Original subtitles

Narrator: In this world, there is real evil,

in the darkest shadows and in the most ordinary places.

These are the true stories

of the innocent and the unimaginable.

When Marcy wikoff senses an unnatural presence in her house,

her husband, Randy, attributes her fears to stress.

But over time, the fear grows,

and Marcy feels like a prisoner in her own home.

Randy watches helplessly

as an unknown invader tortures his wife.

But he can't fight what he can't see.

Between the world we see and the things we fear,

there are doors.

When they are opened...

Nightmares become reality.

Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

the heartland of North America

is filled with illusions of eternity...

Vast open spaces, endless skies,

and roads that seem to go on forever.

But for some,

thoughts of eternity are terrifying

and the open road is a road to nowhere.

Woman: Is it true, frank? Is it?

[ Police radio chatter ]

[ Sighs ]

Something's wrong. I'll be right back.

[ Door opens ]

Larry, what happened?

Hey, Randy. I didn't even realize you live here.

This guy came around the corner,

lost control, and struck that tree right there.

How bad is he hurt?

He's conscious, but the real question is whether or not

he sustained any type of massive trauma.

It's a heck of a way to start your morning.

I can't believe I didn't hear anything.

Marcy says I sleep like the dead,

but I should have heard something.

See you later.

[ Siren wailing ]

Marcy: Ma'am, I need you to calm down.

Can you give me that address?

Where are you?

Narrator: In the winter of 2003,

Marcy wikoff manages a police dispatch center

in bloomington, Illinois.

Adam 38, Adam 44.

Family disturbance involving children

in progress at 1234 west Washington.

White male, intoxicated and dangerous.

Rough day?

Just busy.

Narrator: Her husband, Randy,

is a detective in the same department.

Marcy: With both of us working in law enforcement,

it doubles the stress.

I worry about him.

I'm in a safe environment inside the building.

He's not. He's out there on the street.

How come you're fielding calls?

Judy's out sick. We needed an extra person on the phones.

Randy: As long as we've been together,

she's never worked a 40-hour week.

It's always 48, 50, 55, 60 hours.

I just worry about her stress levels.

Did you hear anything more about the accident?

Yeah, I talked to Larry at county an hour ago.

And? The guy didn't make it.

Apparently there were some complications,

something unexpected.

I was surprised and saddened

because I didn't think his injuries were that extreme.

Wish there was something we could have done.

Marcy: We felt horrible, terrible.

There was a guy that died in your front yard.

Narrator: For eight years, the couple's country home

has provided an escape from their stressful jobs.

Marcy: I loved coming home after work.

It was just so nice to come out here.

It was so quiet.

You didn't hear the traffic. You didn't hear any sirens.

It was great.

[ Music playing on television ]

Narrator: But there is one sound the couple misses...

The laughter of their son, Clint.

He recently joined the army national guard

and was deployed to the middle east.

Marcy: The day that he left, the phone quit ringing.

Nobody came over, and it was just, like, deserted,

there was no one here.

It almost felt like we'd had a funeral and he was gone.

Narrator: In his absence,

Marcy and Randy depend on each other more than ever.

Marcy: Randy and me have gotten along great from day one.

He's always been my best friend.

Oh, those guys have got it made.

Mercenaries, hangings, plagues...

What more could you want?

I meant the actors, not the characters.

Be nice to deal with a fictional crisis

for a change instead of real ones.

Mm-hmm.

That's all I want.

I have always told Randall,

if there's anything I ever want to do in my life before I die,

I want to ride a horse in a western.

I just think that would be the coolest thing.

Narrator: During the week,

Randy frequently works the graveyard shift.

Marcy is usually asleep before he gets home.

[ Footsteps approaching ]

Randy, is that you?

Randy?

Absolutely no one there.

I kind of just let it go.

"All right, this is my imagination."

I am a level-headed person.

I think things through.

I don't make snap, knee-jerk decisions,

and that comes from the line of work that I'm in.

Narrator: As winter breaks,

Marcy's stress at work and home only grows,

as does her concern for her son's safety.

It's been almost three weeks.

Marcy: Months before,

I was telling him what time he had to be home at night,

and now he's out defending our country with a gun.

You know he'll call or write when he can.

Here. This should cheer you up.

Start shooting in a few weeks.

That's only 20 minutes from here.

You know he wouldn't want you to worry like this.

It was the scariest thing for me to ever go through.

Every day, I would say a little prayer for that kid every day.

Randy!

What's the matter?

There was someone here!

Where?

Where are you going?!

Get my gun! Stay inside!

I mean, he was there, and he was gone just like that.

There's nobody here.

Are you sure you saw something?

Yes. I saw somebody standing right in front of me.

A split second later, he was gone.

Gone where? I don't know. I didn't see him leave.

I just saw him standing in the doorway.

Randy: The thing about Marcy is she's very grounded.

She's not taken towards big, imaginative things.

She's very here and now.

What did he look like?

He was tall, older.

I think he was wearing jeans.

"I want to believe you, but I don't have anything tangible

that supports what you're telling me."

Well, he's gone now, whoever it was.

Marcy: I knew deep down that there was something in here.

I knew it.

Narrator: Left with no other explanation,

Marcy considers the impossible.

Perhaps her house is haunted.

Marcy: You read about it. You see it on TV shows.

You see movies about it.

"Can this really be happening? Can this be?"

Narrator: In the spring of 2003,

Randy gets promoted to sergeant

and starts working even longer hours than before.

Marcy is nervous about being home alone.

Marcy: I'd stay at work.

I'd stay sometimes to 8:00, 9:00 at night.

That was not uncommon.

That way, I figured, "okay, I go home.

I'm only gonna be home by myself for a couple hours."

[ Telephone ringing ]

Hello?

Hi, mom.

Clint! How are you?

I'm good. Things are kind of crazy right now.

What's new with you guys?

Other than working too hard, we're okay.

I really miss you guys.

I really can't talk right now. We're on the move again.

I just wanted to call and let you know I'm doing okay.

Will you tell dad I called?

Of course.

I really love you guys.

We love you, too, so much.

Bye, mom.

Bye.

[ Telephone beeps ]

[ Gasps ]

All at once, I feel this air down the back of my neck.

There's not a window open. The air-conditioner is not on.

Nothing's running... No fans, nothing.

Get out of here!

I said, "I mean it. Go away.

"Get out of this house. We don't want you here.

Leave me alone. Leave me alone."

Narrator: Marcy forces herself to carry on.

Marcy: On one hand, I'm terrified.

On the other hand, this is my home,

and you're not gonna run me out of here.

[ Screams ]

I couldn't get out of that basement fast enough.

I didn't know if something was following me,

if something was chasing me.

I had no idea.

[ Dialing ]

Randy? Something is in this house.

Something touched me.

Who touched you?

I don't know. There's nobody here.

Randy: I don't know what you tell your wife

when she thinks there's an unknown presence in your house.

I don't know what the correct response for that is.

Marcy, are you all right?

Marcy?

Marcy, are you all right?

I'm fine.

Just get home as soon as you can, okay?

Okay.

Marcy: I was scared.

"Is somebody watching everything that I'm doing?"

You can't even explain to someone

how horrible that feeling is.

[ Siren wailing ]

Narrator: While Randy races home,

Marcy does everything she can think of to protect herself.

Marcy: I'm not going in that basement again.

That's out of the question.

But now what do you do?

How do you fight something you can't see?

If something's gonna come through the door,

I'm at least gonna hear it.

I didn't find anything down there.

I know what I felt.

Okay, then tell me.

I don't know what you're going through

unless you talk to me.

It was very frustrating for me,

'cause I can't explain to him how that felt.

You had to be here to believe it.

When I'm alone in this house,

I feel as though someone is standing right next to me

as close as I am to you right now.

How can I help?

I don't know!

Randy: But I never doubted that she felt what she said she felt.

But anything that I would say would just come off as empty.

It was real frustrating for me

because I'm used to fixing problems.

Narrator: The only time Marcy feels safe

is when she's not alone.

Man on television: Several days passed

with no word from the teenager.

Police, friends, and neighbors organized

a search of the area surrounding Micah's home.

Desperate for a lead...

Marcy: There's a blue mist right in front of my face.

I am awake.

I can see the TV in the background.

What is this mist?

What's wrong? What's wrong?

It's in here now.

It's gone now.

But there was a blue light in here a few seconds ago,

and I wasn't dreaming.

Why didn't you wake me up? It was gone too soon.

Now I don't feel safe in there, not even with him,

so nobody can protect me.

You start questioning yourself day in and day out.

You can drive yourself over the edge.

I was just a basket case all the time.

Because I wanted somebody to tell me, "it's okay.

It's all right."

I wasn't looking for a support group.

I just wanted to know this happened to someone else.

[ Tires screech ]

Man: You are nothing without me...

Both of you.

[ Footsteps approaching ]

[ Woman crying ]

Marcy: I see the guy in the white t-shirt again,

standing with two girls this time.

[ Gasps ]

He is just staring at me like, "you can't touch me."

You know, "I'm here."

I just saw a man push two women into the basement.

What? Stay here.

I think he thought, "oh, here we go again.

Now she's seeing things."

But he didn't say that.

He tried very hard to be supportive.

Narrator: Randy knows it's important

that Marcy get out of the house

so she doesn't dwell on her growing fear.

Randy: I was concerned that if this progression continued,

that it could cause her some actual tangible health problems.

Man: See that camera over there? It's got to be there.

You got to get rid of these cars.

Excuse me? How can I help you?

I'm looking for the director

or somebody who can tell me about being an extra.

Yeah, we need people. Right this way, sir.

Jim?

Man: Hold on a second.

All right, move this trailer.

Excuse me. Can you talk to this fellow, please?

Good morning, I'm sergeant wikoff.

Jim conover. Nice to meet you.

I read in the paper that you were looking for extras,

and my wife... it's always been her dream to be in a western.

And she could really use something like this about now.

Here. It's a card for my assistant.

You give her a call next week.

She'll set something up for both of you.

I really appreciate it.

Come on, let's go. We got to move that camera.

Narrator: One night, while Marcy's at work...

[ Screams ]

[ Screams ]

[ Screams ]

[ Screams ]

Randy: It was real. It was loud.

It was right on top of me. I wasn't alone.

This was what Marcy has been talking about.

I know what you mean now.

I could tell something was there,

even though I couldn't see it.

Marcy: Now we're on the same page.

Now he understands. Now he's gonna help me.

You think it has anything to do with the guy

who was killed in the motorcycle accident?

I mean, maybe it's him you've been seeing.

But what about the two women in the basement?

Who are they?

The whole thing really was crazy.

We were trying to put a name and a face to it,

and we don't have a clue.

Narrator: Marcy and Randy get out of the house

as often as possible.

They volunteer as extras in the filming of a local movie.

You must be the new extras.

Marcy: It gave me something to do

so I wasn't just worried about what was gonna happen next.

And you're both with the police department? Yes, that's right.

I used to be a private investigator for 14 years.

How did you get involved in this?

I didn't. My brother did. He's the director.

I'm just helping him out while he's filming.

So what do you do now?

I'm a full-time paranormal investigator.

Are you serious?

16 years.

Randy: For us to find him at that time in that way,

it just seemed extremely coincidental or lucky.

So, what does that mean, exactly?

I mean, what do you do?

Basically, I talk to spirits.

I know a lot of people don't believe in that,

but I try to help those that do.

Narrator: Rob conover has intervened

in hundreds of hauntings

since discovering his clairvoyant abilities.

I refer to myself as a reluctant astronaut

because I didn't want it, but I got it.

What would you say if I told you our house is haunted?

I'd say we just met,

and I don't see any reason for you to lie to me.

I keep seeing a man in my house.

Yeah, I sensed a heaviness about you.

Marcy: He goes, "you definitely have got some issues

"going on in your house.

You definitely have got some problems there."

Which floored me... How does he know this?

When I see him, he's standing there,

looking at me, staring at me.

Rob: Most people see spirits as they fade away.

And I knew then that this is gonna get worse,

because it's obvious he's there to scare her,

which means the more he gets away with it,

the more he's going to do.

The most important thing to do is to control your fear.

When a spirit comes into a house,

it will play on one person.

The fear of that person gives it energy.

I always tell people that if they're scared,

to pull out their Bible and recite the 23rd psalm.

Your brother's asking for you.

Here's my card. Gave me a call if you need help.

Rob: I don't push myself on people.

When they call me, it's because they're ready...

They're ready for me to be there.

Narrator: For weeks, Marcy has avoided being home alone.

But she can't stay away forever.

One night, while Randy is at work...

"The lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."

[ Water running ]

Randy?

I said, "that is it. I am done.

I'm through with you. You're leaving."

Rob, this is... This is Marcy wikoff.

[ Thunder rumbles ]

Rob, thanks so much for coming.

I know it's kind of nasty out there.

Yeah, the storm's gonna be here soon.

Rob: There's no preparation.

I don't know how the spirit is gonna react to me.

And I go in and I deal with it the way I did all my life...

one-on-one, face-to-face,

and not backing down.

First thing I need to do is kind of walk around

and see if I can locate the source of energy.

Marcy: I had no idea what to expect.

Okay.

I thought he'll come through the house,

say a couple things, and that will be the end of it.

That's not quite what happened.

[ Thunder rumbling ]

There's definitely someone here.

I felt the energy of the spirit,

and it was very, very strong.

He's hiding from me.

Is he doing that?

Yes.

Marcy: The power goes out.

That's when things started to happen.

[ Thunder crashes ]

Rob, I don't know that I can do this.

Marcy, you need to be strong.

Marcy: My heart was beating so fast,

and I was hoping that he knew what he was doing.

Let's go.

Rob: There's definitely someone here.

When I walk into an area and a spirit is present,

before I see the spirit, I get a feeling.

There's no pain.

It's just a cool electrical shock all over.

What are you doing here?

Who are you?

[ Gasps ] What's happening? You've got to stay calm.

Marcy: But I could see the blue and the light,

and I could see the outline of the figure.

I was scared to death.

Rob: He's here.

Woman: Is it true, frank?

Is it?

He's not alone.

Get back to the car, now!

Rob: I see spirits as they were when they passed away.

Are you okay?

I've seen people that were shot, stabbed,

people that were in bad car wrecks.

Now!

He's keeping them here.

Marcy: What?

Two women... He's keeping them here.

Where are they?

Who are you?

Talk to me.

What the hell was that?

There's no logical explanation.

He's just trying to scare us.

I wasn't afraid.

That put him on the defensive even more.

Narrator: Suddenly, Rob senses a tragedy

that took place nearly 60 years ago.

Is it true, frank?

Is it?

Answer me.

Is it?

I swear to god, if you ever lay a hand on my daughter, I'll...

You'll what?

[ Laughs ]

[ Tires screech ]

[ Tires screech ]

Rob: They don't belong here.

R-Rob, I want to leave.

It's okay.

There was a car crash.

What?

A car crash on this property.

It was a motorcycle accident on the front lawn

a few months ago.

This was decades ago, before there were houses here.

A man and two women were inside.

They died on this land.

It's not the house that's haunted.

It's the land.

Rob: Oftentimes when people die a sudden death,

they stay right there where they've died.

This man was afraid of going to hell.

He created his own self-imposed purgatory by staying here,

and he made the female spirits stay

because he was afraid of going through the light.

[ Crying ] Why are they here?

Because of you.

Your fear,

your vulnerability in times of stress feeds him,

makes him feel alive.

Are they gone?

Marcy: I literally thought, "what on earth?

"What if now we can't get it out of here?

What are we gonna do?"

The man is just gathering his strength.

I'll have to talk to all three of them

about crossing over...

make them understand

that they don't belong here anymore.

Narrator: Rob first must convince the female spirits

that they alone control their destiny.

I'm here to help you.

I know that you're afraid, but you are not alone.

He may have had power over you in life,

but he has no power over you in death.

He can't hold you here any longer.

He can't hold you here any longer!

No! Let them go!

The male spirit's demeanor changed

because suddenly he realized he was alone.

You need to go, too!

I want my house back!

She's not afraid of you anymore.

He began to ask me questions.

"Will I be punished? Will it be painful?"

And I told him, "I don't know,

"but it's up to you to face your judgment

like we all will have to."

I know that you're afraid of being judged

for the things that you've done in life,

but god's worst judgment

is better than the devil's punishments.

Our heavenly father,

we pray that you will accept this lost soul.

Give him the courage, oh lord, to find his way into the light.

We ask this in your holy name, amen!

I have helped three spirits go where they belong...

Two where they should have been all along

and one who may be facing a judgment right now.

I don't know what's on the other side of that light.

But I know he's where he's supposed to be.

Marcy: And as soon as he goes through the light,

our power pops back on.

The side of the doorway where he went through the light

was completely hot,

and the other side of the doorway was cool.

All this has gone away.

Rob, I want you to meet my son, Clint.

Nice to finally meet you.

I know your parents are glad to have you home.

It's good to be home, sir.

Your mother is quite the brave woman.

But now you've got to face the camera.

Your scene's coming up.

Thank you, Rob.

Randy: I don't profess or even have an interest in the paranormal,

but if somebody asks me,

I can look them in the eye and say,

"yeah, we had a problem, and we dealt with it."

Marcy: Now I know there's nothing wrong with me.

I'm okay.

If I can say one thing about this whole experience,

it's trust your inner self.

Trust your own judgment.

For an experience like this,

no one else understands unless you've been there.

It's something we lived through, and I'm glad it is over.

Narrator: The wikoffs continue to live in their house in bloomington,

but there have been no more supernatural occurrences.