The Sallie House Haunting: A True Story

by Debra Pickman

  Barbara Connor told us during her first visit that Sallie “would gladly show off for us if we wanted her to” and just as a proud parent would, we tried asking for this a few times. More often than not, we would get what we asked for, but sometimes, in desperation for compliance, I would entice her participation as if trading favors: “I will let you play with my pearls if you turn out the lights.” Like most young children, however, she only did these things when she felt like it.

  More often than not, her antics were completely unsolicited but within the “comfort zone” of the witnesses. I do believe she enjoyed showing off, especially since her activity would steer the conversation in her direction. When it strayed, she would make her presence know again, as if to say “Hey, don’t forget about me.” I noticed this reaction to be reliable and the timing and level of activity suggested that she thrived on the attention.

  Quite often, the activity in the house and around us was subtle; things could go unnoticed for hours and sometimes even days or weeks. Some things, I’m sure, went unnoticed completely. Often we would run across something out of the ordinary and not be able to determine when it had taken place. We began to question each other almost daily. “Did you put this here? Why did you move this? When did you do this?” It was an attempt to narrow down the time frame of the event, to associate it with other known activity, and perhaps even to correlate it to the moods or emotions that we had experienced or inflicted upon Sallie.

  So much of my time and efforts went into trying to understand Sallie that I didn’t see the possibility of something other than a human spirit being responsible for the activity and events in the house. I was too excited about communicating with spirits to be concerned with what sort of spirit or energy I was dealing with, and my motherly instincts to coddle a seven-year-old were primed with the birth of our newborn. Honestly, I don’t think I was able to see much beyond what I wanted to see.

  I also observed that when the activity we had attributed to Sallie would cease for short four- to ten-day durations, we initially wondered if she was gone for good, but soon realized that she would always resurface. We wondered where she went and why she became so inactive. It was also during these quiet periods that we would catch ourselves wondering why our minds were perceiving the things it did; were we both going mad or making things up? This emotional teeter-totter continuously forced us to re-process the available information, in order to realize the reality around us. This happened on a regular basis.

  I don’t understand why I questioned our experiences so deeply. Why was paranormal activity and interaction so hard to accept? I had looked for it all my life. Perhaps in not finding it sooner, I had begun to disbelieve the possibility existed.

  Then there came the realization that what we were dealing with might not be an innocent little girl. By the end of our first year, we had realized from the Christmas photos that there were two distinct entities in our house. This was a significant time period, because this is the first time I honestly began considering some of the experiences Tony had shared with me acknowledging and that there might be more than a little girl in the house with us.

  I took a giant step back, re-evaluated our situation through a broader perspective, and began to listen more to what Tony would tell me. As I did, I also tried to understand why our experiences were so significantly different. There had to be a reason.

  Not only had Tony seen and heard another woman, two independent psychics were aware of another presence in the house. Coupled with the very nature of the harm that was coming to Tony, it seemed reasonable to assume that a spirit had some sort of vendetta against Tony. Maybe it was what he resembled or represented in the eyes of his spirit opponent. We even considered the idea that Tony was a reincarnation of this woman’s husband, lost love, or even a foe. It was simply theory, however—none of which we have ever been able to corroborate with historical facts or evidence.

  What did not make sense was why Tony was being enticed by this female and then attacked with physical injuries and force. Why would she do him harm if he was the object of her desire? Was it a fatal attraction thing, in which his denying her advances and her need to be acknowledged made her angry? Maybe it was a case of, “If I can’t have him, no one will.” Or was it more sinister than that? Did it simply want to ruin the bond that Tony and I shared or ruin him by influencing him to kill me? Actions and events seem to have suggested just that. Realistically, though, even this type of influence seemed to be too much and too powerful to be coming from a human spirit with a grudge.

  From a slightly more sinister perspective, if the entity wanted us to stay in the house for a specific reason, and its first attempt was to entice us with the innocent Sallie, it didn’t make sense for it to work so hard to remove me from the picture. I seemed to be an unwitting advocate in its goal of winning Tony over. Why, then, did it work so hard to wear him down? Why did it make so many attempts to tear our relationship apart? It simply didn’t make sense, and was more reminiscent of demons and the way they work. I was won over easily; very accepting of what the entity originally presented to us. It was not able to convince Tony that what was in the house was good or innocent.

  We often look back and wonder if the female entity actually entered with her own objectives. Then again, it may have been something more sinister from the beginning. We seemed to willingly accept the presence of a demon who encouraged us to open ourselves up to treachery and to the possibility of a terrible demise.

  It really seemed, though, that something didn’t want us (particularly Tony) in that house. After all, my murder at his hand would have taken both of us out of the picture. Why would a spirit work so hard to drive him crazy but offer me positive experiences? Was I a sacrificial lamb, something to add to Tony’s confusion by challenging his thoughts and beliefs? Had I been so blind to the motives of the spirit(s) that I had grossly misjudged their actions and allowed myself to be easily manipulated?

  Once we realized there was more than one entity in the house, the level of activity changed. It became more vicious and less playful. Was this because our concerns were focused more on impending dangers rather than on Sallie, or that we had stopped accepting the idea that she had been responsible for all the experiences and activity? Had whatever appeared as the little girl finally realized the game was up? Recent research supports the idea that there never was a Sallie. So “Sallie” could very well have been the demon in its earliest manifestation.

  They say that hindsight is wonderful, but in this case, we still don’t have the answers or enough of an understanding of the situation to have chosen a different path. The only thing we know for sure is that there was a significant negative presence in that house, one that lashed out at Tony for reasons unknown. It was one that created danger, infiltrating the mind and thoughts of its victims. As the years have passed and others have experienced the diabolical aspects, I have come to understand more of the events that Tony experienced and the forces that existed unseen around us.

  I worried that we wouldn’t make it through such turbulent times and wouldn’t end up growing old together as we had planned. I feared that we might not be able to raise Taylor in an unbroken home. I prayed that against all odds we would somehow come out of our situation and remain the family we had hoped to be: a family filled with love, devotion, and each other.

  What if the goal of the entity was even more sinister than we had ever thought? Over the years, my mind has reflected on the day Tony sat straight up on the couch, looked me in the eye, and said, “He’s mine!” Had this been the first sign of something working its way into Tony? Had there been a demonic force, quietly but effectively manipulating him to make him defenseless?

  Since our departure from that house, I wonder what would have happened had we stayed just a few weeks or months longer. I have no doubt that something else was talking to me that day on the couch. Was it a warning of what was to come? Was someone abo
ut to get hurt? Would it have been me or Tony?

  I wondered if Tony’s resilience was more than this negative force anticipated. Had this been the reason it became so angry, so violent against him? When he was shoved toward the railing and somehow managed not to go over it, I can’t help but wonder if some angelic force or spirit had intervened on our behalf. Was it an act of God, a guardian angel of sorts, who had knowledge of the evil and harmful intentions against us? If so, had these supportive spirits been trying from the start to tell us something? Or did they try to scare us out of the house in order to help us avoid possible torment?

  We have to entertain the idea that our experiences were much more than a mere haunting, that there were not only human spirits in the house, but something negative or demonic. Did the negative force have a specific use for the human spirits? Is that why they were there? Was it possible that they were trapped or being used against their will?

  Whatever it was, it worked hard to make Tony miserable and to wear him down. Ultimately, it made him extremely vulnerable. It also worked at putting a wedge between us. By midsummer 1994, it became apparent that this had been going on for the better part of our residency. At the time, things were getting worse. Much worse. It became quite clear that the safety of our family was at stake.

  Tony and I left that house and for years were deeply concerned about ever going near it again. After several years, paranormal groups began investigating the house. They would often call to speak with us in order to gain an understanding of our experiences. They invited us to take part as they investigated the house. Tony declined, but I looked at these invitations as an opportunity to learn more. This level of participation led to Tony’s concern that my going back to the house would stir up activity. He worried that one day I would bring something home, and the trouble would start all over again.

  My involvement and that of others led to a renewed interest, which led to more reading and more research. We found no historical records supporting the idea that our spirit was that of a little girl. Had we been better researchers in the years we lived in the house, would we have heeded this information as the warning it should have been?

  We also realized that demonic entities thrive on causing chaos, ruining relationships, and breaking down the bonds of friendship, love, and trust. This ultimately leaves people feeling alone, helpless, and forsaken. Who would ever think they, or someone they knew, would come up against a demon? Well, the more I knew about the signs of an encounter with a negative entity, the more certain I was that that was exactly what we were dealing with.

  As I began to think about specific events, this theory began to seem more likely. My interest had been renewed, and I eventually returned to the house as a guest of other investigative groups to gain more knowledge of the entity that existed there. Over the course of time, I learned much. After approximately ten years of avoiding the house, Tony also gained an interest in confronting what had once been his greatest fear.

  Today, we have no doubt that there was, and is, a demonic force in that house. This force knows how to play on fears, anxieties, and desires and it is utterly amazing that through all of this, Tony and I did not divorce. Those twenty months had been, and remain, the most confusing times of our life. All I can figure is that Tony’s prayers, and the support from his God-fearing mother, kept him grounded enough to make it through each day. Additionally, the strength in the love we share for one another had reinforced a certain resilience against anything that attempted to come between us.

  Over the years, Tony has told many people that he is torn regarding the spirits he encountered there. On one hand, he felt there might have been human spirits in the house. On the other, he also knows that demons appear to us as what they want us to see. All along, he felt this had been the case. First, it appeared as an innocent and harmless little girl, then it progressively tried other things to gain our acceptance. Now he believes that it was all just bait, a way for him to voluntarily allow “it” in and to welcome it.

  Our experiences certainly didn’t end when we moved from that house. However, each subsequent visit allowed us a more detailed understanding of the role it would play in our lives. Ironically, each visit also allowed us to be unknowingly manipulated by the entities that reside there. It once again baited us into trusting what we saw and heard. It played on our desire for answers and left us vulnerable.

  As my fingers hit the keys on my computer to finally bring this book to reality, I am thankful that when all this started, I kept a journal. It’s strange how we can forget things that seem to be so significantly cemented in our minds.

  In the months after leaving the house, we began to live a normal life again. It was quiet and untainted by paranormal activity. Our relationship and marriage began to repair itself and we realized how thankful we were that we got out of the house when we did. We took solace in what we perceived as a new beginning. This solitude, however, did not last long.

  Thanks to his strong belief in God and the support and guidance of prayers, Tony continues to win the ongoing battles he experiences in relation to that house. It is something that will always be a significant part of our lives.