A door, a figure on a cross, and footsteps in a rented 110-year-old house in Paw Paw, Michigan
[name withheld], calling from Bradley, Illinois, says that in the summer of 1989, when they were fourteen, they were living in a rented 110-year-old house in Paw Paw, Michigan, opposite a cemetery. They report that the upstairs door opened by itself and that they then saw [quote withheld] at the stairs. Later, as a depressed teenager, they asked a spirit for help and heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They then decided it was the devil and asked it to go away. The call ends with Art Bell calling the reversal a “foxhole conversion.”
This clip comes from the source recording. AI chose where it starts and ends, so it may start or end a little early or late. The word-for-word transcript is not published. You can hear the source recording on the Internet Archive (file “Ghost to Ghost 2001-2.mp3”, starting at 1:32:34). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], who says they are calling from Bradley, Illinois, and listening on 890 AM WLS in Chicago, tells Art Bell their story goes back to the summer of 1989, when they were fourteen. They say they and their mother moved into a 110-year-old rented house in Paw Paw, Michigan, in late November 1987. The house stood across the street from a cemetery, and they describe it as very spooky. In the summer of 1989, they say, they were watching a Bulls game and walked from the living room toward the kitchen, and the door to the upstairs area opened by itself. Asked by Bell whether they saw it with their own eyes, they say yes, no doubt about it. They repeat rumors and newspaper articles in the area that a baby had died upstairs in the early 1900s and that a lady had also died there. After a break, they say, when they looked up at the stairs there was [quote withheld] They say they urinated in their pants, went into the bathroom, and prayed. They say they left in 1991, at sixteen, and that the landlord took about two years to sell. The man who bought it demolished the 110-to-115-year-old house and built a new one. He had a baby who lived in roughly the same upstairs area, and he ripped out 100 to 150 old trees reported to be regarded as sacred. [name withheld] reports town rumors that the baby died of cancer, that the wife died of cancer, and that the man picked up and left. [name withheld] also says they had a cellar and heard strange things at night. Once, when they were seriously depressed as a teenager, they asked for a spirit to come down and help them. They heard footsteps coming down the stairs, then thought it was the devil, asked it to go away, and it went away. Bell asks whether the devil helped them. [name withheld] says something came walking down the stairs and they prayed for it to go away. Bell calls this a “foxhole conversion.”
Reported events, in order
- 0:23
[name withheld] and their mother move into a rented 110-year-old house in Paw Paw, Michigan, in late November 1987.
- 0:42
In the summer of 1989, at fourteen, they walk from the living room toward the kitchen and the door to the upstairs opens by itself.
- 1:06
[name withheld] repeats local rumors and newspaper articles that a baby and a lady had died upstairs in the early 1900s.
- 2:22
After the break, they say they looked up at the stairs and saw a woman on a cross. They urinated in their pants and prayed in the bathroom.
- 3:08
They say they left the house in 1991, at sixteen, and the landlord took about two years to sell it.
- 3:22
They say the new owner demolished the old house, built a new one, had a baby living in roughly the same upstairs area, and removed 100 to 150 old trees said to be considered sacred.
- 4:05
They report town rumors that the new owner’s baby died of cancer, his wife died of cancer, and he left.
- 4:24
They say they had a cellar and heard strange things at night.
- 4:35
As a seriously depressed teenager, they asked a spirit to come down and help them and heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
- 4:51
They say they then thought it was the devil, asked it to go away, and it went away.
Claims
Each claim is labeled as something the person telling the story noticed (observation), what they made of it (interpretation), something others told them (hearsay), or something the host said (host statement).
- observation· 0:56
The door to the upstairs area opened by itself as they approached it.
- observation· 1:28
The caller confirms they saw the door open with their own eyes.
- hearsay· 1:06
Rumors and newspaper articles in the area said a baby had died upstairs in the early 1900s and a lady had died there.
- observation· 2:31
The caller saw a woman on a cross at the stairs.
- observation· 4:24
They heard strange things at night in the house’s cellar.
- observation· 4:35
After asking for a spirit to help them, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
- interpretation· 4:51
The caller concluded the approaching presence was the devil.
- observation· 5:03
The caller asked the devil to help them.
- hearsay· 4:05
The new owner’s baby and wife died of cancer, as told in town rumors.
- host statement· 5:37
Art Bell calls the caller’s asking for help and then wanting it gone a foxhole conversion.
Scores, with reasons
An AI model gave these scores using a fixed set of scoring rules (scoring-v1). They are editorial judgments and rough guides, not the odds that anything paranormal happened. How scoring works.
This is a mostly firsthand story with concrete dates, an age, a named town, and a described house, told in a coherent sequence. It loses points because the central sighting is a single ambiguous phrase and ordinary explanations (an old door, house noises) are not addressed. The caller also goes from noises to identifying the presence as the devil without hedging.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand framing: [quote withheld]
- Specific setting and dates: “a 110-year-old house” in Paw Paw, Michigan, moved into [quote withheld]
- The sequence stays consistent across the break and under Art Bell’s questioning about the door.
- The key sight is very brief and unelaborated: [quote withheld]
- No check of the door, the latch, or the house noises is reported, and the caller offers no alternative.
- Part of the story is town rumor about later owners rather than the caller’s own observation.
- The phrase [quote withheld] is ambiguous. It is not clear whether a crucifix, a cross-shaped structure, or something else is meant.
- The labels showing who is speaking in the automatic transcript shift around the call, and one line near the end is marked as low confidence.
- 0:18
- 2:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component scores are my judgment from the transcript, not statements by the caller. Closeness to the source is strong, specificity moderate, consistency moderate, alternative explanations unaddressed, and calibration low.
The story rests entirely on the caller’s word. It does contain checkable specifics (town, state, dates, age, a described house, and a later demolition), but none were checked, and no documentation, recording, or photograph is presented.
Evidence for and against
- Specifics that could be checked in principle are given: Paw Paw, Michigan, a 110-year-old house across from a cemetery, a 1987 move-in, and a 1991 departure.
- The caller refers to [quote withheld] about deaths upstairs.
- No newspaper article, record, or photograph is produced or examined on the air.
- Only one person, the caller, is said to have experienced the events, and no other witness speaks on the air.
- The later-owner material (baby, wife, trees) is explicitly rumor: [quote withheld]
- It is not stated whether the caller ever tried to locate the newspaper articles they mention.
- No physical trace or ongoing event can be verified from the transcript.
- 1:06
- 3:52
What the model inferred (not said on air): My placement in the 11 to 25 range reflects checkable specifics that were not checked, plus a claimed second witness who is absent. It is not a judgment about the caller.
The story is genuinely unsettling: an old house opposite a cemetery, a door opening by itself, a reported figure of a woman on a cross that the caller says made them urinate and pray, and footsteps coming down the stairs toward them after they asked for help. It is partly defused by the host’s joking interruption and the abrupt, conversational ending.
Evidence for and against
- The caller’s reported reaction to the figure: [quote withheld]
- A presence approaching: [quote withheld]
- Intrusion into the home’s upstairs and cellar spaces.
- Art Bell jokes about it during the break, which lightens the telling.
- The earlier events are ordinary household noises and a moving door rather than sustained threat.
- The [quote withheld] image is not described further, which limits how vivid it can be judged.
- Part of the troubling content concerns later owners and is rumor, not witnessed.
- 2:43
- 5:17
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is my judgment of the story’s effect on a listener, not a claim about whether anything occurred.
The setup is familiar: an old rented house across from a cemetery, a self-opening door, footsteps on stairs, and rumors of earlier deaths. But it includes at least two less common elements. One is the reported image of a woman on a cross at the stairs. The other is an invitation followed by a reversal, in which the caller says they first asked for a spirit’s help and then rejected what came.
Evidence for and against
- A distinctive image: [quote withheld]
- A reversal structure: [quote withheld] then [quote withheld]
- Stock elements: an old house, a cemetery across the street, a door opening by itself, footsteps on stairs, and rumors of earlier deaths upstairs.
- The later-owner material (deaths of the baby and wife, trees removed) echoes common haunted-property legends.
- The published originality score is compared with the rest of the archive, which is small in this pilot, so the score is provisional.
- The ambiguous “cross” detail may be an error in the automatic transcript, which would make the story less distinctive.
- 2:31
- 4:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): The provisional score is my estimate from the content. The value compared with the rest of the archive is produced separately.
Scoring confidence 0.65 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word on a live call; The caller’s references to local rumors and newspaper articles, not produced or examined; No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace presented; No second witness speaking on the air.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- A door in an old house opening on its own through a loose latch, a warped frame, or a draft. · The caller describes the house as “a 110-year-old house” and the upstairs door as a place that was [quote withheld] No check of the door or latch is reported.
- Normal settling, plumbing, or animal noises in an old house with a cellar, heard as footsteps, especially at night. · The caller says [quote withheld] and that the house had a cellar. The footsteps are reported only as heard, with no sighting of anyone walking.
- A brief glimpse in low light on a staircase, read as a figure. · The figure is described in a single short phrase, [quote withheld] with no detail of clothing, duration, or distance.
What stands out
The story combines ordinary haunted-house elements (a self-opening door, footsteps on stairs) with the distinctive reported image of [quote withheld] on the staircase. It also has an invitation followed by a reversal: the caller says they asked a spirit for help and then identified what came as the devil.
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