WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:05.679 In the spring of nineteen eighty six, Allen and Debbie 2 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.679 Tallman moved in with their three young children into a 3 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:12.839 modest ranch house on South Larrabee Street in Horicon, Wisconsin. 4 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:16.760 The house was new, it had been built in nineteen 5 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.559 eighty four, although it's worth noting that being nwe did 6 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:22.239 not mean it wouldn't come with problems, and no, I'm 7 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:26.280 not talking about the faults and the home inspection. For 8 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:29.320 a while, life was ordinary and it was expected. They 9 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.520 were living in a small Midwestern town after all. But 10 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.399 all of that was going to change. They were still 11 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:37.880 furnishing their home, so Allan and Debbie went to a 12 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:40.560 local furniture shop in Horicon and found a set of 13 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:44.560 bunk beds perfect for their two younger daughters. So they 14 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:47.399 paid the second hand shop one hundred dollars and took 15 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:50.520 it home. They took it straight to the basemind and 16 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:53.119 stared it there before putting it together and then taking 17 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:57.039 it upstairs. Eventually they got them into their daughter's bedrooms, 18 00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:59.920 but when they started sleeping in them, the first signs 19 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:04.159 of trouble began. Soon after the bunk bed was moved 20 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:08.400 into place, the children began experiencing health problems. They visited 21 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:11.519 doctors more than usual, and one of them was hospitalized 22 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:15.959 twice for illnesses that seemed unrelated to one another. At 23 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.319 the same time, one of them was telling her parents 24 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:21.200 that she kept hearing a strange voice telling her to 25 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:26.480 be quiet at night. Danny, the oldest of three, claimed 26 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.519 he saw a suitcase slide across the floor on its 27 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:33.760 own before returning to where it had been. Allan and 28 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:36.040 Debby assumed that these were the kinds of things children 29 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:40.760 might imagine, but the events continued, the children's fear grew, 30 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:43.480 and their stories were told with a consistency that was 31 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:47.640 hard to dismiss. Over the weeks that followed, what began 32 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:51.599 as strange noises and shifting objects would developed into something 33 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:55.319 far more disturbing, marking the beginning of one of the 34 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:01.799 most unusual hauntings ever reported in Wisconsin. Now, I came 35 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.959 across this story in an old episode of Unsolved Mysteries, 36 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.599 and although it was a very short segment, it still 37 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:12.159 brought a long lasting type of fear of objects, things 38 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:14.759 that don't move, that don't have a life of their own. 39 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:18.039 I'm going to tell you the infamous tale of the tall, 40 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:24.080 mean bunk bed incident. My name is Edwin and here's 41 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:33.000 a horror story. It was late May of nineteen eighty 42 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:35.639 seven when the bed was moved into the children's room. 43 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:38.199 The arrangement was that the two girls would share the 44 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:40.719 bunk beds and their oldest, a boy, would have his 45 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:45.000 own room. The first incident came from the oldest son, Danny, 46 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:47.159 who was sleeping in the room next to the bunk 47 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:50.400 bed when he saw the clock radios dial moved by 48 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:54.919 itself from one side to the other. He told his parents, 49 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:58.159 but they were like, no, that can't happen. But still 50 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:01.080 the mom, Debbie, thought that it was interference, so she 51 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:04.120 went and took a look. That's when she saw that 52 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.520 the knob was turning by itself and the red signal 53 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:11.960 indicator was moving across a frequency bar. She found it 54 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:13.919 really odd and took the radio out of the room. 55 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.800 A few weeks later, mister Allan Tallman was painting in 56 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:21.960 the basement when Debbie called him up for dinner. He 57 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:24.560 laid the brush down and went upstairs. But when he 58 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:27.599 went back down to the basement he found the brush 59 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:31.759 he had been using bristles down in the paint. Now 60 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:33.680 he would have never left it like that, so he 61 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:37.120 tried to explain it to himself, but still couldn't. And 62 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:39.319 yet he didn't want to even begin to think that 63 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:43.520 his house was haunted. At first, Allan and Debbie try 64 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:46.319 to calm themselves and the children down by suggesting that 65 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:50.360 they were only dreaming or imagining things, but the consistency 66 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.319 of it became harder to dismiss. Two of the children 67 00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:59.360 spoke of similar events, often separately, but their fear was real, 68 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:03.599 and as parents, they were aware of it. In interviews, 69 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:05.960 Debbie said that their two year old daughter had woken 70 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:09.240 up screaming several times, saying that there was a fire 71 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:14.840 on the door of her room, going shhh. Now, she 72 00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:17.040 mentioned that her son had told her of an old 73 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.319 lady that was standing by the door in his room. 74 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:24.439 It was a little old lady, quote really ugly, with 75 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:27.720 long black hair and a glow about her like fire, 76 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:34.439 with sounds of feet moving across the carpet. At one point, 77 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:36.959 a babysitter saw a chair at the kitchen table that 78 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.399 was rocking back and forth, with absolutely no one sitting 79 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:44.519 on it and no explanation. Now, they themselves would sometimes 80 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:49.480 see strange glowing shapes around the house as well. So 81 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:51.959 at this point Debbie began to think that her house 82 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:55.000 was proudly haunted, and the possibility that something in their 83 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:59.399 home was intentionally trying to unsettle them. Near that last 84 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:02.639 part of nightineteen eighty seven, they kept hearing doors banging 85 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:07.079 open and shut, strange voices calling to them, and visions 86 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.040 that were scaring the children. Things were getting out of hand. 87 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:16.600 A week before Christmas, something had scared their son again, 88 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:20.040 so Alan reached his breaking point. He started running around 89 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.000 the rooms, challenging the entity, screaming to it, pick on me, 90 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.000 leave my kids alone. If you want to fight, I'll fight. 91 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:33.000 And he heard nothing back. But then one night, when 92 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.680 he was getting home, he heard the howling of the wind, 93 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:38.959 even though there was no breeze. He then heard it 94 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:45.120 say come here, clearly audible. He started searching around to 95 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:48.040 see who might have said that, expecting to find a prankster. 96 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:51.199 He rushed over the front steps when he saw something 97 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:56.639 glowing inside the garage. It was orangish red. He could 98 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:59.519 see flames coming out of the overhead door, and that's 99 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:03.519 when he saw two eyes in the windows. He immediately 100 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.120 thought it was fire, but then he took a second look, 101 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:11.439 and there was nothing. It was late around the same 102 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:14.240 time again, at around two in the morning, and Alan 103 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.279 had just returned from his late shift. He worked as 104 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:20.279 a supervisor in a manufacturing plant, so it wasn't anything 105 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:23.879 unusual for him, and on this occasion, Alan was in 106 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:27.000 his daughter's bedroom waiting for them to fall asleep, when 107 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:31.399 suddenly he heard a vacuum like sound. Startled. He looked around 108 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:35.480 the room when he saw a foggy thing rise directly 109 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:39.199 out of the floor with green eyes. As he stared 110 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:44.240 in disbelief, he heard it say you're dead, and then 111 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:48.800 it vanished instantly in a flash of flames. Now Alan 112 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:52.079 was traumatized. He was visibly shaken when his wife, Debbie, 113 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:55.000 saw him, describing him as white as a ghost and 114 00:06:55.079 --> 00:06:59.399 with blue lips. She kept asking what happened, what's wrong, 115 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.759 but he wouldn't say anything. He was just standing there, 116 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.360 tears coming down his face. His wife got on the 117 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:10.720 phone and called a pastor from their church and told 118 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:13.399 him what was going on, begging him to come right away, 119 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:16.680 saying that Alan was crying and wouldn't tell her what happened. 120 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:21.480 From the Unsolved Mysteries episode that I watched where they 121 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:24.120 talked to the pastor. He said that Alan gave no 122 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:27.839 signs of having made everything up. The pastor had been 123 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:30.639 around terrified people before, and this is what was in 124 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:34.199 front of him. So the pastor blessed the house, gave 125 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.199 the family communion right there, and then gave them the 126 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:41.120 tapes of church music for them to play in the house. However, 127 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:44.879 the paranormal events resumed. This time had happened to a 128 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.839 relative who was asked by Alan to watch over their 129 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:50.439 daughters while they fell asleep since he had to go 130 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:54.759 to work later than usual. This relative was skeptical of 131 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:58.040 ghost so he was like, okay, we'll do it. But 132 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:02.720 then he too saw quote the same specter, the one 133 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:06.399 that had been seeing by the Tallman family. So he 134 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:09.959 left the bedroom completely scared, saying, I am never coming 135 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:15.120 back to this house. I cannot handle this. The family 136 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.800 decided to leave the house for good that same night, 137 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:20.839 opting instead to stay at a motel before the church 138 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:26.879 provided them with a place to stay for the time. Now, 139 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:30.279 around this time, word had spread around the neighborhood about 140 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:34.320 the haunted Tallman home, something Debbie mentioned in an interview 141 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:36.639 where she says how tough it was because she had 142 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:39.279 to deal with the unknown in their home and the 143 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:43.200 talk of around town. The house was in a subdivision 144 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:46.720 of ten other houses noted by the Horricon Police Chief 145 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:51.279 Douglas Claman. He, the pastor, and the homeowner had toured 146 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:56.120 the house searching for recording devices, amplifiers, anything that showed 147 00:08:56.120 --> 00:09:00.480 that everything might have been a prank, even considering projection equipment, 148 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:06.200 but nothing unusual was found. After all those nights of 149 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:09.720 fear and sleeplessness, Alan and Debbie concluded that the bed 150 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.039 was a source of the problem and that it had 151 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:16.120 to be removed. So in early February of nineteen eighty eight, 152 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:18.480 they arranged for the bunk bed to be taken to 153 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:22.799 a local landfill. That wasn't just discarded, It was buried 154 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:25.519 to ensure that no one else could ever use it. 155 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:29.759 The family wanted to be absolutely certain that the object 156 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:33.279 could not return to their home or passed to another family. 157 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.960 Now at this point you might be thinking, what about 158 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:44.399 this story made it about the bunk bet. What turns out, 159 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.960 the activity throughout the Tollman home was strongly connected to 160 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:50.639 the second hand bunk bets, the ones that were purchased. 161 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:54.080 You see, they moved into November of nineteen eighty six, 162 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.559 and the problem started six months later when the bunk 163 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:00.679 beds were purchased, more specifically for the moment they were 164 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.879 actually used for the first time. Now, something like a 165 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:09.120 trigger came from those beds. Based on comments and polls 166 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:11.840 from you guys, have found that we generally believe that 167 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:16.600 entities might be tied to places or people themselves. This 168 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:20.080 house was a relatively new construction and everything was fine 169 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.399 until the beds were used. Plus, the new family who 170 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:27.159 purchased the house in April of nineteen eighty eight reported 171 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:32.519 no paranormal activity after moving in. Their story might have 172 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:35.679 ended there had it not been for local press coverage 173 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.840 and then the national attention through the television series Unsolved Mysteries. 174 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:43.720 When the episode aired in October of nineteen eighty eight, 175 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:48.240 it introduced the Tallman Haunting to a white audience. The 176 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:52.519 segment featured dramatizations of the events, but also included interviews 177 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.879 with Reverend Wayne doe Brats and police Chief Doug Glammon, 178 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.519 both of whom vouched for the family's sincerity. I described 179 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:03.799 them as credible, ordinary people now that supports at the 180 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:07.840 Tallman case apart from many ghost stories, which often lack 181 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:15.639 outside witnesses. Although the Tallman family never saw publicity, their 182 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:20.039 experience quickly became a talking point in paranormal circles. It 183 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.200 was unusual in that the disturbances seemed to be tied 184 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.960 not to a house or a location, but to a 185 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.679 single object. This gave the case a unique place, and 186 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:34.240 discussions of cursed or haunted objects often mentioned alongside items 187 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:37.799 like the Hope Diamond or the Annabel Doll. Although it 188 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:42.440 never gave the same level of fame, the Taumans themselves 189 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:46.720 did not pursue further media appearances. They gave no book deals, 190 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:51.159 no follow up interviews. They avoided turning their story into entertainment. 191 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:54.799 They would turn to private life, leaving only the original 192 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:58.080 episode of Unsolved Mysteries and a handful of reports as 193 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:02.240 a record. Some ways, this reluctance has added to the 194 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:07.320 story's power. Unlike the Amityville Horror or Enfield Poulter Geist, 195 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.600 the tall Men haunting was not commercialized or exaggerated for decades. 196 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:16.840 It remains what it always was, a short, intense burst 197 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:21.240 of terror centered around a single ordinary piece of furniture. 198 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:28.320 The concept of things being haunted is way more common 199 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:31.639 than you think, with even museums filled with objects that 200 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.919 are set to be haunted. I remember when I visited 201 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:37.960 Zach Begen's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas with my friend 202 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:40.639 Michelle and left with a strange sense of dread because 203 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:43.200 of the things that they had in there. At the 204 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:45.639 paranormal field, they say that there are a few ways 205 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:49.879 that an object can become haunted. One is residual energy 206 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:54.000 or an energy attachment. The idea goes that living things 207 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:56.879 energy and that it's this energy that can be stored 208 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:01.519 or recorded with an objects. During my research, I kept 209 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:05.159 finding stone tape theory, so I looked it up. It 210 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.840 turns out it's a BBCTV play that was back from 211 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:12.799 nineteen seventy two. It's actually called The Stone Tape and 212 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:16.440 the story scientists investigate a haunted mansion, suggesting that the 213 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.039 stone walls can record traumatic human events, kind of like 214 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:24.600 how magnetic tape records sound. The idea seemed to make 215 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:28.720 sense to paranormal research circles, so it stayed. They say 216 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:31.840 that under certain conditions, these events can be replayed like 217 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:36.679 a recording, and that's when people experience them as apparitions, sounds, 218 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:40.759 or sensations. This is different than a ghost because they 219 00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:44.519 are seen as residual hauntings like mindless echoes of the 220 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:49.440 past with no interaction. A second way is an actual 221 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:53.080 spirit attachment, where if the objects was particularly loved by 222 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:56.120 a spirit during their life, like a favorite doll or 223 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:58.600 a toy, the bond to the item can be so 224 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:04.840 strong spirit remains connected to it after passing away. This 225 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:08.480 is where activity happens after buying a secondhand item. It's 226 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:10.840 when we hear that a spirit may become upset if 227 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:15.000 someone else tries to claim it. The third theory is 228 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.600 a negative energy from traumatic events, where a negative imprint 229 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:22.320 remains on a physical object, like if a weapon was 230 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:25.360 used in a murder. It might retain the negative energy, 231 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.919 making people feel uneasy if they hold it now. This 232 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:31.559 is not to be confused with demonic type or energy. 233 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:35.200 But then here's the fourth, which is an actual curse 234 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:37.960 is on the object, but they are linked to malevolent 235 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:42.360 forces like demons sometimes that will bring bad luck, misfortune, 236 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:45.960 or death to their owners. This is one we hear 237 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:49.200 about the most, at least in this podcast, because folklore 238 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:53.320 and paranormal research is filled with them, some like stories 239 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:56.159 of cursed diamonds that cause death to their owners or 240 00:14:56.200 --> 00:14:59.559 the recent stories circulating about Annabelle. These are just some 241 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:04.360 examples and how this activity manifests through haunted objects, while 242 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:09.120 it varies with things like electronic disturbances, movement of objects, 243 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:17.320 sounds and voices, apparitions, illness and fires. Another famous example 244 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.360 of haunted objects is the story of the Hexham Heads. 245 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:25.080 The Hexham Head story begins in nineteen seventy one when 246 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:29.080 two boys, Colin and Leslie Robson, reported digging up a 247 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:31.799 pair of small carved stone heads in the garden of 248 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:36.879 their families home in Hexham, Northumberland. Soon after the discovery, 249 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.279 members of the rocks and household and the next door family, 250 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:46.240 the Dods, described poltergeist like disturbances, objects shifting position when 251 00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:49.519 no one was near them, bottles thrown across the rooms, 252 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:54.519 hair pulled, and in one neighbor's account, citing a strange 253 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:58.960 part human before leaving the house. The heads, each only 254 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.759 a few centimeters hi, quickly became the suspected focus of 255 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:09.240 the activity. The artifacts were passed on to doctor Anne Ross, 256 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:12.799 a noticed Celticist who had publicly written about the ritual 257 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:16.600 importance of human head imagery in iron Age and Romanto 258 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:21.279 British contexts. Ross later stated that she witnessed an apparition 259 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.320 a part wolf, part man figure walking out of a 260 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:30.240 room in her house and vanishing downstairs. Her daughter subsequently 261 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:35.480 reported a similar encounter. Now Anne associated these events with 262 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:38.799 the heads and returned them. Decades later, she repeated her 263 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:42.799 first reactions and experiences in interviews, some that are cited 264 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:46.120 by academic research. They were keeping the heads linked to 265 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:51.559 uncanny phenomena. Eventually people examined how the pieces were made. 266 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:55.320 One academic assessment concluded that the heads were molded rather 267 00:16:55.399 --> 00:17:00.679 than carved, suggesting a modern origin. The chain of custody 268 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:04.359 during the mid nineteen seventies included museum staff and later 269 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:09.160 independent investigators. After a period of private examination in the 270 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:13.440 late nineteen seventies, the original heads reportedly went missing and 271 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:19.119 the present whereabouts are unknown. Nineteen seventy four, a local 272 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:23.480 lorry driver, Desmond Craigie, who was known as des claimed 273 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:25.960 that he had made the heads in nineteen fifty six 274 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:28.839 as toys for his daughter while living in the same 275 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:33.240 address that the Robsons later occupied. He demonstrated the claim 276 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:37.640 by producing new examples cast from local materials, though observers 277 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:43.720 noted his replicas did not convincingly match the originals. DES's claim, 278 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.880 if correct, would explain both the molded manufacture and the 279 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:51.200 presence of the objects in the garden, but the debate 280 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:56.920 over authenticity has never fully settled. The case briefly entered 281 00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:01.079 UK popular consciousness in nineteen seventy six via a BBC 282 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:05.200 nationwide segment that featured Doctor Ann and reference a reported 283 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:10.839 werewolf idea, a broadcast later restored and resurfaced by BBC Archives. 284 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.839 The TV coverage helped cement the Heads as a nineteen 285 00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:22.599 seventies folklore touchdoone half archaeological curiosity, half contemporary legend. Today, 286 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:26.279 the Hexham Heads set at the intersection of folklore studies, archaeology, 287 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:32.279 and modern myth. The core facts a garden discovery, reported disturbances, 288 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:37.160 expert interest, and a modern manufacturer claim, and the artifact's 289 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:43.119 disappearance are reasonably well documented. However, the supernatural elements are 290 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:47.119 mostly tied to witness testimony instead of some evidence, which 291 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:50.839 is why the story persists as both a cautionary archaeological 292 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:56.039 curiosity and as a classic haunted object story. But here's 293 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:58.920 another one you might know. Back when I was taking 294 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:01.640 a ghost tour in poor the tour guide told me 295 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:04.920 a story about a very famous cursed object, one that 296 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:08.720 I had heard of in Zach Began's museum. Although this 297 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:11.279 story might not be exactly what you thought it was. 298 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:15.079 Now this is a story of the Dibiic Box, and 299 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:18.440 it begins in two thousand and one. Now a man 300 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:22.319 named Kevin Mannus, a Portland, Oregon antique stealer, bought a 301 00:19:22.359 --> 00:19:26.119 small wooden wine cabinet and an estate sale. In his 302 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:28.960 later accounts, Mannu said that the cabinet had belonged to 303 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:32.960 a Polish Jewish woman, one who survived a Nazi concentration 304 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:35.680 camp and brought it to the United States after World 305 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:40.440 War Two. According to his story, the woman's granddaughter told 306 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.000 him that the box had been kept hidden away and 307 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:46.680 was never to be opened. She supposedly referred to it 308 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:50.880 as a depic box. It's important to note, however, that 309 00:19:50.920 --> 00:19:55.440 this backstory has never been independently verified, and Manus himself 310 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:59.119 has since admitted that much of it was a creative embellishment. 311 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:04.119 Now Jewish folklora a typyk is understood as a restless spirit, 312 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:07.880 one that can attach itself to a person, often portrayed 313 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:12.160 as malicious or troubled. The figure of the dibik has 314 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:15.799 been part of Jewish storytelling for centuries, though not all 315 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:21.559 traditions accept it literally. The specific idea of a dibic box, however, 316 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:25.039 does not come from Jewish religious practice, and appears to 317 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:29.519 have originated with Manis tail A. Man Is described opening 318 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:33.480 the box and finding two nineteen twenties pennies, a lock 319 00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:36.480 of hair tied with a string, and a small statue 320 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:40.799 engraved with the Hebrew word shalom, a wine goblet, and 321 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:45.400 a dried rosebud, also a candle holder. He claimed that 322 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:50.039 soon afterward strange events began. According to his story, he 323 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:53.200 had nightmares of an old hag attacking him, and his 324 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.079 mother suffered a stroke on the very day he gave 325 00:20:56.119 --> 00:21:01.400 her the cabinet. He also described flickering lights, unexplained orders, 326 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:04.920 and visitors who felt dread or illness in its presence. 327 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:10.079 These reports come solely from Manus's own testimony, and while 328 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:13.920 they have been repeated often, there's no outside confirmation that 329 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.519 such events took place. Over time, Manus tried to give 330 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:22.599 the box away. He said that each new owner reported misfortunes, 331 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:28.160 including insomnia, hair loss, and severe anxiety. One owner, a 332 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:32.119 college student named Josef Nitzke, listed the box on eBay 333 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:35.200 in two thousand and three, calling it a cursed object, 334 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:38.960 and that list thing went viral very quickly. It just 335 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:42.960 spread across the Internet forums and news outlets, capturing attention 336 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:48.519 as one of the first widely shared online ghost stories. Eventually, 337 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:51.920 the box was purchased by Jason Haxton, the director of 338 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:55.680 a museum in Missouri that Haxton later wrote a book 339 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:58.799 about the object in twenty eleven, where he claimed it 340 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:02.799 caused welts to appear on his skin and interfered with electronics. 341 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:06.680 He said he once sealed it in a military container 342 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:10.119 and buried it for safety before finally donating it to 343 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:14.960 Zach Began's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas. Today, the box 344 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.119 is displayed there as one of the museum's main attractions. 345 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:23.079 Begans has said that multiple visitors, including musician Post Malone, 346 00:22:23.319 --> 00:22:27.720 experienced frightening incidents after interacting with it. I actually got 347 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.319 to see it and the story behind it. Even though 348 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:34.039 it might be made up partially, it's pretty cool. In 349 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:37.559 twenty twenty one, reporting revealed that Kevin Mannis had admitted 350 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:39.880 to crafting much of this story. It was kind of 351 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.440 a creative exercise that later took on a life of 352 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:47.880 its own. Despite this, the Devic Box has endured in 353 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:51.920 popular culture, largely because of its viral spread online, its 354 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:55.000 appearance in books and television, and it's continued to display 355 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:59.119 at the Haunted Museum. Today, the story persists less as 356 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:01.440 a matter of document minted fact and more as a 357 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:05.799 blend of modern folklore, marketing, and the timeless fascination with 358 00:23:05.960 --> 00:23:11.359 cursed objects. The power of story behind objects is a 359 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:15.480 very powerful one, enough to make people pay much more 360 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:19.799 for what they're getting, and at times quite literally, like 361 00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:23.480 for the bunk bets, the family paid one hundred dollars 362 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:26.839 and ended up losing more than three thousand after giving 363 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.240 up their home because of the incidents. And if you're 364 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:33.880 like thrifting, have you ever purchased something that didn't quite 365 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:38.359 feel right? Because when it comes to secondhand items, the 366 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:42.359 shared walls of hotel rooms, and perhaps the physical memories 367 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:44.799 of those who lived in your home long before you, 368 00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:58.400 can you actually trust what remains now. This episode of 369 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.759 Horror Story was researched and written by me Edwin Komar 370 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:05.720 Rubias regarding the story of the Tallman bunk beds. Was 371 00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:08.519 it actually the beds? Let me know what you think 372 00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:10.480 about it, and if you want to watch the original 373 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:13.279 Unsolved Mystery segment, I'll link to it so you can 374 00:24:13.319 --> 00:24:15.759 watch it on YouTube. That show was one of my 375 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:19.680 favorites back in the day. Anyway, to support this and 376 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:22.039 my other shows, you can try out Scary plus over 377 00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:25.599 on scaryplus dot com. You get all these episodes at 378 00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:28.880 free and keeps everything going. Or if you can drop 379 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:31.599 some stars for me in the reviews, that always helps. 380 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:34.599 We're following the show. I'll be back next week with 381 00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:39.160 another story. Thank you very much for listening. Keep it 382 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:41.559 Scary everyone, See soon.