Further reading for The Bell Witch
The Bell Witch by Brent Monahan
An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch by M. Ingram
The Bell Witch: The Full Account by Pat Fitzhugh
The Trickster and the Paranormal by George P. Hansen
Easily one of the most chilling stories in the haunted American landscape, the case of The Bell Witch continues to horrify as well as mystify fans and researchers of the paranormal and the occult (not to mention fans of stony doom metal and King Diamond, himself).
As the legend puts it, the Bell Witch haunting takes place between the years 1817 and 1821 along the Red River near Adams, Tennessee. It is likely the earliest known tale of an American poltergeist as the witch’s attacks seemed to center their activity on John Bell’s youngest daughter, Betsy, and on John Bell, himself, who would later fall mysteriously ill and die. Though, never explicitly called a poltergeist, as this wouldn’t come into paranormal nomenclature for some time to come, it matches a lot of the phenomena recorded in some of the more high profile poltergeist cases of moden times, like famous Enfield Poltergeist and the vicious attacks at Borley Rectory (rector? damn near gave her a job with pay and responsibilities the same as her male coworkers!).
According to numerous sources of the time, many by the same author and the author of the original “authenticate account” numerous phenomena were witnessed and experienced by people in and around the Bell family, including their slaves (fuck that shit, man). Phenomena not limited to, people being followed by black dogs far larger than they should have been, visible apparitions, objects being thrown, people being struck, and illnesses striking the family, proving to be untreatable and eventually killing those family members. So interested in these reports was then-president, the incredibly shitty Andrew Jackson, that he sent a delegation of representatives from the military to investigate and if the reports are true, their presence was so unwelcome that they were frightened off by the force that identified itself as The Witch. With the deaths of certain members of the Bell family, the Witch attacks eventually ceased and its memory became woven into the American antebellum folklore tradition.
Episode 427
Episode Link
