American Hauntings: The True Stories behind Hollywood's Scariest Movies—from The Exorcist to The Conjuring: The True Stories behind Hollywood’s Scariest Movies—from The Exorcist to The Conjuring

by Robert Bartholomew

  The story of the Rain Boy grew from an extraordinary series of events: a record snowstorm followed by just the right temperature sequence; and eleven people, all of whom appear to have been devout Christians, interpreting mundane happenings as evidence of the demonic. It was a perfect storm. If any one of the series of events had failed to occur, it is likely that no one ever would have heard of the Rain Boy. Without the record snowstorm followed by warm days and cold nights, there never would have been an ice dam on the roof. If the Keiffers and investigating police had not been devout Christians, they almost certainly would not have concluded that Decker was possessed by the Devil. If any of the visitors to the house had been experienced builders, they almost certainly would have checked the roof for an ice dam; or if they were familiar with psychiatric conditions such as dissociation, they may have taken Decker to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. In the end, there was no physical evidence to examine:—no photos and no water samples—and no outside experts were called in to examine the house. When one first hears the story, it sounds remarkable, given the number of credible witnesses who render their accounts of what happened in their own words. Yet the more one delves into the accounts, the more it becomes clear that the events could not have happened the way they were described—through selective editing and distorted memories.

  Psychiatry 101

  A review of the psychiatric literature on people who engage in self-mutilation, such as cutting their bodies, reveals an interesting pattern. There is a clear association between those who engage in self-harm and those who have suffered abuse as children: they are much more likely to exhibit dissociation, and they readily enter trance states. Self-mutilation is a common response to distressing events—the very situation that Decker found himself in. Decker almost certainly cut himself while in the upstairs bathroom prior to supper. Throughout the ordeal, several observers commented on his mental state, noting that he often appeared to be in a trance. On several occasions while at the Keiffer home, Decker was said to have been unresponsive to questions and stared straight ahead with a blank look on his face.

  While feigning trance is a possibility, at times Decker genuinely may have been in a dissociative state, given his history of abuse and propensity for self-harm, as he gave himself deep scratches or cuts on his arms at least twice while at the Keiffers’. After the death of his abusive grandfather, the positive attention his grandfather received at the funeral was clearly causing Decker great frustration. A leading expert on self-mutilation and trauma, psychiatrist Sandra Bloom observes that acts of self-mutilation are a traumatized person’s way of managing negative feelings “while simultaneously expressing, nonverbally, the extreme rage, despair and agony of the tormented child.”30 The most common form of self-mutilation is cutting, although one variant is giving oneself deep scratches, to the point of drawing blood.31 Self-mutilation often produces temporary relief from acute distress, possibly due to the release of endorphins, which can explain why cutters typically report feeling “little or no pain.” Bloom observes that “many patients self-mutilate while they are in a dissociative state. Under stress they enter a trance state, another part of themselves or an alter personality inflicts the wounds, and they come to their senses without recall for what transpired.”32

  In Bleeding to Ease the Pain, clinical psychologist Lori Plante writes that being abused in childhood often results in lifelong emotional damage that triggers dissociation: “Often the abuse is so traumatic that the child can only cope with the overwhelming horror of the act through dissociation, a form of psychological distancing that helps the child disconnect physically and emotionally from the experience as if in a dreamlike trance.” Plante also says that the abuse often results in “self-destructive patterns,” which would fit with Decker’s propensity for getting into trouble with the law.33

  Whether Decker was consciously aware of what he was doing to his body, later he clearly relished the attention and likely played along with the belief of those around him, who thought he could make it rain. For instance, be began consciously rubbing his fingers together while in jail when he claimed he would try to strike Dave Keenhold with a drop of water. Once he had undergone an exorcism and was supposedly freed from the Devil, Decker received a great deal of attention. He became part of local folklore; he was the focus of paranormal research by the likes of prominent investigator Peter Jordan; he became the subject of public talks; and later he appeared on two popular, globally syndicated TV shows. The key question is whether Decker intentionally masterminded a hoax once the ice dam broke or whether he was truly slipping in and out of a trance. The truth may be a combination of both. Like every other case in this book, a closer examination of the facts reveals more about the eyewitnesses and their states of mind than about the presence of any supernatural force.

  CHAPTER 7

  The Haunting in Connecticut : A Disturbing Truth

  Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

  —Buddha1

  In 2009, Gold Circle Films released The Haunting in Connecticut, a movie about the fictional Campbell family who reported a series of chilling supernatural attacks after moving into their new home—a former funeral parlor. The movie is said to portray the real-life experiences of Al and Carmen Snedeker and is based on their coauthored book, In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting.2 The film earned $77 million at the box office.3 Carmen says that just three hours after moving in, her teenage son said to her, “Mom, this house is evil. We need to leave here right away.”4 She said that strange things began to happen on the very first night and would soon escalate. “My son started seeing this young man with long black hair down all the way to his hips. . . . He would talk to my son every day. Sometimes he would threaten him, other times he would stand there and just say his name, which was enough to scare him.”5 As with The Amityville Horror and The Conjuring before it, the case was investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren, and a book was written about it that became a major motion picture.

  Background to a Haunting

  In 1986, Alan and Carmen Snedeker moved into the old Hallahan House on Meriden Avenue in the town of Southington, in central Connecticut, twenty miles southwest of Hartford. Soon strange things began to happen—or so the story goes. Alan was a foreman at a local stone quarry; Carmen was a former bowling alley cocktail waitress. The family had three sons, ages thirteen, eleven, and three, and a six-year-old daughter. Two nieces would later move in.6 The Snedekers say that they moved into the house after thirteen-year-old Philip was diagnosed with blood cancer and needed to commute five times a week from where they were living in upstate New York to the John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington, Connecticut, a wealthy suburb of Hartford.7 This would seem to be an odd claim, given that there are world-class hospitals in New York State capable of treating the boy’s Hodgkin’s lymphoma. However, they say that as his condition was very serious, they opted for an experimental treatment that was being offered by the hospital, so they soon moved into a nearby townhouse.8

  According to the story, the family soon discovered a number of creepy items in the basement: a box of coffin handles, a chain-and-pulley casket lift, and a blood drainage pit—unmistakable relics of the previous business, the Hallahan Funeral Home. The eerie setting may have had a powerful suggestive effect. Spooky phenomena began with the oldest son, Philip, whose basement bedroom was adjacent to the gruesome area. He soon reported seeing ghosts, although his parents say they first attributed this to the cobalt treatments he was receiving for his cancer. Philip’s personality is said to have undergone a worrisome metamorphosis, and it included an interest in demonology. He is reported to have broken into a neighbor’s home and to have told his mother he wanted a gun so he could kill his stepfather.9 The strange events allegedly continued for two years. A seventeen-year-old niece named Tammy claimed that an unseen hand fondled her on several occasions as she lay in bed. Many other oddities were reported: apparitions, noises, and physical attacks, especial
ly alleged demonic sexual attacks on Carmen.10 She later told a CNN reporter that mattresses in the house would breathe and vibrate; and whenever she mopped the floor, the water would turn red and give off a putrid smell.11

  Enter, Stage Right: Ed and Lorraine Warren

  The Snedekers soon brought in Ed and Lorraine Warren, who continued their pattern of arriving at a “haunted” house and transforming the case into a “demonic infestation,” in keeping with their own medieval-style Catholic beliefs. Like the Lutzes at Amityville, the Snedekers were devout Catholics. Bringing with them two “psychic researchers”—their grandson and nephew—the Warrens eventually moved into the house for nine and a half weeks. While they denied that there was a book deal in progress, there is evidence that the researchers had made just such an arrangement. Mrs. Snedeker had already told her upstairs neighbor about the deal, saying that she and her husband were to receive one third of the profits.12 Soon Al and Carmen Snedeker were publicly claiming to have been raped and sodomized by demons: the same claim made in a previous case involving the Warrens.13 They would repeat these claims on national television shows, notably Sally Jessy Raphael, to promote their 1992 book with the Warrens, In a Dark Place.14 It was written with professional horror-tale writer Ray Garton and timed—like the Sally show—for release near Halloween.

  The Investigation: Red Flags Galore

  When Joe Nickell examined the case more closely, it quickly unraveled. For instance, the Snedekers maintained that when they moved in on June 30, they had no idea that the house had been a funeral parlor, as the sign had been covered by plywood. But many neighbors insist otherwise, and the previous owners emphatically say that the Snedekers were informed of the house’s former use prior to moving in.15 Sandy, a woman who worked for the real estate agent that rented the property, coincidentally lived on the second floor during the supposed haunting. She said that Carmen “was totally made aware that . . . this was a funeral home.”16

  Although Nickell appeared with Carmen Snedeker on The Maury Povich Show in March 1992, his investigation intensified when Sally Jessy Raphael producers sent him an advance copy of the Snedekers’ book with the Warrens and invited him on the show.17 Nickell later visited Southington as a guest of one of the Snedekers’ neighbors. On the Sally show, he appeared with the Warrens and Snedekers, along with several skeptical neighbors.18 During the taping, the Snedekers sat on a brass bed while telling their story of demonic sexual attacks.19 Mrs. Kathy Altemus lived across the street from the Snedekers during the entire time they resided in the Hallahan House. Beginning in mid-July 1988, Mrs. Altemus kept a journal of events relating to 208 Meriden Avenue. She told Sally, “I discovered that there were usually things going on in the neighborhood that explained the things they put in the newspaper.” It corresponds with her written records, with news clippings arranged chronologically. The outcome is revealing. For instance, the television program A Current Affair mentions the sound of clanking chains in the house, presumably from the coffin lift in the basement. But Mrs. Altemus’s journal shows that at the same time, a truck passed by, making a sound like it was “dragging a chain.” Other events also had plausible explanations, such as pranksters hiding in the shadows and racing past the well-known “haunted house” in the early morning.20

  The journal sheds light on another incident. The New Britain Herald reported on either a “bizarre coincidence or ghost,” as indicated by a mysterious power outage that occurred just after A Current Affair aired a broadcast segment on the Snedeker family haunting. A utility spokesman “was at a loss to explain just why the limb chose that particular time to knock out the power.” A closer examination of the claim reveals that the incident did not occur at the time of the television program but nearly two hours later. Similar outages have occurred several times on tree-lined Meriden Avenue, when limbs have fallen on the uninsulated line. When Joe Nickell was visiting Southington at the Altemus home in June 1993, he also experienced a power outage. It seems unlikely that demonic forces were heralding his arrival or had no better means of attempting to scare him away.

  Long before the Sally show, in response to the Warrens’ media exploitation of the case, the Snedekers’ landlady, who had served them with an eviction notice for failing to pay rent, said that she and her husband had owned the property for two and a half years and experienced no inkling of any supernatural presence. “I find it ironic that after more than two years as tenants, suddenly we are told about these alleged ghosts and then read in the paper that the Warrens will be conducting a seminar and will be charging the public for it. . . . If the ghosts really are there, then why did the Snedekers stay there over two years and why are they staying there now? Are they looking for publicity or profit, or what?”21 The Snedekers’ upstairs neighbor held similar views. Referring to the Warrens as “con artists,” she said, “I haven’t experienced anything.” She told reporters that the Warrens, who she was convinced were exploiting the situation for personal gain, “have caused a lot of problems here and they are not ghost problems.”22

  The events in the house clearly center on Philip and reflect classic poltergeist claims, beginning innocuously and building in severity. The ordeal began when shortly after moving in, Philip said he could hear a voice calling his name. This became a nightly occurrence, followed by visions. After six months, one night Philip claimed that he could see spirits in the room, which appears to have frightened his brother Brad—who was with him at the time and thought he might have glimpsed them as well. They also began to notice that the crosses above the doorways had been taken down. The family suspected Philip, who was described as angry and distraught from his ordeal with cancer.23

  They soon found Philip’s notebook, with dark, eerie sketches and writings. Then one evening at the dinner table, Carmen said she noticed something unusual about Philip’s arm, which she grabbed and pulled up the sleeve. Philip had deep, bloody scratches on both arms and claimed that an unseen force was causing him to make the lacerations. This aspect of the case is strikingly similar to the 1983 incident involving Don Decker in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Self-mutilation is a cry for help and attention. It is common among adolescents. The key difference here is that it was happening in a suspected haunted house.24

  Philip became aggressive and began harassing his brother; he even threw punches at him. He also trashed his sister Tammy’s room, and when she tried to stop him, she said he “threw me across the room as if I was nothing.”25 After this incident, she said that he would peek around corners and stare at her. That’s when something odd began happening at night. Tammy reported that during the night, she would awaken after someone or something had pulled off the bedcovers. Other times she awoke with a startle after feeling her shirt lifting up. Once she woke sensing what felt like a hand pulling at her bra strap.26 Other revealing information came to light in the book, including Philip’s drug use, vandalism, and other misbehavior. There was even an explanation for the sexual touching that Carmen’s niece had felt “from an unseen hand.” The boy was caught fondling his cousins while they slept. Philip “was taken away by the police that afternoon. He was questioned, at which time he confessed that he’d been fondling the girls while they slept at night, and that he’d attempted unsuccessfully to have sex with his twelve-year-old cousin.” He was later taken to the juvenile detention center, where a psychiatrist diagnosed him as schizophrenic.27 These are not baseless allegations from a disputed third party: they appear in the Snedekers’ own book.

  Admissions of a Horror Writer

  Many people have branded the Warren-Snedeker-Garton book a work of fiction. The husband of the Snedekers’ landlady observed, “It’s a fraud. It’s a joke. It’s a hoax,” adding, “It’s a scheme to make money.”28 One of the coauthors of the Warrens’ books has since admitted that Ed Warren (who died in 2006) told them to make up incidents and details to create scary stories.29 Ray Garton, the award-winning horror writer who authored the book about the Southington case on which the movie The Haunti
ng in Connecticut is based, now repudiates the book. He is glad that it went out of print, and he notes that writing the manuscript was challenging because the various players involved gave different versions of events. In a 2009 interview, Garton made several extraordinary admissions. He said that he took the job to write the book about the supposed haunting because he grew up reading about various exploits of the Warrens in the tabloids like the National Enquirer, but that his view of the Warrens was quickly deflated after meeting them in Connecticut. What Garton says happened at that meeting is extraordinary and disillusioning, and it is best told in his own words. “I went to Connecticut and spent time with the Warrens and the Snedekers. When I found that the Snedekers couldn’t keep their individual stories straight, I went to Ed Warren and explained the problem. ‘They’re crazy,’ he said. ‘All the people who come to us are crazy, that’s why they come to us. Just use what you can and make the rest up. You write scary books, right? Well, make it up and make it scary. That’s why we hired you.’”30

  This is a remarkable claim. It is important to remember that Garton was not just any writer hoping to attain fortune and fame: he already had both. Why would he risk his reputation by making such remarks? His revelations cast doubt on all of the Warrens’ investigations. So why did he become associated with such a suspect project? He said he took the job assuming that he would be telling the story of a family that genuinely believed they had been involved in a haunting (hence the “true story” billing); later he realized that the story was a fraud “concocted by people looking for a book deal and a possible movie deal,” but by then he was locked into the project. When he approached the publisher about his reservations, he said they “had no interest in anything I had to say. I was contracted to write this book, and the book was always meant to be ‘non-fiction.’”31 Garton says that he has since been in contact with other writers who have worked with the Warrens, leaving him in no doubt that the Warrens and the Snedekers are frauds, as “their experiences with the Warrens have been almost identical to my own.” As for what he thinks of the film The Haunting in Connecticut, he reports never having seen it, stating bluntly, “I’ve had my fill of this con.”32