Sallie House: History, Hauntings and the Basement Pentagram

I have investigated many reputedly haunted places through LiveSciFi, but the Sallie House at 508 North Second Street in Atchison, Kansas remains one of the locations I return to when people ask why I take this work seriously. The name “Sallie” suggests the ghost of a little girl. What I experienced and documented there made me question whether the story was that simple.

Over years of live-streamed ghost hunts, our team photographed the Sallie House pentagram in the basement before and after it was painted over, found a sweater hidden beneath the attic insulation, recorded luminol reactions and captured EVP recordings. The house has also been featured on Sightings, Ghost Adventures, Paranormal Witness and A Haunting. This page brings together the house’s history, the stories that made it famous, and everything we documented.

Watch the original footage: our Sallie House investigation archive brings together 41 recordings, from uncut overnight broadcasts and security-camera watches to EVP and Ouija experiments. You can also watch our Sallie House investigation in The Demon Files.

See 28 Sallie House location photos

Sallie House History: The Finney Family Home

The Sallie House was built for Michael Finney in 1867. The Finney family lived there on and off until 1947, and after they left, the house was owned and rented by various people.

Our research found four deaths connected to the household, all from natural causes:

• M. C. Finney, 1872
• Charles James Kathrens (father of Kate Finney), 1874
• Richard Edwin Finney, 1874
• Agnes Finney, 1939

I include those names because they matter to the recorded history, not because they prove the source of any haunting. The house’s timeline is typical and shows no tragic event that would explain a haunting of this strength. The sensational story about a young girl dying during surgery is a separate claim, and it should not be confused with documented genealogy or medical records.

How the “Sallie” Haunting Became Famous

The modern legend began when Tony and Debra Pickman rented the house in 1992. The Pickmans said the activity started slowly, with objects moving in their child’s room and lights turning on and off, and eventually a visitation by a ghostly girl.

Over time Tony became the focus of a violent haunting. He reported scratches on his body, nightmares and, later, demonic oppression. He later said the forces in the house once affected him so badly that he wanted to kill his wife. Looking for help, the Pickmans invited numerous psychics to the house and appeared on the TV show Sightings. They lived there several more years before finally moving out. There had been no earlier claims of demonic activity at the property.

On one episode, psychic Peter James concluded that a ghost named “Sallie” was responsible, and that she died of acute appendicitis at the hands of Dr. Charles Finney. In all my years researching the location, I have not regarded that death story as a verified historical event. It is part of the haunting’s modern folklore.

What interested me was the gap between the gentle, childlike identity in the legend and the intense experiences witnesses reported. That contradiction shaped the questions I brought into the house: were we encountering the same thing the Pickmans described? Was the name “Sallie” misleading? And what did the physical environment tell us?

The Sallie House Pentagram in the Basement

The Pickmans were not the only tenants. Another tenant who moved in shortly after them placed a pentagram on the basement floor. The owner, Les Smith, discovered it and evicted the tenant, and the pentagram was spray-painted over with black paint. If you look closely today, you can still see that black paint on the basement floor. It is believed the tenant was trying to summon the demon Beelzebub. People have also reported that another paranormal group later held a ritual to close the first one.

In 2005, I photographed the pentagram marking in the basement. I also kept a later photograph of the area after it had been painted over, so readers can compare the same room before and after rather than rely on a story repeated online.

I have long considered whether that reported ritual may explain why something in the house appeared to present itself as a girl called “Sallie.” The photograph establishes that the marking existed. Who made it, what they intended and whether anything responded are separate questions.

For the full account of why I associate the basement with Beelzebub, including historical demonology sources, read my Beelzebub History and Evidence article.

Kristin Manning’s Psychic Sketch of the Basement

In 2015, Kristin Manning drew her impression of the Sallie House basement. She described a disturbing vision: the presence of a man, a woman and a demonic entity. In her impression, the man appeared to be under the influence of the dark presence as he carried out violent acts against the woman. Kristin sensed elements of sexual assault and a coerced, ritual-like act, possibly connected to an abortion, while the woman pleaded for help. The knife associated with the scene is drawn in the upper-right corner of her sketch, alongside a pentagram-like design and dark, twisting forms.

Swipe or scroll through 3 photos. Use Previous and Next, or focus the gallery and use the arrow keys.

The Attic Sweater

In 2011 we found a sweater covered in what looked like blood, hidden beneath the insulation in the attic. We found it by accident. Weeks before that investigation, I had dreamed about a boy who led me upstairs to the master bedroom closet. In the dream he wore a blue sweater, was chained to a pipe and was bleeding from several wounds. I cannot establish a connection between that dream and the sweater we found, and the garment’s origin and the nature of its stains remain uncertain.

Key details of the sweater:

• Brand: Sears, Roebuck. The label shows it was made between 1970 and 1996.
• Puncture holes in the front and back
• Stains concentrated in the lower stomach area, front and back
• A stain on the right elbow

Could it be connected to the little boy ghost that multiple eyewitnesses have reported seeing, and captured EVPs from?

Swipe or scroll through 53 photos. Use Previous and Next, or focus the gallery and use the arrow keys.

The master bedroom closet has long been a hotbed of activity, with unexplained noises, dizziness and physical attacks reported by many investigators. In the documentary, psychic Robbie Thomas described the closet as a portal. Could he have been picking up on the energy from the sweater?

Luminol Testing on the Sweater and Closet

During later testing, we saw luminol reactions on the sweater and in the closet. Luminol is a presumptive screening chemical: a reaction can indicate possible blood, but it does not confirm blood without further testing.

Luminol glows blue when it is mixed with an oxidizing agent. It is a white-to-pale-yellow solid that dissolves in most polar organic solvents but not in water. Forensic investigators use it to detect trace amounts of blood at crime scenes because it reacts with the iron in hemoglobin, and biologists use it to detect copper, iron, cyanides and certain proteins. When it is sprayed evenly across an area, trace oxidants make it glow blue in a dark room. The glow lasts only about 30 seconds, so investigators document it with long-exposure photographs.

Swipe or scroll through 10 photos. Use Previous and Next, or focus the gallery and use the arrow keys.

The House Through Our Cameras

The house is far more ordinary in daylight than its reputation suggests. A room full of children’s dolls can seem unsettling on camera, but the dolls are simply part of the setting where we investigated.

Demon on the staircase. During one investigation we captured a dark mist at the top of the stairs by Sallie’s bedroom. The four frames below come from just 1.5 seconds of footage. In the third frame the mist changes shape, with what look like two sets of eyes peering from the top of the staircase. Watch the longer recording too, since a single frame can’t show everything that happened before and after.

There were more personal incidents too. Over the years I photographed marks that I attributed to hostile activity during our investigations. The photo below shows a reported scratch from this case.

From the photo archive

Sallie House location photos

See all 28 Sallie House location photos

The Activity We Documented at the Sallie House

There is no single hot spot. Any part of the house can be active at any time, including the master bedroom and closet, Sallie’s room, the staircase, the living room, the kitchen and the basement. During our live investigations we documented:

• Demonic possession
• Dark moving shadows visible to the naked eye
• Unexplained voices, heard in person or captured on audio
• Violent physical attacks
• Ectoplasm
• Electronics failures
• Strange electromagnetic field fluctuations
• Cold spots and hot spots
• Nightmares
• Depression
• Poltergeist activity

Is the Sallie House safe to investigate? Don’t let looks fool you. The house is extremely dangerous and can cause both physical and psychological harm. My team and I can attest to the damage it has done to us and to other investigators over the years.

Listen to the Original Sallie House EVP Recordings

Some of our most discussed evidence came from audio. Below are the three files from the LiveSciFi media archive. The slowed MP3 is an altered listening version, not a separate event. I present them together so you can compare the sound yourself. For context on equipment and methods, read my guide to EVP, spirit boxes and ITC communication.

In my interpretation, some responses during these investigations suggested something more troubling than the spirit of a young girl, and I have considered Beelzebub as a possible identity. The recordings are the primary material I want you to hear.

Watch the Sallie House Investigation: The Demon Files

In this full episode of The Demon Files, my team returns to the case, revisits the disturbing reports and examines the evidence from the house and attic. It is an edited documentary episode built around our field investigation.

Watch the episode and its Key Moments →

Earlier LiveSciFi Footage From the Sallie House

These older clips come from our early investigations: an unexplained laugh near the basement, an incident during a ghost-box session, and a spirit-board experiment.

• Sallie House basement audio and alleged laugh
• Master-bedroom ghost-box investigation incident
• Sallie House basement Ouija experiment
• The Three Kings ritual at the Sallie House, full overnight investigation
• Ghost hunting apps we tested at the Sallie House

What I Believe Happened at the Sallie House

After investigating this house, I do not accept the child-ghost story as the only explanation for what people have reported. I believe the basement marking, the history of alleged rituals, the attic sweater and the responses we recorded all point to something that may have been deceptive. I have wondered whether a presence associated with Beelzebub was using the name “Sallie” as a disguise. That is my firsthand interpretation, informed by what I documented.

The most valuable part of publishing this archive is that you can examine it yourself: the location, the photos from different years, the sweater and luminol galleries, Kristin’s sketch, the source audio and our original footage. I spent years returning to the Sallie House because I wanted to get closer to what was happening there, not simply repeat the legend. The Sallie House episode archive preserves the longer investigations and individual Key Moments.

Sallie House Pentagram FAQ

Is there a pentagram in the Sallie House?

Yes. A pentagram was drawn on the basement floor by a tenant who moved in shortly after the Pickmans. I photographed it in 2005.

Is the Sallie House pentagram still there?

The owner, Les Smith, had it spray-painted over with black paint after evicting the tenant. If you look closely, you can still see the black paint on the basement floor today.

Who drew the Sallie House pentagram, and why?

It was drawn by a tenant, who is believed to have been trying to summon the demon Beelzebub. Another paranormal group is reported to have later held a ritual to close it.

Where is the Sallie House?

508 North Second Street, Atchison, Kansas 66002.

Can you stay overnight at the Sallie House?

Overnight investigations have been offered. Check current availability before you plan a visit.

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