Fighting Malevolent Spirits: A Demonologist's Darkest Encounters

by Samantha E. Harris

  “My goodness! I was choking on my orange juice!” Lorraine exclaimed as she cleared her throat.

  “Oh my gosh! Are you okay now? I got so worried!” We laughed together a bit and I remember hearing her chickens clucking in the background—a woman after my own heart.

  I really appreciated her insight and the time she took to talk with me. We share a lot of the same opinions and theories on hauntings and her life experience is awe-inspiring.

  “The phone is always ringing! Every fifteen minutes!” Poor Lorraine was taking phone calls from strangers and colleagues constantly. She has dedicated her life to helping so many people and treading where others refuse to go. It was truly an honor to talk with her.

  I explained Clarissa’s case to her and how the blessing and deliverance had both failed. She explained that she would be in Toronto for a lecture in a month and suggested that I meet her for lunch. “Oh, Lorraine, I would be honored!” And so we planned to meet in Canada.

  But then I realized my passport was expired and I began scrambling to obtain an enhanced driver’s license that would allow me to cross the border by car without a passport. The Secretary of State clerk informed me that it would take over six weeks to get the ID in the mail. I paid for a “rush order” of the ID and prayed that it would arrive in time. Well, I could get into Canada easily … getting back into the U.S. without my passport or enhanced ID would be difficult.

  Weeks passed and nothing arrived in the mail. I grew anxious, fearing that I wouldn’t be able to attend my lunch with Lorraine. I had always wanted to meet her. She was one of the few people that I looked up to in this world. She had dealt with some of the most severe cases and her insight could help resolve Clarissa’s case. I informed Clarissa that I would be discussing matters with Lorraine in hopes of finding her a final solution. Until then, I had to continue to wait.

  One day I received a call from the owner and manager of the Holly Hotel. She asked me if I would be able to host an episode of Most Terrifying Places in America for the Travel Channel in the upcoming weeks. I happily agreed as I was very familiar with the history of the place and had numerous personal experiences while I was at the Holly Hotel. I would host annual “ghost hunts” at the Holly Hotel and lots of people witnessed the paranormal during their visits.

  As the days approached toward my meeting with Lorraine in Canada, I realized that my passport and enhanced ID would not arrive in the mail in time. I regretfully wrote a message to Lorraine informing her that I wouldn’t be able to attend our planned lunch and thanked her continuously for the generous offer. Lorraine made several recommendations on how to handle the case and the entity. Unfortunately, it became a moot point during this phase of the haunting as I had already tried everything she suggested. Lorraine didn’t know of any references for me in the Michigan area that I could contact for help. We were out of ideas and options. I felt as if I hit a brick wall. I now had to turn my focus back on Clarissa and to find her the help she needed.

  Despite facing a dead-end situation with Clarissa’s case, I still had an obligation to film with the Travel Channel that weekend. I was distracted while filming, as thoughts of Clarissa rolled around in my head and I constantly pondered, What do I do now? I wish sometimes that God would communicate with us via a large billboard sign that would clearly state how to handle dire situations like this. I just wanted to help but I didn’t know how.

  Clarissa emailed me in December of 2011 and we aimed to schedule an additional blessing after her birthday in January. Finally, a response and an estimated timeline! I asked her to send me some dates that would work for her and I would visit as soon as I heard back from her. By this time, the entity had killed their chinchilla, Chinchy, the dog’s health was in decline, and, of course, Clarissa had separated from Rick. It seemed as though the entity was succeeding in its mission to destroy the family’s life. Chomping at the bit, I was ready to perform a blessing again. But, I never heard back from Clarissa again. Nothing. That was it.

  In my deepest fears, I worried that Clarissa had given in to the entity, that she was struggling in the hospital, or that it finally took her life. I made relentless attempts to contact Clarissa, only to find no response or that the phone numbers were disconnected. I no longer knew her home address as she had moved into a new condominium, so I couldn’t drop by to check in on her.

  Clarissa and I shared a close enough connection that if she had been uncomfortable or unsure of the upcoming blessing in any way, she would have let me know. I couldn’t imagine her just blocking my number and ignoring my e-mails. What happened to her?

  Clarissa had been in and out of the hospital and I worried that her health took a turn for the worse. Maybe the entity was aware of my upcoming visit and decided to hurry its efforts. I searched through the Taylor obituaries and held my breath. I was grateful her name was absent from the list.

  I could have written an entire book about all of my successes with casting out demons and glorifying all the families I have helped; however, I wanted to share my failures as well. Although I would never seek to blame one person or one reason alone for a failed case, it’s important to acknowledge that the paranormal never goes according to plan. Hence, why it is considered “paranormal.”

  I always respect a client’s personal life and space, so I let them contact me on their own terms. I never want to be forceful or impose myself on a client. Throughout this case I always told Clarissa to contact me immediately if they needed help and, on occasion, I would check in with her on my own efforts. Perhaps I gave Clarissa too much space; maybe I should have been more pressing with her. Then again, I could drive myself nuts feeling that I “didn’t do enough.” I had contacted numerous churches, clergy, an exorcist, other demonologists, and I gave it my personal best shot.

  Clarissa’s communication was always irregular, sometimes months or years would pass until I heard from her, despite my best efforts at getting her to respond. If I ever heard back from Clarissa asking for a house blessing, I would visit her in a heartbeat and return to remove the entity with a vengeance. Perhaps I will hear from her again soon.

  Likely, Clarissa will always haunt my memories. I pray she and her family are finally at peace. As much as this chapter leaves you feeling unsatisfied and needing closure, I, too, feel disturbed by the lack of resolution.

  I apologize to my readers for dragging them into a chapter without an apparent ending, but there was much to learn from this story. Now we can ponder “what happened to Clarissa” together. This is the realistic side of the paranormal. Sometimes there is no answer or happily ever after ending. And that is something I still have a hard time accepting.

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  CHAPTER 7

  NEW BALTIMORE, MICHIGAN CASE

  In dealing with paranormal cases, not everything is as it seems. Taking a scientific and skeptical approach is important and sometimes there are rational explanations to be had. Now and then the “bizarre” is a product of the living and not an otherworldly experience.

  Josh was a retired engineer and a Vietnam veteran. He and his wife, Kathy, lived in a quaint condominium in New Baltimore, Michigan. In January of 2012 their case was forwarded on to me from another paranormal group. We were the seventh group to try to assist Kathy and Josh in their severe haunting. In addition to the previous paranormal teams, Kathy had also enlisted the help of two Catholic priests, one pastor, and a psychic. It seemed as though Kathy had exhausted every route possible to removing their haunting.

  I came into contact with Kathy through two individuals who desired to start their own paranormal team but were still in the start-up phase. Jason, the leader, was previously part of another paranormal group, and his new partner Matt was approximately nineteen years old and managed the networking and communications of their small group. They were eager to find cases, gather evidence, and dive into the world of the paranormal.

  I began receiving freque
nt contact from Matt, which eventually evolved into a short bought of stalking, full of daily phone calls and other socially awkward situations. I felt hesitant about how the case would continue to unfold. Matt proposed the concept of calling me every day after Christmas. He was a sweet soul but I felt I was being held hostage via my phone’s cell tower during our conversations. I insisted that the focus remain on the case and that I would handle it as soon as possible.

  “Well you can cross that off your bucket list, Sam. You officially have your first stalker!” Carl teased and I wasn’t appreciative. The paranormal brings all sorts of “weird” into your life—both the living and the dead. With my first mild stalking experience under my belt, I was put in contact with Kathy. However, the case was bound to become even more unusual.

  Matt and Jason worked with Kathy first, prior to my involvement in the case. Jason’s paranormal group had visited Kathy the evening of February 26 for an investigation and a cleansing ritual. Kathy welcomed the idea of their group blessing her home to remove the demonic entity after being stood up by several other groups. Prior to that evening, however, Jason received six phone calls and voicemails from Kathy’s phone. Apparently the messages consisted of Kathy telling Jason that she didn’t want the blessing performed and she no longer needed their help.

  Kathy claimed that she never remembered calling Jason. We later hypothesized that the demonic entity was mimicking Kathy’s voice and trying to prevent the blessing from ensuing.

  Entities had demonstrated this ability in other cases in which the demon disguised its voice as a family member’s, so it wasn’t that unreasonable of a possibility. Regardless of the phone calls and messages, Jason and his group still appeared at Kathy’s house that night.

  Jason had recruited the help of an individual named CJ who was experienced with demonic hauntings. CJ was an older man and oddly refused to answer any of Kathy’s questions during his visit.

  When she asked him if he thought there was more than one demon, he replied, “I don’t answer any questions.” Kathy found the response unusual, but she felt that they could help her and their blessing proceeded. Kathy watched the ritual through a TV monitor that displayed their security camera’s screens. The blessing was to take place in Kathy and Josh’s basement, where the demon was likely to reside.

  CJ enclosed himself inside a salt circle with symbols for protection as he commanded the demon to leave the house with his crucifix. As Kathy watched in horror, CJ was repeatedly pushed down by the entity. The salt circle didn’t seem to protect him from the demon. The ceremony lasted for about half an hour and finally the group determined that the entity had been cast out. After packing up their belongings they bid the family farewell and left.

  About a week later I received the initial phone call from Kathy and she felt that the demon was still present in the home. We talked for over an hour. “I first started seeing these balls of light floating around on the walls. Then they kind of turned into black masses.” I wrote down Kathy’s recollection of the light anomalies.

  I questioned whether Kathy was experiencing anything sacrilegious or dark in nature.

  “Yes. One night I woke up and saw a full demon staring at the cross above my bed, as if it hated the crucifix. It was about seven or eight feet tall, had green eyes and was wearing a black robe. I think it had a tail.” Kathy sounded terrified and although the account seemed extremely detailed for a brief experience I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps Kathy was dealing with a very powerful demon.

  As I went over the timeline of her haunting, I realized that her husband Josh had been diagnosed with cancer around the same time the haunting began. I explained to Kathy that demons are notorious for preying on the weak and the ill—unfortunately, being a cancer patient was a perfect opportunity for such an entity.

  I continued asking Kathy about the physical and visual experiences she had in order to get a better grasp on what type of entity she was dealing with. “Every day I see these black angel wings over our bed and they move. What do you think that is?” Kathy inquired.

  I explained to Kathy that, in theory, demons are fallen angels and some people report hearing or seeing strange wings. Perhaps she was seeing the demon’s wings. Her description puzzled me.

  Kathy also reported finding numbers scrawled on the kitchen floor and seeing a demonic figure at the bottom of the stair’s landing. She would find footprints leading from the backyard to her door and other prints inside her bedroom closet. In addition to these bizarre events, Kathy would find symbols burned into the grass in their backyard, some of which she recognized.

  More than five blessings had been performed on the house. If these other groups and ordained individuals couldn’t remove the entity, we would have to perform a very powerful blessing and really work with Josh and Kathy to remove the entity. I wasn’t sure if our blessing would make a difference, but we wanted to at least try to help.

  I called Mike and asked him if he was available during the upcoming weekend for a blessing on a severe case. By now, Mike had moved to Indiana with his girlfriend and it was difficult to find times when the three of us could all still work together. Eventually, we found a day where Carl, Mike, and I could get together. Mike had to travel over four hours just to get to my house and it was another two hours to Kathy’s home in New Baltimore, Michigan.

  Surprisingly, I got really good sleep the night before the blessing, and the entire week before we visited I was able to sleep peacefully. I actually found it a bit odd—why wasn’t the demon pestering me like all the other cases? Maybe it was reserving itself for a battle when we confronted it personally at Kathy’s house. Still, I was suspicious.

  As we pulled up to Josh and Kathy’s house, we didn’t experience any strange headaches or physical ailments. I remember thinking to myself this is also unusual … no one is being bothered by the entity. We approached the door and awaited Kathy’s reception after ringing the doorbell. I always enjoy seeing what our clients look like after talking on the phone with them for so long. Kathy was in her late sixties or early seventies, short hair, and a small frame. She greeted us and we gathered inside the living room to discuss their haunting and the upcoming blessing.

  She had remarkably taken a picture of the entity in her closet and showed us the photograph. Kathy handed me the camera with her frail hands. Her hands gently trembled. I looked over the image on the LCD screen and strained to see the demon that Kathy had captured. Carl, Mike, and I looked over the pictures of the footprints and the apparitions Kathy had photographed.

  As he scanned through the images, Carl gave me a sideways glance that I recognized. Something wasn’t adding up and Carl was the first to openly acknowledge it. We couldn’t find anything paranormal in the pictures.

  It wasn’t uncommon for people to send me pictures on my website or e-mail claiming they had captured images of ghosts or demons, only to find light reflections, dust, or nothing at all. Pareidolia or “matrixing” is the phenomena in which our brain “identifies” faces in inanimate objects or perceives an image or pattern to be significant when it is truly not. Hence, it’s why people believe they see faces in pictures of trees and leaves all the time. Our brains are wired to see faces, so it is hard for some people to realize that it isn’t paranormal.

  The three of us accepted there was nothing unusual in Kathy’s pictures but continued on with the investigation. Perhaps we would find our own compelling evidence or experiences.

  Kathy began giving us a tour of their home.

  “This is our bedroom and where I see the angel’s wings above our bed.” Kathy pointed.

  I was curious about the phenomenon and asked Kathy when she usually sees the wings appear.

  “They show up every day, usually around four or five o’clock,” she explained. I was shocked. Paranormal activity is rarely this frequent and reliable during a specific time of day. I was constantly learnin
g with each new case, but sometimes the incidents were almost unbelievable. Our tour continued and we headed towards the basement stairs.

  “This is where that one tall demon likes to stand. I can see it just faintly right now.” I stopped dead in my tracks and looked about the room to see the entity Kathy was witnessing. Kathy gestured towards where the demon was standing and I tried to open my sensitivities to perceive it. Despite my efforts, I could not see the demon. Kathy was disheartened to find that we didn’t see it, like the rest of the investigators who had come through before, and she continued showing us around the house. I had seen shadows and figures occasionally in my years of experience but never as easily as Kathy saw these entities. Perhaps she was very sensitive and had heightened abilities, but I had my doubts.

  We made our way into the basement and Kathy showed us the location where she could hear growling whenever she recited Psalms from the Bible out loud in the corner. As an experiment, we asked her to begin reading Psalms to see if we could witness the same reaction. I began recording with my digital voice recorder.

  Kathy willingly agreed and pulled out her worn Bible. As she began the verses, I closed my eyes and listened closely. I wanted to give Kathy our full attention during the tour before coming to a conclusion. Carl and Mike watched as we all awaited a response from the demon. Several minutes passed and Kathy finally finished reading the section in Psalms. She concluded that the entity must have been hiding. Sometimes entities did hide from us, so not receiving a response from the demon wasn’t that uncommon. We continued in the basement until Kathy caught us off guard.

  “Do you see its face? It’s right there!” she exclaimed. I hurried over to the corner that Kathy was standing by and looked to where she was pointing. “I see the outline of its face! Don’t you see it?!?” she shrieked.