Séances, rituals, and blessings
Séances, spells, smudging, blessings, and exorcisms.
Hooded faceless figure in the bedroom and a return during a cardiac arrest
A caller identified on air as [name withheld] of Sacramento describes himself as a 6'9", 370-pound pastor. He says a faceless, handless, hooded figure came through his bedroom door in March of that year and threatened him. It then threw his wife off the bed by the ankles and left what he describes as bleeding hand imprints. He says the same figure appeared beside him a month later when his heart stopped during a hospital stay in San Francisco. It told him it was time to come with it. He says he refused and was revived. He ends by telling the host he believes the figure was probably following him after he once helped a Catholic pastor with an exorcism.
San Jose apartment with occult remains and blue light pillars
A letter read on air, with the writer’s name withheld, describes working for an apartment-management company in East San Jose, California, in 1971. The writer reports being sent to clean a second-floor unit after an eviction. They say they found black walls, red bulbs, a pentagram, altars, and animal remains. After warnings from two strangers, they say they saw two pillars of blue light at the foot of their bed at about 2 a.m. The letter ends with the writer saying they never returned to the address.
Woman in black, locked doors, and a priest's blessing in a Dodge City rental
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], from Sumner, Washington, describes a house their family moved into in Dodge City, Kansas, about fifteen years earlier. The caller reports flooding, a woman in a black dress seen by their daughter, doors that shut and locked family members in, whispering, a fetal-position stain on the carpet, and footsteps on the stairs. After researching records, the caller and their sister concluded that an elderly former resident was earthbound. A priest blessed the house and fell ill. The caller says they later blessed it themselves and believes the woman went to the light.
A black mass invitation, a stalled dorm elevator, and a body in the college lake
A caller who gives their location as Gainesville, Georgia (WDUN), tells of their freshman year at a small southern college. A man in the student center claimed to be a black witch and invited their group to a black mass. The caller did not go. That night a fire alarm sent them outside, where they saw their returning friends looking [quote withheld] before the dorm elevator they boarded stalled between floors. The caller says they later learned that one man had disappeared and that his body was found in the college lake about three weeks afterward, with his throat cut. The host cuts the caller off for time.
Tall shadow figure in woods linked by caller to neighbors’ candles
[name withheld], calling from Atlanta, Georgia, tells Art Bell a story they say began years earlier at their own house. It involves their wife and the neighbors of her ex-husband, who they say were practicing an occult tradition. The caller reports orbs and nighttime footsteps on the nights the neighbors’ candles were lit. Then came a bang on the roof and a large shadowy figure in the woods across the street. The caller and their wife finally watched it run into the light and seem to vanish, while its footsteps stayed audible. The story ends with the caller praying over the property and the activity stopping. Art comments that people who dabble in such things live to regret it.
A former priest blesses the house of a dead radio singer
In a letter read on air by the host, the writer says they were an Eastern Orthodox priest for many years. They describe a 1974 case. A close friend's father, said to have been a popular radio singer and guitar player in the 1940s, died alone of a heart attack. About two months later the friend's mother reported hearing her dead ex-husband singing, seeing him in a rocking chair, and feeling pinches that left welts. The letter writer says they blessed the house with holy water. During the bedroom blessing the mother was thrown backward into the hallway. The writer says they saw welts on her legs afterward, and that the problems stopped after the blessing.
Students re-enact a Civil War battle in a campus auditorium said to be haunted
A caller who gives the pseudonym “John” and says they are in Tennessee describes a night in a campus auditorium during their college days, with a fellow student the caller does not name. The caller had been told the auditorium was once a Civil War fort and the site of battles. They report a hostile atmosphere, dark figures in the balcony, and a battlefield trench that gave them dark feelings. The two then staged a North-versus-South re-enactment on the auditorium stage to help the spirits. The caller says that during the acting they believed they were a dying soldier. Afterward their friend denied making a shout that the caller had clearly heard.
Figures in a field, a shrinking shape, and a child’s face in a drain pipe
[name withheld], calling from Lakewood, Colorado, tells Art a firsthand story they say they also told on the program about two years earlier. The caller reports that many years ago, driving home after taking their grandfather to a sporting event, they stopped at a bend in a country road. They saw two figures in the grass that appeared to shrink into a black-and-white furry shape, which ran into a roadside drainage pipe. A child’s face then appeared at the mouth of the pipe. The caller says their father later told them a woman at that spot had lost a child and was said to have used black magic. The caller concludes they saw that child’s ghost. The story ends unresolved, with Art reflecting on a trapped spirit versus a repeating “loop.”
Vancouver house with reported voodoo history and a priest who would not enter
An unnamed caller on the international line, who gives their location as Vancouver, Canada, describes growing up in a house from the 1920s that their father bought cheaply. The seller returned two weeks later begging to buy it back and told of a claimed voodoo history. The caller reports years of strange events: a cross falling from the wall, their mother’s paralysis and chest pressure at night, cold areas, and footsteps. The caller also describes a priest who refused even to step onto the sidewalk in front of the house. The caller says the activity faded once the children were grown. The host suggests the children may have been the source.
Unplugged television explodes in a basement gathering; a dark man reappears
[name withheld], from London, Ontario, Canada, calls to describe something that happened when they were about eight years old. During a gathering in a basement, [name withheld] says, an old unplugged television glowed and exploded, and only the caller saw a dark man seated on it. [name withheld] says the same dark man has since appeared to the caller out of the corner of their eye, and that they have heard their name called. The host warns the caller about the figure, while the caller says they think it may be protective.
Teenage blood-curse ritual and a warning phone call from “[name withheld]”
A caller the host identifies as [name withheld] in Wisconsin tells of an episode from their teens in Racine, Wisconsin. They and two friends tried to perform a ritual they believed was a blood curse, using instructions said to come from a manual “written in blood.” [name withheld] describes losing about an hour in a haze, later misfortunes among people involved, and a phone call from a man calling himself “[name withheld],” who told them to destroy what they had made. The host cuts the call short for time and warns listeners not to attempt such things.
Gray figures circling and red eyes in Genesee Park at the summer solstice
A caller who gives their name as [quote withheld] tells Art Bell that they and a group went to Genesee Park at the summer solstice to see tree spirits. They saw red eyes and gray figures circling in a meadow, fled, and were stopped by a police officer. The caller says they returned the next day to find thousands of ladybugs at the spot. They say they later learned the park is built over an Indian burial ground.