Possession
A change of personality, possession, being worn down by a presence, or an exorcism.
Lifelong bedroom attacks and a black figure with red eyes
A caller who gives their name as Mary, in Hickson, Tennessee, tells Art Bell that they and their family have been attacked “all my life,” mostly in the bed or bedroom. The caller reports a night when something grabbed their hand as if to pull them out of bed. On other nights they woke unable to breathe, scream, or move, while seeing two red eyes and a black figure. They say it also happened to their husband and brothers. The call ends with the caller saying they sense things about people, believe their father was possessed, and know when people are going to die.
Glowing green clothed skeleton in Navy housing and a stepfather’s change
A caller the host addresses as [name withheld], calling from San Diego, describes an incident in Navy housing in 1971 (later said to be 1974). They say they saw a luminescent green, fully clothed skeleton with an evil grin inside their bedcovers while they were unable to move. They say they later learned the previous tenant, a man, had died driving home from hunting, matching the hunting cap and jacket they say the figure wore. They link the sighting to a lasting change for the worse in their stepfather’s personality. The host suggests that the figure inhabited the stepfather, and the caller says they believe so. The caller ends with a brief remark that their late mother visits them.
Caller describes a man convulsing and speaking in multiple voices in an apartment
[name withheld], calling from Denver, tells Art Bell that a man they met asked them to check whether the man's wife had been married before. After [name withheld] gave him the information, the man reportedly came over crying. He then went into a rage, convulsed, appeared to stop breathing, and spoke in multiple voices before emergency services took him to the ER. The caller later says the man told them that two priests in a French orphanage had told him he was possessed.
A cloud at a mother-in-law's death and ongoing house disturbances
A caller who says they are calling from Santa Rosa tells the host that in 1989, on Thanksgiving Day, their mother-in-law died. The next day, they say, they and their husband watched a large brown mist cloud dissipate on the sidewalk outside. They go on to describe a series of household disturbances: objects moved, a music box starting by itself, and odd smells. They also describe family upheavals involving their husband and their son. They blame all of it on demons. They say the situation is still going on. The host closes by telling them he believes they are in a dangerous situation.
Nighttime evil presence and a geometric screen vision in an apartment
A caller tells Art Bell that about two months earlier, while lying in bed in their apartment, the caller felt an evil presence watching them. Then, as the caller began to dream, they saw a black geometric pattern pulled down over their vision like a screen. They felt dread and a fear of being possessed. The caller reports that prayer, and asking God to send their angel, made the fear and the vision stop. Afterward the caller used sage and sea salt and came to regard the episode as a test of their faith.
Ouija board session in a box canyon and a spirit speaking through a participant
A caller addressed as [name withheld] describes a 1982 Ouija board session in a box canyon with the caller’s friend [name withheld] and their wives. The caller reports that two women got answers. The caller was later told they had been chanting in an altered state. [name withheld] wrote pages in an unfamiliar script, and [name withheld]’s wife spoke in a low voice that the caller took to be a spirit. The caller says the spirit identified itself as an unburied Indian hunting party and that [name withheld] guided the spirits to cross over. The caller says a coworker later reported that the poster-tearing in their son’s room had stopped.
A mist and a figure in a hat photographed while praying over an elderly man
An unidentified caller says that after caring for an elderly man in his 80s, described as a retired colonel, they saw his moods darken and his voice change into blasphemy and abuse. The caller and a friend wondered whether he was possessed. While the caller recited a Bible passage over him, a gentleman at the house took instant-developing photographs. The caller reports that they show a grayish-white mist and the outline of a man in a hat with a cape. The caller says the mist later sank into the floor and disappeared, and the man never troubled them again. The caller says they still have one of the photographs, and Art asks the caller to send a copy.
Ouija board at age nine and a claimed decades-long demonic affliction
A first-time caller from Denver warns Art Bell’s audience that using a Ouija board let a “satanic spirit” enter them at age nine. They say the affliction lasted from age nine to age fifty-four. They credit an exorcist, Dr. Ken Olson, whom they associate with the Maury Povich show, with releasing the spirit. The call is a warning rather than a story, and the host closes it with his own caution that Ouija boards open “a conduit.”
Fragment: Prayer to cast an unwanted presence out of a room
An unidentified caller describes, in a fragment, an intense and tense experience in their room. The caller says they prayed to Jesus and the Lord to cast “whatever it was” out. They say it took [quote withheld] with no unit given, but felt like an hour. The host adds that it smelled really bad. He dubs it [quote withheld] says it hovered over the caller and was foul, and asks what these things are.
[name withheld]’s sleep-related entities, a lattice-like figure, and a claimed photograph
A caller the host addresses as [name withheld] gives a mid-conversation account. They tell of unseen beings they say they fled from, and of something they felt trying to get into them as they reached their kitchen. They also describe a figure they call “the toy,” which they say was made of crossed lines. They say they have a color photograph of a beautiful female figure leaning over their head. The excerpt ends as the host thanks the caller and moves to the next caller.
Caller says they are possessed by three named ghosts they summoned
A caller on the “Wild Card Line” tells Art Bell they are possessed by three ghosts whom they summoned themselves and who, the caller says, told the caller their identities. The caller names them as Carlos Castaneda, [name withheld], and [name withheld], calls them evil predators, and says they want to kill rather than exorcise them. The host suggests the caller see an exorcist. No outcome is reported.