A Haunting - S07E05 - Ashes to Evil
A home's deadly past is revealed by fire and a family needs help handling a demon.
Transcript
00:00a young family moves into an old home and soon discovers they are not alone I
00:12felt a very strong presence something was in the house at first they suspect
00:20innocent ghost children those kids they died in the house but then a much
00:26darker force attacks can't breathe somebody's really trying to suffocate me
00:33I thought I was fighting for my life and the family escape before it's too late
00:42in America there is real evil it lurks in the darkest shadows and in our most
00:49ordinary towns between the worlds we see and the things we fear there are
00:56doors when they are open nightmares become reality
01:13nestled along the southern tip of the Appalachian Trail Hampton Tennessee is
01:19the kind of place hikers tend to pass through Hampton's very small very
01:27country mountains lakes woods and that's it they have a grocery store down the
01:36street it's really like a small town
01:49in October 2011 Amelia and Calvin Braddy move into an apartment in a
01:55spacious old home in Hampton with their daughters five-year-old Sarah and one
02:01year old Chelsea it was an older house built back in like the 1800s the place
02:08was huge what do you think it's so big it was very cheap so we kind of just
02:18jumped on it it was in a secluded area it was quiet the kids had yard space to
02:24play in it was a perfect home for the kids Calvin works maintenance at a
02:30nearby restaurant while Amelia is a stay-at-home mom I was really ready to
02:36start a family especially when I met her I don't know what it was it was just
02:39something drew me to her he's very caring he kind of reminded my prince
02:45charming we formed a family very quick come on Sarah
02:58inside the apartment matches the couple's idea of their perfect dream
03:03house it was a three-bedroom apartment and that's what we needed at a time it
03:10has been for the kids to bring back and forth in the house and everything I
03:13always loved vintage homes so I thought it was beautiful when we first walked in
03:20it was perfect like everything matched exactly what we needed
03:29the apartment is located on the second floor of the old house and includes a
03:33porch and while it's a nice feature to have it also poses a risk
03:44you
04:01honey you are not to come out here by yourself do you understand come on
04:08Sarah wishes out there by herself it's a nice apartment but is it safe for the
04:17children look the door has two locks here and up here the only way out there
04:28is if one of us unlocks it okay I was like okay this can work because I can
04:35keep that locked she cannot reach it not even with a chair
04:41while they've solved the problem at hand there's no way they could guess what
04:46nightmares await their family
04:52the century-old house harbors many sad secrets of tragic deaths and an
04:59unspeakable atrocity and it's not long before Amelia senses there are spirits
05:09around them who have yet to rest in peace
05:15after a few days of being in the house it started to have a heavy feeling like
05:22we had moved in on top of somebody that did not want us there like we was in
05:29somebody else's home I just kind of blew it off we wasn't used to the house at
05:35all so we just kind of thought you know we're gonna get used to it they'll go
05:39away it did not go away
05:59both of my kids was laid down for a nap so I thought my husband was home
06:06Calvin
06:13Calvin
06:30Calvin
06:36there's somebody there I figured you know old house to be animals that was in
06:44the chimney or the walls cracking I didn't know
06:58several more days pass and Amelia can't shake the feeling that somehow they are
07:04not alone
07:34I heard a little voice and I felt a tug on my shirt yes Sarah Amelia hears the
07:52same voice again this time more insistent
08:05Sarah did you call me no mommy I know I heard a little child call me mommy what
08:21is it random creaks and knocks in an old house is one thing but a child's voice
08:28is harder to explain nothing dinner will be ready in 15 minutes
08:58the baby could the little girl's voice Amelia heard be trying to warn her
09:28in 2011 the bratty family moves into the top-floor apartment of an early 19th
09:39century house located in the small town of Hampton Tennessee thank you thank you
09:45for the young couple the huge apartment at an affordable rent seems too good to
09:50be true are you gonna help us clean up you're helping us clean up it was roomy
09:57had room for each and every one of the kids the space was terrific the rooms
10:03were just the right size but just days after moving in Amelia begins hearing
10:14sounds and voices she can't explain yes Sarah
10:33there was something about that room that did not feel right I didn't know what at
10:41the time and then one afternoon Amelia gets the scare of a lifetime
10:56I just turned the corner there she was and there was the heater
11:00the baseboard heater appears to have been ripped off the wall I'm no for a
11:13fact Sarah was not strong enough to forcefully pull that heater off the wall
11:19there was no way none whatsoever by the time the firefighters arrived Calvin has
11:27managed to put out the sparks luckily the damage is minimal and no one is
11:32hurt I mean it seemed to be sparking all around like here and here it's a good
11:36thing you had that fire extinguisher it could have been bad real bad I was
11:42concerned about the safety of the kids that's what I was concerned about
11:45because if that would have started a fire we've been rushing to get out of
11:49there Amelia notices one firefighter appears
11:54strangely uncomfortable as if she knows something is everything okay let me ask
12:06you something how much history do you know about this place I don't know we
12:10just moved in a week ago she said you don't know what happened here and I said
12:15no
12:24about ten years earlier a young mother lived in the apartment with her three
12:29young children one day she had a cigarette in her hand and she nodded out
12:41the cigarette caught the couch on fire in the rest of the house the mother her
12:49three kids they died in that house two of the children were found in a
12:55back bedroom and the third in a closet I've probably felt every emotion I was
13:04sad I felt bad for the kids to hear what they went through yeah it really is
13:11tragic you get to thinking like that could have been it can happen to us
13:19several days pass and the Bradley family tries to put the strange events behind
13:24them they repair the girls bedroom so it's as good as new but Amelia can't get
13:31the story of the fire and the victims out of her head it was weird to just
13:37think something like that happened in a place that you know we're trying to make
13:43a home we didn't feel right about the place then after we found out a few days
13:51later Amelia here's Sarah talking to someone in her bedroom
13:57I'm not getting the baby. She's like big for me. These are my dolls, see? You can play with them if you like. At first Amelia is not
14:10concerned she had just moved away from some of her friends at bigger shoes you
14:15know coming up with an invisible friend but suddenly Sarah's playmate doesn't
14:20appear to be so friendly leave me alone quit it her voice changed like she was
14:27getting upset stop go away sweetie is everything okay
14:35mom tell them to leave me alone
14:40tell who to leave you alone the kids
14:46what kids the kids that come out of the closet
15:00just days after the Bradley family moves into an apartment in Hampton Tennessee
15:06they discover the tragic history of their new home
15:12there was a house fire there a mother and three kids had passed from the fire
15:18in that apartment then Sarah their five-year-old starts having
15:24conversations with imaginary friends no leave me alone is everything okay
15:32mom tell them to leave me alone
15:38tell who to leave you alone the kids
15:45what kids the kids that come out of the closet that just sent chills all over
15:54because I believe kids sense things
15:59Amelia suspects Sarah's new friends might be the ghosts of the children
16:04whose spirits are not at rest my first thought was it was those kids that had
16:12died in the fire
16:15you
16:20suddenly for Amelia strange occurrences and mysterious voices in her new home
16:26make sense yes Sarah I was starting to come to terms that we were not alone I
16:38felt a very strong presence something was in the house
16:46I've always been a very firm believer of paranormal
16:51I've always believed that there was something out there that we couldn't see
17:15later that night Amelia tells Calvin she believes their
17:19apartment is haunted honey I know this sounds crazy but this house has a pretty
17:26tragic history it just makes sense to me that the spirits of this poor family is
17:32still here look I understand that you're upset about the children who died here
17:39but there are no ghosts here or anywhere else for that matter I was a skeptic on
17:48ghost in the paranormal I really didn't think it existed I didn't believe in
17:52ghosts at all he wasn't a believer he kept making excuses it's gonna be all
18:00right
18:02the next day Calvin's hard stance is put to the test
18:21yeah home
18:25Amelia
18:46Amelia
18:51the figure is more of a like a male's figure and it was just real dark
19:04and then it was gone
19:09for the first time in his life Calvin is faced with the possibility that the
19:15paranormal is real
19:19when I seen the shot I figured that's what let me know that the apartment was
19:24haunted I was terrified
19:27I didn't tell him me that because I didn't want to give her more starts are
19:30scared that I think she went look over there
19:35When I seen the shot, I figured that's what let me know that the apartment was haunted.
19:43I was terrified.
19:44I didn't tell Amita because I didn't want to get her more startled or scared.
19:53But the spirits may not be as considerate.
20:01Several nights later...
20:31Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
20:38Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
20:41Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
20:44Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
20:47Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
20:50Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
20:53Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
20:56Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
20:59Amita's body was found in the basement of the apartment building, where Amita was found.
21:06For more haunting, visit destinationamerica.com
21:13For the past several weeks, the Brady family has been experiencing paranormal activity
21:30in their home in Hampton, Tennessee.
21:34After hearing stories about a tragic fire that took the lives of a mother and her three
21:38children, Amelia believes her daughter Sarah has made friends with the ghosts of the deceased
21:44children.
21:45These are my dolls.
21:46You can play with them if you like.
21:50I started to think that the house was haunted with kids because my oldest started talking
21:57and playing with stuff that wasn't there.
22:01She's actually talking like somebody is actually in there with her and there's not.
22:06There's children, ghosts in here.
22:08It was those kids that had died in the fire.
22:12There was no covering it up or denying it or anything.
22:15The more that we kept pretending like it wasn't the worst of it.
22:19The couple soon finds that something far darker than ghost children lurks in the house.
22:36When I came out of the nightmare, I felt like I was fighting for air.
22:54I couldn't breathe.
22:55It was something sitting on me.
22:57It was like a massive pressure on my chest.
22:59It was like somebody was really trying to suffocate me.
23:04I felt like I was fighting for my life.
23:06Calvin!
23:07Calvin!
23:08He couldn't talk and you could see that he was just like struggling to get air.
23:19It's okay.
23:20It stopped.
23:21What's going on?
23:22What happened?
23:23I believe you.
23:24This house is haunted.
23:25But I don't think it was a child that did this.
23:35There's something else here.
23:37I was terrified for me, my husband, my kids.
23:41I didn't know what that spirit was capable of.
23:45Calvin is also afraid, not for himself, but for his family.
23:51If I'm fighting for my life and something happens to me, that just leaves them abandoned
23:57and nobody there to help take care of them.
24:20In the days that follow, the stress of the haunting wears the family down.
24:29We both felt powerless.
24:32We can't fight something that we can't see.
24:35I mean, it sees, hears, watches us, but we cannot see or hear it.
24:42We didn't know what to do.
24:44Amelia feels trapped with no means of escape.
24:50She was wanting to move, and I was telling her we had a lease for a year.
24:54They have few options.
24:58We had no family or friends for us to live with at the time.
25:03We were tied to that house financially.
25:06I mean, there was no way we could afford to move right then and there.
25:10We just couldn't do it.
25:19Soon after, Amelia thinks she has some alone time.
25:24Both of the girls were asleep, and that was the only time that I was able to take a shower.
26:19Suddenly, Amelia gets a terrifying message clear as day from beyond.
26:35It was written perfectly in the steam.
26:39My kids were asleep.
26:40Nobody was in the house.
26:41I knew exactly what it was.
26:44It was whatever was in that house.
26:49Amelia is horrified.
26:51The house is haunted by an entity far worse than the children who died in the fire.
26:57And now, it's after her.
27:01I knew that wasn't the child ghost.
27:03I knew that there were more than the children in that house.
27:10There's something bad here.
27:12And whatever it is, it wants us either hurt or dead.
27:22The family decides to go into protection mode and make sure no one is ever alone in any
27:28room of the apartment.
27:32We started sleeping in the living room from then on.
27:36And I kept howling in through the night.
27:44Later that night, all is quiet.
27:48Or so it seems.
28:49Within a month of moving into their Hampton, Tennessee apartment, Calvin and Amelia Braddy
28:57must fend off the attacks of a dark, malevolent force.
29:01After I seen the shadow figure, that's when things started happening to me.
29:11I was fighting for her.
29:12I was fighting for my life.
29:15Its motives are unknown, but its message is clear.
29:21I knew as soon as I seen that, we were in complete danger.
29:25I just felt the evil.
29:30Then one night, Amelia sees it too.
29:39It was very dark, very thick.
29:42You couldn't see through it.
29:43It was like a very strong mist.
29:49Calvin!
29:50Calvin!
29:53What is it?
29:54Calvin!
29:55It was awful!
29:56Amelia and Calvin have now both seen the face of evil.
30:14With nowhere else to turn, Amelia contacts Paranormal Technology Investigations in nearby
30:20Jonesboro, Tennessee.
30:23When she started telling me the claims of her activity, they were pretty unbelievable.
30:28Yeah, in my mind, I was pretty positive that they had a haunting, but I wasn't for sure
30:33what level of haunting they had yet.
30:38It just finally felt good to talk to somebody, or somebody to say, okay, we're going to come
30:45help.
30:46Those few words just relieved me.
30:59A few days later.
31:01Thank you so much for coming.
31:03Of course.
31:04We have no idea what this means to us.
31:05Well, our team is going to set right up, if you don't mind.
31:08Rob Phillips and his business partner, Kathy Shepard, arrive to conduct an investigation.
31:16You can feel the heaviness as soon as we walked in.
31:20You could just feel there wasn't something right in the home.
31:24We knew there was something there.
31:38We did some investigating into this house, and we found something very interesting.
31:42Kathy begins by informing the Braddies that the home's dark history started well before
31:49the fire killed the Young family.
31:53The house was built in the 1800s.
31:55It was someone's home.
31:57Sometime in the 1920s, it was turned into a halfway house for male prisoners.
32:03Around the 1920s, Prohibition, there was a lot of moonshine in the area.
32:12With the evidence we have now, we believe that when it was a halfway house,
32:17there might have been a lot of criminal activities going on there.
32:26When it was a halfway house, there was a man shot and killed at the home.
32:34Negative energy can definitely start a paranormal activity.
32:42The investigators begin by trying to make contact with the spirits.
32:48We use digital voice recorders for capturing electronic voice phenomenon, also known as EVP.
33:02If there's anyone here that wants to communicate, can you please give us a sign?
33:07Did you die in this house?
33:11Was there a fire?
33:14Can you tell me your name?
33:23We concluded that there was three children in the home.
33:27Their spirits were still there.
33:29We got different voices in a recorder.
33:33A lady's voice, which we believe was the mother.
33:36We felt a tragedy like this would bring on a lot of paranormal activity.
33:54Can you tell us your name?
33:57Can you tell us your name?
34:02Do you live here?
34:10Suddenly, Amelia comes under attack.
34:18I felt a burning sensation on my back.
34:21My back is burning!
34:27Can I look?
34:32Oh my God!
34:34I had three scratch marks going from my shoulder down.
34:37I knew I had made something mad.
34:40Investigators now believe they are dealing with a demonic entity.
34:45The demonic will leave three scratches, they'll knock in threes, everything they do is in three.
34:50And that's a way for them to mimic the Trinity, which is the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
34:54And the demonic entity is holding the other spirits hostage.
35:00The spirits were still in the home.
35:02They were trapped, they couldn't get out.
35:06The investigative team performs a cleansing and a crossover ritual to rid the house of the evil entity
35:12and help usher the lost souls to the hereafter.
35:17Everything was more bright, it smelled cleaner, it felt lighter.
35:21For a while, it appears that the Braddy family can resume a normal life in their home.
35:29Go Chelsea!
35:31Good job!
35:33You're such a big girl!
35:37Yeah, keep going!
35:39You're such a big girl!
35:41Mom, can I get something to eat?
35:43Just a minute.
35:45Mom!
35:47Mom!
35:55I just had a feeling.
35:57And when I looked at the door,
35:59I seen her out there on the balcony.
36:03Chelsea!
36:05I panicked. I immediately panicked.
36:08Chelsea!
36:10Chelsea!
36:17Chelsea!
36:21Chelsea!
36:23Chelsea!
36:25Chelsea!
36:35It is 2011.
36:37Leave me alone!
36:40The Braddy family has been experiencing paranormal activity in their Hampton, Tennessee apartment.
36:45Chelsea!
36:47The haunting has quickly escalated
36:49and a demonic entity is threatening the family.
36:54I think something was trying to hurt the family that was living in these apartments.
36:58I believe it was a demonic that was already there when they moved in.
37:02They can physically hurt you.
37:04My back is burning!
37:07They can do damage.
37:10They can tear your family apart.
37:14After a paranormal investigation...
37:16If there's anyone here that wants to communicate,
37:18can you please give us a sign?
37:20The Braddy family hoped their apartment was clear of all entities.
37:26But the evil has returned.
37:28Chelsea!
37:30And a young life is in its grasp.
37:32Chelsea!
37:40He's gone!
37:42He's gone!
37:46There was no way she unlocked the door,
37:50opened it, and locked it back.
37:52Chelsea!
37:54I knew that whatever was in that house did it.
37:58I knew whatever was in that house put her on that balcony and locked her out.
38:02Chelsea!
38:04The door wouldn't open.
38:07It was like somebody had it on the other side.
38:10Chelsea!
38:12No!
38:14Chelsea!
38:16And then it finally just let loose.
38:19Oh, my God. Chelsea?
38:21Oh, my God. Are you okay?
38:23The bars on my balcony, she could have fit through.
38:25And if she would have fit through them, she would have fell to her death.
38:28Come on. We're leaving now.
38:31Okay. That's it.
38:33I was done.
38:40It appears the evil entity inside the apartment
38:44was not expelled as investigators had hoped.
38:51We felt, being that this was an apartment complex,
38:54that the demon went somewhere in here,
38:57inside of another unit.
38:59When Amelia called me,
39:01I advised her that I needed to just move.
39:04We needed to get him out as soon as possible.
39:06I didn't care about my lease.
39:08I didn't care about the money.
39:10I didn't care about nothing.
39:12I have to protect my children.
39:16One of the paranormal investigators
39:18volunteers to let them stay with her
39:20while they search for a new home.
39:22With their children safe with their grandmother,
39:25Amelia and Calvin quickly pack
39:27and move out of the apartment.
39:29Is that everything we need right now?
39:31I think so.
39:33Oh!
39:40Doors shutting, slamming,
39:42windows opening and closing.
39:44It freaked me out real bad.
39:46Whoa! Whoa! The house is trying to trap us!
39:48Come on! Get out! Go now! Run!
39:50Run! Go!
39:52Run!
39:56I felt like I was a prisoner
39:59that had just broke free.
40:02Like I was chasing
40:04and running for freedom.
40:06And I was gonna grab it and go.
40:08Come on, let's go!
40:10You get in the car.
40:12Come on, Amelia.
40:14If we wouldn't have got out at that time,
40:16something else probably would have happened
40:18and probably everything worse.
40:20I was beyond done.
40:22Drive! Go! Go!
40:24Drive! Go! Go!
40:40The Braddys later discover
40:42that their landlord
40:44knew their apartment had a tragic past.
40:48He laughed
40:50and said that
40:52by law, he don't have to tell me
40:54anything unless we are actually
40:56buying the home.
41:00A little over a month later,
41:02the Braddys move into a new home
41:04in another town.
41:06To this day,
41:08they have never returned to the Hampton
41:10apartment.
41:12We don't go near that house.
41:14We don't go near the property.
41:16We don't go nowhere near that area.
41:22Life's pretty good, actually.
41:24We're not stressful.
41:26We're not worried about anything.
41:28I still look over my shoulder every now and then
41:30just to make sure.
41:32I just try and take it day by day.
41:36In some weird way,
41:38I think that house
41:40is what kind of made us stronger.
41:42It made our relationship stronger.
41:44It still lingers.
41:46I don't think I'll ever
41:48put that whole experience
41:50behind me.
41:54I still don't sleep in the dark.
41:56I don't walk in the dark.
42:00I don't know if I ever will again.