The Sinister Case of the Bell Witch

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The story begins in 1804, with the scene set by a humble farmer by the name of John William Bell and his wife Lucy, who moved into a swath of rural land out in Robertson County in northern Tennessee, in what was then called Red River and would go on to become the area of the town of Adams, and where they worked the land as their family grew to include eight children. It was a simple but peaceful life, and for years this family lived out on their isolated farm with no intrusions or incidents. However, in 1817 the first signs of what would become one of the most-well known and frightening hauntings ever would begin to emerge from some dark, unknown place, to creep out from the fringe into the solitude of this happy family and change their lives forever more.

Perhaps the first sign that something was not quite right on the farm began with a strange creature sighted stalking about by John as he was out walking about the property one evening and saw what he would describe as a large, dog-like creature with a rabbit’s head skulking about in the shadows. The startled John apparently fired at this strange intruder, but rather than killing it the thing just vanished into nothing. In the coming days one of the Bell’s slaves would also claim to see a massive black hound on the land, even following him about, and other apparitions began to be sighted as well, such as a creepy giant bird sighted by John’s son, Drew, and the spectral form of a girl dressed in green, seen swinging from a tree branch by their daughter Elizabeth, often nicknamed Betsy.

This would have already been quite unsettling enough, but things would intensify as their farmhouse began to be besieged by unexplained phenomena from realms unknown. As with many hauntings the occurrences started out rather innocuous, such as anomalous noises, strange thuds and bangs in the night, but there were also decidedly more menacing things heard in the late night hours, such as the sounds of something gnawing or scratching at the walls and door, and also what sounded like shifting, rattling chains. There would also be the sound of a disembodied woman’s voice singing or laughing. This would all gradually escalate, with the disturbances gaining volume and intensity, snowballing into something truly unusual and often keeping the family awake through the night, before graduating into something even more terrifying.

The apparent haunting began to manifest itself in more concrete, physical ways, with blankets pulled off beds, objects moved or knocked over, sometimes with violent and irresistible force, utensils slapped out of hands, food pulled from mouths, food spilled on the kitchen floor, and most disturbing of all, physical assaults on the family members. It began mostly as pushes, prods, and pinches, but quickly got out of hand when the unseen entity began slapping, punching, pulling hair, and scratching, often with such force that it would leave welts, bruises, and scratches. Although most of the family members were targeted, it seemed like little Betsy received the worst of the entity’s wrath, routinely suffering injuries and on one occasion she was even stuck with pins by the malevolent force. The only one the spirit seemed to leave alone was Lucy Bell, who it remained indifferent or even seemingly friendly towards at times.

While at first John Bell tried to keep this all within the family, and shunned the idea of telling anyone else about their ordeal, the attacks and ghostly phenomena got so relentless and threatening that he eventually reached out to others for help. One of the first people he approached with his dilemma was a neighbor by the name of James Johnston, who allegedly witnessed many of the phenomena first hand. It was Johnston who surmised that the entity was actually intelligent and could speak if prompted to do so. Indeed, the ghost would become known for talking to both the family and visitors alike, and it was soon after this that the mysterious wraith would properly introduce itself.