Today, we're changing things up a little bit, and we're getting a little spooky. In a quiet Pennsylvania town, one family's claim of a haunting would grow from strange noises in the night into one of the most debated paranormal cases in American history. What began as a search for stability after losing their home slowly turned into years of fear,
media attention, and conflicting investigations. Priests, skeptics, journalists, and famous paranormal investigators would all step into the story, each leaving with a different explanation. Decades later, this haunting still sits in the uneasy space between belief and doubt, where the facts are clear, but the truth depends on who you ask. But no matter what you believe, what remains is that this is one of the most famous haunting cases in
all of North America. This is the case of the smirl Family Haunting.
My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast. Warning.
The following podcast material intended for maturial audience listener discretion. We've done it with the women, and I want to do it with the men. Congratulations to the US Men's hockey team for winning the gold medal for the first time in what like forty six years in the Olympic hockey.
I honestly can't remember, but yeah, it had been a little while.
What a phenomenal game. And to the men's can Canadian team who won silver, we are damn proud of you. You played incredible hockey.
Still proud. Nothing to be a shame of getting a silver medal, really no, and it.
Was still worth waking up at four am our local time to make sure that we caught that game. Yeah, Olympics are finally over. But man, I don't know about you, guys, I was very invested in a lot of it.
Yeah, it kind of feels like we get our life back a little bit, a.
Little bit, a little bit. We've been busy watching the Olympics, not quite working as much as we should. But something cool that did happen in February alongside the Olympics was we had our five year anniversary for this podcast. We've officially been doing this for five freaking years.
Does it feel like shorter or longer to you.
Both in the same sms?
Me too, actually, because when I think back to recording our first episode, that literally seems forever ago, but then just thinking about the span of five years, it doesn't seem like that long.
Yeah, it's so hard to put into word. Yeah, like that was like an like a whole lifetime ago, like we've grown so much. But then also it's like it's only been five years, Like what we're babies at this still? What are you talking about?
Like you know, well, yeah, in our first episode, we weren't in the tiny house, right, so in our tiny home, so a lot has changed. That makes it feel that part feels a bit why, it feels a bit longer.
True, true, But with five years, with a little bit of a celebration, we are doing something pretty cool. So on the first of March, we're going to be dropping some new merch for Wicked and Grim and we're dropping some exclusive celebration for five year type merch. We're going to be bringing some stuff back out of our archives that we've released before in this vault, the vault you can say, yeah some stuff that is no hasn't been
available for a while. So we're going to have some new merch in the rotation, including a very very limited and sought after Jacko shirt. So we've done this before. It was available for one week on Patreon only when it first happened, and it was never released again. We'll never be released again. We came up with a second version of it, same thing. We're only available for a week, and this time we're coming out with version three of it.
It's the same artwork, but different colors, so you know, like the addition right, first, second, third variation edition or whatever. And so this jack O shirt will only be released for one week and then it'll never be available again. So if you want it, you got to make sure you get it starting March first, and it'll of course be there with all the other merch that we have in our link in the bio description, all those sort of things, you'll be able to find it pretty easy.
Well, yeah, we can make sure, like well, we'll talk about it one more time on here too, and then we'll make sure we do a post or something about it as well.
Yeah, and we're going to be doing some giveaways over on Patreon, so if you want to join Patreon, you can go ahead and get yourself in a name for a giveaway, just like some of these other amazing people did earlier this week. Like we have ka we have Cheryl Hubert, Gary Shepherd, Sam Kate, Sandy Logan, Keaton Hamilton, and Aaron Waterhouse who all signed up on Patreon and they're gonna have a chance to actually win some pretty cool march from us over there. Dang, dang, it's gonna be a good time.
Yeah, no kidding.
But before we actually start today's episode, I've got to address the elephant in the room.
The elephant, the elephant in the room.
This is not a true crime case. We're doing today in a little bit of a celebration, having fun for a five year. We're doing something paranormal today, just a little bit off script. So today is going to be a different episode. We might not be as serious, we might be chatting a bit more, but we're certainly going to be talking paranormal stuff, not necessarily true crime.
Okay, which is fine.
It's totally fine to go off script once a while, well not off script, but off topic once a while. We have done paranormal cases before. We throw these in every so often. And it actually is prompted by one of our friends, Demi. I was messaging her and she's like, dude, you gotta do a paranormal something I'm in the mood for spooky for dark, and I was like, you know what, let's do it. It's a good time for it.
You're like, I can do that.
I can definitely do that.
I feel that wish.
I did a little bit of searching and I found well Today's case and I was like, this is a darn good one. I'm going to hit it up. So we're doing well, are you ready for spooky?
Yeah, let's hear it?
Okay, Well, to start off, I'm not going to go on script here and just start reading my little intro, I have a question for you to ponder first. So if you're listening, I want you to think really clearly about this. Because every town has a house or a building that people talk about. Where we live, we have a specific house downtown in our city that has been turned into a business, and it's a house people talk about because they know it has a history and it
has something else about it. Now, things like the houses like this, for example, they're not always abandoned or falling apart. Sometimes it looks completely ordinary. As I mentioned in our case, it's been turned into a business downtown, so it exists just as another place where you know, maybe someone mows the lawns still in your neighborhood, or laundry hangs outside, and everyday life is just kind of normal, still going on around it now. The unsettling part, though, isn't how
strange the house looks. It's the idea of something so strange or terrible that could have happened in a place like this that looks so normal. Most people don't expect, you know, fear to creep into their homes so slowly. They imagine horror as something sudden, a single moment, a big, dramatic event. But some stories that stay with people are just different. They begin small, with a noise you might ignore,
or a smell you can't exactly explain. Something might end up being moved, or maybe you just forgot where you left it. But life continues, and you tell yourself there's a reasonable explanation for these things, until one day you can't say that anymore now. The Smurl Haunting became famous because it sits right at that strange and uncomfortable intersection
between everyday life and something people struggled to explain. It has a working class family living in a modest duplex with bills to pay, kids, to raise, repairs to finish, and nothing about the beginning of this story suggested a haunting whatsoever. And that's exactly what makes it so unsettling, because the smirl family didn't set out become part of paranormal history. They were trying to rebuild their lives after a disaster, convinced that they had finally found stability in
their life. What followed, whether you believe it to be supernatural or not, turned their home into a place watched by reporters, argued over by skeptics, and investigated by priests, and remembered decades later as one of the most controversial hauntings in North American history. Some people see the story as proof of something dark and unseen, Others see it as a perfect example of fear, stress, and belief colliding in real time. But everyone does agree on one thing.
It's that once the story started, it never really belonged to the family alone after that. Now, this is how it all began in the beginning, with the Smurle family simply trying to rebuild their lives. In the early nineteen seventies, Northeastern Pennsylvania was still recovering from the devastation left behind by Hurricane Agnes. The storm had flooded entire communities, forcing families to leave their homes and start over, and among
them were Jack and Janet Smirle. Like countless others in the region, they were searching for stability and somewhere safe, affordable, and large enough to hold a growing family. In August of nineteen seventy three, they found the they were looking for in West Pittston, a quiet town just outside of Scranton. Now the property on Chase Street. It wasn't glamorous. It was an aging duplex that needed work, the kind of place that well, it needs some serious sweat, equity and patience.
But it did offer space enough for Jack and Janet in their children, and Jack's parents as well, John and Mary, who lived in the adjoining side of the duplex. Now, the arrangement felt practical, with family support, and it shared responsibility. So soon the Smarls settled into the rhythm of the ordinary life in their new home. Jack worked steadily, Janet focused on the home and the children, and the family
became active in their local church parish. Renovations filled there every evening and weekends, things like painting walls, fixing plumbing, just all around, repairing a house that showed its age, but still holding a promise for a fresh start. Neighbors described the area as calm and middle class, a place where people knew each other and life moved at a predictable pace. At first, there was nothing to suggest the house would become one of the most debated paranormal cases
in American history. There's no dramatic warning sign or immediate terror, just a family trying to recover from disaster and building something stable once again.
I kind of love that it's a duplex, but on the one side, you know, it's your family. Yeah, I just think that's kind of cool.
Actually, you have a supportive network right there, right, you know, if you need something, it's well just to knock on the door away.
Going someone to someone who you're really comfortable with exactly.
And then at the same time, you still have your own space, yeah, not forced to live in the same house. And maybe you have just your bedroom or the downstairs suite or things like that. You're not sharing a kitchen. You have your own space. There's privacy, but then there's also that close network.
Yeah.
I like it now. If anything, though, this story began the way that many real stories do quietly and very unremarkable. I know you like when I use that word. So it had this sense that life was finally moving in the right direction. And that's what makes what came next so unsettling, because when the Smurls first stepped through the door on Chase Street, they believed they were leaving hardship, not walking into it, not walking into more of hardship
that would follow them for about a decade or more. Now, the first years on Chase Street didn't feel unusual at all. Duplex was old and like many other homes in northeastern Pennsylvania, sorry it yeah, came with quirks. There's creaking floors, aging wiring, and constant needs for repairs, and Jack spent a lot of his free time doing that, slowly renovating room by
room while the family's just settling in. And at first, when the strange moment started, they were very small, small enough to ignore and say, you know what, it's probably just that aging repairs needed type house. There was things, though, like tools that would go missing during renovations, only to show up in odd places later. Now, if you've fixed anything or done renovations yourself, you can definitely attest to where the hell did I put that tape measure or
where did I put this tool down? And then it shows up, you know, a little while later, in a different spot, and you're frustrated with it, and I'm sure that's exactly what Jack felt.
Well, unless they're showing up in places though that you would just never have put it.
Well, some of them are like that. But remember he does also have kids too.
Oh, okay, which they could move it around.
Yeah, so things are easily explained away now. Appliances or lights began behaving unpredictably too. Doors in fact, were sometimes found open or closed when no one remembered touching them. Toilets even reported flushing on their own. Electrical problems appeared now and then, with sparks or shortage like outages and things like that. Minor issues, things that consiststantly could be explained away.
Okay, a flushing toilet would creep me out, but you.
Have to remember there's an old home, old wiring, weird plumbing, those sort of things.
I don't know that one would bug me.
Well, they are things that could be explained away. Whether they'd bug you or not, sure, but maybe if a toilet, you know, when the back plumbing something happens, it slips or whatever. The toilet could flush right or did it actually.
Flush or yourself that.
Yeah, all these you know, I don't I'm wanting to say reasons, excuses, that's the word I'm looking for. All these excuses are going to flood in your mind. And that's exactly what was going on here. They're trying to make up an excuse for Well, this happened probably because of this. This happened probably because of that.
Which would be really easy to do and it is human nature.
For sure, one hundred percent. But then came more noises. The family began here hearing things like knocks and bangs that didn't seem to have a clear source. Sometimes it sounded like footsteps even moving through the house. Other times it was sharp pounding that echoed through the walls or
the ceilings. Now, because Jack's parents lived on the other side of that duplex, each family while they both initially assumed that those sounds were coming from next door, but when they went and checked in on the other side of the home, each said, well it wasn't them, hmm. But that wasn't all. Along with the sounds came. Smells too, sudden foul odors that came without warning, and they disappeared just as quickly. The family described them as sulfur like
or something rotten. Plumbing in the house was checked to see if they could find the source. Maybe it was I don't know, a sewage backup or a pipe being blocked, but there was nothing obvious that they could find. Even then, though, the girls didn't jump to supernatural conclusions were they were very practical people. The house was old, Strange smells and noises were frustrating but not impossible to explain away, and for a while the incidents were treated more as just annoyances than anything.
It is kind of odd, though, that it wouldn't persist the shrill, right, that it would show up and then disappear.
That's true. But maybe it's something getting backed up and then all of a sudden it lets go and it drains.
Yeah, or like a breeze of sorts or right.
Thing, All it takes is for you to open one window in the adjoining duplex or the downstairs or upstairs, for you know what, the air to flow a different way through your house, bringing that smell in. Now, as the months turned into years, the patterns didn't fade. Instead, the incidents became more frequent and harder to dismiss as
coincidences or just an older house. Now, many of these strange household problems that they were experiencing gradually started to feel more personal to the family, less like random malfunctions and more like something reacting to their presence. The change wasn't sudden again, it took time. The Smurls later described it as a slow escalation, a shift in atmosphere that built over many months and years, rather than overnight. The
noise became more aggressive. Knocking that it once sounded like occasional tapping turned into very heavy banging that echoed through the duplex. Family members said they heard footsteps moving from room to room, even when everyone was accounted for. At times, sounds seemed to come from above or even inside the walls, making it impossible to track down any source. Nighttime became
especially unsettling, too. The Smurls claimed their beds would shake violently, jolting them awake, and they described waking up and convince someone was in the room, but to find nothing as they stared at an empty surrounding around them.
Okay, that's terrifying.
In interviews years later, they also spoke about seeing dark shapes described as black masses or shadows, moving briefly through hallways or bedrooms before disappearing entirely. As the fear grew,
the family said the activity began to turn. Physical scratches reportedly appeared on some of the family members without clear explanation, and these marks were described as sudden and unexplained, appearing right after episodes of intense activity in the home, leaving behind red marks on their skin that seemed to show where something had dragged its nails across their body.
Oh my goodness, So this is kind of getting aggressive.
It definitely is. And to the smurls, this was like, this is what kind of felt like the turning point when the situation stopped being merely frightening and it's more well dangerous.
Well yeah, it's harm them exactly now.
One of the most repeated claims from this period involved one of the daughters being pushed or knocked down part of a staircase by what families believed was an unseen force.
WHOA okay, that's not okay.
The incident was cited later as one of the moments that convinced them the problem could no longer be explained away as imagination or any sort of stress. Even the family's German shepherd dog also became part of the story too. According to the Smirls, in one incident, the dog was
suddenly lifted or thrown against a wall. Whether interpreted as paranormal or not, the event was deeply unsettling in the house and reinforced their belief that whatever was happening in that home had become physically aggressive.
Holy okay, yeah, that is just beyond terrifying at this point, Like, get out of.
There, Ron, And honestly, I don't care whether you're a demon, ghost, person, monster, whatever you touch my were fighting on the spot, I would have been swinging in the air.
I know that. I think I would just freaking rage. Yeah.
Now, by this point, the family said the house no longer was safe. What had started is unexplained noises and strange smells evolved into something they believed could physically harm them, and fear began to replace confusion. The house wasn't just unpredictable,
it was threatening. One event, though in particular, would later be remembered as the very turning point In April of nineteen eighty five, during preparations for one of the daughter's confirmations, which is a religious ceremony in many churches, a ceiling light fixture in the kitchen suddenly came crashing down. Now, according to Janet Smirle, the fixture had been secured using chains and hooks and did not sway or loosen gradually
to fall. It just simply fell. One of the children was injured when it struck the table, leaving a mark and adding to the family's growing belief that something was in fact targeting them. Almost like the light had been pulled down. Wow.
Well yeah, because that does not seem like something you could explain whatsoever.
No, there's no way. Now. Around this period, the smirl said, the activity in the house changed from occasional disturbances to something much harder to ignore. Those they weren't just bangs and creeks. Family members described hearing things that were very deliberate, loud of course, those crashes. The physicality all of this
was just growing. There were screams they could hear, there was growls they could hear, and one detailed report in several accounts was something sounding like a pig like grunting.
Oh okay. This is so sad though for them, because they've always like, you know, they have money invested in this house, and they also put a lot of work into this house. Yeah, Like it would be hard to leave right because.
Of that exactly. And not only is it like, oh I have an investment in this home, you have to remember this family just suffered through a disaster of flooding in this hurricane. So not only is it like, oh, yeah, we're invested, it's like all their money is tied up in the yeahone, So what do you do now? The Smirls claim these incidents happened on both sides of the duplex, not just one side, which made it harder for them to dismiss the noises as simple, unsettling or mechanical problems.
They said that the disturbances were sometimes accompanied by sudden foul odors as I mentioned that sulfur or the rotting flesh just coming and going just so quickly now outside the home. A few neighbors later said they occasionally heard unusual sounds coming from the property, though descriptions varied widely
and none were independently verified. Some residents believed something strange might have been happening in that home, While others, though they dismissed the stories entirely or assumed the sounds were exaggerated by media attention that would later come now inside the home, however, the effect in the family was very real.
Regardless of the cause. Sleep became difficult. Ordinary household noises started to feel very threatening, putting them on edge, and the Smurls later described a growing sense that the home was no longer predictable or safe, that events just happened on their own schedule without explanation, seeming to target them. As the sounds continued and the family struggled to find any sort of answers, the idea that something supernatural might
be responsible began to take hold. By the mid nineteen eighties, the Smirrel family believed they weren't just dealing with random disturbances, and they believed they were in fact under attack. So they turned to the place that they trusted most for answers, the Catholic Church. The family had been active in their local parish, and they described themselves as very deeply religious. Reaching out to the clergy felt like the first natural
step to them. Now, according to Jack and Janet, they asked a local priest to visit the home and bless it, to which he agreed. The priest reportedly walked through the duplex, reciting prayers and offered reassurance, but he didn't witness anything unusual during his visit. From the church's perspective, there was simply no immediate evidence suggesting a threat of any supernatural or even spiritual cause. Over time, though additional clergy became
involved in the situation. Several priests visited the house at different points, performing blessings and prayers meant to bring peace to the home. In some accounts, a priest even stayed overnight to observe the conditions directly in what they were experiencing, but again, nothing out of the ordinary was reported during those stays. Now, this, of course, created the first major divide in this story. The smurls insisted that frightening events
continued when outsiders were gone. The noises, the smells, disturbances, all that returned as soon as the house was quiet again. But the clergy, on the other hand, they generally reported calm conditions and saw no clear sign of demonic activity. Church representatives later stated publicly that they were uncertain about the cause of the alleged disturbances, and suggested that less dramatic explanations might exist for them. There were also conflicting
accounts about exorcisms that were performed. The family later claimed that priests performed several attempts at exorcisms that failed to stop the activity. Church officials, however, publicly denied authorizing formal exorcisms at that stage, emphasizing that the church approaches such cases very cautiously and only after strict investigation are they allowed. Now, this mismatch between the family and what they said they were experience and seeing what the clergy observed left the
Smirls extremely frustrated. They believe something dangerous was happening, yet the people they trusted most for spiritual guidance couldn't confirm it, which is really interesting.
It's almost like the spirits are using this as another tactic to scare them.
Really, which is very possible. Yeah, now there is that other possibility of maybe a poltergeist attaching to the family directly, or maybe a member of the family.
Oh okay, so if they move, it's still maybe with them.
Well exactly, But also it also feeds off energy. You know and moods. So if they're feeling safe with the church and their home, maybe that stuff slows down. And when the church leaves, then their stress starts to rise, and so does the activity in the home.
Oh okay, that actually makes a lot of sense. It does, because I was I was almost thinking that having the the priests and stuff in there could make them more mad though, because when they were getting ready for that the daughter's ceremony, right, the lights shattered and fell. So but yeah, what you just said, We're like, Okay, we feel safe, like these people we trust, like they're going to help us are in the home, and their anxiety is way less.
Which isn't though, typical what you see of poltergeist. I mean, you see Poultergeist feeding off the energy of the people it attaches to, Yes, but typically as something along the lines of like demonic presences. That's when you see a lot of like the rebelling against religious figures and the prayers, the ceremonies. Now, poltergeist, don't get me wrong, I'm not a professional on the topic. I didn't even do enough research on poltergeist specifically to really speak on this. So
this is just my opinion. Poltergeist. In my opinion, they act on the emotions of the individual. Now, emotions on those individuals can be upset by people coming into the home too, which is generally what we see in those situations. But at the same time, maybe in this way it's flip flopped where they feel relaxed by the presence of the church, who they're so close with, the people they feel the safest with.
Jeez, okay, I just feel terrible for this family listening to this story.
Yeah, it's a tough one. Now. By the mid nineteen eighties, the family felt increasingly isolated, convinced that something was wrong, but unable to get clear validation from the church or anyone else outside the home. For years, it kept most of what was happening inside their house and very private. They spoke with priests, relatives, and close friends, sure, and from there the story remained mostly local. You know, something whispered with very few people throughout, but that was about it.
But that changed as the activity in their view became more aggressive and harder to ignore. Jack and Janet were describing events that went far beyond just the noises and smells. They were claiming, you know, things attacking them that rising issue right, and they were losing sleep, living in constant fear and very much so, a lot of tension building
in a home. So around nineteen eighty five and into nineteen eighty six, the Smurls made a decision to speak to the press, and once the story became public, attention exploded almost overnight. Local newspapers picked it up first, but the attention wasn't always positive though. It was during this period that the Smurls also reached out to Ed and Lorraine Warren, which are a couple very well known people in the paranormal world. They are the kinetic are sorry kinetic,
Connecticut based paranormal investigators. There we go, and they're very known for a lot of high profile cases such as the Amityville case in more modern sense, also the world's most haunted doll. They owned her for a while an.
Okay, so this stuff doesn't doesn't make them shy away in any way.
No, they are the most prolific demon I think they're demonologists. If i'm i'm don't quote me on that, but I believe they're demonologists. They call themselves paranormal investigators. They are the biggest people in the paranormal world to investigate something okay, So the Warrens arrived in West Pittston in January of nineteen eighty six. From the beginning, they approached the house
as a very serious case of supernatural infestation. According to Ed Warren, he felt a sudden temperature drop shortly after entering the home, something he believed signaled the presence of a very hostile and entity. He later claimed that he had seen a dark mass from inside the house as well, describing it as an intelligence rather than a random paranormal event, and the Warrens began interviewing the family member separately, gathering
their accounts and trying to identify patterns. Lorraine, who described herself as a clairvoyant, said she sensed multiple entities connected to the home over time. The Warrens concluded through their investigation that the Smurls were dealing with several spirits. They believed it was three human presences and one dominant demonic force that controlled the others. During their investigation, Ed also claimed that religious provocation prayers, holy water, and Gregorian chance
caused the activity to intensify. He reported furniture moving, mirrors shaking, and objects reacting when religious symbols were introduced. One of their most repeated details from this period was the claim that a message appeared on a mirror after spotting a dark mass. The message was written in condensation, telling the investigators to quote, get out.
Oh my goodness, that's scary. I would leave.
Yeah. Yeah, I would probably get out too, fair enough, that's a very valid reaction. Now, the Warrens said they documented the case and the home extensively. According to them, they collected audio recordings that captured knocking and rapping sounds, photographs of anomalies, and written notes from months of observation. Their team reportedly spent extended periods at that house attempting
to witness activity firsthand for themselves. For the Smurls, the Warrens represented something they had they been missing, to say the least, people who had openly believed them. Lorraine later described the family as sincere and genuinely frightened, saying they were victims of a spiritual attack and were not participants in a hoax. But as soon as the Warrens publicly declared that the Smirle case was a genuine demonic infestation, the story split into two very different versions, One told
by believers and another shape by skeptics. In fact, the haunting was no longer just about what happened inside the home. It became a well, it became a debate about how those events should be understood. From the Warren's perspective, the situation was clear. They believed the family was in fact dealing with these entities, including a powerful demons that fed onto fed on fear and chaos. But Eden Lorraine described the Smurls as is innocent victims, just caught in all this.
They argued that the pattern of activity, escalating disturbances, physical attacks, in emotional strain matched what they considered classic signs of demonic oppression. The recommendation focused on religious intervention, prayer, blessing, and even exorcism attempts, the ones that I said would later come. The Smirls themselves supported this explanation. They said the disturbances were real, that the attacks had left lasting emotional scars, and that the Warrens were among the few
outsiders who listened without dismissing them to the family. The investigation finally gave structure in meaning to years of frightening experiences, but outside the home that skepticism was extremely strong and very vocal. Paul Kurtz, chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, publicly criticized this case. He argued that the warrants were not objective investigators and described the story as a likely hoax or misrepresentation of
ordinary events. He also suggested psychological or environmental explanations were likely in play, instead, saying that stress, suggestion, or family dynamics could account for many of the claims. Psychologists voice similar concerns as well. Some noted that people under prolonged
stress can interpret normal household problems. Things that an old house might be enduring could be paranormal events, especially when fear builds over time, essentially saying that the family's life with tension or emotional strain might have played a role in how these things were perceived.
I don't love that, Hey, doesn't that seem kind of yucky? Like almost like goshous people would be no fun at a party, Like they're just not believing them whatsoever and explaining it away, which the family did initially. But a lot of these things you can't just explain.
Away exactly, and it's it's basically victim blaming is what they're doing. It's when it's like, oh, when someone gets sexually assaulted, well you shouldn't wear those fucking clothes. Oh you're having demons, Well you're probably just stressed, like are you kidding me?
Well, and like those kind of comments, you're just going to stress them out more. So it's just not helpful whatsoever.
Exactly, do investigation. We have people doing investigations, try and look at it from a scientific standpoint, Sure, try and disprove. Sure, but these people are standing outside the house and only criticizing, not doing any of the work inside.
Yeah, I don't know. I don't like that.
There was one thing though, Jack Smrrell's medical history became part of the discussion because reports mentioned that he had undergone surgery in nineteen eighty three to relieve fluid on the brain after long term complications linked to meningitis earlier in his life. So some of these skeptics pointed to this detail as a possible factor that could affect memory or perception, though no medical professional publicly tied his condition directly to these haunting claims. So even though there is
this potential tie, there is still no study. There's still no investigation to actually say this is a potential. They didn't remove him from the home. They didn't see if there was anything happening when he goes somewhere else, when he goes under under strict circumstances and a scientific room, like you know, when he's in a room and isolated, is he still experiencing this? Does stuff stop happening at the home. None of that occurred. It's just strict criticism.
So are they thinking, sorry that he's like the one causing the things.
They're thinking he's just doing.
Them and not remembering or something.
They're basically saying that it's impacting memory, it's giving stress, which could you know, make him think things wrong, like, oh, how did my tool end up over there? There's no way I put it there. There's no way that this toilet flushed on its own when he did it. He's forgetting or he thought he heard something, or he thought he saw something when in fact he didn't because he just had fluid build up on the brain.
But he wasn't the only one experiencing the stuff though, right Bingo, okay, so I okay, so that doesn't even really make sense. My only thought was, Okay, are they thinking that he's like causing all these weird noises or weird things to happen because he isn't the only one experiencing them. So it doesn't make any sense to me.
Exactly. How did a German shepherd, a eighty to one hundred pound dog gets picked up and thrown against the wall without anyone touching it? How does a light fixture get pulled down or dropped out of the ceiling without anything touching it onto the child? How does a child get pushed by no one behind them? How is that fluid build up on a brain? What causes that? You have to look at that in a specific sense. Did the child trip on something? Was the ceiling rotting away?
Was it their reason for it to fall? Did anyone actually see the dog get thrown against the wall? Did the dog stumble in? Maybe it has a limp because who knows it was playing earlier and it's nothing actual happening.
But the kids are getting injured, right, and so that's just not gonna don't I just don't think that that is that doesn't make sense, Like, it doesn't explain anything.
And I do mention this later, but this is where it comes into play of Are they doing it in a hoax fashion? Are they claiming things that are not real? Are they doing it to themselves all to get attention, potential money, potential fame, potential attention. Like, who knows what are they doing?
I mean, I guess, but gosh, it spanned such a long period of time and when they went there, they were kind of like retreating, right, they needed a fresh start and stuff. So why the hell would they be starting a story like this?
Yeah, so a lot of these conversations are what comes into discussion, whether what side you're on. Many people are arguing back and forth over just these things. So they point to these details as factors that could affect a memory perception, all these sort of things, And the Catholic
Church maintained a cautious position too. While priests had visited and blessed the homes, church representatives said that they could not confirm any sort of supernatural activity, and several clergy members who spent time in the home reported seeing nothing unusual. But by this stage, the Smirl case had become something larger than a haunting story in a small town. It
was a public argument about the belief itself. The very thing we're doing right now, arguing over these semantics, these facts, the investigation techniques. Supporters saw a family under attack, but critics saw a family influenced by fear and misunderstanding. Now, local papers were, of course the first to cover the story in depth and dive into the things between locals, but it didn't stay local for long. Soon, televised crews came from across the country and they began arriving in
West Piston. According to accounts from the time, dozens of reporters could be outside the duplex on any single given day, hoping to capture footage or secure interviews with family or even the warrens. Crowds gathered and curious seekers they walked through the neighborhood hoping to witness something. Some people knocked
on windows or even peered inside the home. Strangers reportedly even threw bricks at the house and harassed the family, convinced that the story was fake or an attempt to gain fame.
Oh my goodness. See, they wouldn't have wanted that. They're raising kids and stuff like, they wouldn't have wanted this. This isn't the fame and attention that people want.
No. Now, meanwhile, neighbors were caught up in the middle of it all. Too The quiet residential street turned into a constant scene of cameras, vehicles, and spectators, turning something closer, basically what was supposed to be a residential block into just a giant spectacle.
Yeah. I didn't even think about the neighbors. Gosh, that would be terrible. That would suck so bad. Now.
The media frenzy also attracted well known visitors. Actor and playwright Jason Miller, a Scranton native best known for playing Father Harris in the movie The Exorcist, visited the house during the height of the attention. While he reportedly stopped short of fully endorsing the idea of a demonic haunting, he expressed concern about the emotional toll the situation was
taking on the family. Now in the middle of all this, of course, was the Smurls, who said they felt trapped between two different battles, one against whatever they believed was haunting them, and another against public judgment. The constant presence of cameras and reporters made privacy nearly impossible, and even routine moments in their lives became news. But no matter what side you were on. By late nineteen eighty six, the smurl case had become one of the most talked
about paranormal stories in America. Now, while the media focused on headlines and dramatic claims on the haunting, the family was still searching desperately for something, something simpler, a way
to make the disturbances stop. The Warrens, who were helping them, believe the situation required more than investigation, It needed direct religious intervention, so over the next several years, they continued with a series of blessings, prayers, and reported exorcisms that would become central to the story, though accounts of what
actually happened they are often conflicted. According to the family and the Warrens, an espicoral priest was brought in early during this phase to perform rituals aimed at driving out the entities believed to be in the home. Prayers were conducted, religious symbols were used, and the house was blessed repeatedly. The family later said that these efforts sometimes seemed to
calm the activity temporarily, but the peace never lasted. The Warrens continued to argue that the dominant force inside the house was demonic and resistant to ordinary religious rites. They described the situation as unusually difficult, claiming that the entity reacted aggressively to prayers and attempts at exorcism. Least one priest reportedly performed formal rites for the family, but the
disturbances just returned afterwards. With these happening, the Smirls reported periods where the noises and disturbance lessened, only for activity to return later, and the pattern of temporary relief followed by renewed fear became part of their ongoing experience, and as time passed months, the strain of the family just deepened.
The house had become famous, the investigations were ongoing, and yet there was still no clear resolution, And after years of fear, investigations, and public scrutiny, the Smurls finally reached a point were staying at that Chase Street duplex no longer felt possible. Whether the disturbances were supernatural or not. It had all taken a very heavy financial and emotional toll. By nineteen eighty seven, the family began preparing to leave the house, and it was tough. They spent years rebuilding
their lives here after losing it in a flood. Previously, money had always been tight. They were trying to do something good and positive. But eventually, in nineteen eighty eight, they relocated back to Wilkesbury, where they were originally from, hoping to distance themselves and trying to end this torment. But according to the Spurls, the relief was not immediate. They later said the unusual activity briefly follneled them to their new home too, noises, shadows, and feelings of unease,
well things that made them fear. All that stuff from the previous home. It seemed to show that the entity was attached to the family rather than the property itself. Now this belief reinforced earlier claims that some thought the haunting had become personal rather than tied to a single location, and the family reported that a final religious intervention, described by some sources as a secret or private exorcism, was
eventually performed after the move. Now, details about this ritual were never publicly confirmed in full, but the Smurls later said that this final effort brought lasting peace to their home. After that point, they claimed the activity finally stopped. Now back on Chase Street, life moved in a very different direction. New residents eventually occupied that duplex. One tenant, Deborah Owens, publicly stated that she experienced nothing unusual while living there.
Others who lived in or near the home also said they never witnessed paranormal activity at all. For skeptics, this became an important point. The house itself was haunted, it raised questions about what really happened during the smirl's time there. But for believers, however, the story ended exactly as expected. The family escaped and the haunting ended once the spiritual battle was finally resolved, even at their new home. Either way, the move marked the end of the activity haunting, and
the whole narrative. Life moved forward in practical or ordinary ways for the Smurls. Jack Smurle returned to work and stayed largely out of the spotlight. He worked for tops Chewing Gum for decades and became deeply involved in his church and community. Friends and family later described him as dedicated, supportive, and focused on rebuilding a quiet life after years of chaos. He attended his daughter's sporting events, volunteered at church foundations,
and tried to leave the haunting behind him. The family also pushed back against accusations that they had profited from the stories. Over the years, they repeatedly said they did not receive significant financial gain from the books or television adaptations that would eventually come out, that the attention brought more stress than any benefit they received. For them, the lasting memory was not fame. It was harassment. It was
skepticism and the feeling of being watched or judged. As the daughters grew older, they built lives most outside of the public view. One of them, Karen Smirle, later became a social worker and occasionally assisted with paranormal investigations. She explained that her interests came from wanting to help others who felt frightened or misunderstood, saying she wanted to offer support that her family felt they lacked during the height
of the media frenzy. In June of twenty seventeen, Jack Smurle eventually died at the age of seventy five after health complications related to diabetes. Obituaries and local interviews remembered not only the haunting, but also his role as a devoted father and community member. His daughter described him as someone who tried to protect the family during their most
difficult years, especially when public attention turned hostile. Janet Smirle lived quietly in later years and remained mostly out of public discussion. The family continued to maintain what had happened to them and that it was in fact real, even as debate around the case never disappeared. For many observers, the haunting became a story frozen in the nineteen eighties,
a strange chapter in paranormal history. But for the smrl family it was simply part of their lives, something they carried with them long after the house on Chase Streep stopped being theirs, and as time passed, the biggest question surrounding the case remained unresolved what exactly happened inside that home. In late nineteen eighty six, a paperback book titled The Haunted,
One Family's Nightmare was released. The book was written with involvement from the Smurls, Ed and Lorraine Warren, and journalist Robert Keran. It presented the family's experiences as a detailed supernatural account following the escalations of events and the Warren's investigation. The book brought the case to national audiences. Readers who had never heard of the case suddenly they knew of this duplex Though when they knew of Chase Street, but
it also intensified criticism too. Some reviewers accused the book of presenting only one side of the story and questioned the lack of physical evidence supporting any of the claims. Others argued that the narrative leaned heavily towards the Warren's interpretation without seriously addressing skeptical viewpoints. But despite criticism, the story continued to grow. In nineteen ninety one, the case was adapted into a made for TV movie also titled
The Haunted. The film dramatized the family's experiences, portraying the haunting in vivid, frightening detail, and introducing the story to a new audience that may not have followed the original one. Like many adaptations based on paranormal claims, the movie blended fact and dramatization, reinforcing the Smirl case as part of American ghost lore. Over time, the Haunting settled into a strange middle ground, part true crime style acc count, part
supernatural legend. Paranormal enthusiasts cited it as one of the Warren's major investigations, while skeptics continued to point to the lack of independent verification. Decades later, the story experienced another revival as modern horror films revisited the Warren's case files. The smurl Haunting became inspiration for new adaptations and discussions, including later portrayals connected to the broader and very well
known Conjuring film universe. Each retelling introduced a story to a new generation, often blending historical events with cinematic storytelling. But by this point the haunting had taken on a new life of its own. For some, it was proof of the paranormal, but for others, while it was an example of how media can transform personal experiences into legend.
But behind the books, the movies, and debates, there were in fact real people who had to continue living their lives after the cameras left, and their story didn't end with the headlines fading. By the time the Smirl's story faded from those headlines, two very different versions of events had taken route, and both of those events still exist today. On one side are those who believe the family endured
a genuine paranormal haunting. Supporters point to the consistency of the Smurl's claims over time, the involvement of Eden Lorraine Warren, two very famous paranormal investigators, and the number of people who said they heard screams or witness unusual activity around the home. In this view, the case represents a rare example of a prolonged demonic infestation, one that resisted religious
intervention and followed the family after they moved. But on the other side are the skeptics who argue that the case never produced reliable physical evidence. Investigators outside the Warren circle reported seeing nothing unusual, Clergy who stayed in the home described quiet nights, psychologists suggesting that the family was stressed with family dynamics or misinterpretation of ordinary events that
could explain much of what were reported. Critics also questioned how the story evolved once media attention and book deals entered the picture. Even the Catholic Church never publicly confirmed a supernatural case. But what makes a Smirtl case unusual is not just the haunting itself, it's how public the entire situation became. The family's private fear unfolded under cameras
and newspaper headlines. Supporters, skeptics, curiosity seekers, and critics all alike inserted themselves into the story, turning a local claim into a national debate. About belief, religion, and the paranormal Books, television dramatizations, documentaries, and eventually a major horror film adaptation all ensure that the Smurl hauntings would continue to be retold long after the original events ended, with each retelling
the line between documentary history and dramatic storytelling. It just blurred a little more. And yet beneath the debates, there is one undeniable reality. A real family lived through something they believed was truly terrifying. Whether those experiences were supernatural, were psychological, environmental, or a combination of factors, it remains unresolved. That uncertainty maybe why the Smurl Haunting endures. Unlike many ghost stories that end with a clear explanation or dramatic
final resolution, this one never fully closes. The house still stands later, residents reported nothing unusual, the evidence remains inconclusive, and the witnesses stand by their memories. So the question stays open, not just what happened on Chase Street, but how stories like this take shape in the first place.
Was it a haunting, a misunderstanding amplified by fear, or something that sits somewhere in between, a real human experience that defies any sort of easy explanation what truly happened in that home. Whatever the answer, the Smirl case remains one of the most debated paranormal stories in all of American history, not because it proves anything, but because all that is left is unanswered questions. And that's the case of the Smirl haunting.
Oh boy, that's going to give me just a feeling of unease for the rest of the day, right, But I also just feel like no one would I don't think. I don't know why would like no one would want this. I don't think. It doesn't seem like they were doing this for any bene fit to themselves.
I don't think so. And what's so unique about this story too, is we have things like the Amityville case. We we all know that one. That's very famous too. The debate happens, generally speaking, after an event, after the haunting occurs. We you know what families enduring something you have you know what, sure, some prayers and things and people coming in to witness it, but the public doesn't
know about it generally until after it happens. This one, you have cameras, news reporters, people standing on front lawns looking in the home and shit is still going down. It is actively haunting. Yeah, if they were being haunted, truly, I think it would continue in that situation. If they were not, and there's people peeking in the windows, cameras on them in all moments, why would they not say, oh, it went away. Scrutiny scares people, it did nothing in this case.
Well, people don't want to believe things like this can happen are out there, right ye. And I do have to say too that one daughter's comment about just like the lack of support really because there isn't the Other thing why I feel like no one would want this to happen to them is because there isn't really many people out there that can go about trying to help you. Yeah,
you're right, right, So you're probably feeling so alone. I mean like, yeah, they're their church and stuff, was trying to help and they had the was it.
The Warrens, Yeah, dam Lorraine Warren.
Yeah, but really, you know, that's not a lot of help really, And it's just the voices are going to be so loud of people saying that you're making this up or or you're doing this for your own benefit and stuff, and for sure, I don't know. Yeah, I just feel like this is terrifying and I can't see someone wanting this to happen to them. So that's sort
of my thoughts. So I do. I don't think some but I'm kind of gullible that way where I feel like people are good, which is funny that I'm a co host on here and I feel like people are good that they wouldn't go about making something like this up like people don't. I don't feel like the majority of people are good and they don't go about trying to make up weird shit.
But what if these are not the majority? What if they're minorities not minorities. What if they're the minority and they're people who are making something up. How can you prove that they're.
Not good people because they didn't really benefit from this. What did they benefit from this? And in reality, I think it just destroyed.
Their life in a sense, I think so too.
It was another tragedy for them that they had to go move and restart their life.
Even after the fact, it took so long for them to gain any financial benefit, Like the book, the movie, all that that came like years later. And they even said they didn't get much from it. I'm sure we could probably, Like, if someone does the right digging and calling the right people, you could probably find out how much they made. And I wouldn't be surprised if they made, you know what, not that much.
Yeah, have you watched what was the movie called The Haunting?
The Haunting?
Yeah, The Haunting?
Have you watched that? I haven't, but I want to know.
I know, Okay, I'm not like a huge scary movie fan, but I do. I think I do want to watch that. It's funny. I much rather.
Or is it the Haunted?
Watch a true crime documentary or something that's real or something that's fake. But I guess in this one it's not necessarily fake.
It could be. Yeah, it's based on real events, and that's the thing. These are real.
It would be like more like you said, a dramatization.
Dramatization, yes, definitely. But the biggest question on this story. We know it's real events, but what were those real events? Were those real events paranormal? Were those real events psychological or those real events fabrications and hoaxes. That's the biggest part and we'll never know, unfortunately.
So I don't know. I do find this story just sad too, because, yeah, I just like that sucks to have to go through that. I would. I just hope nothing like that ever goes happens to me, because yeah, just the lack of people believing you is kinda shitty.
My personal takeaway, and I kind of alluded to this already in the discussion of what we said earlier, is I do think that this was a poltergeist situation. I disagree with Ed and Lorraine. They'll mind you. I didn't investigate. They're the professionals. They said it was a few human entities with a demonic presence controlling them. I disagree. I think it was a poltergeist. Poltergeist followed them because you know what, it didn't follow them, but because it was
coming from them. And I think when the church comes in and they're not seeing that evidence, I think it's because they're so reliant on the church that it calmed the presence, it calmed the energy in the home. I don't think it was necessarily a spiritual haunting, to say, which generally Poltergeisser debated to not necessarily be, but an energy situation. Someone is so upset, someone is going through so much stress, anger, and it manifests through what that
person is experiencing. You have an entire family going through a lot of shit. Maybe it did start with the father and his fluid build up, and then it progressed from there and it went through in the entire family. And eventually when they left the media attention, when they left the public eye and they went to the new home, of course that's going to be the moment when they get the biggest stress relief of the last decade. Yeah, and things began to fade.
But then I'm almost thinking, to gosh, you know, this probably wasn't enjoyable to them. Maybe they were like, yeah, it's over because they just want peace from all these people and to be left alone. Maybe right, But I mean, my hope is that it definitely did stop.
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