The Sallie House Haunting: A True Story (21 page)

Everyone had arrived around dinner time, so we ordered pizzas and rented a few movies for the evening. As was usually the case, the conversation focused on Sallie stories, strange events, and photos. Although they were very polite, it was easy to tell that Chad and Tom were non-believers in the paranormal. They were however, very interested in seeing something with their own eyes, and indulged themselves for the evening.

Mark, Chad, and Tom eventually found their way upstairs and into the nursery while the rest of us remained downstairs. From there, we could hear them talking, and it seemed as though they were gently taunting Sallie. “Come on, do something if you’re here.”

Overhearing their pleas for activity and realizing no one was responding to them, I went up to tell them they should refrain from demanding a show because we didn’t know how she would react if she got mad. For a while we stood there quietly, and feeling that she might perform for me (after all, Sallie told Barbara that she would “show off” for us if we wanted her to) I simply asked her to do something for us to show that she was there. I could tell she wasn’t going to do anything; I could sense her reluctance to comply with our requests.

Wanting an experience for them as much as they did, I came up with an idea that I thought would work for all parties. I recalled one of the photos we had taken of the staircase, and that after viewing it Barbara told us that Sallie was protective of the private “family only” rooms upstairs. With this in mind, I wondered if I could force her into performing on the promise that we would all leave the upstairs.

“Alright Sallie, I know you really don’t want us up here, and if you do something to show us that you are here, I promise we will leave.” We stood in the doorway of the nursery waiting for a sign, but nothing happened. It took three more attempts to interest her in the arrangement. “You can move something or even throw something at us if you want. Or you can turn out the lights.” We waited, and just when it seemed that she was not going to comply, something happened.

The guys had been standing at the doorway of the nursery looking into the room when suddenly the light in the hallway behind and above their heads went out for a good three to four seconds. Then it came back on. I recognized the questioning look in their faces and I volunteered that the light switch they were getting ready to ask about was on the wall several feet behind them.

Without saying a word, they looked at each other for support and a clue as to what they should do next and what they should believe. Without warning, Chad and Tom turned toward the stairs and all but trampled each other to get downstairs and away from the ghost they realized was in the area. It reminded me of two boulders tumbling down the same narrow space. As Mark had been witness to other experiences in the house, his fear level was low. The two of us stood there almost snickering at the sight and sound.

When the two of us joined everyone else downstairs, Chad and Tom tried to act like they had regained their composure. Both, however, were wide-eyed with anticipation and fear. Tom had been nervously pacing the floor and had eventually planted himself on the end of the couch nearest the door. I’m sure he felt that getting the seat closest to the door would give him a quick getaway, should something else happen. After one of the guys explained about the lights in the hallway going off and then on again, Samantha volunteered that the living room lights had done the same thing downstairs. Instead of showing fear though, she had simply said, “Hi, Sallie. Thank you.”

Having had an experience of their own, Tom and Chad wanted to know more. The rest of us took turns talking. As we did, Chad reported that he was feeling a funny coldness around him as he sat there at the end of the couch. I got up from the other end and walked past him over to the front foyer just a few feet to the left of him. Feeling the same coldness as I stood at the bottom of the stairs, I was sure he had been feeling Sallie. I told him that she was likely standing her ground and not about to let anyone go back upstairs. Rather nervous that she was that close to him, he got up and moved into the dining room with the rest of us.

Twenty minutes later, Tony moved to where Chad had been sitting, and he also reported a distinct coldness across the left side of his face. A few minutes later, Tony got up and sat on the floor where Taylor and I were playing in the middle of the room. As he turned around, Samantha noticed a scratch on his face that went from the left side of his forehead down almost to his chin. It was on the same side of his face where he had felt cold. He reported that it didn’t hurt at all. In fact, he hadn’t even realized it was there until Samantha pointed it out. I guess the lack of pain, coupled with the thought that he may have inadvertently done it himself without realizing it, kept us from focusing on the possibility that it could have been paranormal. None of us were concerned or frightened by it.

The more I thought about it, the more obvious it seemed what had happened. In Sallie’s eyes, Tony and I had allowed the guys to go up and poke fun at her. As a father figure, he should have protected her; any child would have found it humiliating. I believed that this was Sallie’s way of letting us know she was unhappy with us.

Samantha and I supervised the playing babies from the couch and pursued our own conversation. The men had gathered at the dining room table, except for Tony, who was sitting on Taylor’s little rocking horse, just a few feet away from the dining room table and behind the rocking chair in the living room. From the couch, we could only see Tony’s neck and head above the rocking chair.

Suddenly, Samantha was pointing at something that was obviously shocking to her. Her eyes were wide, and she gaped as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t. What I saw seemed to be a very narrow, two-foot flame shooting straight up from behind the rocking chair. It also seemed to be just in front of Tony. Just as I took notice of it, Tony jumped off the wooden horse. He stood there in shock.

One of the men handed him the closest thing they could find to put out the fire—a can of Pepsi. With the fire out, we realized it was one of the leather-like ears of the rocking horse. It had apparently and suddenly turned into a torch. It was burnt black and crisp around the edge of one ear.

I hollered at Sallie for starting the fire and sent her to her room. I thought she must really be mad to start a fire like that because lately she had been so good about not doing so. Within minutes, we were all talking about what had happened and wondering to explain it.

Since Tony had been sitting on the horse, he was concerned about being held responsible. He asked if he could use my lighter experimentally to try to light the other ear. “It’s already ruined,” he said, to forestall my objection. We were all curious to see if, and how, it would catch fire and burn. I knew we needed to rule out the possibility that Tony may have set it on fire, so I reluctantly gave my permission.

As Tony tried to light the other ear, we realized that the ears on the rocking horse were made of flame-resistant vinyl. Tony and the guys made every attempt to torch them, but they barely caught fire. We concluded that Tony could not have started the fire.

By 10:30 everyone, except Mark and Samantha and their baby girl had left. We had been standing near the dining room table when Samantha asked who was still in the house. She said she heard footfalls in the room above us. We all stopped to listen, hearing what sounded like thumps on the floor. I suggested that it was the cats, but Samantha pointed out that they were both on the floor near our feet.

The noise upstairs continued. Apparently, Sallie wanted to make herself known again. I was thankful that it wasn’t another fire. Was this her way of apologizing, of letting us know that she was still upstairs where I had told her to go as a punishment? Was this her way of asking to come back downstairs?

Mark and Samantha had been to the house often since Taylor’s birth and it seemed that Sallie was comfortable with them. Maybe she even felt safe. Had she acted out because she was not familiar or comfortable with Tom and Chad? Had her fear of them made her act out by scratching and setting the fire?

On March 28th, Tony and I both noticed that Taylor’s musical clown was playing itself at intervals over the course of the day. We each noticed it on separate occasions. At the end of the day, we concluded that the clown had played itself over half a dozen times.

Over the course of the next several months, we gained many new acquaintances, some of whom would invite themselves over or stop in without warning. We soon caught on that this was a way for others to challenge us and get a shot at their own paranormal experience as well. They were more inclined to give merit to our claims if we gave them the opportunity to see it for themselves. Allowing all sorts of people into our house had actually become our best attempt to defend ourselves.

Soon, though, we felt as scrutinized as a zoo exhibit, and although things sometimes happened while others were in the house, many times there was no activity at all. People often left without the proof they were hoping for and we felt this reflected on us personally. On one hand, Tony’s worst fear was that people would not believe us, so for those who would judge us, we took seriously the burden of proof. On the other hand, we wanted our personal and private life back. The frustration of having so many family and friends distance themselves from us because they couldn’t comprehend the situation was excruciating. Although we needed their support more than ever we eventually withdrew from friends, family, and social events. It was at this point that I realized we could no longer put the desire to prove our story ahead of our own life and happiness.

Trip Out of State: April 1994

During the last days of March, I had arranged for a trip to my hometown of Buffalo, New York. We had been planning the Easter trip for several weeks, and to head off any negative activity, I had shared this information with Sallie. I also explained that in our absence, our neighbor Lisa would feed and take care of the animals.

On March 28, and several times throughout that day, we noticed Taylor’s musical clown play music without anyone winding it up. Perhaps it was Sallie’s way of letting us know she was around and happy. These were the only disturbances we noticed prior to leaving for New York.

We drove to New York a few days later and arrived in Buffalo early the next day. We stopped at my sister’s business to pick up the key to her house and went on to the house to unpack and rest. We made several trips in and out, and on one of these trips I heard a noise from the basement door. It was open. I knew with Kori being so young, Karen would not have left it open, so I closed it and continued unloading the car. Moments later, I again found it open.

Tony denied doing anything to the door, so I checked to be sure it was catching right, and shut it once again. Again I found it open and moving to and fro as if in a slight breeze. I told Tony what was happening and we both knew that Sallie had come with us. This was the only strange or unexplainable event we encountered while staying with my sister.

Six days later, we traveled to my father’s house, eighty miles southwest of Buffalo. This was the first time my father had met my husband and Taylor. Dad’s fiancée Christine and her children were at the house when we arrived. Matt and Tim were sixteen and seventeen, respectively, and her daughter Shelia was fifteen. About three years earlier, I had stayed briefly at Christine’s house and gotten to know them rather well.

We talked, laughed, and shared photos while Christine cooked a special Easter dinner. Afterward while we women cleaned up, Dad asked Tim to turn off the outside light. It was a tall lamp in the front yard which shed a lot of light on the surrounding area.

Twenty minutes later Dad was quite upset. “Tim, I thought I asked you to turn off the big outside light.”

Tim defended himself and walked over to the switch to double check. “See, it’s still flipped down,” he reported. He then flipped it up, but nothing happened. When he flipped it down again, the light went off. Knowing how mad Dad would get if he had not followed his directions properly, Tim immediately restated his defense. “I know I turned it off because when I looked outside, it wasn’t on.” I exchanged a quick look with Tony before informing Dad that it could have been something that came with us—Sallie.

Dad looked at me, puzzled and skeptical. “She came with you?”

Tony quickly chimed in, “We’re not sure, but we think so.”

“How could she come with you?” Tim asked.

Although we certainly tried to explain things without sounding like freaks, it was a hard sell. The conversation made some folks curious and it made others uncomfortable. In an attempt to put everyone at ease, we pulled out some of the photos we had brought along for the trip.

I’m not sure if it was the late hour, the fact that Christine had worked a long day in the kitchen, or that the topic of conversation had upset her, but about ten minutes after the photos came out, she and her children left for their own home. We looked through all the pictures and talked about each one, then the topic of Sallie faded and we enjoyed a quiet evening before retiring to bed.

About mid-afternoon the next day, we said our good-byes and left for the long drive home. We made even better time on the drive back and arrived in Kansas very early the next morning. Except for two hours of the drive, Taylor had slept the entire way. Knowing he would soon be awake with energy to spare, we dropped him off at Tony’s parents’ house before we got to our own.

We woke up late that afternoon and unpacked the car. Tony picked up Taylor while I stayed behind to unpack the cooler and suitcases. While I was doing so, our neighbor Lisa came over to welcome us back home and ask about the trip. We chatted a while and I thanked her for looking after our pets. Then in a whisper, as if someone might hear her, she said, “I wouldn’t come over without Joe.” She squinted up her face and continued talking in the same whisper. “I was scared.”