filled out our questionnaire and had held several conversations with NR by phone to expand on both the current phenomena and previous encounters with anomalous events in his past.

Our Visit:

On February 16th, 2002, we visited Newark, and carried out a survey of the Dunn house. The afternoon was slightly warmer than seasonal, in the 40's, and conditions were humid and overcast.

We met Bob and his family and shared a pleasant period of conversation with them before examining the house. Bob, a law enforcement officer, is a thoughtful and deliberate fellow with a manner of speech that is quiet, yet expressive and precise. His wife, Carol, is a charming and level-headed woman who has enough faith in her family to acknowledge their experiences, even though hers have been minimal. Lastly, we had the pleasure of meeting the Dunn girls. Older Monica is an articulate and precocious lass with many tales to tell of the phenomena as she has perceived it. She and Bob would appear to be the primary unusual experiencers in the family. The younger daughter, Lisa, was a polite and well-mannered little dear who obliged the presence of two unusual strangers in her home with courtesy and patience.

The Dunn house is a small and snug single-story bungalow located on the north end of Newark. It was apparently constructed in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and along with neighboring houses, occupies what was once a sizeable farm. The Dunn home in particular appears to occupy what was once the orchard of the farm. A ramshackle cabin, presumably used as either farm labor housing or storage, once occupied the rear corner of the property and was burned down for fire practice shortly after the Dunns purchased their home.

Bob Dunn expanded on many of the accounts and tales we had discussed briefly by phone. LS recounts some of the highlights of the more personal discoveries and issues in the section of this report including her intuitive assessment.

In essence, Bob Dunn described for us the belief - and his evidence for it - that a susceptibility to paranormal experiences and precognitive ability had come down to him in a hereditary fashion, appearing to proceed through the side of his family that was primarily of old Cherokee blood. Bob detailed how deaths in his family have often appeared to him precognitively. Of equal interest was an account of how Bob, while in the military, encountered what may have been a Bigfoot-like creature in California. As his testimony went on, we felt a growing conviction that a most curious blend of phenomena existed here.

Bob also described for us the results of several previous visits to the house by their own pastor, who felt that a negative (although not necessarily demonic) form of energy existed in the residence.

LS proceeded to survey the house with her dowsing rods and notebook. Several areas of extremely strong reaction were noted and are expanded upon later. NR followed along with our "light assortment" of instrumentation, including our digital camera, Hall magnetometer, electroscope, ultrasonic detector, magnetic compass, and digital thermometer/psychrometer.

Following a thorough examination of the first floor and the spacious basement rooms, we held further discussions, where LS offered her hypothesis of what the events in the house signified.

As the afternoon drew to a close, we thanked our hosts for their hospitality, and bid them adieu.

Physical Investigation Results:

Several areas of magnetic anomaly (defying a cursory survey of possible artificial causes) were noted. In two of these instances, magnetic deviations appeared to agree with very strong dowsing reactions on LS' part as well as her intuitive and physiological reactions.

In the northern end bedroom used by 9 year old Monica, a deviation of about .1 to .2 gauss (roughly one third background geomagnetic ambient) was recorded at about head height at a point in front of the main closet. No immediate source, such as steel bars or hangars, was noted.

Another lesser location appeared to be over the bed used by Bob and Carol.

In the basement, a region near doorway between the "computer" room and the adjacent storage room appeared to have an enhanced magnetic ambient by about .1 gauss, with polarity of focal point indeterminate. No immediate source, such as ductwork, conduits, or appliances was immediately evident.

No anomalies were observed with either the electroscope or the ultrasonic detector. In each case of magnetic distortion, a confirming deviation was noted with the manual magnetic compass.

Photographic Results: (click pics to enlarge)

Four discs were used for digital photos. Several shots were recorded which contain distinct orb images. Two of these photos are included. As we must always state, orbs are the most tentative of photographic anomaly! We thus can say little more about them, apart from the fact that the most distinctive orb image is seen very near the doorway of Monica's bedroom, where the strongest intuitive and dowsing impressions were obtained. Young Monica reminded us that she often sees small purplish balls of light moving about the house.

LS- Intuitive and Dowsing Notes (transcribed):

"After intuitively scanning all areas of Bob & Carol’s home with the aid of dowsing rods, I did find three areas of intense energy: a back room in the basement, near the kitchen stove, and in their oldest daughter’s bedroom not far from the doorway.

None of these areas seemed to produce any vivid imagery for me, and I do not believe this to be a haunting (conscious entity) or an intrusive negative entity, as they may have feared. Indeed, several attempts by clergy have failed to clear this phenomena, which in itself suggests that another avenue needs explored.

Since the problems have been present from the time they moved into the house, I must assume that either the previous owners may have experienced similar problems or that something going on within their personal lives at this time triggered psychokinetic (PK) chaos, which did not subside. Unfortunately, we have no way of questioning former owners; therefore I was forced to focus on the latter explanation.

Psychokinetic activity traditionally focuses around one individual in the home. Usually, there is also a pubescent female in residence whom by means of a currently unknown (hormonal/brain waves/body bio-electrics, etc.) mechanism seems to add an element of increased PK activity. At the time they moved in, there were no females or males of pubescent age, however their daughter is now rapidly approaching this stage and may begin to play a factor. The family seemed to agree that Bob and his oldest daughter primarily were the focus of activity.

I felt guided to ask Bob and Carol if either of them had been physically or sexually abused. Carol openly admitted to being the victim of sexual abuse from her stepfather. Bob also admitted to completely missing periods from his childhood - period of time that he could not remember due to the severity of beatings and other elements of physical and emotional abuse.

At this stage, I was convinced that the crux of the problem had been solved - that being PK induced from emotional turmoil. Bob confessed that during a period of time when he was undergoing counseling, the PK episodes seemed to subside.

I instructed them to view all aspects of PK activity from a symbolic standpoint, as if they were attempting to interpret dream imagery. For example, they specifically mentioned the following: a foot-stool being moved, lights coming on, cupboard doors opening above the stove, the appearance of the lower torso of a man (visible to the older daughter Monica), and a toy Star Wars block (with a Darth Vader/Yoda hologram) being thrown across a room. Let us now look at them symbolically:

• Footstool Feeling as if one is being "kicked around/treated like a footstool
• Lights Need to shed light on a matter suppressed by the psyche
• Cupboards Need to open the door on a matter/stop hiding painful issues
• Block An emotionally blocked psyche - one dealing with issues of good & evil treatment
• Figure This element was the greatest question in decipherment of the situation!

Now, we obviously needed to focus on the spectral lower-torso man. I present three possibilities:

1. We have found in several of our cases if PK activity that there has been some correlation between the current and past owners that seems to add fuel to the anomalous activity fire. One explanation may be that the former owner may have either been an abuser or someone who had also been abused. This psychic mix coupled with the emotions of Bob or Carol may be enough to set things into motion. This ghostly image may be that of the former owner purely appearing as a repeating pattern (much like a broken record) in time and space yet holding no consciousness to its being.
2. Usually, people who tell of seeing apparitions report the figure as being fairly complete except for the fact that the feet cannot be seen. This was quite the reverse, and it was seen in this fashion on more than one occasion. After speaking with Bob and Carol, I asked if either of them had ever consciously avoided looking at their abuser. Carol admitted to not liking to make eye contact with him, however Bob seemed more intent on this point. As a matter of fact, it was a major element of his abuse. Indeed, his father would chastise him for never being able to look at him. This seemed to be a large clue and brings us to a clear picture of another explanation. Most likely, since Bob appeared to be still struggling the most with his inner demons, I would venture that he is in some way psychically projecting an image of the lower portion of his father. His daughter, whose intuitive ability may be increasing as she nears puberty, is intuitively picking up this imagery.
3. A combination of #1 and #2 could be an explanation.

I also believe that the reason why the problems started when they did was due to the fact that it was a time in Bob & Carol’s marriage where they were starting their own family. After both of them having gone through an emotionally trying childhood, surely there must have been an underlying level of anxiety in their psyches as to their own capabilities as parents and their desire to insure that any negative cycles do not repeat themselves in this generation.

I also asked that they not only try to accept the PK oddities as opportunities to explore buried issues, but to view them as curiosities rather than fearful events. Should they continue to add the energy generated by fear, they may do nothing more but add an increased level of intensity to these happenings. Also, if a repeating pattern were present, no sort of "cleansing" of the home would probably be effective - short of demolition.

While blessings from the clergy are never harmful, we have yet to encounter a true demonic entity of outward origin. Our own inner demons are often far harder to conquer and must be ultimately met alone."

Conclusions:

It would be our joint opinion that the phenomenon in the little house in Newark ultimately does not appear to involve a classical "ghost" or individuated entity. Instead, it appeared to be a rather complex blend of dangling trauma issues for the owners, a possible hereditary propensity for enhanced psi and PK, and possible areas of intense emotional (negative) energy pattern left from previous home residents. We cannot also rule out elements of earth energy or Feng Shui.

The Dunn family was left with LS' recommendations for regaining emotional empowerment and stability in the household. To address possible lingering energy pattern issues, we also recommended the use of a negative ion air cleaner to freshen the atmosphere in the house and provide healthful ionization.

In closing, we would like to thank the Dunn family for allowing us into their lives and home, and Chris Woodyard for once again being our contact source.

Back to top