1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,080 Speaker 1: Hello, it's Richard mc lean smith here with a quick apology, 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,560 Speaker 1: but due to a number of factors, our next episode 3 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:08,280 Speaker 1: won't be ready until next week. So in the meantime 4 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: we're going back into the vaults to one of our 5 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: most popular episodes, now available for the first time as 6 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: one single episode. At the northern edge of Cumery's Brecon Beacons, 7 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: in the shadow of the penny Fan Peak sits a 8 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: large stone house named Hail Fannock or Road to the Peaks. 9 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: For one couple who moved there in nineteen eighty nine, 10 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: the house was everything they had ever dreamed of. Little 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: did they know that, in truth, it would soon become 12 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: the place of their worst nightmares. This is Unexplained Season four, 13 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:50,239 Speaker 1: episode one alone with everybody. Oh, and I have a 14 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 1: message from the other Richard mc clean smith. I don't 15 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: know who he thinks I am getting me to do this, 16 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: but for what it's worth, he wants you to know 17 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: that the first episode of Unexplained TV will be released 18 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: next Tuesday, December third. You can find him at YouTube 19 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: dot com forward slash Unexplained pod check it out. At 20 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: the northern edge of the beguiling Brecon Beacons in Cumbrie, 21 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: under the shadow of penny Fan to the south and 22 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: the Black Mountains to the east. That sits a large 23 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: stone house, long and narrow with its rickety roof and 24 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: jumbled patchwork of brick. It lies at the intersection of 25 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,559 Speaker 1: two winding lanes, surrounded by a thick ring of oak, 26 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: alder and witch elm, hidden from prying eyes by the holly, 27 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: the hawthorn, and the ash from the front ivy pause 28 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: green edily at its northern flanks, almost as if it 29 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: were trying to drag it down and into the ground, 30 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: while from the back the way the earth rises up 31 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: into a rugged clearing of thick scrub. It'd be forgiven 32 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: for thinking it was part way to succeeding. Its name 33 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: is heel Fannock, or in English road to the Peaks, 34 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 1: a reference to the hills and mountains that overshadow it. 35 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: An entry point of sorts, or perhaps a gateway, as 36 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: some might say. Constructed in the nineteen fifties, like a 37 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: repurposed limb grafted onto the remnants of an old barn, 38 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: it is comprised largely of stone taken from what was 39 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: left at the old sixteenth century manor house. The lichen 40 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: covered ruins, of which can still be found hidden deeper 41 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: amongst the trees at the very back of the garden. 42 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: It is May nineteen eighty nine, and all is quiet 43 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: save for the distant chatter of skylarks. While high above light, 44 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,519 Speaker 1: tufts of cloud in the bright spring sky draw shadows 45 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: across the roof. They drift lazily from front to back, 46 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: east to west, slipping down onto the thick grass before 47 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: heading into the trees and disappearing somewhere beyond. Inside, silence 48 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: reigns as dust mots float through soft beams of light. 49 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: Spiders twitch in dark corners. The barn door creaks up above, 50 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: a large crow comes to rest on the chimney pot, 51 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,839 Speaker 1: digging its beak into its feathers as it breams. When 52 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: suddenly its head jerks up, the eyes alert to something 53 00:03:55,040 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: rustling in the undergrowth. Moments later, something else, far more ominous, 54 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: is heard, the faint sound of an approaching vehicle. With 55 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: a strained squawk, the crow spreads its iridescent wings and 56 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: launches into the air, rising away and over the tree 57 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: tops before it too disappears somewhere beyond. Back down below, 58 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: he old fannok sits quiet and still as the sound 59 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: of the engine draws ever nearer, until finally a car 60 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: turns into the front drive and pulls up outside the house. 61 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: Silence returns for the briefest of moments before the front 62 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: doors swing open and its excitable passengers spill out into 63 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: the warm spring air. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm 64 00:04:53,880 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: Richard mc lean smith. Thirty year old Liz was first 65 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: to exit, followed by her partner, Bill, thirteen years her senior, 66 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: from the other side of the car, a big smile 67 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: spreading across her face as she caught his eye. Fourteen 68 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: year old Lawrence, Bill's son from a previous marriage, was 69 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: the last to get out, slowly extricating himself from the 70 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:30,039 Speaker 1: back seat. Liz, her pregnancy bump just beginning to show 71 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: above her waist, paused to take it all in as 72 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: Bill and Lawrence set about unloading their things. It was 73 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: even more beautiful than she remembered, She thought, the perfect 74 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: place to raise their baby and begin afresh, free from 75 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:50,159 Speaker 1: the distractions of the past. For Bill, it was the 76 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: sheer remoteness of the place and the large studio space 77 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: above the barn that had first appealed a gifted and 78 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 1: renowned artist of predominantly surrealist pop art peace Pie Bill 79 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: had become increasingly frustrated with how much his time was 80 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: being taken up with his more commercial endeavors, creating decorative 81 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 1: boxes and other pieces for the casual consumer. He old Fannock, 82 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: he hoped would be a chance to rediscover the true 83 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: artist inside him. For most in similar circumstances, it is 84 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: easy to become distracted by the excitement of a move, 85 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 1: to become wrapped up in the accompanying sense of optimism 86 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:36,040 Speaker 1: it often brings. It is also easy, when in such 87 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: a state, not to notice things that at the time 88 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:45,599 Speaker 1: might otherwise have seemed a little off kilter. The receipt 89 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: for six pounds sixty six that Bill found shortly after 90 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: moving in taken from the last meal the couple eight 91 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: before arriving at the house, for example, or the sixty 92 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: six pounds sixty grocery bill would incur shortly after. There 93 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: were certainly no signs of anything untoward that first summer, 94 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: as the family settled into their new lives, bringing a 95 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: whole host of life to join them in their new adventure, 96 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: from cats, to goats and even a pig. Named Lucinda, 97 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: and with a steady run of orders for Bill's work 98 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: coming in, it wasn't long before he was finally able 99 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: to dedicate some time to his more personal and fulfilling work. 100 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: By September, Lizz and Bill were married, and the following month, 101 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 1: as if to top it all off, her waters broke. 102 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: Despite some initial complications, come November, the couple welcomed new arrival, 103 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: Ben into their dream home. Life, as they say, couldn't 104 00:07:54,480 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: have been more sweet. But all that was about to change. 105 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: It was one afternoon in mid November when Liz stepped 106 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: out of the house for some fresh air. As a 107 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: sudden gust of wind rustled the leaves in the trees. 108 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: She was struck for the first time by just how 109 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: quiet it usually was out there, as if no birds 110 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: ever seemed to alight in the garden. Perhaps it was 111 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: just the drawing inn of the nights, or how winter 112 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: had stripped the leaves from some of the larger trees, 113 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: leaving her and the house feeling a little more exposed 114 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: than usual. But as Liz watched the pale sun drop 115 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: below the horizon, sending majestic crepuscular rays shooting white gold 116 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: across the sky. It wasn't a sense of wonder that 117 00:08:53,720 --> 00:09:02,080 Speaker 1: she felt, but dread. Early. With all the family laying 118 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: fast asleep, baby Ben begins to twitch in his cot, 119 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: kicking out with both legs, with his hands squeezed up 120 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: into little fists, and his face beginning to redden and 121 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: scrunch up. Finally, his mouth opens wide and he begins 122 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: to cry. Liz, having woken, instantly switched on the light 123 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: and gathered Ben from the cot as she prepared to 124 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: feed him. A weary Bill pulled back the covers and 125 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: headed toward the toilet downstairs. He had just started to 126 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: pee when an unexpected noise startled him, a loud, hammering 127 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: sound that seemed to be moving along the corridor above 128 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:54,079 Speaker 1: like heavy footsteps. Bill froze as the apparent footsteps near 129 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: the top of the stairs for coming to a sudden stop. 130 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:03,719 Speaker 1: Assuming it to be his son, Lawrence, Bill headed back 131 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: up stairs, only to find the corridor completely empty and 132 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: Lawrence's bedroom door now closed. He switched off the light 133 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: and returned to his own bedroom, where he found Liz 134 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: quietly placing Ben back into his cot. Bill asked if 135 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: she'd heard anything too, but to his surprise, she hadn't 136 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: heard a thing. He poked his head back into the hall, 137 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: switched on the light, and stood watch for a moment, 138 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: keeping his eyes trained on the studio door at the 139 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:43,199 Speaker 1: far end. Hearing and seeing nothing, he switched off the 140 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:54,560 Speaker 1: light and returned to bed. The following morning, Bill and 141 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,679 Speaker 1: Liz were stunned to receive an exorbitant electricity bill from Swayleck, 142 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: the South Wales Electricity Board, which was almost four times 143 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: what they had been expecting. That afternoon, as she sat 144 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,839 Speaker 1: down on the bed to feed Ben, Liz couldn't stop 145 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: thinking about the extortionate invoice and what Bill had said 146 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: the previous night that he'd heard something moving about the house. 147 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: Although it was true that she hadn't heard anything herself, 148 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:31,440 Speaker 1: there was something that she hadn't mentioned that recently in 149 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: her private moments, she had begun to feel as though 150 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: something was watching her. Just then, the studio door at 151 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: the far end of the house slammed shut with a bank, 152 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: startling Liz. Momentarily thinking it was nothing, she returned to 153 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 1: feeding her baby when a second closer door slam shut, 154 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: startling her again. It must be Lawrence, she thought, with 155 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:04,200 Speaker 1: ann with her eyes now trained on her own door. 156 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: Liz jumped again when the sound of a third door 157 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: being slammed was heard, this time leaving her utterly frozen 158 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: in fear, for although the noise seemed to have come 159 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: from inside her own room, the door hadn't moved an inch. Bill, 160 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:26,320 Speaker 1: who had heard the bangs from downstairs, burst in moments 161 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: later to find a scared and confused Liz struggling to 162 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: comprehend what had just happened. Convinced it had something to 163 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: do with Lawrence, she demanded that Bill tell him to 164 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 1: pack it in, but Bill didn't understand Lawrence hadn't been 165 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: home for over an hour. Bill called the electricity board 166 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 1: at the first opportunity to dispute their invoice, eventually forcing 167 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:07,559 Speaker 1: them to send an electrician round to monitor the meter. Unfortunately, 168 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: they found nothing wrong with it, though they couldn't say 169 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: exactly how the family were racking up such a large bill. 170 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: Something in that house was draining the electricity one way 171 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: or another. It was about the same time that Bill 172 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: started noticing a foul smell emanating from somewhere in the kitchen, 173 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: as if something putrid had been set on fire. A 174 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,439 Speaker 1: plumber was duly called to locate the source of it, 175 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: but found nothing untoward. As winter approached, life at the house, 176 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: superficially at least, carried on as normal. However, though the 177 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: couple had yet to acknowledge it to each other, both 178 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 1: had the sense that something of the atmosphere in their 179 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: home had re shifted. A few days later, Bill received 180 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: a disappointing phone call from a major client. They were 181 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: terribly sorry, they said, but they would have to cancel 182 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: their order. Conscious of the unwieldy electricity bill still hanging 183 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: over their heads, Bill tried to remain upbeat. After all, 184 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: he still had another large order to fulfill. Later that afternoon, 185 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: they canceled too. As the holiday season approached, Bill and Liz, 186 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: with their newborn son and Lawrence, who they felt was 187 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: becoming increasingly withdrawn, found themselves in the grip of a 188 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: very domestic sense of uncertainty. For by now Liz and 189 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: Lawrence were noticing those footsteps too, and the occasional eruptions 190 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: of the inexplicable putrid stench that continued to plague their home. 191 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: But most of all, they couldn't escape that unmistakable, skin 192 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: crawling sensation that something else was in there with them. 193 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 1: After sharing a first Christmas together in their new home, 194 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: not least for the benefit of Lawrence and their baby's son. 195 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: Bill and Liz agreed to not let the disappointments of 196 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,280 Speaker 1: the last few months and the increasingly strange events, get 197 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: the better of them. It wouldn't be long, however, before 198 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: they were being challenged again. Early in the new year, 199 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: Liz entered the barn overjoyed to find their goat Lulu 200 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: had given birth to two kids, but when she neared them, 201 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: her excitement turned to horror. Though one kid seemed bright 202 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: and healthy, the other lay completely still, its tiny glassy 203 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: eyes fixed and rolled back into its head. The mother 204 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: had crushed it with her hind legs shortly after it 205 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: was borne. Not long after that, Lucinda the pig was 206 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: found rushing about the barn, screaming wildly. A few days later, 207 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: she was diagnosed with a rare disease for which there 208 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: was no cure. The devastated family had no option but 209 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: to have her put down. Liz tried her best not 210 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: to overthink it all, to put it down to unfortunate coincidence, 211 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: but when Bill's orders started drying up too, she couldn't 212 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: ignore it any more. Picking up the phone one morning, 213 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: she took a deep breath and died. A few moments later, 214 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: Bridget Buscombe, the previous resident of hio Fannok, answered the call. 215 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:10,479 Speaker 1: After introducing herself, Liz, cautious not to sound too odd, 216 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,679 Speaker 1: proceeded to ask Bridget about her time living in the house. 217 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: She was disappointed, however, to learn that she had only 218 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: fond memories of her experiences there. But as the pair 219 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 1: were just saying their goodbyes, Liz sensed a slight pause 220 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: from Bridget's end. Actually, she said, Finally, there was one thing, yes, 221 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: replied Liz. Once, when she had been lying alone, reading 222 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: in bed, with her husband away on business, she became 223 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: aware of a very gentle creaking sound. Looking across to 224 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: the other side of the room, she was astonished to 225 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: see her antique spinning wheel slowly turning of its owner call. 226 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 1: She had stared at it utterly perplexed for a number 227 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: of seconds before eventually rising from the bed and jamming 228 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: it with a piece of paper. She knew it, thought Liz. 229 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:24,199 Speaker 1: They hadn't been imagining it after all. As if in 230 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: response to Lizzie's renewed conviction that something untoward was occurring 231 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: in their home, the strange activity intensified, and in early 232 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: March they finally agreed to seek help. A priest was 233 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: found to bless the house, and although he didn't notice 234 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: anything himself, the family were reassured by his lack of 235 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 1: judgment and determination to help, and in the days that 236 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: followed the house seemed lighter and more spacious than it 237 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:58,640 Speaker 1: had done in months. One morning, after Bill had driven 238 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: into town to run some errand Liz took Ben for 239 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: a walk. When she returned, for the first time she 240 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: could remember, Liz felt pleased to see the house, smiling 241 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: warmly at the sight of her husband in one of 242 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 1: the top floor windows as she made her way up 243 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: the driveway with Ben. But then her smile dropped. Bill's 244 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: car was not in the driveway, meaning it wasn't her husband. 245 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: Standing at the window, with her breath quickening, Liz forced 246 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: herself to look up again. There staring back at her 247 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: from inside the house was the gaunt face of an 248 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:58,160 Speaker 1: elderly woman she didn't recognize. A moment later it was gone. 249 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 1: Left terrified at the recent turn of events, but unable 250 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: to afford a move elsewhere, the couple turned their attention 251 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: to the history of the local area in the hope 252 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,880 Speaker 1: that they might uncover something to help understand what seemed 253 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: to be stalking their home. Soon after, a builder, responding 254 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,719 Speaker 1: to a hopeful article placed by Bill in the local paper, 255 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,439 Speaker 1: got in touch. There was something he thought the couple 256 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: should know. The man, as he went on to explain, 257 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: had helped build the house in the nineteen fifties. At 258 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: some point during construction, he and his co workers were 259 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 1: gathering stones from the ruins of the old manor House 260 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: when they came across a set of old, smashed up 261 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: headstones in amongst the rubble. Could it be, he wondered, 262 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: that the house had in fact been built on the 263 00:20:55,040 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: site of the old manor houses burial ground. One afternoon 264 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: in the spring of nineteen ninety, Bill was upstairs working 265 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: in his studio when Liz, who was just finishing cleaning 266 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 1: up in the kitchen, had the sudden urge to check 267 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: on their baby. With a rising sense of panic, Liz 268 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: hurried to the bedroom. Rushing through the door, she looked 269 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: up in horror to find sitting in the chair opposite 270 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 1: the crib the same elderly woman she had seen looking 271 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:38,679 Speaker 1: at her from the window a second later, she was gone. 272 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: The next morning, Bill woke in agony to find both 273 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:49,360 Speaker 1: his hands strangely dry, the skin red and cracking all 274 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: over them. The sudden affliction left him unable to paint 275 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: for weeks on end, But just as the increasingly oppressive 276 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,439 Speaker 1: atmosphere in the house was threatening to overcome them, the 277 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: mood was lifted when the couple learned that Liz was 278 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:13,199 Speaker 1: pregnant again. The joyous revelation left them more determined than 279 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: ever to find an end to their problems. Local spiritualist 280 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:23,200 Speaker 1: Ray Williams was recommended to the couple, having apparently succeeded 281 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: in helping other parishioners in similar situations to themselves. Arriving 282 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: one bright April morning along with two colleagues, he swiftly 283 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: set about examining each room of the house for any 284 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: sign of psychical disturbance. Within minutes, Williams was in no 285 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: doubt that something dark had found its way into the property. 286 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,199 Speaker 1: A few days later, with Liz and the children staying 287 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 1: at her mother's in the nearby village of Cowbridge, Bill 288 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: arrived at the property to meet with the three men again. 289 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,119 Speaker 1: After letting them in, he waited in the kitchen as 290 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: they carefully made their way around the house, blessing each room. 291 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: A short time later, while Bill went through his mail, 292 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 1: he heard a cry coming from the back of the house. 293 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,640 Speaker 1: Racing outside to investigate, he found one of the men 294 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: doubled over in pain, claiming it had come on as 295 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: soon as he approached the window to the downstairs bathroom. 296 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: Returning to the house, the men made a bee line 297 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,920 Speaker 1: for the small area between the bottom of the stairs 298 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 1: and the restroom downstairs. Convinced it was where the malicious 299 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: activity was centering, Bill explained with amazement that indeed, it 300 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 1: was the exact spot where most of the strange events 301 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: seemed to occur. With their investigation completed, the men relayed 302 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: their findings to Bill, stating that they had felt the 303 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: presence of four entities in total, three being an elderly 304 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: woman and two young men, whom they had now successfully 305 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: banished from the house. However, there was one other, far 306 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: darker and clearly not of this world. It was their 307 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: opinion that, unlike the three other entities, it had not 308 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,679 Speaker 1: originated at the sight of the property, but had in 309 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,399 Speaker 1: fact arrived with Bill and may have been following him 310 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 1: for the past. Twenty years. Later, in an effort to 311 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: provide protection for the family, one of the men returned 312 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,879 Speaker 1: to construct a psychic wall of protection around the house. 313 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,119 Speaker 1: Finding a spot on the kitchen floor, he carefully outlined 314 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: a pentacle with chalk, before placing incense at each point. 315 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: As the perfumed smoke drifted and dispersed into the room, quietly, 316 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: he implored any spirit to vacate the immediately. Twenty minutes 317 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:07,359 Speaker 1: later he was gone, leaving Bill alone to rack his 318 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: brains for any reason as to why a malicious entity 319 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: might have attached itself to him. And then it came 320 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: to him Alex Sanders. Back in his early twenties, when 321 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 1: Bill was trying to make a name for himself as 322 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: an aspiring artist in London, he was introduced to a 323 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: man named Alex Sanders, the self styled King of the Witches. 324 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: The controversial Sanders had at one time been a follower 325 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:47,960 Speaker 1: of renowned Wiccan practitioner Gerald Gardner, before splitting from his 326 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: teachings to pursue his own interpretations of ceremonial magic. Having 327 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: at one point been informed of Bill's ambitions, Sanders offered 328 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: to initiate him into his coven in an effort to 329 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 1: aid his development as an artist. With nothing to lose 330 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 1: and curious to know more, Bill accepted his invitation. However, 331 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,119 Speaker 1: no sooner had Bill begun the series of initiation rituals 332 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: than he had a change of heart and pulled out 333 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:22,400 Speaker 1: of it. Could it be? He wondered that his failure 334 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: to complete the initiation had opened some kind of gateway, 335 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:31,200 Speaker 1: allowing something unsavory to come through and attach itself to him. 336 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,679 Speaker 1: Either way, when the family moved back to the house 337 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: that summer, they found that whatever the spiritualists had done 338 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:45,680 Speaker 1: appeared to have worked. Gone was the heavy, oppressive atmosphere, 339 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:53,920 Speaker 1: those strange noises and noxious smells. Despite the apparent cleansing 340 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 1: of Iyolfannock. However, Bill, growing increasingly worried about the impact 341 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: it was all having on Lawrence, was unwilling to take 342 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: any more chances. After consulting with his ex wife, it 343 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: was arranged to have Lawrence take a room at a 344 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 1: nearby boarding house. Though Bill was relieved that his oldest 345 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: son could now get on with life away from the Mayhem, 346 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: it was a further hit to the family finances. As 347 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,679 Speaker 1: if things weren't complicated enough, a nationwide recession had all 348 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,679 Speaker 1: but done for his regular stream of income. In July, 349 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: they were forced to sell the car, and being unable 350 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: to pay the phone bill, their line was cut off. 351 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 1: With a number of friends and family having found it 352 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: difficult to sympathize with their recent plight, having no experience 353 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 1: of what it was they had been through, the family 354 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: could scarcely have felt more isolated that summer of nineteen ninety. 355 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: The trees that surrounded the house seemed to loom higher 356 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: than ever, the rising hills of the beacons taller and 357 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: more foreboding, and it wasn't long before Bill and Liz 358 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 1: were hearing those footsteps again. Bill deftly wiped away the 359 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 1: paint with the cloth and tried once more, this time 360 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: taking extra care as he dipped the brush before again 361 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,159 Speaker 1: attempting to correct the line from the upper thigh to 362 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: the knee. He stood back to get a better look 363 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 1: and was immediately disappointed. Damn it, he thought, as he 364 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 1: grudgingly wiped the paint away again. Though the weeks since 365 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:53,120 Speaker 1: the house had been exercised in July had been comparatively calm, 366 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: the family's financial situation was becoming increasingly desperate. Things appeared 367 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: to be looking up, however, when Bill was commissioned out 368 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,000 Speaker 1: of the blue by his neighbour Susanna, to paint a 369 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: portrait of her favorite horse, Echo. Bill wasn't entirely sure 370 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 1: if it had been out of sympathy or genuine interest, 371 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,680 Speaker 1: but either way he was grateful not only for the money, 372 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: but also the chance to finally put his mind at 373 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: rest and move on from the stress of the previous year. 374 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: It was a fairly simple piece to complete by his standards, 375 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: constructed in two parts, the first being the composition of 376 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: the backdrop, which Bill had decided on himself after spending 377 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 1: the day scouring the local countryside for the perfect setting. 378 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: With that completed, he had then set about painting in 379 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 1: the horse on top, using a recent photograph provided by 380 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 1: his neighbour. All was going well until it came to 381 00:29:56,360 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: finishing up the back leg. No matter how many times 382 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: he tried, the brush just wouldn't do what he wanted. 383 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: In the end, despite countless efforts, Bill was eventually forced 384 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: to admit defeat, hoping that his neighbour wouldn't notice. Thankfully, Susanna, 385 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 1: who was clearly very fond of the animal, was delighted 386 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,680 Speaker 1: with his efforts, and so it was with some distress 387 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: when she informed Bill a few weeks later that Echo 388 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:39,320 Speaker 1: had died. It began soon after Susanna had hung up 389 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: the painting. Watching the horse in the paddock one afternoon, 390 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: she noticed he was limping and clearly in some considerable pain. 391 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: A subsequent check up with the vet revealed a peculiar 392 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: injury to one of its hind legs, which had caused 393 00:30:55,200 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: it to swell up inexplicably. Echo's condition to deteriorated rapidly 394 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:05,560 Speaker 1: over the next few days, until one morning he simply 395 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 1: wandered out into the fields, keeled over and died. Having 396 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: returned home after burying the animal, A devastated Susannah found 397 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,800 Speaker 1: herself reminiscing in front of Bill's painting when she noticed 398 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: something peculiar at the precise spot where the horse had 399 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: developed his injury. Bill's multiple attempts to get the leg 400 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: just right had left it looking oddly swollen. Then she 401 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: noticed something else that sent a sharp chill along her spine. 402 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: The backdrop that Bill had randomly chosen was the precise 403 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 1: spot where Echo had been found dead. A few nights later, 404 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 1: Bill and Liz were woken at home by that familiar 405 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:05,000 Speaker 1: sound like heavy footsteps lumbering about the house. The thing, 406 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 1: it seemed was back. In August, it was the turn 407 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: of Reverend Roy Matthews of the Holy Trinity Church in 408 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: Abergavenny to try and put an end to the couple's troubles. 409 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 1: Arriving with three colleagues, he immediately set about getting a 410 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:34,640 Speaker 1: feel for the property, extraordinarily without any prompting from Bill 411 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: or Liz. He also came to the unsettling conclusion that 412 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,520 Speaker 1: a plaintive elderly woman, as well as two young men 413 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: and one other much darker and distinctly inhuman entity, were 414 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: haunting their home. The couple were left a little disappointed, however, 415 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: when the best the reverend could offer was to get 416 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: together and pray whenever they sensed the atmosphere growing oppressive. 417 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: Soon after, whilst clearing space in his studio, Bill discovered 418 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: a photograph of an elderly woman hidden amongst some old furniture. 419 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,160 Speaker 1: When he showed it to Liz, her face dropped in astonishment. 420 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 1: The woman, who turned out to be Marian Hoburn, the 421 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: landlord's mother and former occupant of heel Fannock, was the 422 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: same ghostly figure she had been seeing in December nineteen ninety, 423 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 1: the couple's second child, Rebecca, was born, arriving like a 424 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:41,719 Speaker 1: spark of fire to illuminate the incessant gloom. But it 425 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: wasn't long before the darkness was beginning to press in 426 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 1: once more. Shortly after the birth, Liz had just returned 427 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: to the house after taking the babies for a stroll 428 00:33:56,320 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: when she sent something moving across the kitchen door, calling 429 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:07,080 Speaker 1: out for Bill. She got no reply, despite now clearly 430 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: seeing the outline of a tall figure offering just inside 431 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 1: the door. Hurriedly, she gathered up the children, and, whilst 432 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,760 Speaker 1: keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the figure in the kitchen, 433 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 1: quietly backed out of the house. A few days later, 434 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:30,760 Speaker 1: Liz and Bill packed their things and moved into Lizzie's 435 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:41,800 Speaker 1: mother's house in nearby Cowbridge. The quiet market town of 436 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 1: Cowbridge was a welcome respite from the isolation of Hulfannog, 437 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,719 Speaker 1: and though money was still an issue, with demand for 438 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:53,359 Speaker 1: Bill's work struggling to pick up, it wasn't long before 439 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,799 Speaker 1: they felt a sense of normality being restored for a 440 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:03,040 Speaker 1: short while. At least, it was Liz who noticed at 441 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 1: first that sudden familiar feeling of being watched as if 442 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: a wispy tendril of darkness were reaching out to them 443 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 1: from out of the depths of the countryside. One evening, 444 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:21,600 Speaker 1: having put the children to bed, Bill, Liz and her 445 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:25,120 Speaker 1: mother were just sitting down for dinner when a weird 446 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: crackle of static came through on the baby monitor. That 447 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:36,920 Speaker 1: wasn't static, thought Liz with horror. It was a voice. 448 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 1: Immediately she rushed to the bedroom and switched on the light, 449 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: but found only her two children fast asleep in their beds. 450 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 1: A few days later, having heard all about Liz's troubles, 451 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 1: a neighbor suggested she make contact with local reverend David Holmewood. 452 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:02,240 Speaker 1: Having reached out to him, Homeward arrived at Lizzie's mother's 453 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,240 Speaker 1: home a few days later along with his associate Anita, 454 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,759 Speaker 1: to discuss the couple's predicament. By the time he left 455 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:13,640 Speaker 1: at two a m. He was in no doubt as 456 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:17,840 Speaker 1: to the source of their affliction. It was simple, he 457 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: told them, you were being stalked by demons. That night, 458 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: as David and Anita drove home through the narrow, winding 459 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: country roads, something shot toward them from out of the 460 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,720 Speaker 1: dark and smashed into the windscreen with a mighty crack. 461 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:41,279 Speaker 1: The pair screamed as David slammed on the brakes and 462 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:43,840 Speaker 1: brought the car to a shuddering stop by the side 463 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:48,560 Speaker 1: of the road. Catching their breath, they looked up to 464 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:54,520 Speaker 1: find the shattered windscreen covered in blood. Cautiously, David stepped 465 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:59,080 Speaker 1: out into the road, and there, illuminated by the glare 466 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,360 Speaker 1: of the head lights, he found the twitching body of 467 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:08,120 Speaker 1: a dead owl. The message was clear, he thought, stay 468 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 1: away from the house. It was two weeks later that 469 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:22,520 Speaker 1: David and Anita were back on the road, keeping their 470 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:25,879 Speaker 1: eyes fixed on Bill's car up ahead as he led 471 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:30,279 Speaker 1: them through the winding country lanes toward their destination under 472 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:35,400 Speaker 1: the shadowed edges of the Northern Beacons. But as they 473 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:39,040 Speaker 1: turned a corner, David was gripped by a sudden pang 474 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 1: of anxiety, as if something were pushing down hard on 475 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:47,880 Speaker 1: his chest. Anita could only watch in terror as he 476 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:51,400 Speaker 1: struggled to keep control of the vehicle before finally bringing 477 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:56,440 Speaker 1: it to a skidding stop by the side of the road. Immediately, 478 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:00,920 Speaker 1: David reached out for Anita's hand, and there they sat, 479 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:05,200 Speaker 1: repeating the Lord's prayer over and over until they were 480 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:11,120 Speaker 1: certain that disturbance had been lifted. Moments later, they pulled 481 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:18,160 Speaker 1: into the driveway of heel Fannock. The plan was simple 482 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:22,080 Speaker 1: to get in and out as quickly as possible, confiscating 483 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 1: anything that could be serving as a conduit for the 484 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:29,919 Speaker 1: demonic forces which David believed were plaguing the home. From 485 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:34,200 Speaker 1: incense burners to books on the paranormal and Buddhism, all 486 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: of it was thrown into a box and taken out 487 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:42,520 Speaker 1: to the car. Upsettingly for Bill, it was largely his 488 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,319 Speaker 1: own artwork that was of most concern to the evangelists. 489 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,840 Speaker 1: It was this, above all else, that David believed to 490 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:56,279 Speaker 1: be empowering whatever demons were stalking the family. Bill could 491 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:00,560 Speaker 1: only watch with dismay as one offending article after another 492 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 1: was removed and promptly escorted from the house. But what 493 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:09,640 Speaker 1: will you do with it all, he asked? We will 494 00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:21,360 Speaker 1: burn it, of course, came David's prompt reply. The following morning, 495 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:24,840 Speaker 1: with the help of his son, David dug a shallow 496 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,440 Speaker 1: pit in his garden into which all the tainted items 497 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:33,320 Speaker 1: were dumped, covered in lighter fluid, and set on fire. 498 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:37,840 Speaker 1: The pair watched as the flames jumped and licked ever higher, 499 00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:42,920 Speaker 1: spitting and crackling as the fire feasted on the myriad items. 500 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 1: Then slowly David became aware of another sound, seeming to 501 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:53,840 Speaker 1: emanate from deep within the flames, a hideous screeching sound, 502 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,800 Speaker 1: as if something inside the fire were being burned alive, 503 00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:08,440 Speaker 1: but it would all be in vain. Sadly, despite his 504 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:14,680 Speaker 1: best efforts, David's attempted exorcism would ultimately prove ineffective when 505 00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 1: only a few weeks later the Hauntings returned with a vengeance. 506 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:24,000 Speaker 1: Unable to afford a move away and with all avenues 507 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:28,239 Speaker 1: seemingly exhausted, Bill and Liz had no choice but to 508 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:31,799 Speaker 1: try and learn to live with it all, and so 509 00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:36,160 Speaker 1: they did, doing all they could to ignore the disembodied 510 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:43,440 Speaker 1: footsteps and strange spectral visions. As ever, Bill sought solace 511 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:47,719 Speaker 1: in his painting, and with one painting in particular, with 512 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:53,120 Speaker 1: which he was becoming increasingly immersed, a peculiar canvas of 513 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:57,480 Speaker 1: pastal colors and tubular strands that seemed to wrap and 514 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:02,520 Speaker 1: snake around themselves. It was like nothing he had painted before. 515 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:08,560 Speaker 1: But such endeavors only ever provided fleeting moments of comfort, 516 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,160 Speaker 1: and by the end of nineteen ninety three, they had 517 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:16,440 Speaker 1: all but given up hope of ever escaping their horrifying ordeal. 518 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:22,040 Speaker 1: Little could they have known then that help was just 519 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:36,319 Speaker 1: around the corner. Film producer Annie mac donald had been 520 00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:39,920 Speaker 1: wrestling with a documentary idea for some time regarding the 521 00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:45,839 Speaker 1: exploits of apparent psychic and self styled ghost hunter Eddie Burkes. 522 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:50,080 Speaker 1: Back in August nineteen ninety two, Burkes had achieved some 523 00:41:50,239 --> 00:41:54,120 Speaker 1: notoriety after he claimed to have successfully banished the ghost 524 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,040 Speaker 1: of a sixteenth century courtier from the offices of the 525 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: exclusive British banking Institut Coots. Incredibly, not only had Burkes 526 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:07,759 Speaker 1: been invited to locate the ghost by representatives of the 527 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:11,560 Speaker 1: bank itself, but they had also attested to his success 528 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:16,280 Speaker 1: in removing it from their offices. When MacDonald, who also 529 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:19,840 Speaker 1: lived near the brecam Beacons, heard about the peculiar goings 530 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:23,920 Speaker 1: on at he Olfannock, she wasted little time in contacting 531 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:28,680 Speaker 1: Lissendbill with a proposition she would set them up with 532 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:32,240 Speaker 1: Burkes if they agreed to let her film his process. 533 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:36,240 Speaker 1: Though the couple were reticent at the thought of letting 534 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:39,879 Speaker 1: a documentary crew into their home, they also knew they 535 00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:45,080 Speaker 1: had nothing to lose. It was difficult to know quite 536 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:48,520 Speaker 1: what to make of the slight, bespectacled Burks when he 537 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:52,960 Speaker 1: first arrived that early March afternoon, dressed unassumingly in his 538 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:57,920 Speaker 1: dark green and Iraq. Nonetheless, lissen Bill tried to remain 539 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,560 Speaker 1: optimistic as they invited him, along with his friend and 540 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:05,600 Speaker 1: writer Gillian Cribbs, as well as MacDonald and her production 541 00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:11,960 Speaker 1: crew into their home. Moments later, with everyone gathered around 542 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:15,960 Speaker 1: the kitchen table, Liz and Bill filled them in on 543 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:21,480 Speaker 1: all that had happened so far. The tiredness and distress 544 00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:25,400 Speaker 1: etched across the couple's faces as they talked showed just 545 00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:29,600 Speaker 1: how difficult the last few years had been, while behind them, 546 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:33,720 Speaker 1: long triangular strips of wallpaper hanging limply from the wall 547 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,680 Speaker 1: gave the impression that even the house itself was starting 548 00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:42,520 Speaker 1: to crumble from the strain. When Liz finally brought their 549 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:47,600 Speaker 1: account to an end, Burkes became suddenly distracted and asked 550 00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:50,239 Speaker 1: to be taken outside to inspect the ruins of the 551 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:55,520 Speaker 1: old manor house. With the camera operator following close behind, 552 00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:59,040 Speaker 1: the group made their way into the garden through a 553 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:04,320 Speaker 1: line of trees and on to the crumbling ruins behind. Strangely, 554 00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:09,520 Speaker 1: when they arrived, however, much to the operator's dismay, the 555 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:15,040 Speaker 1: camera completely shut down. The battery, despite having been almost 556 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:21,239 Speaker 1: fully charged only minutes before, had gone completely flat. A 557 00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:26,080 Speaker 1: second camera operated by MacDonald appeared unaffected, as she kept 558 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:29,560 Speaker 1: it steady on Burkes while he requested quiet from everyone, 559 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:40,800 Speaker 1: and then promptly fell into a trance. When mc donald 560 00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:43,960 Speaker 1: had first traveled to meet Burkes, not long after she 561 00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:48,080 Speaker 1: first informed him of the situation at Lisonbill's home, he 562 00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:52,200 Speaker 1: had also entered a trance. When he came out of it, 563 00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:55,439 Speaker 1: he explained that he had been communicating with a young 564 00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:59,920 Speaker 1: man whose soul he said was trapped at hee Olfanno. 565 00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:05,120 Speaker 1: The man had apparently described the experience to him as 566 00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:08,640 Speaker 1: like being caught in a thicket that conspired to entrap 567 00:45:08,719 --> 00:45:13,360 Speaker 1: him every time he tried to escape. The young man 568 00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:17,280 Speaker 1: had apparently also told Burkes that he had been murdered 569 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:21,640 Speaker 1: sometime in the nineteenth century by a sickening blow to 570 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:26,320 Speaker 1: the back of the head. Back in the garden. Burke's 571 00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:32,040 Speaker 1: voice broke the silence. The young man was with them now, 572 00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:38,560 Speaker 1: he said, and was trying to tell him something. This 573 00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:41,759 Speaker 1: was the place, he was saying, where he had seen 574 00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:46,040 Speaker 1: something he shouldn't have, the very thing that had cost 575 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:51,080 Speaker 1: him his life. As Burkes went on to detail more 576 00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:55,160 Speaker 1: about the boy's murder, Gillian noticed a look of recognition 577 00:45:55,440 --> 00:46:01,840 Speaker 1: spreading across Liz's face. As Liz explained, late during the 578 00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:05,000 Speaker 1: second year of their stay at the house, she had 579 00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:08,000 Speaker 1: learnt about the brutal murder of a young farm hand 580 00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:12,560 Speaker 1: that occurred in the mid nineteenth century within walking distance 581 00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:17,960 Speaker 1: of heieol Fannock. All this time she had wondered if 582 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:20,759 Speaker 1: it had anything to do with the strange activity in 583 00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:25,400 Speaker 1: their home. Could it be she thought that this was 584 00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:36,520 Speaker 1: the young man that Burkes had been communicating with. It 585 00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:39,760 Speaker 1: was a cold and misty morning in November eighteen forty 586 00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:43,919 Speaker 1: eight at Coomboody Farm, a kilometer away from what would 587 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:49,520 Speaker 1: later become heieol Fannock, when farm servant Elizabeth Phillips rose 588 00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:52,360 Speaker 1: just before dawn and made her way to a nearby 589 00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:57,080 Speaker 1: brook to fetch some water. Approaching the entry gate to 590 00:46:57,120 --> 00:47:00,319 Speaker 1: the yard, she was surprised to find seventy teen year 591 00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:04,320 Speaker 1: old farm hand James Griffith suddenly appear from out of 592 00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:09,359 Speaker 1: the dark with an odd grin on his face. After 593 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:13,279 Speaker 1: muttering a brief good morning, he headed off toward the farmhouse, 594 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:18,520 Speaker 1: leaving Elizabeth to fetch the water on her own. When 595 00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:21,920 Speaker 1: she returned via the gate a few minutes later, she 596 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,880 Speaker 1: was startled by a strange, moaning sound that seemed to 597 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:30,600 Speaker 1: rise out of nowhere. In terror, she hurried back to 598 00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:33,759 Speaker 1: the house and called out for James to help her 599 00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:37,880 Speaker 1: find the source of the noise. When Elizabeth heard it again, 600 00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:41,480 Speaker 1: coming from somewhere toward the back of the yard, she 601 00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:44,200 Speaker 1: asked James to stay put while she went to fetch 602 00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:49,239 Speaker 1: a torch. By the time she returned, however, James had 603 00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:54,280 Speaker 1: disappeared after failing to find a source for the noise. 604 00:47:55,120 --> 00:47:58,400 Speaker 1: It wasn't until much later in the day that Elizabeth 605 00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:02,440 Speaker 1: caught sight of something lying underneath a dung heap that 606 00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:07,120 Speaker 1: caused her to cry out in horror, a pair of 607 00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:12,720 Speaker 1: legs lying in a pool of blood. Having been roused 608 00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:16,880 Speaker 1: by Elizabeth's screams, farmer John Powell and his son rushed 609 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:20,480 Speaker 1: to her aid. Together they pulled the body from the 610 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:23,359 Speaker 1: heap to find it was in fact another of their 611 00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:29,719 Speaker 1: farm hands, the eighteen year old Thomas Edwards. Remarkably, the 612 00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:34,680 Speaker 1: young man was still alive, remarkable because on picking him 613 00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:38,279 Speaker 1: up to carry him inside, they discovered a four inch 614 00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:42,319 Speaker 1: wide hole in the back of his head, bleeding profusely, 615 00:48:43,640 --> 00:48:47,880 Speaker 1: and beneath him clearly visible on the ground the missing 616 00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:54,360 Speaker 1: pieces of his skull. Thomas clung on for a number 617 00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:57,960 Speaker 1: of hours in a state of severe confusion, before eventually 618 00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:02,840 Speaker 1: succumbing to his injuries. Just as Eddie Burkes had claimed, 619 00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:07,120 Speaker 1: the unfortunate man had been killed by a sickening blow 620 00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:12,960 Speaker 1: to the back of his head. Four months later, James Griffiths, 621 00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:16,680 Speaker 1: who also went by the name of Thomas Williams, was 622 00:49:16,760 --> 00:49:20,840 Speaker 1: arrested in Ipswich, some three hundred miles away, still wearing 623 00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:25,720 Speaker 1: clothes that he had stolen from Thomas Edwards. Griffiths eventually 624 00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:28,920 Speaker 1: confessed that he had murdered Edwards to steal what little 625 00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:33,960 Speaker 1: money he had in his possession. It was Eddie Burkes's belief, however, 626 00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:38,080 Speaker 1: that Edwards had in fact stumbled upon some kind of 627 00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:42,880 Speaker 1: satanic ritual and was murdered by Griffith, acting under the 628 00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:47,680 Speaker 1: instructions of someone unknown to protect the identities of those 629 00:49:47,719 --> 00:49:52,480 Speaker 1: who had been seen. However, no evidence has ever been 630 00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:57,120 Speaker 1: found to support this theory. Although curiously not that it 631 00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:01,560 Speaker 1: suggests anything to do with the greatly misunderstood practice of Satanism. 632 00:50:02,320 --> 00:50:06,320 Speaker 1: When Griffiths first confessed committing the murder, he also claimed 633 00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:09,800 Speaker 1: that a woman named Jane Morgan had been the cause 634 00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:14,080 Speaker 1: of it. This name was later retracted from his confession. 635 00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:19,560 Speaker 1: Once convicted of his crime, Griffiths, who had been abandoned 636 00:50:19,560 --> 00:50:22,560 Speaker 1: by his family at a young age and spent most 637 00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:25,560 Speaker 1: of his teenage life drifting from one job to another, 638 00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:32,000 Speaker 1: was sentenced to death by hanging on Wednesday, eighteenth April 639 00:50:32,440 --> 00:50:37,000 Speaker 1: eighteen forty nine. That by then eighteen years old, James 640 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:40,760 Speaker 1: Griffiths was marched to the gallows at Brecon County Jail 641 00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:44,879 Speaker 1: in front of a large crowd of onlookers and hung 642 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:56,360 Speaker 1: from his neck until death. With Liz concluding the tragic 643 00:50:56,440 --> 00:51:00,280 Speaker 1: tale of the farm hands, something striking occurred to the group. 644 00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:04,479 Speaker 1: Could it be that perhaps the spirits of those two 645 00:51:04,520 --> 00:51:07,680 Speaker 1: young men were the same spirits that the couple had 646 00:51:07,719 --> 00:51:13,360 Speaker 1: been told on two separate occasions were trapped in the property, 647 00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:17,279 Speaker 1: with the landlord's mother possibly accounting for the third, that 648 00:51:17,440 --> 00:51:23,480 Speaker 1: left only the fourth in human entity unaccounted for. With 649 00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:27,200 Speaker 1: the group back in the kitchen, the quiet, Burkes took 650 00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:31,760 Speaker 1: a seat at the table. After confirming that the spirit 651 00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:34,759 Speaker 1: of the young man he had been communicating with had 652 00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:39,000 Speaker 1: now moved on, he closed his eyes and fell into 653 00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:45,279 Speaker 1: another trance. Opening them again, Burke was drawn immediately to 654 00:51:45,360 --> 00:51:48,080 Speaker 1: the spot near the bathroom, close to the bottom of 655 00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:52,319 Speaker 1: the stairs, sensing a strange darkness was being harboured there. 656 00:51:53,719 --> 00:51:58,360 Speaker 1: But there was also something else. He closed his eyes again. 657 00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:03,480 Speaker 1: He could see a vision, he said outloud. A bright 658 00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:09,080 Speaker 1: cross was manifesting, bringing light into the house. Something holy, 659 00:52:09,239 --> 00:52:14,600 Speaker 1: he said. Bill got up immediately from the table and 660 00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:19,640 Speaker 1: appeared a moment later holding a large canvas painting. Burkes 661 00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:24,279 Speaker 1: opened his eyes and looked up. Though the background was 662 00:52:24,320 --> 00:52:27,560 Speaker 1: an abstract mesh of dark colors and thick brush strokes, 663 00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:33,480 Speaker 1: the large white cross in the middle was unmistakable. It 664 00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:38,400 Speaker 1: was just as Burkes had described. Yes, he said quietly, 665 00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:46,520 Speaker 1: that is what's been keeping you safe. Bill had painted 666 00:52:46,520 --> 00:52:49,640 Speaker 1: the white cross three years previously, over the course of 667 00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:53,600 Speaker 1: a few nights, the imagery having come to him completely 668 00:52:53,640 --> 00:52:58,480 Speaker 1: out of the blue one evening. Burkes's friend Gillian, was 669 00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:02,160 Speaker 1: instantly intrigued to know what else Bill might have unconsciously 670 00:53:02,239 --> 00:53:07,960 Speaker 1: channeled and asked to see the studio. In amongst what 671 00:53:08,080 --> 00:53:11,759 Speaker 1: Gillian later described as a collection of landscapes and pop 672 00:53:11,840 --> 00:53:16,160 Speaker 1: art studies, there was one painting that stood out against 673 00:53:16,160 --> 00:53:21,959 Speaker 1: the rest, A strange and puzzling picture, unlike anything else 674 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:26,240 Speaker 1: in the room, comprised of a vast pastal colored mesh 675 00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:31,000 Speaker 1: of tubular, tendril like things linked together in a bizarre 676 00:53:31,200 --> 00:53:39,080 Speaker 1: organic circuitry. Looking closer, Gillian noticed they were in fact vines, 677 00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:44,239 Speaker 1: complete with sharp thorns, and in amongst them were what 678 00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:50,120 Speaker 1: looked like internal organs, outstretched hands, and even the occasional 679 00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:55,800 Speaker 1: face peering out with pained expressions as if they were screaming. 680 00:53:58,239 --> 00:54:02,520 Speaker 1: Gillian was instantly reminded of Eddie Burkes's first conversation with 681 00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:08,640 Speaker 1: producer Annie MacDonald. Was this, she thought, not a depiction 682 00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:12,319 Speaker 1: of the imprisoned soul, as had apparently been described to 683 00:54:12,360 --> 00:54:16,600 Speaker 1: Burke's by the spirit of the deceased young man. Had 684 00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:19,960 Speaker 1: he been calling out to Bill for help all this time. 685 00:54:27,280 --> 00:54:31,000 Speaker 1: Although a possible identity to the apparent forth in human 686 00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:35,279 Speaker 1: presence was never ascertained, Burke's was adamant he had done 687 00:54:35,400 --> 00:54:38,640 Speaker 1: enough to exercise whatever it had been from Liz and 688 00:54:38,680 --> 00:54:42,319 Speaker 1: Bill's home in the immediate aftermath of his trip to 689 00:54:42,360 --> 00:54:46,520 Speaker 1: the house. Once again the family felt a renewed lightness, 690 00:54:47,160 --> 00:54:50,960 Speaker 1: and though they experienced a few subsequent troubles with Burke's 691 00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:55,320 Speaker 1: returning in June to conduct a further exorcism, his intervention 692 00:54:55,920 --> 00:55:00,239 Speaker 1: appeared to have done the trick. That following day, after 693 00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:04,680 Speaker 1: Burke's second visit, the rate of electricity usage dropped for 694 00:55:04,719 --> 00:55:07,520 Speaker 1: the first time since they had lived in the house. 695 00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:15,040 Speaker 1: By nineteen ninety five, the family experienced no further hauntings, 696 00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:20,919 Speaker 1: and Bill's work was starting to pick up again. As 697 00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:24,759 Speaker 1: for film producer Annie MacDonald, she never did quite get 698 00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:29,680 Speaker 1: her film of Burke's in action, with the battery of 699 00:55:29,719 --> 00:55:34,200 Speaker 1: one camera having inexplicably died as Burke's attempted communication with 700 00:55:34,280 --> 00:55:38,719 Speaker 1: the spirits, McDonald's second camera appeared to be capturing it 701 00:55:38,760 --> 00:55:43,000 Speaker 1: all fine. It was only when she returned home later, however, 702 00:55:43,719 --> 00:55:49,120 Speaker 1: that she had a chance to review the footage. Switching 703 00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:52,239 Speaker 1: on the camera, she ran the tape forward to the 704 00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:54,439 Speaker 1: point where the group made their way to the back 705 00:55:54,480 --> 00:56:00,640 Speaker 1: of the garden and pressed play. With great anticipation, She 706 00:56:00,760 --> 00:56:04,480 Speaker 1: watched as Burkes positioned himself by the ruins and asked 707 00:56:04,560 --> 00:56:09,800 Speaker 1: for silence, then just at the moment of apparent contact, 708 00:56:10,880 --> 00:56:16,560 Speaker 1: the screen went blank. She fast forwarded in desperation, but 709 00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:20,040 Speaker 1: it was to no avail. The rest of the tape 710 00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:31,240 Speaker 1: was completely empty. This episode was written by Richard McLain Smith. 711 00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:34,640 Speaker 1: Thank you as ever for listening to the show. Please 712 00:56:34,680 --> 00:56:37,279 Speaker 1: subscribe and rate it if you haven't already done so. 713 00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:41,960 Speaker 1: Unexplained will be coming to YouTube very shortly in video form, 714 00:56:42,080 --> 00:56:45,239 Speaker 1: so please watch out for future developments there. You can 715 00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:48,440 Speaker 1: subscribe to the channel at YouTube dot com Forward slash 716 00:56:48,680 --> 00:56:51,759 Speaker 1: at Unexplained pod. You can also now find us on 717 00:56:51,800 --> 00:56:55,800 Speaker 1: TikTok at TikTok dot com. Forward slash at Unexplained podcast. 718 00:56:57,600 --> 00:57:01,480 Speaker 1: Unexplained as an Avy Club Productions podcast asked created by 719 00:57:01,560 --> 00:57:05,520 Speaker 1: Richard McClain smith. All other elements of the podcast, including 720 00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:10,960 Speaker 1: the music, are also produced by me Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. 721 00:57:10,960 --> 00:57:14,680 Speaker 1: The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. 722 00:57:15,000 --> 00:57:18,880 Speaker 1: You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and 723 00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:23,320 Speaker 1: other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever 724 00:57:23,360 --> 00:57:25,960 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in 725 00:57:26,040 --> 00:57:29,520 Speaker 1: touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've 726 00:57:29,560 --> 00:57:32,280 Speaker 1: heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of 727 00:57:32,320 --> 00:57:34,960 Speaker 1: your own you'd like to share. You can find out 728 00:57:35,040 --> 00:57:38,800 Speaker 1: more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online 729 00:57:38,880 --> 00:57:43,960 Speaker 1: through Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, 730 00:57:44,000 --> 00:58:11,920 Speaker 1: Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast