What does one do when objects and furniture around the house start moving out of their own accord? What terrors do shaking walls and mysterious voices instill in our hearts? Things get darker when the attacks turn physical. From pinching to poking, the physical disturbances associated with poltergeists (German for “noisy ghosts”) are downright horrifying. Throughout history, countless cases of poltergeist hauntings arose. Out of the many, 5 stood out for their notoriously violent nature.
The Pontefract Poltergeist
The Black Monck of Pontefract poltergeist is believed to be the soul of a monk killed during the 16th century. In the 1970s, it haunted a family and is rightfully thought to be the most violent of all poltergeists in European history. Nicknamed Fred by the family, he would break objects around the house, smash eggs and leave behind puddles on the floor. He even physically assaulted the residents of the house. Diane, the 12-year old daughter, was carried up the stairs by the neck which left a handprint shaped bruise in its place. He even attempted to strangle Diane with an electric cable. Carol, the family’s neighbor, claims that he met and conversed with Fred. Apparently Fred stated that he loathed the residents of the house. The family moved out and Carol says that Fred promised to get rid of any inhabitants of the house within 12 months. He has not broken his word so far.
The South Shields Poltergeist
In the summer of 2006, the South Shields Poltergeist terrorized a family. From slamming doors and opening cabinets to stacking chairs, the poltergeist wreaked havoc in the home. Interestingly enough, this poltergeist fixated on children’s toys. The family noted several instances when they found items like a stuffed animal holding a box cutter and a rocking horse hanging from the ceiling. One night, the husband found 13 scratches on his back and a barrage of flying toys invaded the house. Moreover, the poltergeist would reportedly send threatening text messages to the couple and write threatening messages on a white board. When paranormal researchers arrived at the scene they confirmed the haunting. The family’s name was never released and their fate remains unknown.
Esther Cox’s Poltergeist
In 1878, Esther Cox who lived with two of her sisters and brother-in-law began to experience violent poltergeist hauntings. It began with disturbing sleep occurrences including loud bangs and her body swelling. Upon coming to investigate, the family found her blankets stuck to the walls, unable to remove. During one night, Dr Carritte, Esther’s physician, was observing her in her sleep when he noticed the pillow moving. All efforts to stop it were futile. The doctor then witnessed an invisible handle scribbling, “Ester Cox, you are mine to kill!” on the wall. Then the poltergeist started setting fires. Even when Esther left the house she was not safe as the poltergeist followed her to the local inn. There she was reportedly stabbed in the back by the poltergeist using the pocket knife of the innkeeper’s son.
Esther soon met Walter Hubbell who came up with the idea to make a show out of the poltergeist’s hauntings. However, the spirit only demonstrated its attacks offstage and never in front of an audience. After the failure of the show, Esther went off to work for Arthur Davidson, a court clerk. Not long after, Davidson’s barn was burned down and he blamed Esther for it. She was convicted of arson despite her attempts of convincing the judge of the poltergeist’s existence. Mysteriously, one day the poltergeist left Esther’s life and never reappeared.
The Enfield Poltergeist
The Enfield poltergeist haunting of Peggy Hodgson, a single mother of four, was notorious in 1977. One day her children complained that their beds were moving. Peggy disregarded that as childish imagination. Soon she witnessed drawers opening and closing on their own and objects moving across the room. Toys would fly around and turn increasingly hot to the touch. When she began hearing knocking on the walls, she moved out and called the police. The officer who arrived at the scene confirmed the hauntings. In the report, the kitchen chair moving was mentioned.
Apart from the Peggy and the officer, other witnesses confirmed the hauntings. Maurice Grosse from the Society for Psychical Research reports odd temperature changes, doors opening and closing and marbles flying at him. Grosse even claims that the poltergeist spoke to him through Peggy’s daughter Janet. Janet referred to herself as Bill, while possessed, and said a few years ago he died in the house from a brain hemorrhage. The hauntings stopped in 1978 as suddenly as they started and nothing supernatural was reported at the house after.
Thornton Health Poltergeist
A family in Thornton Health, England, was haunted by a violent poltergeist for four years. The torment started with their radio turning on during the night out of its own accord – surprisingly airing a foreign station. During Christmas, their tree began to shake violently sending an ornament flying across the room. Knocking on doors, swinging furniture and lights turning on and off were other observed phenomenon. The family soon called a medium who ascertained the haunting and said that the residing poltergeist was named Chatterton.
According to the medium, the poltergeist lived in the house long before the family moved in and now considered them as trespassers. Upon researching, they found a farmer called Chatterton who used to live in the house before. The family soon moved out.
Although physical attacks on the living is not popular among supernatural entities, there are a few that defy this phenomenon. These terrifying and violent poltergeists made it into history’s pages for their terrifying hauntings.