Could a haunted house at 46 South Welles Street in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, be worse than Amityville? That comparison has followed the Welles House for decades. I understand why. I lived inside this house, investigated it with LiveSciFi, and experienced what I believe were violent physical and mental attacks. This isn’t just a story I collected from other people. I was there.
During my stay, I was kicked in the stomach while sleeping and experienced dark thoughts that I associated with demonic oppression. Every investigator who stayed in the house experienced vivid nightmares. We felt our hair and shirts being pulled, witnessed visible shadow manifestations and black and blue orbs, and heard disembodied voices, screams and growls so intense they seemed to shake the house. We experienced fires inside the property that became uncontrollable. Our team captured numerous recordings we identified as electronic voice phenomena (EVPs), including recordings made after we left the property. We also experienced nighttime chanting loud enough to wake investigators from sleep. One unnamed investigator became so deeply distressed that he left the house one night and contemplated suicide.
These were firsthand experiences reported and witnessed by me and the investigators who were in that house — not incidents we simply read about in old accounts. They are why the Welles House at 46 South Welles Street remains one of the most disturbing locations I have investigated. Here is the house’s history, the Bennett family’s account, the comparison with the Lutz family of Amityville, and what happened to us during our livestreamed LiveSciFi ghost hunts.
What Is 46 South Welles Street, the Welles House?
The Welles House is a historic private residence in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, commonly dated to around 1860–1861. For generations it has been associated with frightening accounts of unexplained footsteps, voices, apparitions, disturbances, and activity some witnesses interpreted as demonic.
Over the years, the address 46 South Welles Street acquired a reputation as a house worse than Amityville. Its story did not begin with LiveSciFi. What changed when we arrived was that we stayed in the house, investigated the reports firsthand, and livestreamed ghost hunts so viewers could follow what happened.
Why Was the Welles House Compared to Amityville?
The most striking parallel is what happened to the two families at the heart of these hauntings. George and Kathy Lutz and their children fled their Amityville home in New York after 28 days, describing frightening disturbances and an oppressive presence they believed was supernatural. In their telling, they left much of what they owned behind.
At the Welles House, Walker and Marianne Bennett and their family also fled a home they believed was tormented by demonic activity. Walker Bennett described escalating disturbances during their years at 46 South Welles Street. In an account he later gave me, he said his family loaded their station wagon in the middle of the night with the belongings most valuable to them and escaped, leaving the rest behind.
Both the Lutz and Bennett families said the activity became so unbearable that they abandoned their homes and possessions. Both homes developed reputations for violent, malevolent activity. For me, that is the reason the comparison has endured: not just two famous addresses, but two families who described being driven out by something they feared.
When I later lived inside the Welles House, I experienced physical attacks, dark thoughts, disembodied voices and events I interpreted as demonic oppression. Our investigators also experienced vivid nightmares, clothing and hair being pulled, shadow manifestations, black and blue orbs, powerful screams and growls, and fires that became uncontrollable. The Bennett family’s account took on an intensely personal meaning because we were experiencing frightening activity firsthand in the same house.
Early History of the House at 46 South Welles Street
Augustus C. Laning and the Property’s Origins
Our original LiveSciFi research connected the property to Augustus C. Laning (1808–1875), a Wilkes-Barre industrialist. Notes from the original article reference an 1846 deed involving a parcel on Welles Street, while estimates for the construction of the residence itself place it around 1860–1861.
The history associated with the Laning family includes accounts of business setbacks and a terrible barn fire reportedly started by lightning. A young relative was said to have died after becoming trapped during the incident. These tragic stories became part of the history that fascinated me as I researched the house, alongside the surviving newspaper clippings and accounts of later residents.
Decades of Ownership Changes and Tragedy
Through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, 46 South Welles Street changed hands and was used as a rental residence for long periods. Original LiveSciFi research documented ownership transfers, sheriff’s sales, and accounts of deaths associated with the address. Another story circulating around the home describes a man, sometimes identified in retellings as a priest, collapsing outside the property.
The property records and archival clippings give the house a complicated history. Some older stories have been passed along in different versions, so I attribute them to the records and witnesses from which they came. The historical material matters because it shows just how long the house has been the subject of unusual and troubling stories.
The Bennett Family: Driven Out of the Welles House
Walker and Marianne Bennett lived at the Welles House during the 1970s, and their family’s experiences became central to its reputation. Their accounts included unexplained footsteps, noises moving through empty rooms and walls, disturbing apparitions, and physical encounters with unseen forces. One widely repeated story describes a child being pushed down the stairs and somehow reaching the bottom without injury.
Other reports described clothing and hair being pulled, scratches appearing on bodies, voices, and frightening disturbances inside the house. The Bennetts interpreted their experiences as something more sinister than an ordinary haunting.
In the account Walker shared with me, the family’s departure was not a planned move. He described leaving in the middle of the night, taking what mattered most and abandoning the rest. That testimony is one of the strongest reasons I believe the house’s comparison to Amityville deserves attention. The Bennetts did not simply tell a ghost story. They described being frightened out of their home.
Ed and Lorraine Warren and the Welles House
The Welles House also became associated with Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators closely linked with the Amityville case. The original LiveSciFi research and historical accounts identify the Warrens and investigator Mary Pascarella as having examined reports connected with the home.
Those accounts say the investigators considered the activity demonic in nature. Walker Bennett also spoke about earlier efforts to seek help, including clergy and paranormal investigators. Their experiences and interpretations form an important part of the history that drew me to this location.
My Firsthand Welles House Investigation: Living Inside the Haunting
Why I Stayed Inside 46 South Welles Street
In October 2013, I began an extended stay at the Welles House to investigate the reports firsthand. I wasn’t just stopping by for a few hours to film a segment. I lived there for approximately a month, sleeping inside the building and trying to document what was happening through repeated investigations and audio recordings. I later purchased the property in December 2013.
Spending night after night in a place with this reputation is very different from conducting a short ghost hunt. You hear the house at its quietest, you know what the rooms sound like, and you become aware of how vulnerable you are when the lights are out and you are trying to sleep. The experience became personal in ways I never expected.
Physical Attacks, Including Being Kicked While Sleeping
During my time inside the Welles House, I experienced violent physical attacks. One of the most frightening incidents occurred while I was asleep: I was kicked in the stomach. I was not reviewing someone else’s footage or hearing a secondhand account. I was the person who felt the impact while staying in the house.
Investigators also experienced their hair and shirts being pulled by something they could not see. These were physical sensations we experienced while we were actually inside the building. They were not simply stories attributed to former residents.
The activity went far beyond the knocking or footsteps commonly associated with hauntings. Being physically attacked while trying to sleep, and experiencing clothing and hair being pulled during an investigation, made us feel personally targeted rather than merely observers of the house.
Dark Thoughts, Mental Oppression and Vivid Nightmares
The attacks I experienced were not only physical. While living at the Welles House, I began having dark thoughts that I associated with what I believed was demonic oppression. I found this side of the experience especially disturbing because the impact was so personal. It was not something that could be captured in a single photograph or measured by a device.
Every investigator who stayed in the house experienced vivid nightmares. Sleep did not provide an escape from the intensity of our investigations. The nightmares were among the firsthand experiences that affected the team during our time at the property.
I am including these experiences because they happened to us and were part of what made our time at 46 South Welles Street so difficult. An account that leaves out the psychological experiences and nightmares would be incomplete.
Disembodied Voices, Screams, Growls and Numerous EVPs
Throughout our investigation, we heard disembodied voices — voices without an identifiable physical speaker at the time. We also heard disembodied screams and growls that were so loud and forceful they seemed to shake the house. We did not discover these sounds only after reviewing audio files; we experienced them ourselves while we were inside.
We made numerous audio recordings that we interpreted as electronic voice phenomena (EVPs). What made the audio experiences even more troubling was that we continued recording what we believed were EVPs even after leaving the Welles House following our stay. The recordings were not confined to a single room or one night at the property.
Visible Shadow Manifestations and Black and Blue Orbs
We witnessed shadow manifestations inside the Welles House. These were not just older residents’ accounts of apparitions. Members of our investigative team also reported seeing black and blue orbs with their own eyes while at the property. We regarded those visual experiences as part of the same disturbing activity we were hearing and feeling around us.
Demonic Chanting That Woke Us at Night
Investigators heard chanting inside the house that we described as demonic. It was not merely a faint sound discovered later on a recording. The chanting was so loud it woke investigators from sleep. It was one of the firsthand experiences that made spending the night at Welles House so frightening.
Fires That Became Uncontrollable
We also experienced fires inside the Welles House that became uncontrollable. These incidents were especially alarming because fire posed an immediate physical danger in a house where we were staying and investigating. I include them alongside the other firsthand events because they contributed to the intensity and fear of our experience at the property.
The Unnamed Investigator Who Left During the Night
One of the most serious experiences involved another investigator, whose name I am deliberately withholding. He became severely distressed during our time at the property, in circumstances we interpreted as demonic oppression. One night, he left the house. He also contemplated suicide.
This was an extremely troubling event for the people involved. I am not including it for shock value, and I do not want to identify him. The experience deserves to be described with care. It was part of what our team went through, and leaving it out would erase a significant part of our account.
The LiveSciFi Livestreamed Ghost Hunts in 2014
Our investigations were more than private visits to the house. LiveSciFi broadcast ghost hunts live, allowing viewers to follow what we heard, observed, and recorded while events unfolded. That real-time approach was important because it gave audiences a chance to see our investigative process and reactions rather than only a heavily edited retelling.
In February 2014, I returned for an investigation with Dave Spinks and John Zaffis. Contemporary coverage in the Times Leader documented the live YouTube broadcasts. We used recording and monitoring equipment, investigated reported activity, and invited viewers into the experience as it was happening.
Watch original LiveSciFi Welles House footage:
What Paranormal Activity Did We Document at 46 South Welles Street?
Footsteps, Scraping Sounds, Screams and Growls
We personally heard knocks, banging, footsteps, scraping and other disturbing sounds within the Welles House. We also heard disembodied screams and growls so powerful they seemed to shake the building. These events were not limited to earlier tenants’ stories; our investigators experienced them directly during our time inside.
Shadow Manifestations and Visible Black and Blue Orbs
Earlier residents described apparitions, including a formally dressed man and the figure of a young girl. During our own investigation, we witnessed visible shadow manifestations. Investigators also saw black and blue orbs in the house. These were firsthand visual encounters, not simply reports we repeated from the property’s history.
Scratches, Hair and Shirts Pulled, and Physical Attacks
We experienced hair and shirts being pulled while inside the Welles House. We also documented photographs of scratch marks during our livestreamed investigations. I personally experienced violent physical attacks, including being kicked in the stomach while sleeping. The images below are part of the original investigation record.
Why We Believed the Activity Was Demonic
We endured physical attacks, dark thoughts, vivid nightmares, disembodied voices, screams and growls, chanting, visible shadows and orbs, and incidents involving uncontrollable fires. Based on what we experienced firsthand, I believed we were dealing with something demonic at the Welles House. I am describing our interpretation of events that we personally witnessed, not presenting these experiences as secondhand folklore.
Our team also used investigative techniques, including luminol, to examine unusual markings at the property. The photographs below preserve part of that work. For readers interested in the wider traditions surrounding these beliefs, see our guide to types of demons.
Watch additional original Welles House investigation footage:
Welles House Ownership and Investigation Timeline
The following timeline combines property history, LiveSciFi’s original research, and the years of the Bennett and LiveSciFi investigations. Early historical dates are described as they appeared in our archival notes.
- 1846 — Early parcel history: Original LiveSciFi research notes describe an alleged deed transfer involving Augustus C. Laning. Confirm the precise parcel and deed before representing it as a verified house purchase.
- Around 1860–1861 — Estimated construction: Property references generally date the residence to this period.
- 1875–1876 — Laning era transitions: The original research associates ownership changes with the period after Laning’s death. Names and dates in the older notes should be checked against county records.
- 1970s — Bennett family: The family lived at the property and became closely associated with its most widely reported haunting accounts; narratives say they left around 1978.
- Around 1980 — Warren association: Historical paranormal accounts place Ed and Lorraine Warren at the house; primary documentation remains desirable.
- 1982–2012 — Longtime later occupancy: Original LiveSciFi notes identify Katherine “Kaye” Watkins as a longtime owner or resident. Preserve the name only with appropriate attribution pending a primary-source check.
- October 2013 — LiveSciFi investigation: Tim Wood spent an extended period inside the property, documented in contemporary reporting.
- December 20, 2013 — Ownership: Property-history records identify Wood’s purchase.
- February 2014 — Livestreamed ghost hunts: LiveSciFi investigated with Dave Spinks and John Zaffis, reported by the Times Leader.
- August 7, 2014 — Subsequent property transfer: Listed in public-property-history records.
Was the Welles House Worse Than Amityville?
For me, the question is personal. The Lutz and Bennett families both described being driven out of their homes by activity they believed was demonic, leaving possessions behind. That is a disturbing parallel on its own.
But my experience at 46 South Welles Street was not limited to reading about the Bennetts. I lived inside that house. I was physically attacked and kicked in the stomach while sleeping. I experienced dark thoughts, and every investigator staying there experienced vivid nightmares. We felt hair and shirts being pulled, witnessed shadow manifestations and black and blue orbs, heard disembodied voices, screams and growls, and experienced fires that became uncontrollable. Our team also heard nighttime chanting, documented numerous apparent EVPs, and faced the serious distress experienced by the unnamed investigator who left during the night.
These experiences are why I believe the Welles House belongs in the same conversation as Amityville. My account is based on what we personally experienced during our investigations and why we interpreted the activity as demonic. The Welles House remains one of the most frightening investigations of my career.
Welles House Frequently Asked Questions
Where is 46 South Welles Street?
The Welles House is located at 46 South Welles Street in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It is a private residence, not a public haunted-house attraction. Please respect current occupants and do not enter or approach private property without permission.
Why is the Welles House compared to Amityville?
The Lutz and Bennett families both reported terrifying experiences they interpreted as demonic and described fleeing their homes, leaving many possessions behind. That shared account of being driven out is the central reason the two hauntings are compared.
When was the Welles House built?
The residence is commonly dated to around 1860–1861. Our original research also refers to a Welles Street parcel associated with Augustus C. Laning in 1846.
Did Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate the Welles House?
Historical accounts and LiveSciFi’s original research connect Ed and Lorraine Warren to investigations at the property, along with Mary Pascarella. Those accounts describe the activity as potentially demonic.
Did Tim Wood own and stay in the Welles House?
Yes. I stayed inside the property for an extended investigation in October 2013 and purchased the house in December 2013. Public property-history references show a subsequent transfer in August 2014.
What did Tim Wood experience inside the Welles House?
I experienced what I believed were violent physical and mental attacks, including being kicked in the stomach while sleeping and having disturbing dark thoughts during my stay. Our team also heard disembodied voices and captured numerous recordings we regarded as EVPs, including after leaving the house.
What happened to the other investigators?
Investigators reported loud chanting at night that woke them from sleep. One unnamed investigator became deeply distressed, left the property one night, and contemplated suicide. I am withholding his name out of respect for his privacy.
What did investigators personally see and hear at Welles House?
During our investigations, we experienced vivid nightmares, hair and shirts being pulled, visible shadow manifestations, and black and blue orbs. We also heard disembodied screams and growls that seemed to shake the house, along with chanting loud enough to wake investigators. We experienced fires in the house that became uncontrollable. These events were firsthand experiences reported by me and members of our investigative team.
Were LiveSciFi’s Welles House ghost hunts livestreamed?
Yes. We broadcast live investigations from the Welles House, including the February 2014 investigation involving Dave Spinks and John Zaffis. Two video embeds are included above.
Watch More Live Ghost Hunts on LiveSciFi
Since 2006, LiveSciFi.tv has brought audiences into reportedly haunted locations through original investigations, interactive livestreams and paranormal episodes. The Welles House at 46 South Welles Street remains one of the most intense experiences of my investigative career.
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Sources and Archival References
- Times Leader — W-B haunting to get YouTube exposure (originally posted February 12, 2014; confirms 2013 stay, ownership and live broadcast).
- Times Leader — Something spooky is going on here (originally posted February 16, 2014; confirms live investigations and participants).
- Homes.com — 46 S Welles St property history (ownership transfer dates; use primary county records where possible).
- Zillow — 46 S Welles St property details (reported building age; listing information may be imprecise).
- 2019 Wayback Machine snapshot of LiveSciFi’s original Welles House article (first-party historical photo/caption and story provenance).
Author’s note: This article records firsthand experiences that I and the LiveSciFi investigators had while staying in and investigating the Welles House. Historical accounts from former occupants are distinguished from events our team personally witnessed. The demonic interpretation reflects what we believed was happening to us. The unnamed investigator’s identity is intentionally withheld.