The President's Vampire: Strange-But-True Tales of the United States of America

by Robert Schneck

  If the Bye-Bye Man’s secret name is the essence of his power, then when someone learns that name, it may be equivalent to castration. Following this line of reasoning, the Bye-Bye Man’s blindness represents the loss of his masculinity, and Gloomsinger –made from eyes and tongues—acts as substitute genitals. They are artificial, though, and subject to decay, requiring regular restoration, which may reflect a degree of male insecurity. When the Bye-Bye Man locates someone who is thinking of his name, he kills them and incorporates the organs into Gloomsinger, thereby recovering his power/masculinity. He is, at least temporarily, whole. The idea of male genitals being separated from the body and acting independently is found in several North American Trickster tales and recalls the ameboid sperm produced by some invertebrates. (Instead of being propelled by whip-like flagella, they crawl along on pseudopods in search of the egg.)

  Was the Spirit of the Board’s story an expression of sexual anxieties felt by the young men? Prader Willi Syndrome prevents the onset of sexual maturity; perhaps the residents inspired some insecurity? Could the source have been resentment felt by a woman pressured into continuing with a project that frightened her? It’s possible, but it’s also possible that this theory is a combination of my own apprehensions and a desire to find a rationale for the Bye-Bye Man’s otherwise inexplicable behavior. Having taken that grain of salt we can now…

  Return to Algiers

  Algiers is the one indisputable fact in the whole story. If it sprang from the sitters’ subconscious, where did they learn about a relatively obscure district of New Orleans? The most likely source is the 1987 film, Angel Heart.

  Angel Heart was adapted from the William Hjorstberg novel, Falling Angel (1978). It tells the story of private detective Harold Angel, who has been hired by a wealthy and mysterious client named Louis Cyphre to find a singer suffering from amnesia. (For readers who collect coincidences, Harold Angel came from “A little place in Wisconsin you’ve never heard of. Just outside Madison.”(53)) Almost all of the novel’s action takes place in New York City, but the movie has Angel travel down to New Orleans, where he becomes involved with voodoo, black magic, and murder. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote: “His odyssey in Angel Heart takes him from New York to Algiers, La., a town across from New Orleans that makes the fleshpots of Bourbon Street look like Disneyland.“(54) The Algiers scenes were actually filmed in an abandoned plantation village called Laurel Valley Village in Thibodaux, Louisiana, which gives the impression that Algiers is a rural town.(55) This might explain why neither the sitters, the Spirit of the Board, nor Roger Ebert, seemed to know that it is a part of New Orleans. I watched Angel Heart before writing this and could not find any reference to it as a part of the city.

  These are just some of the sources that may have contributed to the Bye-Bye Man’s story; it contains nothing that requires paranormal involvement. Telepathy or other phenomena may have played a part—Eli saw suggestions of it during the séances—but psychic powers are not needed to explain where the story might have come from. This was not a laboratory experiment, so sitters talked about the messages they were getting, speculated freely, and may have been engaged in a “process of joint imaginative creation” that was expressed through the board.(56) With regard to Katherine and John’s experiences, however, the way the story was created may be less important than the effect it had once it existed. Did it frighten them into believing an attack of tinnitus and a vivid dream were supernatural? Or could the story itself have led to paranormal manifestations?

  In the discussion of demons, it was suggested that the combination of the Bye-Bye Man story and the “if you think about him…” formula might have acted as a kind of mental invocation. What if the same method produced results without the intervention of invisible entities? We’ve discussed two explanations for the sitters’ experiences so far, one based on spirits and the other on the human mind. What if “spirits” in the sense of paranormal manifestations were not a separate phenomenon, but one that originated with the participants themselves?

  What if it was a manifestation of the “Philip Effect”?

  The Imaginary Ghost

  In 1972, the Society for Psychical Research in Toronto conducted an experiment that attempted to answer three questions: could séance phenomena be created in full light, are these phenomena produced by living people or disembodied spirits, and is a medium necessary for phenomena to occur? None of the eight participants considered themselves especially psychic or showed evidence of being a medium,(57) and they tried to answer these questions by creating a ghost of their own, an imaginary historical figure named Philip. Members of the society gave him a tragic and romantic background, similar to the legends associated with traditional ghosts.

  They decided that “Philip was an aristocratic Englishman living in the middle 1600s at the time of Oliver Cromwell. He had been a supporter of the king and was a Catholic. He was married to a beautiful but cold and frigid wife, Dorothea, the daughter of a neighboring nobleman. One day, when out riding the boundaries of his estates, Philip came across a gypsy encampment and saw there a beautiful dark-eyed, raven-haired gypsy girl, Margo, and fell instantly in love with her.

  “He brought her back secretly to live in the gatehouse near the stables of Diddington Manor —his family home. For some time he kept his love nest secret, but eventually Dorothea, realizing he was keeping someone else there, found Margo, and accused her of witchcraft and of stealing her husband. Philip was too scared of losing his reputation and his possessions to protest at the trial of Margo, and she was convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Philip subsequently was stricken with remorse that he had not tried to defend Margo and use [sic] to pace the battlements of Diddington in despair. Finally, one morning his body was found at the foot of the battlements where he had cast himself in a fit of agony and remorse.“(58)

  The story was a mixture of fact and fiction with errors deliberately included to emphasize Philip’s fictitious nature. There is, for instance, no record of a young, noble couple named Philip and Dorothea ever living at Diddington Manor, which is a real place. Also, English witches were normally hanged, not burned at the stake.

  The society met once a week to work on their ghost. They would discuss Philip, talk about his life, interests, and how he would act in different situations. One member drew a portrait of him as a handsome young man with a beard. Sitting in a circle, the group would meditate on the drawing, trying to create a vivid picture of Philip in their minds that might turn into a visible apparition. Nothing significant happened, however, until the fall of 1973, when the group changed their approach. British parapsychologists Kenneth Batcheldor and Colin Brookes-Smith had been studying séance phenomena and recommended creating an “atmosphere of jollity and relaxation,” so the members began sitting around a table, singing silly songs, eating candy, telling jokes, and addressing the table directly as Philip. (59)

  Rosemary Ellen Guiley described the results of their experiment in her Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experiences: “After the Owen group [Dr. A.R.G. Owen, director of the project] conducted several sessions, the table began to vibrate, resound with raps and knocks, and move seemingly of its own accord. Philip then began to communicate by rapping in response to questions.

  “Philip answered questions consistent with his fictitious history, but could produce nothing beyond what the group had conceived. Philip also gave historically accurate information concerning real events and people. The Owen group theorized this material came from their own collective unconscious.

  “Sessions with Philip continued for several years. A levitation and movement of the table were recorded on film in 1974. Efforts to capture Philip’s voice on tape were inconclusive. Members of the group thought whispers were made in response to questions…”(60)

  They never succeeded in producing a visible apparition, and neither did other groups that used the same methods to create “ghosts” like “Lilith,” a French-Canadian spy executed in France duri
ng World War II; “Axel,” a man from the future; “Santa Claus”, “Silk the Dolphin”, and others.

  If these results have been accurately reported, then people willing to accept propositions they know to be untrue can produce paranormal phenomena under certain conditions. This has profound implications for science, religion, and the occult, and makes an interesting comparison to the theories advanced by Fred Beck. (See “The Devil’s Militia.”) Could the situation in Wisconsin, though produced accidentally, have generated the Bye-Bye Man? There are similarities between the two groups but also important differences, and these may explain the varying results.

  The Toronto society set out to answer definite questions, and their results reflect this deliberate approach, producing phenomena that were consistent, long-lasting, repeatable, and limited. Philip was also approached cautiously, with steps taken to “contain” the project.

  “The group always met in one particular room which was designated as ‘Philip’s room,’ and not used for any other purpose. It had been agreed that if any kind of manifestation of Philip’s presence was obtained, he should be confined to one room. There was a specific reason for all this. Until it was known in what form his manifestation might occur, it was felt safer to ensure that this only occurred when the group was together.“(61) The room also contained pictures of Diddington Manor and period objects like books, documents, pictures, and fencing foils. (Philip loved fencing.) Manifestations were eventually produced in other places, but only through a group effort; they never occurred spontaneously or to sitters who were by themselves.

  The artificial ghosts were also placed outside the sitter’s time. Philip, Lilith, and Axel were either dead or had not yet been born and, as “spirits,” could not be expected to appear outside of the séance room. Furthermore, they were all benign characters, so if any phenomena did happen to “leak “ out, they would probably reflect this. The sitters had placed at least four lines of defense between themselves and their creations: the ghosts were self-evidently imaginary, their fictional lives were over or had not yet begun, they had harmless personalities, and their ability to produce phenomena depended on the presence of the group.

  As for those who took part, Dr. Owen said of them: “The members of the group are regarded as perfectly normal people, or as normal as people can actually be.”(62) Their willingness and ability to take part in a long-term project also points to stable personal lives and careers.

  In Wisconsin, the situation was very different. The sitters were looking for evidence of telepathy or verifiable spirit communication through casual experiments with a Ouija board; it was an impromptu arrangement that produced unforeseen results.

  Unlike Philip, the sitters had not deliberately created the Bye-Bye Man. There was no attempt to create a vivid mental picture or contact him directly or produce manifestations. In fact, the séances ended almost immediately after the story emerged. Why then did Katherine and John, despite comparatively small investments in time and emotion, describe phenomena that were more dramatic than those connected with Philip?

  There aren’t many rules that can be applied to strange phenomena, except perhaps that you run out of film right before something interesting happens. Certain elements and conditions, however, seem to be associated with the paranormal and when these are present, manifestations may be more dramatic, if short-lived and unreliable, than those seen in Toronto.

  Spontaneity is one of them. Impressive phenomena rarely occur under controlled conditions, and while there are exceptions (remote-viewing claims to be one), it is normally the difference between a parapsychologist detecting blips of telekinesis with statistical analysis and a poltergeist flinging furniture through the air. The Bye-Bye Man, like the poltergeist, appeared spontaneously.

  Emotion is another element. The most useful one for generating séance-type phenomena seems to be “jollity” when experienced by the sitters, but powerful emotions like passion, guilt, and desire are traditionally associated with ghosts and played an important part in Philip’s fictional biography. What if, instead of “Philip” the romantic knight, the Toronto group had tried to create “Phil,” a happily married grocer who liked crossword puzzles and died in his sleep? Would it have worked? In contrast with the powerful but artificial emotions used in Philip, the Bye-Bye Man was created against a backdrop of genuine fear, dislocation, and sexual tension.

  Emotional Impact?

  Fear is an important element in this account. John and Eli shared a fascination with it, while Katherine was subject to panic attacks. Did the possibility of actually confronting their creation face to face, in an uncontrolled situation, create an element of fear that was absent in the Philip experiment, and produce results that Philip could not?

  The Bye-Bye Man, after all, was not consciously created and his existence could not be disproved. He claimed to be a living being, not a disembodied spirit, and was threatening to kill and mutilate the sitters. Even if the group believed the story came from their subconscious, there may be a corner of our brains, some convolution inherited from millions of years of bug-eating, tree-dwelling ancestors, that regards all threats as real.

  Danger creates intense feelings and may have produced manifestations without the conscious effort required by Philip. When seemingly paranormal phenomena occurred, however, John’s experience was more elaborate and frightening than Katherine’s and that may have been due to other factors in his life.

  John was in a state of transition. He had just dropped out of college, worked as a dishwasher, lived in boarding houses, and was not in a relationship; in almost every respect, he was adrift in “the gap between old and new.”(63)

  People making the change from old to new, especially those experiencing important milestones like birth, puberty, marriage, and death are traditionally believed to be vulnerable to supernatural forces. Countless rituals have been devised to keep them safe while the change is occurring and to help complete the process. While John was not going through one of the recognized transitions, it was a stressful, ill-defined period that may have intensified his experience with the Bye-Bye Man. Katherine’s comparatively stable life may, in contrast, have moderated hers.

  The classic connection between a state of transition and unexplained phenomena is the pubescent child, usually a girl, found at the center of so many poltergeist cases. There are many other examples, but the apparent relationship between transformation and the paranormal may even apply to physical space. “In-between” spots—places that exist to be passed through, like stairways, doorways, and windows—are frequently associated with strange phenomena. John and Katherine’s experiences, for instance, involved a bridge and hallway. The effect is even seen in buildings undergoing renovations, when places with no reputation for ghosts become the scene of spooky goings-on, while previously haunted spots see their ghosts vanish for good. Either way, it’s usually blamed on “disturbing the spirits.”

  One more complicated (and complicating) emotion may have been a by-product of the séances themselves. When the board began producing messages, the trio fell into specific roles: Eli devised experiments and motivated the sitters, while Katherine acted as medium, but only in combination with John, whose part was essential but difficult to define. The pair seemed to be attuned to the paranormal and each other in a way that Eli was not. It suggests there was a rapport between them; there certainly was an attraction.

  Using a Ouija board requires a great deal of time spent in intimate physical contact, with glances and pheromones being exchanged over the planchette, and it was not long after the events described here that Eli and Katherine separated and she began seeing John.

  While there’s nothing unusual about a break-up, the paranormal seems to stimulate irrational lust the way it does irrational fear. It may not be a coincidence that the Greek god of the wild and primitive, Pan, caused “pan-ic” and was depicted in a state of chronic physical excitement. According to a friend who investigates haunted houses, the people who ask for help f
requently display inappropriate, and seemingly uncharacteristic, forwardness towards investigators. There’s no way of knowing if this played a part in John and Katherine’s mutual attraction, but sex and guilt were added to the already overheated atmosphere of the séance room.

  In contrast to the complicated emotions and casual approach seen in Wisconsin, the Toronto Society was cool and systematic. They developed techniques for creating a limited number of repeatable, verifiable phenomena, while keeping potentially disruptive elements under control and insulating the participants against unforeseen results. Several of these disruptive elements were present with the Bye-Bye Man and none of the safeguards, which may have resulted in phenomena that were dramatic, but also ephemeral and subjective. Eli stood next to Katherine on the railroad bridge and heard nothing, while John’s experience might have been a dream.

  But what if he was awake? And what if John’s account of what happened that night is accurate?

  Other Artificial Entities

  The American Academy of Science recognizes parapsychology as a science, and Philip was a scientific experiment carried out by a group of researchers. But what if they had called themselves a coven, and described what they were doing as magic? It probably would have had similar results. Spiritualists, sorcerers, and parapsychologists may differ in their assumptions about what’s being done and why, but they share a common goal—acquiring some degree of control over paranormal phenomena. Mystics of every description have been working on the problem for millennia.

  Some have regarded occult powers as a side issue in the pursuit of higher spiritual development, while others were interested in the tangible benefits of wealth, influence, love, and revenge. Numerous theories were needed to make the magical/paranormal comprehensible and provide a framework within which the operator could achieve results. Among the concepts are two that may help us understand the Bye-Bye Man: the “thought-form” and the “artificial elemental.”