Page 46 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

26 Ghosts and Phantoms

degree of telepathic affinity that a real ghost Bell Witch’s Cave
can appear. According to most accounts, the disturbances
A ghost, then, in Price’s theory, has noth- began one night in 1817 with mysterious rap-
ing to do with the “supernatural.” The appear- pings on the windows of the Bells’ cabin near
ance of a specter is an out-of-the-ordinary Clarksville, Tennessee. Twelve-year-old Eliza-
occurrence, a paranormal happening, but beth “Betsy” Bell began to complain of an
there is a “natural” cause for the manifestation invisible rat gnawing on her bedpost at night,
of the ghost. Once science determines just and the entire family, including the parents,
how the energy released by intense emotions John and Luce, experienced the midnight
is able to permeate the matter of wood, stone, confusion of having their covers pulled off
metal, and gems and just how the furnishings their beds.
of a room are able to absorb these vibrations, When the Bell family arose one morning,
it will be as easy to “dehaunt” a house as it is stones littered the floor of their front room and
to rid it of pests. Medical doctors have learned the furniture had been overturned. The chil-
to deal with the unseen world of viruses; dren, Betsy, John, Drewry, Joel, and Richard,
physicists have learned to work with such were goggle-eyed and spoke of ghosts and gob-
unseen lines of force as electricity; so may it be lins. John Bell lectured his family severely.
one day with the “psychic germs” that infect They would keep the problem to themselves.
haunted houses and the invisible field of force They didn’t want their family to become the
that dictates the mechanism of ghosts. subject for common and unsavory gossip.
That night, Richard was awakened by
something pulling his hair, raising his head
right off the pillow. Joel began screaming at
HAUNTINGS are in the minds of his brother’s plight, and from her room, Betsy
began howling that the gnawing rat had
persons sensitive enough to receive a kind of “echo” begun to pull her hair, too.

from the past. Most of the family awakened the next day
with sore scalps, and John Bell reversed his
decision. It was obvious that they needed help.
That day he would confide in James Johnson,
In the hauntings described in this chapter,
however, there were no psychical researchers their nearest neighbor and closest friend.
available who had the ability to negate the Johnson accompanied his friend to the
effect of the powerful psychic energies that cabin that evening. The tale that Bell told was
had been released by entities from other an incredible one, but Johnson knew that his
dimensions, spirits of the dead, or unconscious neighbor was not given to flights of fancy.
psychokinetic projections of the living. While he watched at Betsy’s bedside that
night, Johnson saw the young girl receive sev-
M Delving Deeper eral blows on the cheeks from an invisible
Bardens, Dennis. Ghosts and Hauntings. New York: antagonist. He adjured the spirit to stop in the
Ace Books, 1965. name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there was
Carrington, Hereward, and Nandor Fodor. Haunted no activity from the ghost for several minutes,
People. New York: New American Library, 1968. but then Betsy’s hair received a yank that
Fodor, Nandor. The Haunted Mind. New York: New brought a cry of pain from her lips. Again
American Library, 1968. Johnson adjured the evil spirit, and it released
Sitwell, Sacheverell. Poltergeists. New York: Universi- the girl’s hair.
ty Books, 1959. Johnson concluded that the spirit under-
Stevens, William Oliver. Unbidden Guests. New York: stood the human language and that Betsy was
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1957. the center of the haunting. He met with other
Tyrell, G. N. M. Apparitions. New York: Collier neighbors, and they decided to help the Bell
Books, 1963. family as best they could. A committee kept

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