How do you bend that pipe? Let alone pull it out of the wall. The children couldn’t possibly have done it. Impossible. ibid.
6I challenged this knocking, and I said, Can you give me one knock for no, and two knocks for yes? Do you understand me? Did you die in this house? It knocked fifty-three times. Then my patience gave out. I said, ‘Are you having a game with me?’ Suddenly, the box from the corner of the room took off, flew across the bed, hit me on the head, and knocked me over backwards. ibid.
Janet’s asleep, and suddenly she’s being dragged out of bed, she’s dragged to the door, the door opens on its own, she goes through the door ... We caught her going head-first down the stairs. ibid.
14th December: When the baker’s rounds-man who delivered bread next door was coming along the road he heard a tremendous commotion in the Hodgson house. And he looked up – the curtains had been pulled across – he looked up, and he saw Janet floating around the room in a horizontal position like this followed by some books and toys. But at the same time across the road is a lollypop lady. ibid.
Suddenly a dog barked in the room ... I’m watching the children very carefully ... Suddenly the dog barked. I challenged it to talk ... ‘Woof! Dr Bellof!’ ibid. [Poltergeist with deep gruff voice]
I got her to take some water in her [Janet] mouth. I taped over her mouth. And it still spoke. And then I said, All right. And I took the tape off. And she spat the water out. ibid. Grosse
I desperately want to see inside the room. To see what’s happening with Janet. I want to see if her mouth is moving, what her face is like. I thought I will look through the crack in the door. And just at that very moment it said to me, ‘Shut that fucking door!’ ... This was undeniably an old man’s voice. ibid.
Maurice Grosse: I want you to tell me whether you remember what happened to you when you died.
Poltergeist: I went blind. Then I had an haemorrhage. And I fell asleep. And I died in a chair in the corner downstairs. ibid. taped evidence
I saw Janet lying flat and she was floating. She was going up and down in front of the bedroom window. Hazel Short, lollypop lady, witness
My attention was taken to the top window. And I saw Janet floating. Or levitating up and down, just up and down in front of the window. Flat on her back. Hazel Short, interview Strange But True? s2e7, ITV 1995
I remember the curtains were billowing inwards. And a young girl seemed to be floating around in the room like she was in a bubble. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. John Rainbow, witness passing the house
Halfway through the interview there was a loud knocking noise; I think it was three knocks. Stewart Lamont, BBC journalist
There was this tremendous vibrating noise. I really thought someone was drilling a hole in the wall of the house. It was a kind of very very violent shaking. Guy Lyon, interview
There were times when I wondered if it was ever going to stop. Guy Lyon
We did have some pretty hairy moments, yes. I think when Janet was having these trance-like fits, rather like an epileptic fit, where she developed phenomenal strength. Guy Lyon
That ashtray flew across the room and struck me on the side of the head. David Robertson, Birkbeck College, London
There [Janet] she is, across this radio, one leg in the air and her head hanging down. John Burcombe, uncle, televised interview
There she was curled up on top of a very old-fashioned type radio set, like she was on it, but the amazing thing was she was asleep. John Burcombe, televised interview, Strange But True? s2e7, ITV 1995
It actually yanked one of these old-fashioned gas fires literally out of the wall, and at one time Maurice and me were trying to restrain Janet who seemed to be in a trance-like state, and the power was – the strength was unbelievable. ibid.
At one time the voices going in the room, and I’m talking to the room and asked him to show himself. He’s saying, ‘I can’t! I’m dead!’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about that – I’ve seen dead bodies.’ ‘I’ve got no head.’ ibid.
John Burcombe: Can you tell me where you are at the moment in the room?
Poltergeist: On top of Janet.
John Burcombe: Why do you sleep on top of Janet?
Poltergeist: It’s my bed!
John Burcombe: Why can’t Janet feel you?
Poltergeist: I’m invisible.
John Burcombe: Why are you invisible?
Poltergeist: Because I’m a G - H - O - S - T. taped evidence
Poltergeist: Hello.
Roz Morris: Good Evening. Good evening. Are there two of you there?
Poltergeist: Yeah ...
Roz Morris: What are you called?
Poltergeist: Tom and Dick.
Roz Morris: And where’s Harry? That’s a joke, isn’t it? taped evidence
John Burcombe: There’s no need to swear, Bill.
Poltergeist: I fucking will!
Poltergeist: Dirty fucking old sod!
That’s exactly what happened. He died in the chair downstairs. Terry Wilkins, son of Bill the Poltergeist
There was this girl and her parents were always out. The Enfield Haunting I II III starring Matthew Macfadyen & Eleanor Worthington-Cox & Rosie Cavaliero & Fern Deacon & Joey Price & Timothy Spall & Juliet Stevenson & Simon Chandler et al, Sky Living 2015, opening commentary
Middle sister: How many poltergeists have you actually dealt with?
Grosse: None.
Middle sister: That’s OK. We can learn together. ibid.
There she is! ibid. Bill/medium
A circle of light – like Tinkerbell. ibid.
In full view of the Hodgsons, their neighbours and two police officers a chair slid across the floor. The Hodgsons had a sleepless night. And there was no let up the following morning. Over the following nights the activity continued unabated. Within days the national press had picked up on the story ... It wasn’t long before the investigator had an experience of his own ... The list of witnesses grew longer and longer ... Two passers-by who had nothing to do with the family believe they saw a girl levitate. Strange But True? s2e7, ITV 1995
No longer able to sleep in their own home the Farhays sought help ... By now news of the poltergeist activity had reached reporters in Dublin ... Michael, Mary, Matha and Debra agreed to join Sandra in a séance ... Since that day the Farhays have moved back to their home and have lived in peace. Strange But True?
Poltergeist is a German word meaning ‘noisy spirit’. But that’s very much of an understatement. Poltergeists are the original things that go bump in the night. Arthur C Clarke’s World of Strange Powers, ITV 1985
Is it possible adolescents can possess powers they lose later in life? I think it’s unlikely, but I don’t think it’s completely impossible. ibid.
As I opened the door this bottle came flying towards me ... The couch, the TV, everything was just thrown in the middle of the room. When I got upstairs, the bedroom was upside down. Marcia Howell, Swansea 1965
January 1 1976, Amityville, NY, just after the clock rings in the 1976 new year Kathy Lutz puts her youngest child Missy to bed. And heads downstairs to sit in front of the fire. Suddenly a hooded figure materialises from the flames. A demon reaching out from another dimension. It was known the world over as the Amityville Horror. Mysteryquest s1e10: Amityville, History 2009
Disembodied voices, objects moving on their own, demonic spirits taking the shape of animals and children. ibid.
In front of my very eyes the oil painting rotated. Paul Brunner, incident at Lawyer’s office Rosenheim, Germany, 1967
Experts Baffled By The Mystery Stick: Schoolboy’s ‘power’ confounds sceptics: Hundreds of people including doctors, counsellors, poltergeist experts, and professional magicians have visited the bedroom of a 14-years old Grammar School boy this week in an attempt to solve the mystery of a talking, dancing, walking stick. News report