328 Chase Street
Hui, Amy C.L.
For your reading leisure. This article was taken from 'Great Mysteries -
Ghosts'.
************************************************************************
The events at No 50 Berkeley Square, however, seem almost insignificant
compared to what went on for years at the home of Jack and Janet Smurl and
their four daughters. Devout Roman Catholics, they shared a warm, loving
family life, and when they moved into their new home at 328 Chase Street,
West Pittston, Pennsylvania, on the first day of October 1973, their
happiness seemed complete. The house stood in a quiet cul-de-sac, and in
the Smurls' eyes was an ideal place in which to bring up four young
children. They were soon to be proven horribly wrong.
It was in January 1974 that strange and terrifying things began to happen.
First, stains appeared on the living room carpet, and reappeared just as
fast as the Smurls could clean them up. Deep scratch marks appeared on
furniture. There were loud rapping sounds, as though someone was knocking
hard on the walls and ceilings, and from time to time a foul, inexplicable
stench pervaded the house. The telephone would ring, and go on ringing even
when receiver was lifted.
The phenomena continued in much the same vein for ten years. The Smurls,
depending on their faith, endured them stoically, concluding that they were
being put to the test by forces of evil. Then, early in 1985, those forces
launched an all-out offensive against the entire family.
First, the voices started - whispering, insidious voices that came from
nowhere, calling on the family members by name. Then the apparitions came,
shadowy figures that seemed to be wearing old-fashioned clothing. They
drifted through the rooms, always leaving behind a sense of chill
foreboding. They seemed to be smiling, but the smiles were sinister, as
though bearing a promise of worse to come.
There was worse to come. The Smurls began to subjected to savage physical
attacks out of nowhere, sometimes being knocked to the ground and dragged
around the room. Jack and Janet had hideous nightmares in which they were
subjected to sexual assaults by loathsome, corpse-like creatures. And the
attacks were not confined to the house; they occurred even when the family
was away on a camping holiday.
In the end, driven almost insane by horrors they were endured, the Smurls
enlisted the power of Church. A priest carried out an exorcism, but to no
avail. The hauntings went on, and only ceased when the Smurls abandoned the
house and fled to another part of Pennsylvania in 1987.
Why this particular family should have been subjected to such horrific
attacks, over such a long period of time, remains a mystery. But the house
at 328 Chase Street, like many others in West Pittston, was built over long
forgotten underground mine workings. Were the spectres that tormented the
Smurls associated in some way with an old mining disaster, where trapped
men gasped away their lives in terror, clutched by the freezing darkness
deep beneath the surface?
**********************************************************************
If I'm the Smurls, I'll get out of that dammed house at once. Who can
endure the horrifying activities for more than one day?
NytteMystt
>"Hui, Amy C.L." <amy...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
>For your reading leisure. This article was taken from 'Great Mysteries -
>Ghosts'.
*large snip*
>And the
>attacks were not confined to the house; they occurred even when the family
>was away on a camping holiday.
If these attacks occured even when the family left the house, and assumably
left the immediate area to go camping, why did the 'haunting' stop when they
went to another part of the state? It would seem as if, if the 'ghosts' had
'targeted' the Smurls for some reason, and followed them camping, they would
have also followed them to their new home......... at least, that is my
opinion, and you know what they say about those.........
Peace
NytteMystt
TriDelta1
*large snip*
I thought the same thing. But, maybe they just wanted them MOVED out of the
house and once they abandoned the house; the hauntings stopped.
Tracey
Tirinis
>If these attacks occured even when the family left the house, and assumably
>left the immediate area to go camping, why did the 'haunting' stop when they
>went to another part of the state? It would seem as if, if the 'ghosts' had
>'targeted' the Smurls for some reason, and followed them camping, they would
>have also followed them to their new home......... at least, that is my
>opinion, and you know what they say about those.........
>
>NytteMystt
>
OK, being from the area where all this stuff happened, I feel it is my duty to
clear up all these things that you are saying. Yes, the house was
haunted...yes the ghosts followed them when they went camping, but NO they did
not go away when they moved to Wilkes Barre. They moved 15 miles away down
south and as soon as they moved in thier new house, the hauntings continued. I
know this because I went to a lecture Ed and Lorraine Warren gave last week at
Penn State Worthington Campus. They talked about the Smurl case in depth
because of local interest.
Anyways, the ghosts did follow them to the new house. For a year they
continued to live with them in their new house. Then a man in Connecticut (I
think) who was about to be ordained a priest backed out, and moved to NYC and
opened up a religious book store. He read the book "The Haunted" and was
shocked that no action had ever been taken by the vatican. Somehow, he was
able to get their attention and a couple of months later, he and 2 other
priests went to the Smurl home and successfully exercised the demons from the
house. Lorraine said that this was the only time in history that the Vatican
was involved in an exorcism that totally freed the house from hauntings. Ever
since then, around 1992 I think, the Smurls continue to live in their house in
WB, PA.
Any other question, please feel free to post them here....I know quite a bit
about this case.
Later,
-----------------------------------------------------------------
John Chesna--MSTie #89324
My Cheesy HomePage |----"http://academic.uofs.edu/student/chesnaj2/"----|
Video Tape Tradin Page
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Kevin L. Wagner
So, was the book pretty much accurate in it's account of the haunting?
Karen
On 9 Mar 1998 19:25:21 GMT, tir...@aol.com (Tirinis) wrote:
>OK, being from the area where all this stuff happened, I feel it is my duty to
>clear up all these things that you are saying. Yes, the house was
>haunted...yes the ghosts followed them when they went camping, but NO they did
>not go away when they moved to Wilkes Barre. They moved 15 miles away down
>south and as soon as they moved in thier new house, the hauntings continued. I
>know this because I went to a lecture Ed and Lorraine Warren gave last week at
>Penn State Worthington Campus. They talked about the Smurl case in depth
>because of local interest.
>
>Anyways, the ghosts did follow them to the new house. For a year they
>continued to live with them in their new house. Then a man in Connecticut (I
>think) who was about to be ordained a priest backed out, and moved to NYC and
>opened up a religious book store. He read the book "The Haunted" and was
>shocked that no action had ever been taken by the vatican. Somehow, he was
>able to get their attention and a couple of months later, he and 2 other
>priests went to the Smurl home and successfully exercised the demons from the
>house. Lorraine said that this was the only time in history that the Vatican
>was involved in an exorcism that totally freed the house from hauntings. Ever
>since then, around 1992 I think, the Smurls continue to live in their house in
>WB, PA.
>
>Any other question, please feel free to post them here....I know quite a bit
>about this case.
>
I had wondered if the Smurl's were still plagued by ghosts. I saw
them on a talk show years ago, shortly before the made-for-TV movie
(The Haunted) premiered and they never really stated on the program
whether the problem ever recurred in their new location or not. They
only talk about the activity in their first house. So thanks for
clearing that up, Tirinis.
Also I heard a rumor that the original haunted duplex of the Smurl's
is no longer standing. Anyone know if it is still there or not?
Karen
email: remove the NOSPAMO from my address
Krickette of the undernet
Join us in the #Ghosts channel on the undernet
*..*^^* tHiNgS tHaT gO bUmP iN tHe nIgHt *^^*..*
http://www.pinn.net/~royaloak/Ghosts.htm
Tirinis
Well, I was in West Pittston about a month ago and drove past the house, and it
still stood then. Looks pretty run-down nowadays though.
Tirinis
>So, was the book pretty much accurate in it's account of the haunting?
>
>Kevin
>www.bgsu.edu/~kevinw/Amityville.html
>
really happened and is accurate.
Anonymous
On 8 Mar 1998, Hui, Amy C.L. wrote:
> **********************************************************************
> If I'm the Smurls, I'll get out of that dammed house at once. Who can
> endure the horrifying activities for more than one day?
Only one problem with that. You already said they were attacked even when
they were not home. What good would leaving do if you are followed. Not
only would you still be attacked, you would lose your home too.
*** Jamie ***
tabshyi...@gmail.com
> For your reading leisure. This article was taken from 'Great Mysteries -
> Ghosts'.
>
> was away on a camping holiday.
>
> enlisted the power of Church. A priest carried out an exorcism, but to no
> avail. The hauntings went on, and only ceased when the Smurls abandoned the
> house and fled to another part of Pennsylvania in 1987.
>
> Why this particular family should have been subjected to such horrific
> attacks, over such a long period of time, remains a mystery. But the house
> at 328 Chase Street, like many others in West Pittston, was built over long
> forgotten underground mine workings. Were the spectres that tormented the
> Smurls associated in some way with an old mining disaster, where trapped
> men gasped away their lives in terror, clutched by the freezing darkness
> deep beneath the surface?
>
> **********************************************************************