002: Who Are You?

Pleasing Terrors

Early 19th-century America was a time for the pioneer, the robust adventurer who leaves the familiarity of home in search of fortune and success. One such man was John Bell, a farmer who settled in Adams, Tennessee with his family and slaves. Their idyllic country life was soon disturbed after the youngest Bell child, Elizabeth, drew the attention of a sinister spirit. Strange creatures stalked the property as the sounds of clawing, choking, and banging haunted the Bell household, whose inhabitants demanded answers from the spirit who tormented them - “Who are you? What do you want?” Answers whispered from the walls around them as the spirit claimed to be a tormented soul, the resident of a disturbed grave, an immigrant, and finally -- a Witch.

John Bell died gasping in the night, the disembodied voice of the Bell Witch cackling as it told his horrified family that he had been poisoned by the spirit. As the centuries passed, the legend of the Bell family haunting has become twisted with age, leaving modern listeners with these final questions: Who killed John Bell? Was it a Witch?

Or someone much closer to home?

Episode Highlights:

• The antique shop owner, the Bell chair, and the Cave
• The haunting of the Bell family
• Jawbones beneath the floor: questioning the Paranormal
• Attacks on Elizabeth Bell
• Discovering the true identity of the Witch
• John Bell’s demise
• The connection between Witches and caves
• Poltergeists and psychokinesis: alternate Bell theories

Resources:

Enigmatic Anomalies Episode 5: The Bell Witch Haunting

An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch by M.V. Ingram

The Bell Witch: An American Haunting by Brent Monahan

Quotes/Tweets:

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“Women who lived on the margins of society, especially older women, had always lived with the possibility of being cast in the role of the witch”

“Whoever this was, whatever this was, it wanted John Bell dead”

“It is killing me by slow tortures and I fear the end is nigh”

“Like any good mystery, the killer may be the person you would least suspect”

“We know that there was a voice whispering in the dark, but the question remains - whose voice?”