Fighting Malevolent Spirits: A Demonologist's Darkest Encounters

by Samantha E. Harris

  We scheduled a meeting with Betsy and her family for a few days later—April 23, 2010.

  Carl, Mike, and I all piled into the car and made the drive down to Novi, Michigan. It wasn’t unusual for us to sometimes experience weird physical and psychic symptoms that foreshadowed the visit. Surprisingly, all three of us began experiencing a headache before arriving at the house. In the back of my mind I felt we were “picking up” on the entity that awaited us at Betsy’s home.

  We pulled into the neighborhood and mentally prepared ourselves by blocking out any negativity. Betsy’s family lived in a friendly community surrounding the Novi area. There were lots of cars on the street and people were walking around; we then realized that it was prom night for many of the high school students in the neighborhood.

  We prayed in the car together, huddled in like a bunch of football players ready to take on the opponent. “God, please surround us with your protection and white light. Help us deliver this family from the evil they are experiencing and do not let anyone be harmed and do not let anything follow us. Thank you. Amen.”

  As we approached the house I noticed that there were several students outside watching us, interested in what we were doing. I always prided our group on being very discrete; we never arrived in a large van with lettering on the side that screams, “We’ll kick your ghost’s butt!” Little did I know that the kids already knew exactly why we were visiting Betsy’s house and a lot of the neighbors were fascinated with our paranormal endeavors. I smiled at them and followed the steps up to the house.

  Two large dogs confronted us at the door, barking and growling with their hackles standing rigid. I absolutely love dogs, and all animals for that matter, but I felt uncomfortable with this pair being so upset and aggressive. We commonly see animals that are very distressed and frightened when cohabiting in a house with a demonic spirit. Sometimes I feel that the demonic can influence the animal’s behavior as well. Thankfully, after our cleansings, the pets often return to normal and become very friendly and relaxed towards us.

  I asked the man behind the screen door if Betsy was there.

  “Yeah, come on in.” The man moved away from the entrance and welcomed us inside the house while he carted the two dogs away into the backyard. The metal screen door had chew holes ripped through it from the dogs.

  In almost every case I can immediately sense the dark presence in the house as soon as I walk in or prior to entering the home. I feel heaviness on my chest, pressure on my head, and sometimes my hearing begins to waver. The atmosphere seems dark and oppressed, as if lots of misery and depression resides there. The air is usually thicker and sometimes proves harder to breathe. On occasion, I also get the sensation of feeling “dirtier.”

  In the case of Betsy’s family, the piles of clothes and clutter in the bedrooms added to the oppressed feeling. Many demonic cases involve clients that participate in “hoarding” or unorganized practices, although Betsy’s family members were not hoarders. Keeping a clean home not only allows the energy to flow in a house more freely (i.e., feng shui), but your personal energy or aura is also cleaner and more functional. Many clients also tend to keep their houses extremely dark and don’t allow sunshine to enter their homes. There is a lot of power and positivity that radiates through natural light, so it’s important to integrate it inside your home by keeping your curtains open. The demonic seem to hate the light.

  The sun fought to seep through the window treatments in Betsy’s dimly lit house. I asked where I could place my supply bag and began pulling out my notepad and pen to take notes. The family nervously talked amongst themselves. I asked where they would like to meet to discuss things. The three of us soon settled into the living room with the family. I knew they were uneasy and understandably so—how terrifying it must have been to be plagued by such a malevolent force.

  I explained our backgrounds, what I specialized in and how many families we had helped. This seemed to make them more at ease. I think it’s very important to have a personal connection with each client and to relate to them as friends and family, not as some lab rat or opportunity for excitement.

  I explained that we dealt with a lot of cases in which the haunting was severe or physical. I asked if they were comfortable with us talking with them for a while to pinpoint some things and then we would move on to performing a cleansing for them.

  They all nodded in confirmation, even though I could tell they weren’t entirely sure how the process went. The family introduced themselves and I sensed they were a loving group with a strong bond—something that would help them greatly in a battle against the dark. I listened to their introductions, each taking turns: Collin, Betsy, John, Sarah, and ending at the corner of the room with Bryan.

  Bryan was the son who had been thrown across the room the day Betsy had contacted me. As the oldest son, he was nineteen years old, six feet two inches tall, and weighed about 300 pounds. He was not a lightweight and clearly could not be easily thrown. Although it was hard to visualize Bryan being lifted up and tossed by the entity, I believed the family and their accounts. Several family members witnessed the event and were horrified, each solemnly testifying to the incident. They said that Bryan had been standing, talking to his mother, when suddenly an unseen force lifted Bryan up from the floor and propelled him backwards a considerable distance.

  Betsy expressed that she was finally fed up with the severe haunting they were dealing with and began searching for paranormal investigation groups. After skimming through different Google searches she stumbled upon the Michigan Paranormal Research Association (M.P.R.A.). What drew her to us was that we offered “solutions to hauntings,” although she didn’t know what that might exactly entail. She was skeptical but was desperate enough to try almost anything to bring her family peace and protection—the entity had been following them for over ten years and counting.

  The family began sharing their experiences, trying to categorize a timeline of events. I was taking notes, trying to piece the puzzle together to figure out what attracted the entity to them. Once I discovered why the demon was welcomed in or drawn to an individual or family, it was easier for me to remove the haunting. And so as Betsy’s family talked, a very impressive and long history of paranormal events unfolded before me.

  The father, John, shared the history of the haunting, “We used to live in an old farmhouse outside of town before we moved in to this trailer. The previous owner’s husband was a real violent son of a bitch. I swear if you dug into the basement dirt you would probably find bodies down there. He was suspected of killing hippie women or something and was always in trouble with his alcoholism. He also used to abuse the mother-in-law that lived there with him,” John explained. “He was just a drunk hillbilly, but finally he died one day. Took him forever to die though! Karma served him right! He was T-boned by another car and it took him over twenty painful hours to kick the can!”

  I was not sure how John knew these details about the previous owner, but it seemed they knew the family well. Perhaps they were related. After the man’s death, Betsy’s family moved into the farmhouse and they began to experience strange events. Disfigured faces would appear in the kitchen window at night, the family would witness a “cat-size” black shadow that would crawl along the floorboards and ceiling, a colonial girl was seen in the closet wearing a traditional dress, and Betsy would overhear the phantom conversation between two unseen men in the living room. It was very overwhelming for the family, but they continued to live there and attempted to ignore the spirits until they were confronted.

  One day Bryan ventured into the back shed, looking for a shovel, when one of the old shed windows slammed shut on its own accord. Bryan heard movement behind him as though something was trying to ambush him inside the enclosure. Bryan made for the door and quickly stood underneath a nearby tree. He looked around and saw no animals that could have logically made the sounds, but Bryan knew in the back of his
mind what the source of the disturbance was—the entity.

  Bryan was scared but felt the need to stand his ground. After slowing his breathing a bit, he acknowledged the spirit out loud, “Well, if you’re so tough, show me what else you can do …” Before finishing his sentence and challenging the entity, a large tree limb snapped in half directly above him. Stunned, Bryan left the shovel and hurried inside the house. The mangled limb belonged to a living and healthy tree. I could not provide a rational explanation for how this incident was possible.

  The fear in Bryan’s eyes spoke volumes to me and I felt he was being honest about this story. Needless to say, Bryan would never go outside near the shed unless his brother accompanied him. He learned from that experience to never challenge or antagonize an entity. Thankfully, the incident didn’t leave Bryan physically hurt, but he was definitely shaken up.

  Bryan continued to explain that at night someone could be heard down in the basement tinkering away on something. Whoever heard the sounds would then realize they were home alone or that everyone was upstairs already. He theorized that it was the previous owner because he used to work on projects in the basement.

  Sometimes drawers would open on their own accord, sounds of metal—nails and washers—could be heard moving around. They also heard pounding and hammering. The basement was anything but vacant.

  While all of these odd occurrences were taking place, John, the father, wasn’t experiencing anything strange. It’s not uncommon for only a few family members to encounter a severe haunting and the other spouse or member to witness nothing. I call this “singular isolation.” This phenomenon will break down the family trust and bond, soon causing arguments and a negative atmosphere that dark energies thrive off of. John assumed the children were creating stories to receive attention and that his wife was playing into their games. There is always a rational explanation for everything, he thought to himself. However, he would soon witness the unexplainable.

  After enduring nearly nine years of disturbances in the farmhouse, and with their finances dwindling, the family moved. Following about a month of living in their new home, things began to happen again. The family’s hope sunk—they thought a haunting could only manifest at one house, and upon moving, they hoped it would be over with. They soon realized it had followed them to their latest home.

  I asked Betsy if she thought this was the same entity or spirit(s) from the farmhouse or if it was an entirely separate haunting. “I think it might be the same spirit. We started seeing that black blob or shadow again, which was identical to the one in the farmhouse.”

  I explained to Betsy that many families experiencing a demonic haunting assume that they can escape by moving and relocating to a new home; however, they are disheartened to find the entity is attached to them and follows them to their new house. I assured her that in order to get rid of a demonic entity, it must be removed—you cannot hide from it as it will prove to be pointless more often than not. As with any issue in life, you must confront your problems and not run from them, only then can you begin to take back control of your life. Betsy and her family seemed ready to finally rid themselves of this entity, once and for all.

  Interestingly enough, almost all of the paranormal incidents only occurred on the children’s side of the trailer. Betsy did witness unexplainable events in the children’s area so she knew the children weren’t fabricating anything. It didn’t matter what time of day or night, there was seemingly always activity. A lot of our cases would have the client waking up nightly at around 3:00 a.m. or in the wee hours of the morning to experience the haunting, however, for Betsy’s family, some of the most violent episodes happened during the daytime.

  The same week that Bryan was lifted off the floor, Bryan’s best friend Jeff had been visiting the house one day at about eleven or noon. He was punched in the stomach so hard the wind was knocked out of him. They found old skeleton keys in their new home that seemed to belong to the farmhouse. Soon a pile accumulated.

  The family relayed their stories to me in almost an immune tone, as if they had experienced so much terror they no longer showed emotions—it was their new normal. I would soon find out why the entire family was emotionally shut down and stonewalled.

  I felt that the dark entity lurking inside the home likely influenced the previous owner of the farmhouse and then attached itself to Betsy’s family once they moved in, but I wanted to check other possible sources. I began asking about the psychological and physical health of the family to see if some incident happened that enticed the demonic force. “Can you think of any problems you’ve experienced with substance abuse, alcoholism, sexual assault, depression, domestic violence, and so on?” After a long pause, the father, John, quietly stated that everyone in the family, aside from the youngest son, Collin, had been sexually or physically assaulted at some point in their lives. My heart sank and I told the family that I appreciated them sharing this with us, as painful as it might be to discuss. I discovered that they had not received counseling for their past traumas and I considered the abuse as a possible entryway for the demonic as well. The phrase “The demonic prey on the weak and the ill” has always stuck in my mind and is an accurate explanation for most of my cases.This entity was preying on victims.

  “My grandpa used to beat the living shit out of me and assaulted me when I was little,” John said. “I would try to defend myself, but I was too small. One day I was bigger than him, I grew up, and finally fought back.” John had tears in his eyes but shared his story with a sense of dignity. Betsy squeezed his hand to reassure and comfort him. This family clearly had been to hell and back.

  Betsy spoke up and began sharing her past as well. Betsy’s mother abandoned her in California when she was about fourteen years old, taking Betsy’s siblings and leaving Betsy to fend for herself. She got a job and enrolled in a self-defense class because Betsy was terrified that her trailer would be broken into and she wouldn’t be able to defend herself. Despite Betsy’s best efforts at a normal life, she soon battled a drug addiction, was sexually abused, and was swallowed by darkness and depression. Thankfully, years later she would recover and start a beautiful family of her own. She was a strong woman and knew the hardships of life but overcame them. Now the paranormal realm was biting at her heels. Betsy also shared that she had gone through several recent surgeries, lost her job, and that the family’s health, finances, and happiness were starting to deteriorate, all of which were very characteristic of a demonic haunting. They filed for bankruptcy.

  John and Betsy then moved on to explain Bryan’s history. “When Bryan was little, his best friend’s parents used to force him and his friend into performing theatrical plays, but the plays were sexual and perverse in nature. The parents would make them touch each other and do other horrible things. But, through all of that they still remained best friends for a long time.” Betsy paused to collect herself. By the time they wanted to press charges, it had been over seven years and the police said it was too long ago for them to do anything about it or to charge the parents.

  I couldn’t help but feel anger and sadness for Bryan. I really wanted him to experience that feeling of justice being served and that karma had paid forward his friend’s parents’ behavior, but there wasn’t anything I could do. Betsy explained, “We felt terrible when we found out. We had no idea that his friend’s parents were doing that. No idea.”

  I tried my best at reassuring Bryan, apologizing that such a traumatic thing had happened to him. I gave Bryan my deepest condolences and reminded him that it was not his fault. There are some really ugly people in this world. I was really proud of Bryan for wanting to press charges and coming forward about his experiences; that takes a lot of strength and courage. I explained to Bryan that I lacked that same courage to press charges after I was assaulted in high school, and that he should be proud for pursuing justice.

  There was so much pain in this house that I wanted to just sit
and sob for the family. I could feel their emotions and pain, so much so that at some points it became overwhelming for me; my eyes welled up and I had to choke back full tears while hearing their stories of suffering. The string of bad events and darkness in their lives could have easily attracted a demonic feature—perhaps there were multiple reasons for this haunting. The family continued with Bryan’s history of paranormal encounters. They amazed me with their strength and love.

  Ever since Bryan was little he had experienced paranormal events. He described seeing “rain people,” which sounded very similar to silhouettes of ghosts. They were very foggy in appearance and Bryan remembered that it almost looked like rain. He stated that you could “kind of see through them.” As Bryan got older he began having increasingly intense encounters with the paranormal. After the family moved into their new trailer, Bryan even considered that he might be going crazy, losing his sanity. Both he and his father recalled a time when Bryan was tormented for three full days—every body of water appeared to be thick, red blood. Whenever Bryan or his loved ones spoke, it sounded like wailing and thousands of tormented souls to Bryan.

  The family was baffled. Betsy took Bryan to have a psychological evaluation and found out that he was not suffering from any mental illness like schizophrenia, or any other catalytic disease associated with hallucinations. There was no valid medical explanation for what Bryan was experiencing. He would have uncontrollable bursts of anger—sheer rage—and he started to isolate himself more. Bryan would experience strange things on a daily basis and the family would experience events once a week or so. Things were escalating in the household.