WEBVTT - Season 4 Episode 1: Alone With Everybody (RERUN) 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.080 Hello, it's Richard mc lean smith here with a quick apology, 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:05.560 but due to a number of factors, our next episode 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:08.280 won't be ready until next week. So in the meantime 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:10.920 we're going back into the vaults to one of our 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:14.720 most popular episodes, now available for the first time as 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:20.280 one single episode. At the northern edge of Cumery's Brecon Beacons, 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.520 in the shadow of the penny Fan Peak sits a 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:29.200 large stone house named Hail Fannock or Road to the Peaks. 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.360 For one couple who moved there in nineteen eighty nine, 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:36.400 the house was everything they had ever dreamed of. Little 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.560 did they know that, in truth, it would soon become 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:44.880 the place of their worst nightmares. This is Unexplained Season four, 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:50.239 episode one alone with everybody. Oh, and I have a 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.200 message from the other Richard mc clean smith. I don't 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:54.920 know who he thinks I am getting me to do this, 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.120 but for what it's worth, he wants you to know 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.840 that the first episode of Unexplained TV will be released 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.720 next Tuesday, December third. You can find him at YouTube 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:20.600 dot com forward slash Unexplained pod check it out. At 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:24.120 the northern edge of the beguiling Brecon Beacons in Cumbrie, 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:29.160 under the shadow of penny Fan to the south and 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:33.080 the Black Mountains to the east. That sits a large 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:38.720 stone house, long and narrow with its rickety roof and 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:42.440 jumbled patchwork of brick. It lies at the intersection of 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:46.559 two winding lanes, surrounded by a thick ring of oak, 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:52.800 alder and witch elm, hidden from prying eyes by the holly, 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:59.760 the hawthorn, and the ash from the front ivy pause 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.080 green edily at its northern flanks, almost as if it 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.600 were trying to drag it down and into the ground, 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.000 while from the back the way the earth rises up 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:13.560 into a rugged clearing of thick scrub. It'd be forgiven 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:18.520 for thinking it was part way to succeeding. Its name 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:24.000 is heel Fannock, or in English road to the Peaks, 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.079 a reference to the hills and mountains that overshadow it. 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:33.240 An entry point of sorts, or perhaps a gateway, as 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:38.120 some might say. Constructed in the nineteen fifties, like a 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:42.160 repurposed limb grafted onto the remnants of an old barn, 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.160 it is comprised largely of stone taken from what was 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:50.200 left at the old sixteenth century manor house. The lichen 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:53.680 covered ruins, of which can still be found hidden deeper 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:57.080 amongst the trees at the very back of the garden. 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.919 It is May nineteen eighty nine, and all is quiet 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:09.560 save for the distant chatter of skylarks. While high above light, 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.519 tufts of cloud in the bright spring sky draw shadows 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:18.040 across the roof. They drift lazily from front to back, 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:22.720 east to west, slipping down onto the thick grass before 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:30.639 heading into the trees and disappearing somewhere beyond. Inside, silence 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:34.440 reigns as dust mots float through soft beams of light. 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:42.720 Spiders twitch in dark corners. The barn door creaks up above, 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.960 a large crow comes to rest on the chimney pot, 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.839 digging its beak into its feathers as it breams. When 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:54.680 suddenly its head jerks up, the eyes alert to something 0:03:55.040 --> 0:04:02.320 rustling in the undergrowth. Moments later, something else, far more ominous, 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:08.880 is heard, the faint sound of an approaching vehicle. With 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:13.360 a strained squawk, the crow spreads its iridescent wings and 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:17.360 launches into the air, rising away and over the tree 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:24.040 tops before it too disappears somewhere beyond. Back down below, 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:29.279 he old fannok sits quiet and still as the sound 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:33.480 of the engine draws ever nearer, until finally a car 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.680 turns into the front drive and pulls up outside the house. 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.040 Silence returns for the briefest of moments before the front 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:47.320 doors swing open and its excitable passengers spill out into 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:53.600 the warm spring air. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm 0:04:53.880 --> 0:05:04.400 Richard mc lean smith. Thirty year old Liz was first 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:08.960 to exit, followed by her partner, Bill, thirteen years her senior, 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:12.719 from the other side of the car, a big smile 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:16.920 spreading across her face as she caught his eye. Fourteen 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.240 year old Lawrence, Bill's son from a previous marriage, was 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:24.200 the last to get out, slowly extricating himself from the 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:30.039 back seat. Liz, her pregnancy bump just beginning to show 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.120 above her waist, paused to take it all in as 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:38.200 Bill and Lawrence set about unloading their things. It was 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:41.920 even more beautiful than she remembered, She thought, the perfect 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:45.640 place to raise their baby and begin afresh, free from 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:50.159 the distractions of the past. For Bill, it was the 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:53.240 sheer remoteness of the place and the large studio space 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.800 above the barn that had first appealed a gifted and 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:01.359 renowned artist of predominantly surrealist pop art peace Pie Bill 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.680 had become increasingly frustrated with how much his time was 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:09.039 being taken up with his more commercial endeavors, creating decorative 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:14.359 boxes and other pieces for the casual consumer. He old Fannock, 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:17.880 he hoped would be a chance to rediscover the true 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:24.520 artist inside him. For most in similar circumstances, it is 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.400 easy to become distracted by the excitement of a move, 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.719 to become wrapped up in the accompanying sense of optimism 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:36.040 it often brings. It is also easy, when in such 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.400 a state, not to notice things that at the time 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:45.599 might otherwise have seemed a little off kilter. The receipt 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:49.360 for six pounds sixty six that Bill found shortly after 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.880 moving in taken from the last meal the couple eight 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:57.360 before arriving at the house, for example, or the sixty 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:04.640 six pounds sixty grocery bill would incur shortly after. There 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:08.360 were certainly no signs of anything untoward that first summer, 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.400 as the family settled into their new lives, bringing a 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.200 whole host of life to join them in their new adventure, 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:21.120 from cats, to goats and even a pig. Named Lucinda, 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.080 and with a steady run of orders for Bill's work 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.640 coming in, it wasn't long before he was finally able 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:31.440 to dedicate some time to his more personal and fulfilling work. 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:37.800 By September, Lizz and Bill were married, and the following month, 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.480 as if to top it all off, her waters broke. 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:48.160 Despite some initial complications, come November, the couple welcomed new arrival, 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:54.480 Ben into their dream home. Life, as they say, couldn't 0:07:54.480 --> 0:08:06.000 have been more sweet. But all that was about to change. 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.400 It was one afternoon in mid November when Liz stepped 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:14.000 out of the house for some fresh air. As a 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:16.680 sudden gust of wind rustled the leaves in the trees. 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:19.840 She was struck for the first time by just how 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:24.200 quiet it usually was out there, as if no birds 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:28.800 ever seemed to alight in the garden. Perhaps it was 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:32.120 just the drawing inn of the nights, or how winter 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.520 had stripped the leaves from some of the larger trees, 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.640 leaving her and the house feeling a little more exposed 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:43.920 than usual. But as Liz watched the pale sun drop 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:49.400 below the horizon, sending majestic crepuscular rays shooting white gold 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:53.600 across the sky. It wasn't a sense of wonder that 0:08:53.720 --> 0:09:02.080 she felt, but dread. Early. With all the family laying 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:06.480 fast asleep, baby Ben begins to twitch in his cot, 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:11.560 kicking out with both legs, with his hands squeezed up 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.920 into little fists, and his face beginning to redden and 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:20.520 scrunch up. Finally, his mouth opens wide and he begins 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:26.080 to cry. Liz, having woken, instantly switched on the light 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:29.640 and gathered Ben from the cot as she prepared to 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:33.160 feed him. A weary Bill pulled back the covers and 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:38.520 headed toward the toilet downstairs. He had just started to 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:43.720 pee when an unexpected noise startled him, a loud, hammering 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:47.120 sound that seemed to be moving along the corridor above 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:54.079 like heavy footsteps. Bill froze as the apparent footsteps near 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.800 the top of the stairs for coming to a sudden stop. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.719 Assuming it to be his son, Lawrence, Bill headed back 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:08.040 up stairs, only to find the corridor completely empty and 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:13.480 Lawrence's bedroom door now closed. He switched off the light 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:16.679 and returned to his own bedroom, where he found Liz 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:22.120 quietly placing Ben back into his cot. Bill asked if 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:26.040 she'd heard anything too, but to his surprise, she hadn't 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:30.440 heard a thing. He poked his head back into the hall, 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.880 switched on the light, and stood watch for a moment, 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:37.840 keeping his eyes trained on the studio door at the 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:43.199 far end. Hearing and seeing nothing, he switched off the 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:54.560 light and returned to bed. The following morning, Bill and 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.679 Liz were stunned to receive an exorbitant electricity bill from Swayleck, 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:03.720 the South Wales Electricity Board, which was almost four times 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:08.480 what they had been expecting. That afternoon, as she sat 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.839 down on the bed to feed Ben, Liz couldn't stop 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:15.640 thinking about the extortionate invoice and what Bill had said 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:20.240 the previous night that he'd heard something moving about the house. 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.280 Although it was true that she hadn't heard anything herself, 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:31.440 there was something that she hadn't mentioned that recently in 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:35.320 her private moments, she had begun to feel as though 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:40.920 something was watching her. Just then, the studio door at 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:44.520 the far end of the house slammed shut with a bank, 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:50.720 startling Liz. Momentarily thinking it was nothing, she returned to 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.920 feeding her baby when a second closer door slam shut, 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:59.760 startling her again. It must be Lawrence, she thought, with 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:04.200 ann with her eyes now trained on her own door. 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:07.800 Liz jumped again when the sound of a third door 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:12.320 being slammed was heard, this time leaving her utterly frozen 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:16.480 in fear, for although the noise seemed to have come 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:23.360 from inside her own room, the door hadn't moved an inch. Bill, 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:26.320 who had heard the bangs from downstairs, burst in moments 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:30.000 later to find a scared and confused Liz struggling to 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:34.640 comprehend what had just happened. Convinced it had something to 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.880 do with Lawrence, she demanded that Bill tell him to 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:43.679 pack it in, but Bill didn't understand Lawrence hadn't been 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:57.840 home for over an hour. Bill called the electricity board 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:02.520 at the first opportunity to dispute their invoice, eventually forcing 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:07.559 them to send an electrician round to monitor the meter. Unfortunately, 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.600 they found nothing wrong with it, though they couldn't say 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:14.760 exactly how the family were racking up such a large bill. 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:20.320 Something in that house was draining the electricity one way 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:25.120 or another. It was about the same time that Bill 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:30.280 started noticing a foul smell emanating from somewhere in the kitchen, 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:35.840 as if something putrid had been set on fire. A 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:38.439 plumber was duly called to locate the source of it, 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:45.920 but found nothing untoward. As winter approached, life at the house, 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:51.920 superficially at least, carried on as normal. However, though the 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:55.280 couple had yet to acknowledge it to each other, both 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.480 had the sense that something of the atmosphere in their 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:05.200 home had re shifted. A few days later, Bill received 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:09.840 a disappointing phone call from a major client. They were 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.240 terribly sorry, they said, but they would have to cancel 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:18.920 their order. Conscious of the unwieldy electricity bill still hanging 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:23.800 over their heads, Bill tried to remain upbeat. After all, 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:28.840 he still had another large order to fulfill. Later that afternoon, 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:35.600 they canceled too. As the holiday season approached, Bill and Liz, 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.040 with their newborn son and Lawrence, who they felt was 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:43.960 becoming increasingly withdrawn, found themselves in the grip of a 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:48.840 very domestic sense of uncertainty. For by now Liz and 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:54.080 Lawrence were noticing those footsteps too, and the occasional eruptions 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:58.560 of the inexplicable putrid stench that continued to plague their home. 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:05.240 But most of all, they couldn't escape that unmistakable, skin 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:15.920 crawling sensation that something else was in there with them. 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:20.920 After sharing a first Christmas together in their new home, 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.840 not least for the benefit of Lawrence and their baby's son. 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.880 Bill and Liz agreed to not let the disappointments of 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:32.280 the last few months and the increasingly strange events, get 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:37.840 the better of them. It wouldn't be long, however, before 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:42.760 they were being challenged again. Early in the new year, 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.280 Liz entered the barn overjoyed to find their goat Lulu 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:51.480 had given birth to two kids, but when she neared them, 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:57.280 her excitement turned to horror. Though one kid seemed bright 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:03.560 and healthy, the other lay completely still, its tiny glassy 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:09.680 eyes fixed and rolled back into its head. The mother 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:13.160 had crushed it with her hind legs shortly after it 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:18.880 was borne. Not long after that, Lucinda the pig was 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:24.040 found rushing about the barn, screaming wildly. A few days later, 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:27.560 she was diagnosed with a rare disease for which there 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:32.520 was no cure. The devastated family had no option but 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:37.560 to have her put down. Liz tried her best not 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:42.120 to overthink it all, to put it down to unfortunate coincidence, 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.120 but when Bill's orders started drying up too, she couldn't 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:51.880 ignore it any more. Picking up the phone one morning, 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:57.880 she took a deep breath and died. A few moments later, 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:03.440 Bridget Buscombe, the previous resident of hio Fannok, answered the call. 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:10.479 After introducing herself, Liz, cautious not to sound too odd, 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:14.679 proceeded to ask Bridget about her time living in the house. 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:19.280 She was disappointed, however, to learn that she had only 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:23.800 fond memories of her experiences there. But as the pair 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:28.159 were just saying their goodbyes, Liz sensed a slight pause 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:36.760 from Bridget's end. Actually, she said, Finally, there was one thing, yes, 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:42.720 replied Liz. Once, when she had been lying alone, reading 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.480 in bed, with her husband away on business, she became 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:51.439 aware of a very gentle creaking sound. Looking across to 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:55.159 the other side of the room, she was astonished to 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:59.920 see her antique spinning wheel slowly turning of its owner call. 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:04.960 She had stared at it utterly perplexed for a number 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:09.199 of seconds before eventually rising from the bed and jamming 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:14.080 it with a piece of paper. She knew it, thought Liz. 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:24.199 They hadn't been imagining it after all. As if in 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:28.240 response to Lizzie's renewed conviction that something untoward was occurring 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:33.320 in their home, the strange activity intensified, and in early 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:38.520 March they finally agreed to seek help. A priest was 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.960 found to bless the house, and although he didn't notice 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:45.800 anything himself, the family were reassured by his lack of 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.840 judgment and determination to help, and in the days that 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:53.600 followed the house seemed lighter and more spacious than it 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:58.640 had done in months. One morning, after Bill had driven 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:02.919 into town to run some errand Liz took Ben for 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:08.520 a walk. When she returned, for the first time she 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:13.440 could remember, Liz felt pleased to see the house, smiling 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:15.720 warmly at the sight of her husband in one of 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.679 the top floor windows as she made her way up 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:25.840 the driveway with Ben. But then her smile dropped. Bill's 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:31.000 car was not in the driveway, meaning it wasn't her husband. 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:38.760 Standing at the window, with her breath quickening, Liz forced 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:44.600 herself to look up again. There staring back at her 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:48.560 from inside the house was the gaunt face of an 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:58.160 elderly woman she didn't recognize. A moment later it was gone. 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:01.720 Left terrified at the recent turn of events, but unable 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:05.600 to afford a move elsewhere, the couple turned their attention 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:08.600 to the history of the local area in the hope 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.880 that they might uncover something to help understand what seemed 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:18.560 to be stalking their home. Soon after, a builder, responding 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:21.719 to a hopeful article placed by Bill in the local paper, 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:26.439 got in touch. There was something he thought the couple 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:30.760 should know. The man, as he went on to explain, 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.600 had helped build the house in the nineteen fifties. At 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:39.199 some point during construction, he and his co workers were 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.200 gathering stones from the ruins of the old manor House 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:45.840 when they came across a set of old, smashed up 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:51.000 headstones in amongst the rubble. Could it be, he wondered, 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.000 that the house had in fact been built on the 0:20:55.040 --> 0:21:06.280 site of the old manor houses burial ground. One afternoon 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:10.320 in the spring of nineteen ninety, Bill was upstairs working 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.560 in his studio when Liz, who was just finishing cleaning 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:16.920 up in the kitchen, had the sudden urge to check 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:21.840 on their baby. With a rising sense of panic, Liz 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:25.960 hurried to the bedroom. Rushing through the door, she looked 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:29.280 up in horror to find sitting in the chair opposite 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:33.480 the crib the same elderly woman she had seen looking 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:38.679 at her from the window a second later, she was gone. 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:44.280 The next morning, Bill woke in agony to find both 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:49.360 his hands strangely dry, the skin red and cracking all 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:53.440 over them. The sudden affliction left him unable to paint 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:58.720 for weeks on end, But just as the increasingly oppressive 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:03.439 atmosphere in the house was threatening to overcome them, the 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:07.159 mood was lifted when the couple learned that Liz was 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:13.199 pregnant again. The joyous revelation left them more determined than 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:19.000 ever to find an end to their problems. Local spiritualist 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:23.200 Ray Williams was recommended to the couple, having apparently succeeded 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:29.280 in helping other parishioners in similar situations to themselves. Arriving 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:34.080 one bright April morning along with two colleagues, he swiftly 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:37.080 set about examining each room of the house for any 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:43.080 sign of psychical disturbance. Within minutes, Williams was in no 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:47.080 doubt that something dark had found its way into the property. 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:52.199 A few days later, with Liz and the children staying 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:56.119 at her mother's in the nearby village of Cowbridge, Bill 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:59.359 arrived at the property to meet with the three men again. 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:04.119 After letting them in, he waited in the kitchen as 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:10.040 they carefully made their way around the house, blessing each room. 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:14.000 A short time later, while Bill went through his mail, 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:16.760 he heard a cry coming from the back of the house. 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:21.640 Racing outside to investigate, he found one of the men 0:23:21.760 --> 0:23:25.320 doubled over in pain, claiming it had come on as 0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:30.080 soon as he approached the window to the downstairs bathroom. 0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:33.320 Returning to the house, the men made a bee line 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:35.920 for the small area between the bottom of the stairs 0:23:35.960 --> 0:23:39.840 and the restroom downstairs. Convinced it was where the malicious 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:45.840 activity was centering, Bill explained with amazement that indeed, it 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:49.320 was the exact spot where most of the strange events 0:23:49.520 --> 0:23:55.320 seemed to occur. With their investigation completed, the men relayed 0:23:55.359 --> 0:23:58.480 their findings to Bill, stating that they had felt the 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:03.240 presence of four entities in total, three being an elderly 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:07.080 woman and two young men, whom they had now successfully 0:24:07.080 --> 0:24:13.040 banished from the house. However, there was one other, far 0:24:13.160 --> 0:24:18.480 darker and clearly not of this world. It was their 0:24:18.560 --> 0:24:22.600 opinion that, unlike the three other entities, it had not 0:24:22.640 --> 0:24:25.679 originated at the sight of the property, but had in 0:24:25.720 --> 0:24:29.399 fact arrived with Bill and may have been following him 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:34.840 for the past. Twenty years. Later, in an effort to 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:38.520 provide protection for the family, one of the men returned 0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:41.879 to construct a psychic wall of protection around the house. 0:24:43.440 --> 0:24:47.119 Finding a spot on the kitchen floor, he carefully outlined 0:24:47.119 --> 0:24:51.119 a pentacle with chalk, before placing incense at each point. 0:24:52.520 --> 0:24:57.040 As the perfumed smoke drifted and dispersed into the room, quietly, 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:03.280 he implored any spirit to vacate the immediately. Twenty minutes 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:07.359 later he was gone, leaving Bill alone to rack his 0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:10.560 brains for any reason as to why a malicious entity 0:25:10.920 --> 0:25:14.560 might have attached itself to him. And then it came 0:25:14.600 --> 0:25:26.640 to him Alex Sanders. Back in his early twenties, when 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:28.960 Bill was trying to make a name for himself as 0:25:28.960 --> 0:25:32.760 an aspiring artist in London, he was introduced to a 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:38.080 man named Alex Sanders, the self styled King of the Witches. 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:43.040 The controversial Sanders had at one time been a follower 0:25:43.240 --> 0:25:47.960 of renowned Wiccan practitioner Gerald Gardner, before splitting from his 0:25:48.040 --> 0:25:54.040 teachings to pursue his own interpretations of ceremonial magic. Having 0:25:54.040 --> 0:25:58.000 at one point been informed of Bill's ambitions, Sanders offered 0:25:58.000 --> 0:26:00.960 to initiate him into his coven in an effort to 0:26:01.000 --> 0:26:04.720 aid his development as an artist. With nothing to lose 0:26:05.240 --> 0:26:11.160 and curious to know more, Bill accepted his invitation. However, 0:26:11.920 --> 0:26:15.119 no sooner had Bill begun the series of initiation rituals 0:26:15.800 --> 0:26:18.320 than he had a change of heart and pulled out 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:22.400 of it. Could it be? He wondered that his failure 0:26:22.440 --> 0:26:26.600 to complete the initiation had opened some kind of gateway, 0:26:26.640 --> 0:26:31.200 allowing something unsavory to come through and attach itself to him. 0:26:33.640 --> 0:26:36.679 Either way, when the family moved back to the house 0:26:36.720 --> 0:26:40.320 that summer, they found that whatever the spiritualists had done 0:26:40.760 --> 0:26:45.680 appeared to have worked. Gone was the heavy, oppressive atmosphere, 0:26:46.800 --> 0:26:53.920 those strange noises and noxious smells. Despite the apparent cleansing 0:26:53.960 --> 0:26:59.080 of Iyolfannock. However, Bill, growing increasingly worried about the impact 0:26:59.119 --> 0:27:02.080 it was all having on Lawrence, was unwilling to take 0:27:02.119 --> 0:27:06.320 any more chances. After consulting with his ex wife, it 0:27:06.359 --> 0:27:08.399 was arranged to have Lawrence take a room at a 0:27:08.440 --> 0:27:12.840 nearby boarding house. Though Bill was relieved that his oldest 0:27:12.840 --> 0:27:16.000 son could now get on with life away from the Mayhem, 0:27:16.400 --> 0:27:20.600 it was a further hit to the family finances. As 0:27:20.640 --> 0:27:24.679 if things weren't complicated enough, a nationwide recession had all 0:27:24.720 --> 0:27:28.679 but done for his regular stream of income. In July, 0:27:28.920 --> 0:27:32.080 they were forced to sell the car, and being unable 0:27:32.080 --> 0:27:35.600 to pay the phone bill, their line was cut off. 0:27:37.960 --> 0:27:40.199 With a number of friends and family having found it 0:27:40.240 --> 0:27:44.280 difficult to sympathize with their recent plight, having no experience 0:27:44.280 --> 0:27:47.399 of what it was they had been through, the family 0:27:47.400 --> 0:27:53.320 could scarcely have felt more isolated that summer of nineteen ninety. 0:27:54.359 --> 0:27:58.040 The trees that surrounded the house seemed to loom higher 0:27:58.080 --> 0:28:03.000 than ever, the rising hills of the beacons taller and 0:28:03.119 --> 0:28:07.960 more foreboding, and it wasn't long before Bill and Liz 0:28:08.840 --> 0:28:23.359 were hearing those footsteps again. Bill deftly wiped away the 0:28:23.400 --> 0:28:27.840 paint with the cloth and tried once more, this time 0:28:27.920 --> 0:28:31.280 taking extra care as he dipped the brush before again 0:28:31.480 --> 0:28:34.159 attempting to correct the line from the upper thigh to 0:28:34.240 --> 0:28:38.200 the knee. He stood back to get a better look 0:28:38.760 --> 0:28:44.040 and was immediately disappointed. Damn it, he thought, as he 0:28:44.080 --> 0:28:49.360 grudgingly wiped the paint away again. Though the weeks since 0:28:49.360 --> 0:28:53.120 the house had been exercised in July had been comparatively calm, 0:28:53.720 --> 0:28:59.920 the family's financial situation was becoming increasingly desperate. Things appeared 0:28:59.920 --> 0:29:03.000 to be looking up, however, when Bill was commissioned out 0:29:03.040 --> 0:29:06.000 of the blue by his neighbour Susanna, to paint a 0:29:06.040 --> 0:29:11.120 portrait of her favorite horse, Echo. Bill wasn't entirely sure 0:29:11.240 --> 0:29:14.200 if it had been out of sympathy or genuine interest, 0:29:14.920 --> 0:29:18.680 but either way he was grateful not only for the money, 0:29:19.120 --> 0:29:21.520 but also the chance to finally put his mind at 0:29:21.560 --> 0:29:25.120 rest and move on from the stress of the previous year. 0:29:26.920 --> 0:29:30.000 It was a fairly simple piece to complete by his standards, 0:29:30.760 --> 0:29:35.360 constructed in two parts, the first being the composition of 0:29:35.400 --> 0:29:39.960 the backdrop, which Bill had decided on himself after spending 0:29:40.000 --> 0:29:43.200 the day scouring the local countryside for the perfect setting. 0:29:44.760 --> 0:29:47.960 With that completed, he had then set about painting in 0:29:48.040 --> 0:29:51.880 the horse on top, using a recent photograph provided by 0:29:51.960 --> 0:29:56.320 his neighbour. All was going well until it came to 0:29:56.360 --> 0:30:00.160 finishing up the back leg. No matter how many times 0:30:00.160 --> 0:30:03.560 he tried, the brush just wouldn't do what he wanted. 0:30:05.440 --> 0:30:09.560 In the end, despite countless efforts, Bill was eventually forced 0:30:09.640 --> 0:30:16.040 to admit defeat, hoping that his neighbour wouldn't notice. Thankfully, Susanna, 0:30:16.440 --> 0:30:19.680 who was clearly very fond of the animal, was delighted 0:30:19.720 --> 0:30:23.680 with his efforts, and so it was with some distress 0:30:23.960 --> 0:30:28.200 when she informed Bill a few weeks later that Echo 0:30:28.680 --> 0:30:39.320 had died. It began soon after Susanna had hung up 0:30:39.360 --> 0:30:43.320 the painting. Watching the horse in the paddock one afternoon, 0:30:44.040 --> 0:30:48.000 she noticed he was limping and clearly in some considerable pain. 0:30:49.160 --> 0:30:52.120 A subsequent check up with the vet revealed a peculiar 0:30:52.160 --> 0:30:55.200 injury to one of its hind legs, which had caused 0:30:55.200 --> 0:31:01.240 it to swell up inexplicably. Echo's condition to deteriorated rapidly 0:31:01.280 --> 0:31:05.560 over the next few days, until one morning he simply 0:31:05.600 --> 0:31:12.960 wandered out into the fields, keeled over and died. Having 0:31:13.000 --> 0:31:17.360 returned home after burying the animal, A devastated Susannah found 0:31:17.360 --> 0:31:21.800 herself reminiscing in front of Bill's painting when she noticed 0:31:21.840 --> 0:31:27.160 something peculiar at the precise spot where the horse had 0:31:27.160 --> 0:31:31.360 developed his injury. Bill's multiple attempts to get the leg 0:31:31.680 --> 0:31:38.320 just right had left it looking oddly swollen. Then she 0:31:38.440 --> 0:31:43.800