The Welles House is located in PA’s Wilkes Barre, on 46 South Welles Street. Many locals have believed for years that the house was haunted, but it wasn’t until the 1970’s when the Bennett’s moved into the home that the paranormal reports finally came to light. Ed and Lorraine Warren, along with Mary Pascarella conducted numerous investigations in the house and determined that the hauntings were demonic.
What evil lurks inside the house located 46 S Welles Street?
Welles House History
The house on 46 South Welles Street in Wilkes-Barre, PA was built around 1860 by Augustus C. Laning. Augustus Laning (1808-1875) was one of the first industrialists to come to Wilkes-Barre. He lived there until he sold his company in 1869. Soon after the home was built, there were a number of odd deaths that occurred on Welles Street and tragedy hit Mr. Laning’s fortunes. Laning’s factories burned to the ground in 1850, and he lost his nephew in a terrible lightning accident. His nephew was working with the horses in the barn when a bolt of lightning hit the barn and the barn caught fire. He was trapped under the carcass of a horse who had been killed in the fire and was unable to get out of the barn and he also perished.
A “mysterious death” outside the Welles house
There are reports of a priest who suddenly dropped dead in front of the house for no apparent reason during the mid 1800′s.
Lorraine Warren in front of the haunted Welles House
Bennett sells the Welles House
A Haunting Worse than Amityville?
Welles House Psychic Sketch 2014
Ouija in the Welles House
Demon scratches the number 6 on the back of Tim Wood
Demon attacks a paranormal investigator at the Welles House
Close up of demonic attack
Close up of blood reacting to luminol on the old baseboards on the second of the Welles House. Could this be from the blood that dripped from the walls in the 1975?
The house from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century was primarily a rental property, however, this did not mean that its owners did not encounter any hardships. The house during these times went through 3 sheriff sales and had 2 confirmed suicides and 4 deaths on its premises. Even though the house was mainly used as a rental since it was built, most of the tenants resided in the house for long periods of time. Over its 160 year history, it is documented that the Welles House has been rented more than 50 times.
Did the house develop a demonic personality or was the land cursed? It seems quite apparent that its past inhabitants have felt the destructive effects of what some call a curse. One only needs to do simple research to find many examples of bad luck, financial issues, depression, suicide, psychiatric illnesses, physical illnesses, and alcoholism which all have affected anyone who has owned the house. In 2014 we conducted paranormal investigations at 46 South Welles Street, which were live-streamed for three months straight. It is our conclusion based upon our documented research that the Welles House is haunted by a demonic presence that cannot be removed nor is it safe for anyone to live in.
46 South Welles Ownership Timeline
May 11, 1846 – Laning’s mother deeded the Welles Street parcel over to Augustus C. Laning, and he is said to have built the house at 46 S. Welles St.
A “tragedy” hits the Lanning Family
May 29, 1875 – After Laning’s death on May 29, 1875, the parcel was divided up, and on June 28, 1876, one B.R. Honeywell bought the land that would become 46 S. Welles St
1894 circa – The 1894 map of Wilkes-Barre shows Honeywell as the property owner, but at some point — county records don’t indicate when — Samuel Sussman gained ownership.
Aug. 22, 1919 – Benjamin R. and Margaret Jones bought the property at the sheriff’s sale and sold it for $6,000 to Katie Basch on Aug. 22, 1919.
May 3, 1939 – Mose and Lillian Rashewsky for $1 on May 3, 1939.
May 17, 1965 – Samuel Jacobs bought the property for $5,000 from Lillian Rashewsky’s estate.
March 6, 1975 – The property went up for sheriff’s sale again in 1974, however, it is finally purchased by Walker and Marianne Bennett. In 1978 the Bennett’s abruptly move out due to paranormal activity.
July 21, 1982 – Katherine “Kaye” Watkins, purchases it from its third sheriff’s sale on July 21, 1982, and lived there until her death on Oct. 26, 2012.
December 2013 – Tim Wood purchases the estate.
Welles House Hauntings, Types of Reported Paranormal Activity
According to William Fuld (the creator of the modern day Ouija Board) there are five ouija board rules to follow during a session. Whether or not Fuld made these rules so that it would facilitate safe communication on the Ouija Board is still up for debate. If you are curious to see what happens when Ouija Board sessions go from fun to bad click here. Fuld was kind enough to print the directions for conducting Ouija Board sessions on the back of every wood Ouija Board that was manufactured.
Ouija Board Rules How to Play the Ouija Safely
1. Placement
Although it sounds silly, the placement of the Ouija Board is a very important rule to follow. If you are having a Ouija Board session with another person the board should rest upon the knees of the two person(s). Fuld believes it is important to have mix genders’ playing, and I myself do find this rule to be true as well. Some of my best spirit communication sessions with the Ouija Board, have been when I have been using it with the opposite sex.
2.The Planchette
I have seen many different techniques over the years about how to hold a planchette however at the end of day finger placement is not important. The most important rule to remember when using the planchette on the Ouija board, is the amount force that you apply to it. You should be gently touching the it, and careful enough not to apply a lot of pressure to it when using it. The planchette should be able to move easily and freely on the Ouija board.
3. Focus, Focus
Focusing while using the Ouija Board, is very important to having communication session, meaning your thoughts should be focused on who or what you are trying to communicate to, and not with your date was with last night. Fuld believed that great care should be taken when using the Ouija board and asking questions to it. He also believed that only one question should be asked at a time, and that the persons who are using the board should be focused on those questions to obtain the best results. If you are a paranormal investigator using the Ouija board for the first time, think of the Ouija board as a EVP session, so that you allow the spirit enough time to communicate. The Ouija board participants should be respectful and serious at all times.
4. Care of Ouija Boards
In today’s world Ouija boards come in different types wood, plastic, paper, particle board, plastic, resin, etc. The most important thing to remember with this Ouija Board rule is to make sure that your board is smooth, and that your Ouija board isn’t left out in the elements; dust, moisture, etc. so that when you do use your Ouija board that the smooth remains as smooth as possible.
5. Have Fun, and Close the Session
Although spirit communication is supposed to be a serious matter there is no reason why you can’t enjoy it. Hell if you don’t enjoy it than why would you want to do it. As with any spirit communication it’s always important to remember to close your Ouija Board sessions, especially if you believe that you have come in contact with a demon or ZoZo. You can simply do this by politely saying “Good Bye” and moving the planchette to “Good Bye”. If there are any Ouija board rules that you think we left out please feel free to leave us a comment below.
Over the past seven years, we have tested and used various paranormal apps at numerous haunted locations. Some of these ghost hunting apps claim to detect paranormal activity by using the phone’s magnetometer, and other sensors. With paranormal investigation equipment becoming more and more expensive every year and the cost of haunted locations going up, the tantalizing prices of $10 and below for a ghost hunting app is enough to sway any person who is interested in the paranormal. But do these ghost hunting apps work as they claim to, or are they fake?
Fake Paranormal Ghost Hunting Apps
Let’s start with FAKE ghost hunting apps. One of the essential rules when conducting a paranormal investigation is that you need to understand how your equipment works so that you can validate changes in your environment. In the above video, you can see that I used Ghost Radar for a portion of my investigation at the Sallie House, and this was a huge mistake, and I am the first to admit this. Although I thought I was getting responses from the environment, I wasn’t. It turns out the reactions are pre-loaded by the app maker, and the app does not use the magnetometer as the app maker claims.
According to the app maker, “Ghost Radar measures and analyzes small fluctuations in the Quantum Fluctuations around your iPhone or iPod touch. When the radar first starts it will be susceptible to the noise in your environment perhaps giving false readings. After several minutes of self-adjustment, the radar will learn how to filter out the noise. The longer the radar is allowed to run the more sensitive it becomes to anomalous readings. What those readings mean and how you interpret them is up for debate. The theory of what is happening is that intelligent energy can be made aware of their ability to influence the sensors of the iPhone and iPod touch. Much like the theory behind anomalous readings of a K-II meter. Try asking entities to interact with Ghost Radar.” Does anyone actually know what Quantum Fluctuations are? ..LOL.
Some of the other ghost hunting apps that are fake paranormal apps are GB-Rift, Vocibus, Spirit Vox, Steve Huff portal apps. Researchers have found that these fake paranormal apps use pre-loaded sound banks, phrases, and words, from internet paranormal radio stations, and youtube channels and are looped. When we tested the GB-Rift we were shocked at how many times it said same phrases over and over again, some of these words included the words, “DRACULA” “DEMON” “HUFF”.
Best Ghost Hunting Apps
A paranormal app worthy of mention is Digital Dowsings’ ” iOvilius”- Designed by Digital Dowsing, its big brother, the Ovilius and has been used on numerous TV shows such as Ghost Adventures, and Paranormal State. The app works the same as the Ovilius however it is much cheaper. For those that aren’t familiar with how the Ovilius works it, the app assigns a word based upon emf changes around the app. I prefer to use the app rather than the Ovilus because the phone speaker is much louder, and the app has more options such as being able to email logs from the sessions.- Price $2.99 Available for iPhone / droid / google os.
Best Cam/Audio App – Digital Dowsings’ MagCAM -Also designed by Digital Dowsing, the app monitors emf fields around the phone, and when a change is detected, it snaps a photo using the phone’s camera. The devices interface is pretty intuitive and easy to use; the only downside is that the app consumes the life of the phone like no other which makes it hard to run at a location overnight. We used it at the Sallie House and caught some pretty interesting things over nothing was conclusive.
-Price $3.99 Available for iPhone / Android / Google os
Should I use a Ghost Hunting App on a Paranormal Investigation?
In conclusion, I would be cautious about any paranormal equipment you use on an investigation. It is essential for the investigator to fully understand how it works, and when to use it. If you want to use an app on a paranormal investigation I would only use the app to supplement any paranormal evidence that you may have already found. App coders, unfortunately, can code any script in an app to invalidate any findings and hard work that you may put into an investigation. So use your best judgment and maybe stick to a real ouija board.
Ed and Lorraine Warren, known as the Warrens were paranormal investigators who investigated some of the most haunted locations in the US from the 1960’s to 2000’s. Recently the Conjuring movie franchise has significantly increased there popularity due to the success of the franchise. However are their paranormal cases such as the ones depicted in the Conjuring, the Conjuring 2, Amityville Horror, and A Haunting in Connecticut, real? Yes of course they are. However, the producers do take creative liberty when telling the stories. Before we go into the top 5 Ed Warren and Lorraine Warren paranormal cases lets discuss who they are.
Ed and Lorraine Warren History
The Warrens also are known as Ed and Lorraine Warren are American paranormal investigators and authors. Edward Warren (September 7, 1926 – August 23, 2006) or Ed was a World War II United States Navy veteran and a former police officer. He would later become a self-taught demonologist, author and lecturer. His wife Lorraine Warren (January 31, 1927 – April 18, 2019) was a psychic/clairvoyant and a light trance medium who worked closely with her husband. As a Husband / Wife team these two paranormal investigators investigated some of the most notorious hauntings in the 20th century.
A Haunting Worse than Amityville
In 1952, the Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), the oldest ghost hunting group in New England. They authored numerous books about the paranormal and about their private investigations which documented their various encounters with paranormal activity. They claimed to have investigated over 10,000 cases during their career. However, it should be noted that multiple sources estimate the real number of Warren paranormal cases to be in the hundreds. According to the Warrens, the N.E.S.P.R. utilizes a variety of individuals, including medical doctors, researchers, police officers, nurses, college students and members of the clergy in its investigations. In the mid-1970s, the Warrens also performed paranormal investigations at the Welles House in PA, which is still believed to be haunted by a demonic entity.
The Warrens were responsible for training several demonologists including Dave Considine, Lou Gentile, and their nephew John Zaffis.
Ed and Lorraine Warren Top 5 Paranormal Cases
Annabelle the Doll
Annabelle the Doll, at the Warren’s Occult Museum
According to claims originating from Ed and Lorraine Warren, a student nurse was given the Raggedy Ann doll in 1970, but after the doll behaved strangely, a psychic medium told the student the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a dead girl named “Annabelle Higgins”. Supposedly, the student nurse and her roommate first tried to accept and nurture the spirit-possessed doll, but eventually became frightened by the doll’s malicious behavior and contacted the Warrens, who removed the doll to their museum after pronouncing it “demonically possessed”.
Texas State University assistant professor of religious studies Joseph Laycock says most skeptics have dismissed the Warrens’ museum as “full of off-the-shelf Halloween junk, dolls and toys, books you could buy at any bookstore”. Laycock calls the Annabelle legend an “interesting case study in the relationship between pop culture and paranormal folklore” and speculates that the demonic doll trope popularized by films such as Child’s Play and The Conjuring likely emerged from early legends surrounding Robert the Doll as well as a Twilight Zone episode entitled Living Doll. Laycock suggests that “the idea of demonically-possessed dolls allows modern demonologists to find supernatural evil in the most banal and domestic of places”.
Commenting on publicity for the Warrens’ Occult Museum coinciding with the film release of The Conjuring, science writer Sharon A. Hill said that much of the myths and legends surrounding the Warrens have “seemingly been of their own doing” and that many people may have difficulty “separating the Warrens from their Hollywood portrayal.” Hill criticized sensational press coverage of the Warrens’ Occult museum and its Annabelle doll, commenting that “like real-life Ed Warren, real-life Annabelle is far less impressive.” Of the supernatural claims made about Annabelle by Ed Warren, Hill observed, “we have nothing but Ed’s word for this, and also for the history and origins of the objects in the museum”
Perron Family – The Conjuring
In 1971, the Warrens claimed that the Harrisville, Rhode Island, home of the Perron family was haunted by a witch who lived there in the early 19th century. According to the Warrens, Bathsheba Sherman cursed the land so that whoever lived there somehow died. The story is the subject of the 2013 film, The Conjuring. Lorraine Warren was a consultant to the production and appeared in a cameo role in the film.
Perron Family – As featured in the Conjuring
Devil in Connecticut
The Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, also known as the Devil Made Me Do It Case, is the first known court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the defendant’s claim of demonic possession and denial of personal responsibility for the crime. On November 24, 1981, in Brookfield, Connecticut, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the killing of his landlord, Alan Bono. According to testimony by the Glatzel family, 11-year-old David Glatzel had allegedly played host to the demon that forced Johnson to kill Bono. After witnessing several increasingly ominous occurrences involving David, the family, exhausted and terrified, decided to enlist the aid of self-described demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (noted for their investigation into the famed Amityville Haunting) in a last-ditch effort to “cure” David. The Glatzel family, along with the Warrens, then proceeded to have David exorcized by several Catholic priests. The process continued for several days, concluding when, according to those present, a demon fled the child’s body and took up residence within Johnson. Several months later, Johnson killed his landlord during a heated conversation. His defense lawyer argued in court that he was possessed, but the judge ruled that such a defense could never be proven and was therefore infeasible in a court of law. Johnson was subsequently convicted, though he only served five years of a 10- to 20-year sentence. The trial attracted media attention from around the world and has obtained a level of notoriety due to numerous depictions of the events in literature and television. The Devil in Connecticut is also being featured in the movie the Conjuring 3.
Smurl Haunting
The Smurl Family
The Smurls claimed that beginning in 1974, their double-block
the home located at 328 Chase Street in the city of West Pittston, Pennsylvania was disturbed by a demon that caused loud noises and bad odors, threw their dog into a wall, shook their mattress, pushed one of their daughters down a flight of stairs, and physically and sexually assaulted Jack on several occasions.
In 1986, the family brought in a pair of demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren. According to Ed Warren, the demon that inhabited the Smurls home was “very powerful” and that it shook mirrors and furniture after they tried to persuade it to leave by playing religious music and praying. Warren claimed he felt a drop in temperature and saw a “dark mass” form in the home, and the demon once left a message on a mirror telling him to “get out”. After months of investigation, Warren alleged that he had many audiotapes containing knocking and rapping caused by the demon.
Paul Kurtz, the State University of New York at Buffalo philosophy
Jack Smurl
professor and then chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal said the Warrens weren’t objective, independent, or impartial investigators and characterized the Smurls’ claims as “a hoax, a charade, a ghost story.” Kurtz said that the Smurls’ claims were possibly due to delusions, hallucinations or brain impairment, and advised that they submit themselves to psychiatric and psychological examinations. According to The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Smurl told a reporter he had “surgery to remove water from his brain in 1983 because he had been experiencing short-term memory loss due to a case of meningitis in his youth.” Allentown psychologist Robert Gordon commented that “people often look at demonology to explain many tensions that they experience as individuals and within their families”.
Spokespeople for the Roman Catholic Church, Diocese of Scranton said they were unsure what might be causing the disturbances.St. Bonaventure University theology professor Alphonsus Trabold, OFM, said there might be other “less demonic” explanations. The home was blessed by several priests who said they saw “no harmful activity while on the property.” Janet Smurl claimed an unidentified priest performed three “unsuccessful” exorcisms, and that the demon avoided the rites by “moving between the double-block home” and following the family to other locations. In 1986, a priest from the local diocese spent two nights at the Smurl home and said “nothing unusual happened” during his stay there.
In 1986, the Smurls told the press they were tired of the constant bombardment of reporters and TV cameras; however within a few months, The Haunted, a paperback version of their story authored by Scranton newspaper writer Robert Curran was released by St. Martin’s Press. The book was criticized by reviewers such as Times Leader staff writer Joseph Marusak who wrote, “Robert Curran forsakes the principles of his trade to give readers a one-sided account of what did or didn’t occur over several years in Jack and Janet Smurl’s former home”. Reviewer Mary Beth Gehrman wrote that the book was poorly written, adding that “it is hard to conceive of a supposedly sophisticated objective and (as far as I know, at least until now) credible reporter like Curran taking their story seriously given the complete lack of any empirical or physical evidence to support it.”
Also in 1986, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in West Pittston, Rev. Joseph Adonizio, said the Smurls felt that after intense prayers, “things are back to normal.” In 1987, Janet Smurl told reporters that they still heard knocking and saw shadows. After the Smurl family moved to Wilkes-Barre, Debra Owens moved into the former Smurl home in 1988 and told reporters she “never encountered anything supernatural while living there.”
Amityville Horror
On the night of March 6, 1976, the house is investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren, and with a crew from the television station
Channel 5 New York and reporter Michael Linder of WNEW-FM. During the investigation, Gene Campbell took a series of infrared time-lapse photographs. One of the images allegedly showed a “demonic boy” with glowing eyes who was standing at the foot of a staircase. The picture did not emerge into the public domain until 1979 when George and Kathy Lutz and Rod Steiger appeared on The Merv Griffin Show to promote the release of the first film. 112 Ocean Avenue was also investigated by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer. The Warrens and Holzer have suggested that malevolent spirits occupy the house due to its history.
Located in Belmont California, Waterdog lake is said to be one of the most haunted lakes in California. Having grown up in the area, I had always heard of ghost stories about the lake, and a murder. The lake is anything that you would expect to find featured in a horror movie, remote, full of weird vibes, and haunted.
The 100-million-gallon reservoir was built with its primary purpose to facilitate water flow to the Ralston Mansion, which was made a few miles below it. Simultaneously, the European and Chinese workers assembled an elaborate piping system as the conduit to deliver fresh water down the hill to the estate house for irrigation and human consumption. Ultimately, Water Dog Lake became the primary source of water not only for Ralston mansion, but for the growing town of Belmont. The intricate network of pipes was not completed until 1874.
Why is Waterdog Lake Haunted?
A with most hauntings, tragedy can leaves a dark imprint on the land for the haunting to occur. Such is the case with Waterdog Lake. On October 2, 1984, Lance Turner’s body was found on the trail at Waterdog Lake, murdered by Jon Dukel, a serial killer. After confessing to the murder, Jon Dunkel described his crime at Waterdog lake as a “Delight in Doing Evil.”
On October 2, 1984, about 7:00 p.m., Belmont resident Margaret Turner called the police to report her 12-year-old son, Lance, missing from soccer practice. That day,
Timothy O’Brien had driven his two sons and Lance to soccer practice at the fields behind Ralston Intermediate School.
O’Brien began coaching his team and did not see Lance again. Later, when the practice ended, O’Brien asked Lance’s coach, Ray Williamson, where Lance was. Williamson told him Lance was not at practice that day. Several boys reported seeing Lance head toward Waterdog Lake, three-eighths of a mile from the soccer field. A search followed.
William Russell arrived at 6:00 p.m. to pick up his son from soccer practice and, after taking his son home, joined the search for Lance. About 8:20 p.m., Russell shined a flashlight onto some bushes in a gully off the path to Waterdog Lake and saw feet sticking out of the bushes. Lance’s body was found under the overgrown brush.
Pathologist Peter Benson, M.D., testified Lance had died from blood loss due to multiple stab wounds. Two wounds to the heart were each fatal; two other wounds to the lungs were potentially life-threatening. There were numerous defensive wounds to the arms and hands, as well as scratches, scrapes, and bruises.
Stephanie Olson, Kendra Durham, and Nicole Guthrie, students at Ralston Intermediate School at the time of the Turner homicide, testified that about 3:00 p.m. on October 2, 1984, they left school, skipping volleyball practice, and went down to Waterdog Lake to smoke cigarettes. A man whom Stephanie described as having dirty blond hair, pimples and dirty teeth with a retainer approached them and started a conversation. He told them his name was Jon and said he had graduated from Carlmont High School the year before. He was drinking beer from a tall Budweiser can, which he offered to the girls.
The girls left after about 20 minutes. Another Ralston student saw a man with dirty blond hair near Waterdog Lake about 4:00 p.m. (None of these witnesses was asked to identify the defendant in the courtroom. Olson, Durham, and Guthrie gave the police a description of the man that was incorporated into a composite drawing used in the investigation of the Turner homicide. In his confession to FBI agents, the defendant described talking with the three girls shortly before he killed Turner.)
The Paranormal Investigation – Video
Waterdog lake Haunting.
Interesting enough the legend of the haunting revolves around a boy that drowned at the lake, and there have been multiple drownings at the lake. However one of the most exciting things about Waterdog lake is the old tunnels that were built over a hundred years ago where Satanic Rituals are believed to have taken place. Is it possible that Jon Dunkel used these tunnels once to perform some ritual before or after he committed his murder?
During my brief stay there I did get multiple EVPs, and I did hear a disembodied voice that was captured on camera when no one was around. Would you like to see me go back if so let me know by leaving a comment below?
Haunted Road Ghost Hunt at one of the most haunted roads in America, tonight is LIVE. Join me as I venture off to this “Highway to Hell” to document paranormal activity. This Haunted road has had numerous ghosts caught on tape, spirit sights, and paranormal events. Sometimes these ghosts have attacked people who have traveled on this road. The last time we visited this road we captured numerous ghost evps, and spirit responses via the ghost box.
Will we be able to document more paranormal activity on this haunted road? Tune in and find out! 📺 and please subscribe to our YouTube channel livescifidottv.
Lorraine Warren in front of the haunted Welles House
