Morbid - Episode 219: The Bell Witch

Episode Date: March 21, 2021

We figured with everything being pretty heavy lately, we’d bring you a haunting. THE haunting, actually. The Bell family moved to their Tennessee farm in the early 1800s and had things great at first, beautiful land a big happy family. All the sudden though, in 1817, a haunting began and an entity who became known as the Bell Witch would terrorize the family for years to come! Book Ash mentioned: The Bell Witch: The Truth Exposed by Camille Moffitt As always thank you to our sponsors  Betterhelp: This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/Morbid  Care of: get 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com/morbid50 and enter code morbid50   Thrive market: go ThriveMarket.com/MORBID to get the exclusive offer of 25% off your first order AND a FREE gift! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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That's W-O-N-D-E-R-Y-P-O-D. Audible.com slash wandery pod or text wandery pod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days. Angie has made it easier than ever to connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well. Just bring them your project online, or with the Angie app, and answer a few questions. With Angie, you can book instantly at an upfront price, or request and compare quotes from multiple pros, so you can find the best price for your project.

So the next time you have a home project, just Angie that and start getting the most out of your home. Download the free Angie mobile app today or visit Angie.com. That's ANGi.com. Hey, Weirdos. I am. I almost just said I was Alina. I'm Ash. I'm Alina. And this is morbid. [♪ piano music playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the background, playing in the It's so early. We woke up real early for this one. We did, because weirdly, even though it never seems like it in the beginning, we do better in the morning. I don't know about that. We do. In the end. No, we definitely do.

Yeah. It's just that opening. That opening, though. Getting past that opening, and then it's downhill from there. It always uphill. Up hills. Always uphill. Up hill from there.

Yeah. See, up Hill sound shitty because like I don't want to go up Hill. Like, an uphill climb from there. It's the climb. Wow. All right, so I think we don't really have a whole lot of business for this one, so we'll get into it like pretty quick. But before we jump into our story, we just want to do a quickly mention to our Asian listeners, we just wanted to tell you that we love you so much. We love you. We appreciate you. We respect you. We see you. So we just want to let you know that. We love you. Yes, we're sending you so much love to you. Exactly. So we just wanted

to put that out there. Before we get into a very spooky tale, perhaps the spookiest. Not even going to introduce this. It's been like a witch, a witch week. Which week? Which week? Which, which, which week? So what do we do it? We are going to talk about America's greatest ghost story, the Bell Witch. Yes! It's so good. I've been waiting for this one. Honestly, it scared the shit out of me.

I'm not even going to lie to you. Yeah, it just feels good. Sometimes when we do like a few gnarly cases in a row, it's fun to do like a gnarly haunting. Yeah, you know, like it doesn't soften it really, but it goes to like a different side of Narlie. And there may even be some serious true crime at the end of this. Exactly. So I'm excited.

Be it. Let's do it. Be it. Be it. I'm excited. Be it. Be it. I'm excited.

Be excited. Be it. Be it. Feel it. Do it. Live it. Love it. Let's do this.

All right. So, John and Lucy Bell were a couple originally from North Carolina. Then they moved to Tennessee in the early 1800s. And at that point, they already had five children. All right. We've got Jesse. We've got John Jr. We've got Drew Rhee.

Drew Rhee. Drew Rhee, which I'm definitely gonna call Drury. I was gonna say you're gonna call Drury that. Honey, then we have Benjamin, Esther, and Zadak, I believe that I say it. I love these names. Yeah, they're actually like really cool names. That's fun that there's a John and a Drury.

Yeah, I love it. John and Drury. So the family was pretty well off to say the least. And they decided to buy some land near Red River, Tennessee, around, or Red River, in Tennessee, around 1804. Over the next couple years, they would have three more kids, another daughter named Elizabeth,

who they would call Betsy, and two more sons Richard, who was called Williams. I believe that was his middle name. And Joe. Joe. Joe. Although the Red River is said to be cursed and on sacred land that Native Americans eventually abandoned, the family didn't experience anything supernatural until 1817.

The haunting they experienced lasted more than four years and would eventually be referred to, like I said, as America's greatest ghost story. Damn. Which it totally is. It totally is. So everything? Forget Amityville. Let's fake.

Um, so like this is like so different. No, I'm totally kidding. Well just wait because like seriously this is on another fucking level. Oh yeah, well this is like a totally different kind of. This also absolutely is America's greatest ghost story. Exactly. Like I'm fully on my mind. I'm agreeing. I just shunned Amityville to the story. Exactly. Like I'm fully on my mind. I'm agreeing.

I just shunned Amityville to the side. Be it. I did. So everything started with the sightings of strange animals, which is feels very bridgewater triangle-esque. Yes, it does. Yeah. The family would see like ridiculously large black dogs

that were not really dogs. Allegedly John Bell senior saw one that had the body of a dog, like a big black dog, but had the head of a rabbit. What? Yes. What? Yes. I just pictured that immediately.

See, no matter, I'm happy that your brain gives you that ability. Wow. No matter how fucking hard I try to picture that, my brain will not put those two things together. Like, I can't see, I either see a bunny or a dog or a dog with no head, which is like really fucked up. What's weird is it's not menacing to me because bunny's faces and heads are not menacing. So it's just a giant like Peter Rabbit, ask like, hello, I'm a bunny face and this is

a huge dog. So here's the thing. So to me, I just be like, that's, that's just a big weird bunny. I love bunnies. Like, I think bunnies are super, I'd just be like, that's just a big, weird bunny. I love bunnies. I think bunnies are super, super cute, but they're also, they're mysterious as fuck. They have secrets. What do they do?

All they have secrets. Like, what are you doing? They're hanging out. I don't know. I think they're doing more than that. Now, I think they're just like plotting, like, dog demise. Wow. I don't know. That's a really serious allegation.

That's a huge allegation. To put on bunnies. To throw on the bunny community. Sorry, bunnies. Take it easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So one of this unsolved what heat that was a turkey at first, but then he was like, wait, no, that's way too big to be a turkey,

which is terrifying in and of itself, because turkeys can be huge. I was gonna say, are we sure it wasn't just a turkey, and he was like, that's a huge turkey. We're sure, because they later determined that it was some unknown kind of foul. Oh, yeah, which is a very big bird. Very big.

According to Google, that's the exact transcript that they gave me. Now, the family would tell each other about what they'd seen, and they all agreed that it was pretty strange, but nothing had gone wrong yet. They were just like, what's up with all these weird ass animals? Is there something in the water here? Yeah. Also a foul is just like a rooster, and it's not big. Yeah, no, this one was big. Oh, I thought you were saying like, foul means a big bird?

No, no, no, no, it was like someone's gonna eat it. I probably did say that. No, no, no, it's a bird, but like this one was huge and they determined that it was like an unknown kind of a foul. Like a rooster hen of some sort that is huge, monstrous, not a turkey. I don't love that.

Basically it wasn't a turkey. It's just like the moral of the story. It's not a turkey. They just ate it. So yeah, the family would like talk to each other. They were like, did you see that bird that like wasn't a turkey and like I think it might be a foul? They're like, the family would like talk to each other. They were like, did you see that bird that like wasn't a turkey and like I think it might be a foul?

Like the dad's like, hey, I got one until like one up you guys. I actually saw a giant dog that had the head of a bunny. Yeah, I mean that one one ups everybody. Yeah, I think it definitely does. Yeah. So they're just like, okay, weird land. Then at night when they were sleeping,

they would wake up to tapping noises on the outside of the house, to which I say, fuck right the fuck off. That's a nope situation. But they like chalked it up to somebody pranking them, even though every single time they checked outside, they never caught anybody out there. And who is this asshole in the middle of the night

pranking you by tapping on your house? Well, and also you live on a gigantic farm. So somebody's gotta go a long way to prank you. Also like very out in the open, like there's not a lot of places to like hide. Yeah, I would assume. Maybe that's making an ass of you and me, but I don't know.

Now, so the tapping then elevated, and it led to sounds inside the house. And one of the main noises in the house at first was described as a gnawing on the beds. Oh! Yes, they all thought that like some kind of animal had gotten into the house and was like chipping away at their beds. But then they would look around the house in the daytime and they wouldn't see any signs that any animal had been inside. And even stranger, there was no evidence of said gnawing on the beds.

What? Super, super weird. So then suddenly Betsy, their youngest daughter, they only have two daughters, Esther and Betsy. And Betsy started taking the brunt of these like, late night wake up calls, if you will. Oh, look Betsy. She would start screaming.

And her parents would like run to check on her. And they would find her cheeks like red and swollen with like handprints. Like she was being smacked or like hunched and she would tell them like I've been slapped like somebody hit me in the middle of the night. Now the middle of the night noises escalated even further by this point and the family would wake up to like loud shattering noises, noises that sounded like chains dragging across the floor.

This fucks me up the most. Their covers would be ripped off in the middle of the night, and their pillows like thrown to the floor. What? You're like one sense of comfort. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like in a situation like that, you just want to hide under the covers.

And feeling someone like forcibly remove your cover from you. It's very indiscipline. That's a lot. Yeah. It is very indiscipline. I hate it so much. I can see that scene in my mind right now and I have the chills. Yeah. So, Lee won't know. Lee won't know. Yeah. Then if that wasn't enough for you, the house itself would start violently shaking. Like there was some kind of earthquake going on. So like, safe to say something was up. Something was a mess. Something had gone

awry. Something was different in that house. Something in this house was unlike the others. Yeah. I win. At that time, especially, like, family matters were kept private. Like, it's the 1800s. Oh, yeah. You can't say your business. They weren't jumping on Twitter and like, but or more like Facebook. Hashtag content. Spilling the tea on the family drums. No, not, no diary entries from middle-aged women with spike hair.

From on, on Suzy. Yeah, that one. That one. So for an entire year, an entire year, this is going on. And none of the kids in the house were to tell their friends what was going on. And John and Lucy wouldn't speak of it either. They're just like can't talk about this. Can't talk now, gotta get haunted. Can't talk right now doing haunted bitch shit.

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and America's criminal justice system. Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon music or wonder app. So eventually they had enough enough was enough and they realized that if they were gonna try to figure this out they were gonna need help. Yeah. Like they were gonna need Jesus and then some. Yeah. So James Johnston was a neighbor that the family was pretty close to like and someone that Lucy and John really trusted. They all went to like the same church services.

So best friends forever. Good for them. Yeah. James and his wife spent the night on one occasion to see if maybe like when strangers were around the activity would settle down, you know? Yeah. It didn't.

In fact, the spirit was like more active that night. Almost like it had something to prove. Oh, so the spirit was like, oh, you want to bring a friend? Company. You want to bring a friend of the party? You know who the spirit turned into, and I just thought of this right now, the Countess. The Countess.

At her Cabaret show, when like a few extra tickets are sold. Wow, yeah. Where are Roni heads? The spirit said, money can't buy a glass. That's a spooky gay bullshit. You know what it is?

That's a spooky gay bullshit. You know what it is? That's a spooky gay bullshit. You know what it is? It's like when you throw a party and if your family's just coming and you're like, I definitely want to throw a nice party if my family's coming. But then they're like, oh, we're going to bring a few friends and you're like, oh, now I really got to step it up. I need to make our derbs. I got to make a souffle.

I got to like go really, really hard on this. I'm going to make some place settings. That's what the go really really hard on this. I'm gonna make some place sitting. That's what the spirit said. He was like, oh, we have friends now. I can't just do my regular haunting shit. I have to put this up and not level up. Yeah, level up, level up, so James told John that he wanted to help and he was gonna try to put together like a group to investigate and hopefully rid this family of the haunting. But then soon enough word was spreading around town and people were just like showing up to see what this was all about.

So they honestly just ended up having like an open door policy and I'm reading all this and I'm like, but like what if like a murderer came in? Like I know you're dealing with the haunting but like you're letting anybody in. Yeah, are they getting like paid? I don't think so. I don't think so.

I don't think so. I don't think so. Because I'd be like, all right, like five bucks a day. I turn this into a side show, damn it. Yeah, I'm making a business. Yeah, right. I mean, eventually. Well, they were doing okay though. Yeah, I don't think they needed it.

And they were doing some other, like, the dad was like doing some shady shit. Oh, nefarious stealing. Yeah, so I feel like he needed to only have like a couple business dealings at a time. Very. Yeah, so these people would come over and they would all just gather in the kitchen and try to communicate So I feel like he needed to only have a couple business dealings at a time. Right. Yeah. So these people would come over and they would all just gather in the kitchen and try to communicate with who or whatever was responsible for these creepy noises.

Sounds awesome. It sounds like a grand old time. So they would ask questions. And the answers would be given through taps or scratches on the wall. I added my own sound effect. I love that. I didn't like doing that with the scratches though.

So over time though, the taps and the scratches turned to like, mones and groans, like, mrrr. And then a lose it, mrrr. Oh, okay, come here. And then a groan like, mrrr. Mrrr. Mrrr.

Yeah. And then a low whistle. Mrrr. And that slowly became a whisper. And then finally a straight up voice like this. Only it sounds feminine. My voice isn't super feminine. So the first night the spirit spoke, there were 24 people sitting in the kitchen to listen to it explain why it had come here in the first place. And it said, I quote, I am the spirit of a person who was once very happy, but have been disturbed and made unhappy. I am the spirit of a person who

was buried in the woods nearby. And the grave has been disturbed. My bones disinterred and scattered. I've come to kill John Bell. I'ma kill you. I just got the chili chilies. I've come to kill John Bell. Oh, so. Well, just any, if you are doing like a say-ons in your home and like shit was going down and this person said I'm here because I'm buried in the woods. A slash was. And now my shit has been spread everywhere. I would... That would be it for me. I'd be like, wait, you're buried in the freaking woods?

Like what? Like, yes. Why? Who? Oh, honey, just wait. I'm just... That gave me the chills. Oh, honey.

As Trixie Mattel would say. So, there had been a disturbance of some human remains, but it wasn't John Bell who disturbed the grave. It was one of his sons. Yeah, so there were a lot of people who worked on the land that the Bell family owned. They had 328 acres of land to be exact. Oh, okay. So you're gonna need a couple farm hands here and there. Can you a little bit of help?

Now one day, while they were out working in the fields, they realized that they were in some kind of burial ground, which they believed was a Native American burial ground, and history would later prove them right. Wow. Yeah, it's unclear exactly what went down because different sources say different things, but the most prevalent thing in all the sources was that they were plowing the fields,

and that's how they just, I mean, that makes sense. It came across. The clearing area to plant stuff. Yeah, yeah, sense. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across.

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Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. am. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across. Came across stuff, like some relics. So they just started digging. They were probably young, right? I would assume. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, but I would assume those are young boys, you know, like, they're not. But like, they're like, I want to go look for stuff. But also like, yeah, I mean, I don't think everybody was like totally educated on like the,

the no-nose of that. No, definitely not. So I'll give them that benefit of the job. They were after this. So Drew stumbled across a jawbone and like took it to home to show his dad. Oh. Now John Bell was like real pissed off. He found a mandible. Hey, hey dad, check this out.

Well, well, well, that's not happy. That's a lot. Not good. So John was actually pissed off. He was like why, like you have no respect for the dead, you little shit. Like's a lot. Not good. So John was actually pissed off. He was like, why, like, you have no respect for the dead. You little shit. Like, go put that back. Yeah.

Direct quote. And he did. He like drew, went and put it back, but at this point, that point was too late. Yeah. So people started hearing of this haunted farm, like from all over the world. Like at first, it was just people from the town, like a neighboring town's at this point. People all over the world are starting to show up at the bell farm to be like,

let me hear that voice. Let me tell me about your story. Or like, I can help you. So one man who claimed that he was going to be able to rescue the family came out to Tennessee from somewhere on the east coast. And he claimed that he was a witch hunter who could kill a witch with silver bullets. Oh, okay. All right. He had done it in the past and he was ready to do it again.

I love that he comes and he's like, I've already murdered a woman. Yes, so let's do the skin. Right. Like I've got silver bullets for this shit. No. But back then, if it wasn't a woman, it was a witch. Yeah, that's so hot. I mean, now, like, same, same.

That's a lot. It's too much. Now, that's so hot. I mean, not like same, same, but it's too much. Now, he stayed for a few days with the family, and weirdly enough, while he was there, the disturbance has like stopped, like they chilled out. And the bell family was like, super happy, and they're like, yo, we'll pay you to live here if this is what you're capable of. Now, they didn't know it was a witch at this point, right?

Why was he just come and assuming like, they definitely, at this point, they didn't know it was a witch at this point, right? Like, why was he just come and assuming like, they definitely, at this point, they like assumed that it was because they like assumed witchcraft because they're like how else would like a disembodied voice just like come over my kitchen and entertain my guests. Very, yeah, I can see that. Yeah, you know. So they were like, you know, like,

you can serve as our protector, we'll pay you to live here and it'll be great. And, you know, should the activity serve as our protector. We'll pay you to live here and it'll be great. And, you know, should the activity start back up, you could be here to help. So this guy's like, cool, like they're rich. I just have to like hang around, like let's get it. Yeah. So he's like pretty solid gig sounds good.

I just kind of go home and grab some stuff and then I'll be back. So he did tell the family before he was about to leave that he thought he had scared the witch off for good But he'd come back anyway And as he tried to get on his horse and head back home his horse he there I was just lisp like really His horse either like refused or was unable to move like just like would not budge

Wow no matter how hard the guy tried the horse would not move a muscle Wow, and he like did some really shitty things to like make the horse move, the horse would not move a muscle. Wow. And he did some really shitty things to make the horse move, but I can't talk about it. Oh. No, I know. But the horse would not move. So then suddenly, everyone heard this

all too familiar disinpoctied voice, call out, I can make that horse go. Let me get on behind. What? At that moment, the horse started freaking the fuck out because the horse was like not running around in circles like clearly very spooked and the man was able to get on the horse while the horse was still freaking out and apparently it ran off the property with the witch hunter like screaming and holding on for dear life. So he um. So he, um, he, um, didn't come back.

No. And the witch kept laughing about the whole, whole ordeal and telling the family like, she would just like talk to them in the middle of the night. They're like in the middle of the day, like whenever she felt like it. And it didn't have to just be in the house. Anywhere on the property she could talk to them. Wow.

Yeah. And she said that she thought it was hilarious. And she stuck the man with brass pins. And she said he'd be, he hilarious and she stuck the man with brass pins and she said he'd be spitting them out for months to come. Oh my God. Yes. So a couple of students came to stay.

These are just like a couple like first-hand experiences. A couple of students came to stay and when they didn't see or hear anything, they said to each other that like the people that sent them here were suckers, like one of them just suckers. So the witch then spoke and told them all about this professor that they had previously had. And I believe that the reason they were

theirs because the professor had like spoken of this whole phenomena thing. And the witch was like, yeah, he would be here with you if he hadn't died three years ago. And they were like, uh, like, that's correct. And she just kept pointing out like different facts and being like, that's correct. And she just kept pointing out like different facts and being like, she would have no way of knowing them. So they were like, she's like, she's like one of those like tabletop psychics who's like, let me prove that I'm a little bit better.

Oh, hell yeah. She's like, I can tell you. And we'll get into it later, but if you disrespect whoever this entity is, she will get your ass back. Like do not go there and like try to, that one up her, you know. I don't plan to. And nor do I. So another man that stayed at the bell farm, he communicated with his family back home through the witch until his mother demanded that he come

home because she was done with all the scary business. Yeah. And the witch was able to send the message to the man in his mother's own voice. What? And that's when we're going to get into some even creepier shit. How? Magic. Well, listen, so she started getting really good at mimicking the voices of the people in the home. All right.

So the neighbor James Johnston, who I mentioned before, he led the church services at the bell home, and his voice was the first to be mimicked while he was giving his sermons. She would just like pick up with him and like talk at the same time, like knew what he was gonna say. Oh my God. Then there was another occasion

where there was some kind of like nighttime service and a preacher was there to give a sermon that he had given earlier that day, like miles and miles away. And the voice recited the service that the preacher had given earlier that same day. And he was like, how, how did you do that? Like, how did you know what I was going to say? And she was like, I was there when you delivered it. And then another preacher was there to give like a different sermon, which he had also given earlier that day. She just started giving it for him, and just as she had with the guy before. And obviously he was like,

how do you know my sermon? And she was like, I was there too. I just, I love that everybody's just like, oh, how do you know my sermon? Like, how do you know, this is a disembodied boy. Like, why is it happening? How is anything happening?

Why is everybody so casual about everybody's just like, hey, how do you know that? And she's like, well, it's how it literally this is like, fuck to say. And it's like totally different than what this is. It's like, smart house. But like in a really like paranormal creepy way. Pat's voice just coming across. Yeah. Yeah. Like, locking you in your room. I love it. So the weird thing was, so she knew both services and she was like, yeah, I was at them. Yeah. And the weird thing was that both men had given their sermons

at the same time, at two separate locations, 13 miles apart. Wow. So like, how is she in two places at once? I mean, I don't know. I mean, she's an entity. She is. Can do what she wants.

Now after that, she started interrupting every Sunday service, even at the church itself. And she would like sing hymns, like new hymns that nobody had ever heard of before, or like potentially like very old ones that nobody knew. Damn. So creepy. I wish someone had a video camera.

Yeah, that, well, a video camera. Yeah, that... Well, a video camera does come into play later. Alright, cool. Much, much later, not in this version with the 18-1JT. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah, so the family knew him because John Jr. had served alongside him during the Battle of New Orleans and The book I read while researching you should definitely go read it if you have the Kindle Cloud reader. It's free It's the best so it's called the bell witch the truth exposed Now that book said that quote general Jackson's party came from Nashville with a wagon loaded with a tent and provisions bent on a good time and much fun investigating the witch.

Wow. They were tight. They were stoked. I love that. Jaxon actually brought a self-proclaimed witch hunter. So apparently that was like an actual occupation. That was an actual thing. He brought him on the trip and the guy came with like a loaded gun and tow, which also

had silver bullets I guess you needed silver bullets to kill away. I thought that was a werewolf thing But I guess it doubles. I guess it just translates into other you know Yeah, it's like if you can't get store bought silver bullets are fine So on the way to the farm the group's wagon just abruptly stopped and like got stuck in some mud and no matter what they did wagon just abruptly stopped and got stuck in some mud. And no matter what they did, they took every wheel off and inspected it and then put them back on. And they would spin while they were just lifted in the air, they would spin.

But then they would put them back down and it would not move. Wow. And then everyone got out all at once and tried to push, and the wagon wouldn't budge. Wow. So Andrew Jackson told all the men that he was traveling with. It must, that it must be the witch. And as he finished saying that, a voice came over all of them and said,

all right, general, let the wagon move. I'll see you tonight. Like, what a saucy. I will see you. What a saucy night. Tonight. I love it. So scary. It's like, all right, we'll see you later What a soft night. Tonight. I love it. So scary.

It's like, all right, we'll see you later. See you tonight. So when the group finally got the wagon going, AKA like the witch just like let them, they got to the farm. They immediately wanted to search around and stumble across something definitive. They were said to find nothing at first,

but they stayed up all like up into the early morning hours waiting for something. I'm pretty sure they were sitting in the kitchen when this happened. So the witch hunter would not shut up about all his tactics and his past success. He was basically just sitting there like boasting the whole time like all when she shows herself. I'm gonna shoot her with my bullets. Yeah, if you're a witch hunter, I feel like that's just like part of your job. Yeah, you're just fucking annoying.

Yeah. So he was annoying everyone and Andrew Jackson leaned over to one of the other guys there and said, I'll bet he's an errand coward. I do wish the thing would come. I want to see him run, which is hilarious. Now at that moment, they heard a noise that seemed to be like something sweeping across the floor in front of Jackson. And the same exact voice from earlier said,

all right, general, I'm here and I'm ready for business. And the witch hunter tried to shoot in the direction where the voice came from, but the first shot did nothing. So the voice tempted him to try a second time, but that attempt failed too. And at that point, she said something suggesting that it was like her turn now, and she started beating the shit out of it

Like he was like moving all across the floor and like oh my god yelling Like oh my god apparently he had like a very prominent nose like he had like a bird like nose the book said Yeah, and she started like grabbing his nose and he was yelling that she was gonna rip it off Oh my god, he sent or she sent him like flying through the front door, like running out the front door. And she threw him out of the house and as he was running away from the property, he just like kept running. Like, I would.

Kat like did not stop running in the entire time. He was just shouting, Oh, Lordy, Lordy. Oh my God, I don't blame him. So that's Andrew Jackson's. Wow. Yeah.

I'd be running forever about shouting oh Lordy Lordy too. Oh Lordy Lordy. She's. I also love your voice for the witch. You're like, all right, general. I know. It's probably offensive, I hope not. No, it just sounds like it's like, all right.

All right. I don't know. I just love it every time. She, well, she also had different voices. I know. I don't get into it. Which, I don't love that I just love it every time. She also had different voices. I don't get into it. Which I don't love that. So another strange encounter happened to one of the slaves working on the property. So like I said in the beginning, John Bell was super wealthy.

And at the time, the wealthy would show off how much they had essentially by like collecting a large number of slaves. It's like stomach turning to thing. But necessary to mention. Yeah. absolutely. So this particular slave that they had was named Dean and he was one of the bell family's first slaves. This is this next part that I'm going to say is like really fucked up. He and his mother Chloe had been gifted to John and Lucy on their wedding day from Lucy's father. Oh. So like a human being gave another set of human beings to human beings for a gift present.

Like that is the most fucked up thing. Yeah. I just, I can't. That's one of those like I can't even wrap my brain around that. Yeah, but I feel like it is worth mentioning. Yeah. So Dean was married to a woman named Kate. And Dean just sounds like the bed. Like I want to be friends with Dean.

Like I need to track him down. And like that's the only reason I would use a Ouija board. Dean, I gotta know you. I gotta. He was married to a woman named Kate who was also kept as a slave on a neighboring property. And Dean had actually been known to be a target of the hauntings going on.

And he would sometimes show up to work just bleeding, oh, claiming that he had been hit over the head by the witch. Oh man. Yes. Now, not wanting her husband to be severely hurt, Kate made Dean something called a witch ball, and she made it with different herbs and her own hair from her head. Oh, that's cool. Like intertwined, wrapped up together. Like a protection thing?

I was literally supposed to be a protector. Oh, look at that. I read my mind. intertwined wrapped up together. Like a protection thing? I was literally supposed to be a protective element that had my mind. Now one night while he was walking to Cates, he ran into the witch who he set appeared in front of him as a large black dog. Which happens a lot. I was going to say the paranormal world.

Yeah, that's like a prevalent thing. Yeah, black dogs are like a super bad omen, which is not awesome because black dogs are my favorite. But she appeared next to him as a large black dog and she told him that she knew he had a witch ball and demanded he give it to her. So he was so scared and like didn't know what was gonna happen. So he did and he like held out his hand

and the thing burst into flames and shot up into the air. That's what the book said. Yup. So after that she kept taunting him, like, wouldn't let him go. So he pulled out his axe and split the dog's head into two. Wow. So then he ran to Kate who gave him a different witch ball after she consulted with a Native American

on what herbs she should put into this one this time to make it more protective. But Dean ran into the witch again and this time she appeared as a dog with two heads. No. So he like split the dogs head in half and she responded by it became more powerful. Wow. I can't. So she tried this time turning him into a mule and he was like stuck there like couldn't move and Apparently he heard another like witches voice joking with the original one saying that they should ride Dean to have breakfast in hell

What like turn him into a mule and ride him to hell to get breakfast What the fuck isn't that nuts? What yes, so Dean like somehow he like he figured out a way to get out of that situation. It said that he was so in love with Kate that he used that to get unstuck and grand to Kate, which I was like, oh my God, I love love. I love love. Now Dean was a fixture in the town for years to come

and he would tell his firsthand experiences to anyone who asked about his time on the farm. I love that. Yeah, he was like, like a townie. I love that later. He loves it so much. I love it so much. So I think I mentioned before that the haunting seemed to like,

really focus on Betsy, who was 12 when everything began. Like I said, like she got slapped, her hair would be pulled. She'd feel like she was being pricked by pins all over her body. My God. She also started to have seizures and would go unconscious after clearly struggling to breathe for a long time, only to wake up and suddenly have everything start again. So she'd be struggling to breathe and then pass out and then wake up and then the whole thing would start again.

And it could last up to 40 minutes, they would say. Wow. Yeah. So John and Lucy would try to send her away to like friends houses for the night, but the spirit would follow her to the friends houses. It could follow her. That was part of the reason. She was so fixated on her. Well, we're going to get into that good because I need to know. Yeah. So that was the, that was part of the reason, though, why the family never left home, because it promised to follow them.

Like it said, I can follow you wherever you go. Like, so don't even bother. Wow, that's hopeless. Yeah, it's terrifying. So years into the haunting, Betsy was getting older, and eventually she became engaged to her childhood friend Joshua Gardner,

but they were doomed from the start. The voice would follow them to all different places on the farm and say, quote, please Betsy Bell, don't marry Joshua Gardner. That would surely bring you a life of pain and misery. And it would say this constantly, all the time, over and over, it would hit her and still abuse her in front of Joshua. And like it would say like crude things to make her uncomfortable in front of everybody

about the relationship. I was gonna say, is this like them trying to be like chill and being like he's not a good guy, don't marry him? No, because- It's just them being mean. Well listen. So John Bell eventually died, which we'll get into in just a second,

but I wanted to tell this part first. So Betsy eventually died, which we'll get into in just a second, but I wanted to tell this part first. So Betsy called off her engagement to Joshua, believing that the witch was right, and that was part of the reason why her father was killed. She was like, because I didn't listen to her to the witch. So she ended up calling off the engagement and marrying a man named Richard Powell, who was a super shady character that happened to be her teacher at one point. He was like many years older than her.

And like, had always been super creepy and like said that he would marry her someday. Cool. Yeah, I love that. But her life was still super miserable even though she listened. So in the book that I was reading about it, they were like, so did the voice like say that to make like knowing how much power it had over her. Yeah. Because her life was super miserable when with Richard. Yeah. But like I think it led her to believe that she was going to be miserable with Joshua, but it was like playing a trick on her. Oh, likely. I don't think it suddenly was like,

let me help you out, girl. Right. Like why would it be like that? That's basically like what the author said. So she Betsy had eight children, but only, excuse me, but four of them died super young. Two more died in or after the war. And she and her husband invested like all their money into some ship. That was like, they put all their money on. And the ship sunk to the bottom of the ocean. And they lost all their money. What? Yeah, so they never recovered. Like they were just like destitute for the rest of ever. And then when he died, obviously she became a widow

for the rest of her life, which was more than 30 years. So she was just like a loan for 30 years after having experienced all of that. Wow. Yeah. What misery? What misery? What misery? So let's get into Jack now.

Let's get into it. Or John. So from the beginning, the witch promised to kill John. She literally was like, I'm here to do so. She referred to him as old Jack. And she said that she was going to kill him slowly. And she did. Even when he would leave the house, he would suffer.

I read that quote. He always felt like a stick was lodged into his mouth horizontally, cutting into his cheeks. His tongue would swell. He couldn't leave the house. Like a stick lodged into your mouth like, I can feel it. Right? I'm like sprung like sprung like cheeks.

See, and I'm like pushing mine together. I'm like, no. Yeah. It's like, no. Yeah. It's like, ugh, yeah. I hate it. So the last walk that John took was with Williams to the hog pen. And along the way, his shoes kept being like violently ripped

off and thrown about. And he was becoming more and more frantic and like just like very clearly being affected by something. And by the end of the whole ordeal, he was like convulsing. Oh! So after that, he never left the house again, and mostly was confined to his bed. And so he had to be given his medication by John Jr.

who would like consult with the family doctor. Now, one morning, John Sr. hadn't woken up yet, and he wasn't responding to anybody trying to wake him. He was still breathing, but he was not there. So John Jr. went to get his medicine. He was like, maybe he just needs something. I'll call the doctor and I'll find out. So he opens the cupboard, and all he sees

is this small vile standing where the medicine was supposed to be. And it had a dark liquid in it. Yeah. What? So he's like, what the fuck is this? But no one claimed they put it there, and it had like a dark liquid in it. Yeah. What? So he's like, what the fuck is this? But no one claimed they put it there and everyone said they had never seen it before.

So when they called the family doctor to like check in on John, he smelled the vial like trying to figure out what liquid was. I was gonna say, what was the liquid? Well, the witch then announced to the room that she'd given John a dose of it in his sleep and she had fixed him. So sure enough when the doctor checked the smell was on John's breath. Like she was like yeah, or the doctor was like yeah like he definitely was given this poison.

She gave it him. Yeah, she did not fix him. So they test this is really sad like trigger warning. They tested the liquid on the family cats, one of the family cats, and they just like rubbed like a little on his tongue, and he died obediently. Yeah. Fuck wasn't. I don't know. So John Jr. was so mad, he slammed the vile down to the floor.

And when it broke, I saw two different accounts. It either had a huge purple cloud, just like a mitt into the either had a huge purple cloud, just like a mitt into the air or a large blue cloud, but either way, like a colored cloud just like rose into the air. It's either way. It doesn't matter. It just like shattered, like rising among like the shattered pieces. Oh my God. That reminds me of those like photographs people will take with like the color bombs. Yes. That you're never gonna look at those things.

But it's not awesome. No, no. So John Sr. died the next morning, December 20th, 1820. Damn. Yes. The witch was quiet during the funeral, but when things were wrapping up. A nice supper. It was apparently like one of the biggest funerals in history at that point.

Wow. In that place, in Tennessee and history at that point. Wow. And that place in Tennessee's history at that point. Wow. But as things were wrapping up, like she started singing this song that said, like, Romeo up some Brandeo. Like she was like, John to Lee singing, like, about Brande.

She singing a C-shanty. She singing a C-shanty. C-shanty. Why? And she wouldn't stop until everyone had gone home or gone inside? Wow. She was like, let's celebrate.

A true pirate. So strangely enough, the spirit was like really connected to Lucy, who was John's wife. Oh, okay. So Lucy had been super sick at one point in time. This is before John died. I put this like a little bit out of order, but I think it made better sense to me.

So before John died, she got super sick and she was bedridden. And it seems like everyone was pretty sure that she was basically going to die. They didn't know what she had, but she was clearly very sick. But the voice of the spirit was with her all the time and would like, if she needed something,

the spirit would be like, you need to get her this and it's over there, like get her this now. Wow. Mm-hmm. Now one day she was laying in bed. At that point, she was unable to eat, like, hadn't eaten in days and she was surrounded by a couple of visitors who started noticing something falling from the ceiling. And they realized that hazelnuts are falling from the ceiling.

And then grapes started falling from the same place. And the voice of the spirit just came out of nowhere and was like, Lucy, eat those. What? Now, they all investigated and they were like, there has to be like, this is not real. Like, there's no way that's real. But there was no hole in the ceiling,

like no contraption set up. Like, also, this this is the 1800s. How high tech can you get? I have no words. No words. Just drop in hazelnuts and grapes. I said she had eaten a while, but the spirit told her to eat these and she was able to. Then after that, it seemed like she was totally cured.

It took a couple days, but in no time she was back up. And like the family was just like back at it again. Wow, so this witch like sees Lucy as like kindred. She does, and we'll get into it. I'm sure we will. So when John died, the activity calmed down. But the witch promised her return in seven years, and she did. I feel like why?

Because she's got to die. Why though? I don't know. She wants to. She can do what she wants. She can do whatever she did. I feel like why? Because she's got to die. Why though? I don't know. She wants to. She can do what she wants. She can do whatever she wants. So she came and she told John Bell Jr. some predictions for the world. Now this is fucking terrifying. She accurately predicted the Civil War, World War I and World War II, the Great Depression, and then, like, some other, like, things too. And then went on to warn that the Earth will end in a great fire. Oh, wow. So she's been correct about every single prediction so far.

Like, she also said that, like, we would find Atlantis, like, we would, like, do all this stuff. What? And said the Earth will end in a great fire. I mean, I think honestly that one's not as impressive because I think anybody could be like, the earth is gonna end in a great fire. I don't know if I was questioned the witch. I'm not questioning, I'm just saying like, yeah.

I don't want that to happen. I agree. That like, reading, I was reading that last night at like 11 o'clock and I was like, ugh, I don't like that part. But it seems most likely. It does, you know? Yeah.

["M "] So now we're going to get into some real shit. I mean, the whole thing was real shit, but now we're going into more recent real shit. OK, cool. So over the years, multiple people have tried to solve the mystery of the bellwitch,

because they're like, what the actual fuck? Yeah. So during the years that the family was being haunted, the voice claimed to be different people, and the voice would change from time to time. At one point, it claimed that it was Kate Bats, who was a nearby neighbor, and history would actually show later that she was a relative

of the bell family. I believe she was Lucy's niece, like Lucy's brother's daughter. Oh, okay. But Kate was said to have had a pretty heated argument with John Bell overland, and said she was gonna curse him, but she denied any involvement in the haunting. It was like, no, this is nothing to do with me.

But people really not involved in the haunting of that. I'm not involved. But people believed that it was her and the spirit, they started calling the spirit Kate because they thought it was her. Oh my God. And the spirit started responding to Kate, being like, yeah, it's me. Sure, it's Kate. It me Kate.

So it's sad because she seemed like an easy target. She was just kind of an outcast in easy target. She was just like kind of an outcast in the town. She was like a little weird. And like, yeah, that's always the, she likes to be the center of attention. So, yeah, it's just kind of like a perfect to it recipe. But some pretty information, some pretty information, some pretty information, some pretty interesting information would come when Walter and Chris Kirby bought the farm in 1993. Hmm, so recent. Are really moving on up?

Yes. Now they were called to their friend, Camille Moffett, who wrote that book I've mentioned. Quote, our dream was to own a tobacco farm. We saved for years, but every time we put a contract on something, uh, excuse me, we put a contract on one, something happened, and the deal fell through. It was like something was blocking our every effort. Huh. So they keep trying to buy these farms

and it's not working out for them. And then their luck changed and the deal on the bell farm went over seamlessly. So it was like, they really felt like and they feel like they are supposed to live on this. Oh, like they were like pushed. Chosen. And like this place.

Yes. So Walter was super excited that their luck had changed, but he was also really nervous to tell his wife about this because the major caveat was that it was haunted as far. That you have like a really angry which you might not say might live with you. Yeah. So when he told her though, his wife, Chris, it was like,

oh no worries, my psychic told me that we were going to get this property and that there was a, quote, highly supernatural energy there. I love that she's like, no worries, my psychic told me. I already know. Yeah, like, it's cool. It is what it is. She can sublet a bedroom, it's fine. Right?

She was, all Chris was also told that most of the energy derived from some kind of permanent structure on the property that was detached from the actual home itself. Like a barn of some sort or? No, a cave. A cave. A cave. Oh, even spookier that I want to go. Maybe.

Oh, girl. Just you wait. I mean, barns are just really creepy to me. Yeah, man, pup is barn. I'm like, oh, terrifying. They were creepy. But this cave takes the cake. All right. It takes the cave cake. Take the cake. So with that, they moved in.

And the haunting started the very first night that they were there. It did not waste any time. They woke up in the middle of the night to this like crazy crashing sound. And they described it like a glass pitcher being shattered on the ground. Wow. But they were like, maybe something shifted in the moving boxes like this. This is the, yeah. Totally. But when they looked like nothing was out of place. And then the next morning, Chris remembered that the family who they brought the property from,

they were the Edens. And the wife and the Edan family left a book of experiences that they had put together while they lived there. Like everybody that lived there had journal. Like most of the accounts from the earlier days come from Williams journal. Williams is journal. That's so creepy. It is weird.

And the family, the Eden family, like I said, wrote a book about their experiences and left it for the curbys. So she, so Chris like picked up the book the next morning to see if she could find anything about that like water-pitching noise. And when she did, she's like flicking through the pages and she just opens to this random page and the chapter was titled Breaking Glass. Just like open to that page. And I keep forgetting this is in the 90s.

This is the 90s. We're not in the 1800s anymore. And the same noise was described as a pretty usual occurrence. So Chris said later, the truth is if we had believed to all heartedly in it, we wouldn't have bought the place. We didn't.

But now they knew that something was there, but I think they didn't fully understand what it was, but now they did. So part of Chris' new life on the farm would be like you had said before, like why doesn't anybody like try to make some money while they're here? Yeah. Later on they started and they would give tours in this cave on the property. So the cave was like really well known throughout the legend to be the place where the witch

retreated to after John Bell had died. And people claimed that it was wickedly haunted and people would like try to break in all the time. Like, it was a hot commodity. Yeah, to put like a hot commodity this cave. They had to put a gate like near it so that nobody could break into it. It's Zillow Listing says like hot hot home hot home hot home hot case home, hot cave. Like all offers will be well. Accepted tomorrow. Yeah, absolutely. So Chris actually brought her psychic into

the cave before the tour started just to see what she was getting into. And because she had been exploring on the property one day, like taking pictures. And around the area of the cave, she saw orbs and actual people in the photos that she had taken. So one photo showed a little boy in overalls who the psychic ended up seeing when they entered the cave. Now Chris's psychic told her that this cave was likely some kind of portal because there was way more than just one spirit dwelling there. She was like, there are like hundreds of spirits in this cave. Like, this is not just the bellwitch.

Oh, that's horrifying. Mm-hmm. And she felt like everything stemmed from the cave. Like, that's where all the hauntings came from. And the first room in the cave actually, because there's rooms in this cave too. It's like, it almost sounds like it's like remodeled. You can look at pictures of it.

And it has little rooms and they put like electric lighting throughout like that like so you can see where you're going. Yeah. Now the first room in the cave actually has a tomb where a Native American girl was laid to rest. Oh wow. She had, no, this is fucked. She had died of a gunshot wound to the chest and either the early, or the 1700s or the early 1800s, but she later was stolen from the tomb. Yeah. Now, there's also narrow hallways and a large room in the back of the cave and in the room in the front. And I literally want to go with you, but I am so scared. I want to go so bad, but I'm, you have to sign a waiver. Yeah, that's, whenever there's a waiver, well, if I, I don'm, you have to sign a waiver.

Yeah, whenever there's a waiver, I'll say, I don't love a waiver. I don't love a waiver. Now, Bob, I think I just say, it's S-C-H-O-T-T. I think it's shopped. It's like shopped, yeah. It doesn't look like Scott.

But he's a renowned paranormal investigator with top of the line investigative equipment. And he, I mean, Chris and her husband would get tons of people coming, being like, I wanna investigate this, but this guy was like the real deal. So they're like, let's do it. Let's do it.

So he and his team set up in the cave. And while they were there, they experienced like the usual things, like drops in temperature and feeling like a presence is in the room. And they took like a photo at the same time as like the temperature went down and there was like orbs in the picture. Okay. So like some like interesting stuff but like pretty usual. Yeah. But then something turned. So one night they set up this really high-tech video camera with like crazy night vision and some like infrared filter that's supposedly five times stronger than the military.

Wow, okay. Yeah, so like some whole ass shit. Yeah. And it captured what looked like a door that slid open in the cave. And like the door just appeared out of nowhere, slid open. And two human forms walked through and then just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. What? So multiple people who study the paranormal have seen the footage and have absolutely no

explanation as to why that would have happened. Like, what? There's no like lighting fluke or anything like that that would have made that happen. Wow. Yeah. So this woman named Rosemary Ellen Guley, I believe I say it, she's a famous paranormal expert and she agreed with Bob that this was the doorway to a portal between the physical world and the paranormal world and that's where all these hauntings had been coming from.

It's an actual doorway. It is literally a doorway. Like a literal door. Now, the book says the cave is the genesis of the bellwitch. Damn. Yes. So it made sense that the voices of the spirit would change and it would like claim to be different people. It was different people. It wasn't always the same. Like I'm sure that there is like a bellwitch like like one specific entity that like really focused on the family, but like I really believe it was like these hundreds

of spirits that were just like tormenting this family. Yes, 100%. And some of them weren't even tormenting the family. Yeah, like the one helping Lucy? The one helping Lucy, or there was at one point, there was like a family that was living there, and a calf was like really, really sick. And as they were walking by, they heard like this loud bang

in the barn where the calf was staying and they didn't realize until they heard that bang that the calf like needed medical attention quickly. Wow. So whoever like made that sound in there was trying to help the animal. It's like a learning them to know and it makes sense because when you hear how nice it was to Lucy. Right. You're like, what?

That doesn't make sense and it's, it's a totally different person. There's also another theory about that that we're going to get into at the very end. But first, just this quick note too. So later, while looking in the smokehouse that was on the property, Chris discovered leg bones, arms, and parts of a skull. Oh, okay. Yeah. So the bones were later determined to be two to three thousand years old and identified as a member of the Mississippi mound builders tribe. Holy shit.

So that specific tribe was known to bury their dead sitting up right in the earth, like no coffin, not covered at all. So it made sense that the legs and the arms were the parts that she found in like part of the skull, but because they were discovered so long after burial because they were closer to the bottom of the earth. So like it makes sense. Now Chris found out that above the cave there was a Native American burial ground and that the graves there were also two to three thousand years old. Wow! Now she found out that ceremonies would be performed inside the cave by Shaman's to open a portal. Now, another quote from the book says,

quote, the Mount builders had not buried their dead on top of the cave so that they would be near the portal. They had opened the portal in the cave because it was near the burial place of their dead. It sounds like magic, but the consequences are very, very real. Wow. So they believed that these shamans from these tribes made this portal so that they could still connect

with their loved ones that had passed on. Oh, my God. But I don't know if shit, that's when they abandoned the place because Native Americans abandoned this land and felt like it was, it was almost like you would the turn, turn Bolcanian. Yeah. Like they felt like it was like sacred, but also like cursed.

Yeah, it turned into something not great. Yes. Wow. So Chris had some wild things happen to her while she was in the cave giving tours. The most common occurrences during tours were like when hot shot people, non-believers would show up and end up getting like slapped in the face, physically assaulted if they're disrespectful to the bell, which in particular, like if you go in there and you're like, I'm not afraid of her, like you will literally get assaulted.

Like God. And Chris points out that anyone who takes something from the cave, like takes like a rock or like something. Why would you do that? Stupid. Face is death or injury. And apparently a woman takes like a rock or like something. Why would you do that? Stupid. Face is death or injury. And apparently a woman took like a little pebble, like Chris Warren to her.

She was like, I don't, you should, if you want to, like I don't care, but it's never turned out well for other people. And the lady was like, I think she literally was like, that's nonsense. And then she came back either the next day or like a couple hours later and she was like bleeding. Like she had like gotten into some kind of accident.

Holy shit. Yeah. Like I said, you literally have to sign a waiver before you can go on the tour and some people end up running out of the cave like as fast as they walked in. I don't know if I can handle. That sounds like a lot. Yeah, it sounds like a lot.

So this is where we're gonna get into like a pretty serious accusation, but it does make a little bit of a crunch. So there's so many books about this. There's another novel by Brett Monahan, and he pointed out in the 1977 novel, The Bell Witch, some interesting facts and opinions on The Bell Witch haunting regarding The Bell family.

Okay. He believed that because John and Betsy were the ones who were really targeting. There were eight other children. Some of them weren't living in the house, but it was a big family. Then you think of a lot of the people that came, mostly really didn't get assaulted unless they were rude. But he was like, why were they the main targets? He believes that John was molesting Betsy.

And the book, The Bell Witch, the truth exposed, points out that quote, young girls who are being victimized by incest are predisposed to poltergeist activity. And ironically, the victim herself is typically the target of the haunting. Wow. Now support their factors that support this,

because the bell family documented like I said almost every experience and they noted multiple times that the witch stated the reason why she was there, but they never came out and said what the reason was. Only that the witch said John Bell was like a really bad man. Oh shit. Yes. And they said that she was lying and they wouldn't repeat what she said now the spirit also showed up when Betsy was 12 Because at that point Esther who she used to share her room with her only sister was like out and married

So Betsy had her own room at that point. Oh, so you know, and Betsy was 12 when this all began and John had married Lucy when she was 12 and he was 32. Oh, yeah. So I mean, it's not like concrete evidence, but it is an interesting theory. It's an interesting theory. And it's like, that's why it wanted to slowly kill John Bell. I don't know to say I'm why, like, Betsy would have been victimized. Yeah, that sounds like that seems to be. It just sounds like that's just how it goes. It just goes. And then the spirit must have felt really bad for Lucy

because this was happening to her child at the hands of her husband, potentially. Wow. Yeah, so it's a little like, that's wild. It's crazy. That's wild. And then there was some other information in the book that you guys should definitely go read

the Bellwitch Truth Exposed because it was actually written by a friend of the Kirby family. Oh, okay. And like, there's all these like firsthand experiences, but they point out that he, John Bell had been X communicated by the church at one point, because he was doing like some shady dealings

where he lent a slave, which sounds horrible, to a neighbor and was like, like charging the neighbor like crazy taxes and like interest rates for like borrowing the slave. It was like for a person. But he was like definitely very shady. It has also been noted in history that he killed a man. Oh, yeah. He killed a man.

Literally killed a man. And it's just like a bullet point in the book. I was gonna say it, it's just noted. It's like, just noted in history. He also murdered someone. He killed a man. So, I wanna end this on like, wow, just like a creepy little quote from the book

that was said by the bellwitch. So, though the world may not recognize spirits, whether good or demon both will be here, it will have many of each. Ooh. So it's also so interesting that she said that, because like, if she is there, she knows what's going on. She knows that there's like a door in a portal.

So she's like, there's lots of spirits here. Like some of them are good. Some of them are not. It's not our bad. But we're all here. Whoa. Suspooky. Oh my god. Yes, all of that. Suspooky! Damn, right?

Here I thought it was I was like oh we've done some gnarly cases lately like we're gonna take it into like a fun spooky place and then I'll send it's like oh yeah damn. Then you like bring some really allegations to the table. They really took it somewhere. It truly did. Shit. I've been waiting for that case. That's a great one. Such a good case.

It was holy crap. There are about a million books you can read, but definitely read the truth exposed. Yeah, and we'll link it in the show notes, like we always do. Yeah, definitely. But wow, that was crazy. Thanks.

Thanks for taking us on that ride. You're welcome. And guys, we hope you read those books, and we hope you're welcome and guys we hope you read those books and we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it we're but not so weird that you open a portal by yeah don't do that don't sign the waiver no Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash

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