Another ghost story based on a true event is currently in theaters. But, with information suggesting that another famous “true” ghost story, the Amityville Horror, was a hoax, you have to wonder what is really real.
In case you haven’t seen The Haunting in Connecticut (and I haven’t either – not the type of film you take a four year old to), here’s the back story. Carmen Reed, her then husband, three children, and two nieces moved into a home on Meriden Avenue in Southington, Connecticut in the ‘80s. The night the family moved into the former funeral home, Reed’s 13 year old son told her “Mom, t his house is evil. We need to leave here right away!”
Reed’s son Phillip was being treated at a local cancer clinic. He told his family he was seeing a young man with black hair that reached his hips. The young man threatened him and called out his name. Phillip’s cancer eventually went into remission, but when the doctors found out about he was seeing visions and hearing voices, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After he began attacking the family, Phillip was sent to live with relatives. Once he left the house, he stopped hearing the voices.
After Phillip left, the evil spirits began to attack Reed’s eighteen year old niece. In fact, one night as the niece clung to Reed telling her “its coming,” Reed saw the impression of a hand going under the girl’s nightshirt.
After Reed contacted her parish priest and a three hour exorcism was conducted, the evil spirits left. John Zaffis, a paranormal investigator of 36 years, backed up Reed’s claims, saying, “Compared to that house, the other cases I had been involved with were like dealing with Casper the Friendly Ghost.” The currently owner of the home has not reported any disturbances.
Could it have been real? Could this family, that spent two years in the house, really have been besieged by tortured souls? Well, maybe, maybe not. The Hartford Courant reported in 1992 that the Roman Catholic archdiocese doesn’t show an exorcism was conducted on the house. And, I know if weird things were going on in my house, I would get the heck out immediately, but that is just me.
Reed is now a spiritual advisor and you can read more about her life on her web page. She and Zaffis are writing a book about the haunting titled “Demons in the Dark.”
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