Original subtitles

My husband and I bought an old house

and turned it into a B&B.

It was a dream come true.

Looking at the price of the cottage,

it was strangely affordable.

It was probably a red flag.

Behind the stone was a very ominous...

figure.

Felt like someone was staring over my shoulder.

What am I bringing home with me?

The question is,

who is doing the manipulating?

We need to look a little deeper

for our explanation as to what's going on.

What the hell is going on?

We are in one of the oldest towns in America,

there is the potential for paranormal occurrences.

She did say that if we wanted to see her,

this lady would manifest herself to us.

This is the area where I saw her.

Things started to ramp up.

That really scared the [bleep] out of me.

Could it be a vengeful spirit looking to seek out

that punishment on us? Absolutely.

There are items in the world that might have

multiple spirits attached to it.

I'm shivering right now. I don't know...

Yeah.

Mystic was founded in 1654,

so it's one of the oldest towns in America.

I immediately loved old Mystic especially.

The setting, the 18th-century kind of feel,

the old buildings, historic homes,

just the quietness of the neighborhood.

The history is incredible.

In 2008, my husband and I bought an old house

and turned it into a B&B.

It was something we always wanted to do.

But the dream turned into a nightmare.

What drew me to this house was just the colonial charm

of this home. Built in 1784,

the house has all the original workmanship

that came along with it.

It was a dream.

I was interested in history

before that.

But when I got here, things kind of clicked.

I got involved in different historical groups,

I had gotten into reenacting.

I belonged to a Revolutionary War group.

I started doing some guided tours

about haunted Mystic.

There were times that he would dress up in the colonial gear

and serve breakfast to the guests.

The case of Robert Lecce is very interesting.

It begins in the small town of Mystic, which is steeped

in deep history.

The case takes many different turns,

turns that I didn't see coming.

It did come with a reputation of being haunted.

Um, I remember at the closing,

I, uh, I said to the owners, jokingly, I said,

"Place is not haunted, is it?"

It was too late by then.

I already signed the paperwork for that,

so there was no backing out.

It's an old house.

There was always bumps, and you could hear footsteps

on occasion.

You would get a definite feeling

of a heaviness or a darkness

that really manifested itself

at night.

We were watching TV up here one evening.

We suddenly heard a loud banging.

What's that?

What's going on? What was that banging?

Rapid banging. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

Michael jumped up and ran downstairs to check the doors.

And nobody was there.

Robert, there's no one there.

There's nobody in the parking lot.

There's nobody around the building.

Robert's daughter's bedroom was right next door.

And she ended up contacting us by cell phone

to, you know, to tell her dad what was going on.

You, know, "Where is this noise coming from?"

She said, "OMG, Dad, I heard that too.

"It's coming from in here and I'm afraid to come out

of the bedroom."

Since there was a balcony that led right

into my daughter's bedroom,

I was really concerned that there could be

somebody inside her room.

There was nobody.

She was sitting on the bed and quite scared.

The fact that this is one of the oldest towns in America

really just creates a breeding ground for lots

of the supernatural, for lots of the paranormal.

But first we have to rule out anything that could be

happening in the real world.

This could be an intruder, a stalker, someone trying

to play a prank.

It is not impossible to think that somebody was breaking in

and wanted to scare them or cause some sort of harm.

It was-- it was-- frightening. It was frightening.

This was like the beginning of--

of something.

Michael would keep diaries in each room, so guests often

would write things down in the diaries.

A lady woke up in the middle of the night to what she saw was

a Revolutionary War soldier standing by her bed.

There was another instance where a woman was sitting

in the bathroom, combing her hair.

And in the reflection, she saw another woman

behind her.

It didn't hurt business, because there are people

out there that wanna experience something like that.

And then there were others that came in here and...

perhaps I wouldn't see again.

I would definitely say, there was an element of us

living in some sort of fear.

Then I started seeing things.

One morning after breakfast service,

Michael and I were finishing up here in the kitchen.

I was doing dishes.

Michael, do you see that?

And he looked up and he said, "No."

I said, "There was a woman standing there watching you.

She was there and now she's gone."

I was just startled by that.

It frightened me.

So I'm paying attention now. People don't just disappear

out of thin air.

This is a very compelling piece of evidence that points

toward the paranormal.

And soon we will get more evidence that clarifies this.

I was doing a historical tour in a local cemetery

to a small group of women.

One of the ladies was grabbing her phone in rapid succession.

And I stopped and I said, "Is there something wrong?"

And she goes, "No, my phone just keeps vibrating,

but there's nothing there."

I said, "OK, well, maybe we all need to start

taking some photographs."

I finished the tour, came back here, and the phone rang.

It was one of the girls from the tour and said,

"We have to come by and show you this photograph."

Behind the stone was a very ominous

figure.

The figure had a black hat, black coat,

pale-white face.

Saw this ominous figure that really

scared the out of me.

That really drove home the fact that this could be

a little bit dangerous.

I'm going into these cemeteries,

talking about these spirits, these people that have passed.

Are they following me back here?

What am I bringing home with me?

A former employee came to Michael and I

and related to us that she was a bit of clairvoyant.

We sat around the kitchen table, and she kind of just

went off and started telling us all these different things.

She was telling me about her past experiences

with a woman that she saw in the home.

Victorian dress with a tiny waist, long flowing...

When she mentioned the lady, I automatically knew

who she was talking about.

She did say that if we wanted to see her,

this lady would manifest herself to us.

As I approached the doorway here,

she stopped me and said, "Look, look over there, look."

Look over there,

and you'll see her.

Their former housekeeper reveals to them

that she has actually seen this spirit before.

And this is a very powerful moment where not only

can this housekeeper verify what Robert and Michael

are experiencing, she actually validates everything

that they've been experiencing.

And now that we can verify that there are

paranormal occurrences that are happening here,

the real question is, who is this woman?

What is her identity? And what is her motive

for trying to reach out or get in touch

with Robert and Michael?

This was my son's room.

He started to spend a lot of time in here,

and he didn't wanna come out, didn't wanna do very much,

and really started on his path of kind of a depression.

My son had a drug addiction and briefly got out of it

when he went to go live with my parents.

When he relapsed,

that was the end.

I always believed that

his depression and the dark feelings in that room,

whatever that energy was, really did affect my son.

One night I was watching TV.

There was nobody else here.

Look this way.

Look this way.

Michael?

Someone said, "Look this way."

Michael, is that you?

Look this way.

I froze.

I didn't know what to do.

She was looking at me as I didn't belong here.

Then she just disappeared.

It kind of grabbed me by the collar, screaming at me,

like you would if you were screaming at someone

but they couldn't hear you.

Whatever entity, spirit, whatever you wanna call it,

wanted to be left alone in there.

There was a feeling of, "You don't belong here."

Because of the fact that there seems to be

a disapproving nature coming from these spirits,

it tells me that there must be a deep connection to the space.

I don't think that it's somebody

from outside of the house, like the graveyard,

or maybe from a battlefield.

I actually think it might be more intimately connected

to the house itself.

After doing some research, I found out that the original

builders and owners of the house were

the family of the Dennisons in 1783.

And they built it as a very luxurious family-oriented home.

And it's quite possible that these spirits are

members of the Dennison family who don't realize

that they're not the owners of the house anymore.

And so from the perspective of the Dennisons,

it could appear as though Michael and Robert are

actually the intruders.

I stirred something up in here.

The experiences started to ramp up,

like a door was opened.

We weren't sure what to do.

I believe

there is one dominant spirit in this house.

That spirit allows the others to interact at its will.

We had some friends come over one evening.

They wanted to do

a little mini investigation.

They brought a spirit box.

A spirit box is a tool that paranormal investigators use

in trying to communicate with spirit.

It's essentially a radio that emits electromagnetic frequency

in which spirits can come in and try and speak through.

The belief is that spirit is made out of specific

energy frequencies, specifically electromagnetic frequency,

and so spirits can kind of use that energy

and communicate through the words or the songs

that are coming from radio stations.

It was definitely responding to questions,

but didn't make any sense.

To hear voices, the voices that are in this home,

coming through and-- and giving us messages.

I mean, these people are in this home, these spirits.

I mean, it just-- it was frightening to me.

It almost felt like the floor was collapsing.

That was a definitive moment for me because then I thought,

what are we doing here?

I have to live here.

While I'm talking about these stories,

I've noticed that the-- for me, the temperature of the room

has dropped.

I'm, like, I'm shivering right now,

I don't know if--

Yeah.

Yeah, we're... we're being watched.

I feel a little tensed sitting here right now,

knowing that they're probably around me.

Are you looking forward

to getting out of the house?

I think it's almost time.

I remembered something that happened

just before most of these incidences.

I was able to purchase a portrait of King George III.

I put it up over the fireplace.

I didn't really think about what I was actually doing.

To me, it's no coincidence that many of these paranormal

incidents begin to happen when Robert puts this portrait

of King George III on his mantle.

There's a layered history, of course, with this area,

with the Revolutionary War.

It's said that King George was a tyrant himself,

so the spirits could see that as a real offensive act.

So, I'm led to believe that it was the owners of the house,

that they were patriots, and they are offended

by Robert, who, by putting that portrait up,

is aligning himself with their enemies.

The things that happened in this house to me,

to Michael, to my son, to my daughter,

are all connected.

Could it be a vengeful spirit looking to seek out

that punishment on us?

Absolutely.

We loved this home as a couple,

but at the end, the spirit world got

their way with us, and they drove us out of this home.

We went our separate ways.

There were a lot of different reasons.

The reason I decided to leave here,

there was a lot of buildup to it.

Losing my son.

The relationship, um, between Michael and I,

um, being affected directly or indirectly

by what was happening here. I think perhaps that...

If we had--

done this someplace else,

there's a chance we could still be together.

Sometimes they do say that spirits do follow you.

Um, where I am now, I'm settled and I have not had any...

had any spiritual activity um, in my new location.

I've just finally kind of righted myself.

And this is the beginning.

Coming back here and talking about it

is part of the new beginning for me.

Before coming to Jaffrey,

I lived in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

I was a volunteer firefighter.

I also worked at a grain mill.

I ended up moving up to New Hampshire

with one of my girlfriends.

Relationships don't always work out, so I had to find

a place of my own.

That's when I ended up here.

It was old, from the 1700s.

It was just cute, it was small, and I was like,

"Yeah, this is all I need."

Looking at the price of the cottage,

it was strangely affordable, especially for New Hampshire.

I could totally afford it, but looking back at it,

that was probably a red flag.

Tawney Lewis, Dave Childers, take one.

My personal opinion when researching

the Dave Childers case,

I immediately thought, "Oh, my goodness,

"this can go so many ways, because it could be rooted

in so many different things."

But it all started when he first moved in the house.

Richard Estep, Dave Childers, take one.

It looked to me like a classic type of haunting,

with symptoms that I've seen a thousand times before.

It was only when we dig a little bit more deeply

into Dave's story that we learned there was

a tragedy at the heart of it all.

I had very little from the beginning.

But then I started to collect some antiques.

Stuff that some people might consider weird.

I've been interested in horror movies

and supernatural stuff basically my whole life.

And most of my friends, they're into the same thing

as I am.

But for me,

it was home.

What I didn't know was, while I was settling in,

things were about to get real unsettled.

I was laying in the bed.

Around 2, 3 o'clock in the morning, I get woken up.

You could tell whenever a person is staring at you.

You just-- the hair really stands up

on the back of your neck and you can just sense 'em.

Then I heard suddenly some knocking over here

in the closet.

Then I opened up the door...

Nothing, nothing in here at all.

As soon as I shut the closet door,

I'd lay back down, try to go back to sleep,

and next thing you know...

It was almost like something was playing

cat and mouse with me.

Finally, I was just worn out.

I had to get some rest,

but I tell you what, I did not cut the light.

I kept the lights on all night.

You move into a new house, and it's

an unfamiliar environment,

and it takes time not only for you to get

used to the house, but sometimes for it

to get used to you.

So Dave can be forgiven for thinking that he's being

watched when there's nobody else in the house.

But many paranormal investigators and sensitives

will tell you that the best ghost detector is

the human body. - He hears noises.

He feels like someone's watching him.

And all the spidey senses are starting to go off.

I went through this whole cottage,

trying to see exactly what it is.

Do I have any rodents in here?

"Do I have a chipmunk, squirrel, or something like that?"

But I never could find anything.

Soon after moving in, I started unpacking.

That's whenever I felt like someone was

staring over my shoulder.

Fire.

I thought it was maybe somebody outside

messing with me, maybe there were neighbors

that I've never seen before.

Maybe they have kids or something come over there,

and seeing the new person move in,

try to play pranks on 'em.

I'm starting to sort of get iffy about this location,

because there's no way some of the experiences

that I've had, that is something that is from this world.

As Dave starts to feel uneasy,

my first thought is, "Hey, maybe this is just

a classic fear response."

But, as a former firefighter, Dave has gone into

burning buildings many times.

He does not have the same fear threshold

that most people have.

It's unlikely that creaking doors are gonna unsettle

a man like that.

We need to look a little deeper for our explanation

as to what's going on.

Based off of everything that Dave is saying,

you know, the knocking, the noises,

I already know that this is going to start ramping up

and turn into something even bigger.

One day I was getting ready for work and my keys were

nowhere to be found.

What the hell is going on?

As I was checking for the keys, all of a sudden

a radio turns on.

Then my TV.

I was like, "This cannot be happening."

Now looking at electrical phenomena.

Electricity is something that spirits can manipulate

at their own will.

Sometimes they do it to make us aware of their presence.

The question is, who is doing the manipulating?

Is it something connected to Dave's belongings?

And these are the questions that I'm gonna try and answer.

Maybe it could be some of the stuff that I brought

into the cottage.

Some of these objects that I have could be drawing

in some, like, dark energy.

I have some old medical slides that I obtained

from a hospital.

So Dave is someone that likes to collect all sorts of things,

bizarre things, antiques, and that's fine.

There's tons of collectors in the world.

However, you have to be careful when being a collector

of antiques.

You could be bringing home something that might have

a spirit attached to it or just overall energy.

There are items in the world that might have

multiple spirits attached to it.

So if you're a collector, you really, really have

to pay attention.

I have a Ouija board that is pretty unique.

Only 13 of them made.

The creator of the Ouija board, Jeraldine Saunders,

her fiancé, Albert Dekker, died six years earlier.

He was found dead hanging in the shower

with needles in his arms and derogatory words written

on him in red lipstick, and they claimed it a suicide.

There may be a macabre story attached to the type of board

that Dave has in his house, but I think that that's

less significant simply than the fact that there is

a Ouija board in the house of any kind.

Ouija boards are pathways for spirits to not only

communicate with the living, but sometimes may act

as a conduit for them to enter our world.

The interesting thing about this property,

I did some research on it and found out there were

13 owners in the 1990s all the way up to now.

So that's like, OK, that went through a lot of owners.

There's got to be a reason why.

I saw a figure.

It was like she was sort of lost in a way.

She didn't know where to go.

I really do think that she was looking for something.

This is the area where I saw her

and she was pacing back and forth, back and forth.

And I mean, as soon as she got to this point,

she sort of stalled for a little bit and she kept

on pacing back and forth more and more.

And then she just eventually just disappeared.

When it comes to hauntings, you know, there is a lot trauma

with these spirits.

Some of them may not even know that they're dead.

And they're repeating the last thing that they knew to do,

which could be anything.

When I saw my landlord, I started talking to him

about some of the events that's done happen to me.

My landlord totally validated what I saw.

I saw a woman in older period clothing.

He saw the same thing.

Jaffrey used to be a milling town,

and the place where Dave lives was once a boarding house

for some of those milling workers.

This was a tough and unforgiving existence.

There was nothing in the way of healthcare, not the greatest

of sanitary conditions, an age in which people died

at a very young age and were often buried wherever they died,

in the close proximity.

It would not surprise me at all to see that this translated

into a haunting that Dave is now dealing with himself.

Oh, Jesus.

Fire.

Fire.

So I came in here to see exactly what was going on.

I mean, it was so hot, and this is what I found.

I know I didn't do it 'cause I don't even use

the last two burners.

I'm wondering how they got turned on.

It just don't make any sense to me.

It really doesn't.

Were not dealing with a sequence of random events here.

I think were looking at a sequence of interconnected

warnings, threats, and possibly hazards,

all of them directed at Dave.

The burner could have burned his house to the ground,

could have burned Dave to death if he was asleep

while that happened.

The fact that the spirit haunting his home has chosen

heat as its method of threatening him

may hold some significance.

I really felt like I was targeted.

I felt like something was trying to not just get

my attention, but try to make something fatal happen to me.

I've thought about it multiple times,

of just packing up my stuff, getting another place,

but I've got to try to figure this out for myself.

I really do think these boards are mostly,

you know, stereotyped because of the movies,

but on this occasion, all hell broke loose.

The easiest way to describe

why its not a good idea to use a Ouija board is

'cause you don't know who you're talking to.

It's like a phone call, just dialing any number

and saying who picks up.

Who are you?

I was hoping for validation to actually find out a name,

something where I can end the haunting.

Fire!

Fire!

Fire!

Fire.

Fire.

Fire.

Fire!

And that's when it was done.

Close the board out, I was done with it.

There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle that we have

to try and put together if we're to solve it.

Research shows that there were a series of fires in Jaffrey

in the late 1700s, which ripped through the town

and took a number of lives.

In 1793, those fires ripped through two of the town's

schoolhouses, which were there for the children of the people

that worked in the mill.

Is it possible the woman Dave has seen is in fact the mother

of one of those children?

If that is the case, one question still remains.

Why is she so angry at Dave?

I started connecting the stove incident

plus the schoolhouse being burnt down

and also me being an ex-firefighter,

I might be the target because the mother of the family

was mad at the firefighters because they weren't able

to get in there and save the family.

I mean, me being an ex-firefighter,

that sort of lines up.

You know, it really opened up my mind.

Fire!

That's a lot of trauma to go through.

Mother has lost their family.

It started tugging at my heart that she was lost

and she was going through all this and...

that's why I did the cleansing, because I really wanted

to move on and wanted her to be with her children.

And I really hope it works out for the best,

but in the back of my head, I really think this haunting

will continue.

When it comes to Dave Childers case,

I feel that this spirit is so angry with him

because Dave was a firefighter.

To me, this is a clear case of revenge.

This experience really taught me a lot about spirit

and how they can communicate

and be around you and actually make you acknowledge them.