The Demonic Haunting on Lindley Street: The Poltergeist That Attacked in Front of Several Witnesses

It might be lesser-known that Amityville, or the hauntings of the Smurl family, or numerous other investigations made famous by Ed and Lorraine Warren, but a small home in Connecticut is one of the most terrifying and well-documented cases of the paranormal in recent history. 

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:08.475 = PART ONE: The House on Lindley Street
00:09:16.513 = *** PART TWO: What The Police Witnessed
00:19:08.016 = *** PART THREE: Four Entities
00:41:39.774 = *** PART FOUR: What The Witnesses Said Later
00:54:53.007 = *** PART FIVE: What Invited Them In
00:59:40.656 = Show Close

*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Lindley Street Poltergeist” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/jbntafrs
VIDEO: Paul Eno Talks About The Bridgeport Haunting: https://weirddarkness.com/paul-eno-talks-about-the-bridgeport-haunting/
BOOK: “The World’s Most Haunted House: The True Story of the Bridgeport Poltergeist on Lindley Street” by William Hall: https://amzn.to/3vJXuBc=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: May 07, 2021
EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/LindleyStreet
ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome Weirdos on Daryn Marler and this is Weird Darkness.
Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre,
unsolved and unexplained coming up in this episode. It might

(00:28):
be lesser known than Amityville, or the hauntings of the
Smartl Family, or numerous other investigations made famous by Ed
and Lorraine Warren, but a small home in Connecticut is
one of the most terrifying and well documented cases of
the paranormal in recent history. We take a look at
the haunting on Linley Street. Now, bult your doors, lock

(00:52):
your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me
into the weird Darkness. Perhaps not as well known outside

(01:14):
of paranormal circles as other hauntings, the events at a
small home in Bridgeport, Connecticut in the mid nineteen seventies
is one of the best documented cases of poltergeist like activity,
perhaps of all time. Not only were the events played
out over a considerable amount of time, but they were
also witnessed regularly by multiple people, including police officers, members

(01:37):
of the fire department, and at least one radio reporter.
Described by William J. Hall as the World's Most Haunted
House in his book of the same name, The World's
Most Haunted House The True Story of the Bridgeport Poltergeist
on Lindley Street, The incidents of late nineteen seventy four
lasting into early nineteen seventy five are, without a doubt,

(01:59):
some of the most intriguing and terrifying on record. What
is perhaps also interesting, Hall approached the case as a skeptic,
even believing it to be a hoax when he reinvestigated
it in twenty thirteen, a mindset that the evidence he
uncovered caused him to completely shift from to quickly set
the background, Jerry and Laura Goodin had lost their son,

(02:23):
who had been born with cerebral palsy, in September nineteen
sixty seven. The following year, the good And family looked
to adopt a child, and in nineteen sixty eight they
adopted Marcia from Canada. It was several years after Marsh's arrival,
coincidentally or not, when things began to turn strange. Much
of what follows is based on the extensive research of

(02:45):
William Hall in the previously mentioned book. In reality, the
strange goings on at a modest, three roomed house on
Linley Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut, began several years prior to
the surge of paranormal activity that announced itself in November
nineteen seventy four. In fact, according to William Hall, peculiar
events began happening very soon after Marcia was adopted in

(03:09):
nineteen sixty eight, when items around the house appeared to
have been moved purposely out of place. The following year,
in nineteen sixty nine, while Marcia was sat on the
sofa with her friend Rose Marie, it suddenly began to
shake and even began to lift off the floor. Perhaps
another strange incident involving Rose Marie was when she walked

(03:30):
into Marsha's bedroom to find her sad on the floor,
rocking back and forth with her eyes closed, talking softly
in a strange language. When Rose Marie asked her what
she was doing, Marcia replied that she was talking to
her deceased grandfather, a respected chief on the reservation. Marcia
was of Native American heritage. What's more, he was extremely

(03:52):
unhappy that she had been adopted. This happened, according to Hall,
on several occasions. Might this have been a brief glimpse
into the possible paranormal abilities of the young girl. It
was though, in November nineteen seventy one, when signs of
more ominous activity began to present itself. The good Ends

(04:14):
would begin hearing a strange, rhythmic booming sound that almost
seemed to emanate from within the property itself. At first,
they tried to ignore them in the hopes that they
would stop, which for a time they did. However, in
November nineteen seventy two, they began once more. Jerry would
describe it as like the house was being stoned. In fact,

(04:37):
the bizarre banging sounds became so bad that the good
Inns made a report to the local police. When that
first call went into police, it wasn't out of fear
that something supernatural was taking place. The good In family
expected there to be a perfectly reasonable explanation. They just
wanted the banging to stop. As Hall writes, they were

(04:58):
not frightened just on the family's initial thoughts were that
the sounds might be some kind of prank, or even
that they might be connected to some kind of construction project.
The Saint Vincent's Hospital was undergoing a building extension, for example. However,
neither of these seemed likely. Jerry would recall that there

(05:19):
was a definite pattern to the sounds, and that they
occurred at all hours of the day and night. The
good Ends would turn to their neighbor, John Holsworth, who
happened to be a police officer with the Bridgeport Police Department.
It was his suggestion to the good Ends that they
attempt to capture the strange banging sounds on tape, something
they successfully did, even managing to capture the noises moving

(05:41):
around the house into different rooms. However, despite this appearance proof,
no one could decipher where the strange sounds were coming from.
Between city officials, the police department, and the fire department,
no reason for or source of the noises could be established.
Of more importance to the good Inns they were continuing.

(06:02):
By the summer of nineteen seventy four, it appeared things
had taken an even more alarming turn when Jerry and
Laura thought they saw a disembodied hand at their window.
When they went to see who was there, however, they
found nobody or nothing there. Several weeks later, three very
pronounced knocks came at the front door. However, when Laura

(06:24):
went to see who it was, once more, there was
nobody there. There were, though wet footprints or a person
might have stood, However, the night was dry, with no
rain or dampness anywhere else. The bizarre events continued, with
furniture regularly moving of its own accord, doors opening and

(06:44):
closing by themselves, and of course these strange and persistent noises. However,
it was during the month of November in the run
up to Thanksgiving nineteen seventy four, when the intensity of
the strange goings on increased considerably. Perhaps the first of
these intense paranormal happenings took place on the evening of

(07:05):
November twenty first, when the good Inns were eating dinner
with two guests, the wife and daughter of John Holsworth,
Jamie and Janet, respectively. Suddenly the sound of breaking glass
rang out, causing everyone to leave their meals and go
and investigate. When they entered the bedroom, they discovered the
window was broken. However, it was also apparent that the

(07:26):
window had been, according to Hall, shattered from the inside.
The following night, though, things would turn even more disturbing
and concerning. After eating dinner and going over last minute
preparations for a planned trip. The following day to see
Jerry's cousin. The family was sat in the living room
enjoying the evening and watching the television. Then a cacophony

(07:49):
of sound came from the bedroom. Upon investigation, they discovered
the curtains on the floor and the window shade rolled
all the way up. Laura would put the curtains back
up and return the window shade to how it had been,
and went to leave the room. However, before she could
step outside of the door, the curtains once more fell
to the floor and the window shade rolled back up.

(08:12):
This time, the good Inns left the curtains and window
shade where they were and returned to the living room,
perhaps hoping if they ignored whatever had caused the curtains
to fall, it would simply go away. However, within several
moments of their returning to the living room, the maddening
knocking began to permeate the entire house. This knocking continued

(08:34):
to grow louder and louder, seeming to come from the
walls themselves. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it ceased.
The rest of the evening was without incident. However, the
events the Goodens would experience were only just beginning up. Next,

(08:56):
the residents at nine six nine Linley Street have a
most eventful and terrifying evening when weird darkness returns. The

(09:20):
planned trip out the following day went by without incident,
that was until they arrived home. William Hall describes the
scene as Jerry opened the door to the home at
around four thirty pm that afternoon. He writes that Marsha's television,
which normally sat on a high shelf, was lying on
her bed, screened down, with the TV cord and antenna

(09:42):
wires hanging from the back. A little confused, Jerry put
the television back the way it should be and began
to make his way to the kitchen. Once there, things
became even stranger. As he walked into the kitchen, he
discovered dishes rising out of the sink and flying around
the room he walked, such as one by one they
smashed onto the floor. Things turned even more chilling a

(10:05):
moment later when a set of knives lifted themselves from
a knife block and flew across the kitchen, causing Jerry
to duck down on the floor. As this was happening,
Laura stepped into the doorway, watching her husband who was
luckily not injured. Then things went quiet once more, Thinking
or perhaps hoping that this would be the only strange

(10:26):
activity of the evening, the good Inns began to go
about their business. However, as Laura put away groceries that
they had purchased earlier, she heard something happening behind her.
When she turned around, she could see the kitchen table
lifting off the floor, as if being lifted from one
side by a pair of invisible hands. It continued to
rise upward until it was finally flipped, sending groceries flying

(10:50):
across the kitchen. By the time the table had come
crashing back to the floor, Laura simply stood, surveying the
scene before her. As she did so, began to rise
from the floor and moved slightly, and then dropped back down.
Months later, the television set toppled forward, landing on Laura's toes.

(11:10):
There were sporadic incidents throughout the rest of the evening,
including the kitchen table flipping itself over while the family
was in the living room watching television. When the family
prepared for bed, Marsh's television also dropped from where it
normally sat, causing them to return to the living room
Shortly after, Marsha went to use the bathroom. When Jerry
and Laura suddenly heard a commotion coming from the room,

(11:33):
they would discover the young girl covering her head with
her hands, while all manner of items from the bathroom
flew into the air around her. Eventually, a little after
three a m things appeared to quiet down and the
family returned to their beds. The next day, though, would
bring more unsettlement to the good ind house. Upon waking,

(11:54):
Jerry would head to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. However,
when he entered the room, he could see straight away
that the table he had turned the right way up
only hours earlier had been turned over once more. Even stranger,
the refrigerator had been moved and was now blocking the
kitchen door. He would head straight back to the bedroom
to inform his wife of the overnight happenings. However, before

(12:17):
he could say anything, a crucifix and picture on their
bedroom wall flung themselves to the floor, as if a
pair of invisible hands had ripped them away. Before they
could react, a loud bang sounded through the house, appearing
to come from Marsh's bedroom. When the two distressed parents
entered the girl's room. They were shocked to see the
large wooden dresser had seemingly been tipped forward to the floor.

(12:40):
Of more concern, though, was that the heavy piece of
furniture was only a short distance away from where Marcia
had been sleeping. Once More, before the family could fully
react to what had just happened, they heard further crashing sounds,
this time coming from the living room. When they made
their way there, they discovered that all three chairs were

(13:00):
moving of their own accord, both back and forth and
off the floor and back again. Even stranger, the sound
of a door bell was seemingly coming from the television.
It was obvious to all the family that things were
not going to get better. In fact, they were rapidly
getting much worse. It was then they decided to contact
their neighbors, Harold and Mary Hoffman. They were becoming desperate

(13:23):
for help. While awaiting the arrival of Harold Hoffman, the
good Inns ventured outside to wait on the porch of
the house. However, as they stood on the porch, Laura
suddenly began screaming. Jerry turned to see what was taking
place and saw, along with Laura and Marcia, the sofa
on the porch was hovering around four feet into the air.

(13:44):
It remained there for several moments before it came crashing
down to the floor. Also witnessing these events was the
daughter of Officer Holsworth. Jerry immediately asked her to go
and get her father. We're in trouble here, he said.
She did so immediately. As soon as he arrived. Jerry
turned to him and stated, there's some kind of evil
force inside wrecking our home. John Holsworth entered the property,

(14:08):
examining the carnage for himself. Perhaps even more importantly, he
witnessed the three reclining chairs in the living room rise
and move of their own accord, as well as the
refrigerator moving along the kitchen floor. It was at this
point that Holsworth contacted his station to send more officers.
According to William Hall's research of the call records, it

(14:29):
was a little after ten am that Sunday morning when
Officer Carl Leonsi and Officer Joe Tomick arrived at the
good Inn's property. As they looked over the destruction inside
the property, they at first thought the good Ends were
the victims of a burglary. However, when Tomic witnessed the
television floating in mid air. He realized that something all
together out of the ordinary was taking place. Shortly after

(14:52):
Leonsi and Tomic's arrival, two more police officers arrived, those
called by Mary Hoffman, officers George Wilson and and Leroy Lawson.
As the four police officers briefed each other on the
goings on, they all witnessed the refrigerator rise into the
air before settling itself back on the floor. Although the
officers were still somewhat skeptical of what was taking place,

(15:14):
they were beginning to wonder if they had become involved
in something truly paranormal. If any doubt remained as to
the authenticity of the events taking place inside the Good
and Home, the events of the next couple of hours
would all but change that. As Tomic was making a
report of the incident, he suddenly heard a loud crash
coming from Marsha's bedroom, which was at the time empty.

(15:38):
When the officers looked in to see what had happened,
they saw the heavy duty drawers had been tipped forward.
Before they could gather their thoughts, each of them witnessed
a wooden cross begin to swing where it hung on
the wall before it appeared to be ripped away by
invisible hands, striking Officer Lawson in the chest. He immediately
left the property and refused to go back. During this time,

(16:01):
the police, due to the bizarre events, also requested the
fire service dispatch a unit to the property. One of
those who attended was fireman Jack Messina. During his time
in the property, he also witnessed the TV seemingly pull
itself to the floor completely by itself. As the strange
events continued to unfold around the house, which was now

(16:22):
full of people and all of whom witnessed them, one
of the firemen contacted Father Doyle, informing him of the
poltergeist like activity and requesting that he too attend the property.
As the furniture continued to move, as well as various
household items, Laura exclaimed to anyone who was listening that
evil spirits are trying to kill us. This was seemingly

(16:44):
corroborated by the arrival of Father Doyle, who, after looking
around the home and being told of what had been
taking place, asserted to the family that there is an
evil spirit in this place. He would then begin to
perform a blessing on the property. What happened next or
chilled all those who witnessed it. According to the book
The World's Most Haunted House, Father Doyle began arranging rosary beads,

(17:09):
holy water, and a small bible, ready to perform the blessing.
After placing the holy water on a table near which
he was sat and reaching for his bible, he went
to pick up the water. However, when his hand was
a short distance away, it tipped over. Father Doyle then
repositioned the holy water again and once more went to
reach for it. Once more, it tipped over before he

(17:32):
had a chance to even touch it. At this point,
Father Doyle said a prayer and made the decision to
contact a fellow priest, one experienced in exorcisms. With the
house full of people, including a paramedic who had arrived
after the police had contacted them in order to have
Loria's foot checked out, as well as Jerry's brother Edmund,
the disturbing activity continued. Perhaps one of the most intriguing

(17:56):
and truly unnerving of these was alleged voices that came
from the family's pet cat. Edmund claimed that he heard
one of the police officers state it's coming from the cat.
I heard it say bye bye. Following this, the police
officer in question went outside to speak with a superior officer.
Although he couldn't hear the entire conversation, he did ascertain

(18:19):
that the officer had refused to go back inside the property.
Following the morning of intense activity, Edmund offered to take
Marcia out for some lunch so as to get her
out of the house for a little while. The strange incidents, though,
were far from over. When We're Darknan's returns, the good

(18:47):
Inn family receives some expert help from quite possibly the
most famous paranormal couple in history, Ed and Lorraine Warren
up next. One of the people who had ventured into

(19:16):
the house that morning was Mary Pascarella, a neighbor and
a member of the Psychic Research Center. She would eventually
contact paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren and inform them
of the strange events in the small house on Linley Street.
They would ultimately agree to attend the property and would
also contact another priest, father Charbonneau, asking him to attend also.

(19:39):
Ed arrived first and went about introducing himself to Jerry Gooden.
Although we didn't know anything about the Warrens. He knew
that he required help from someone with experience in such
strange matters, and agreed to let him in. He would
carry out some interviews with the police and others who
had been at the house that morning, asking what they
had seen and experienced, leave, promising to return with his

(20:01):
wife and father Charbonneau. They would also have with them
a young seminary student with an intense interest in the paranormal,
Paul Eno, whose personal reflections of the case we will
examine shortly. By the time they all arrived back at
the property, the activity outside had seemingly increased somewhat. Not
only were police going in and out of the house,

(20:24):
but a small crowd of onlookers was beginning to gather outside.
They entered the property and began going to work according
to the world's most Haunted House. Before they did so,
Ed took Paul to one side and asked him to
stay close to Marsia as much as he could, elaborating
that it's common in Hope's cases for the child to
be the perpetrator, and is also frequently a contributor in

(20:46):
legitimate paranormal cases. The statement would prove to be at
least in part highly accurate. However, a little later that afternoon,
the young girl was in the middle of another bizarre happening,
one which once more had multiple witnesses. As the young
girl was sat talking to the police officers, the chair

(21:06):
in which she was sitting suddenly began to rise into
the air. It remained there for several moments before it
completely flipped and sent Marcia crashing to the ground, followed
by the chair itself. What's more, when the officers went
to put the chair back in place, it took a
considerable effort of two of them to do so. The
surge of bizarre activity continued throughout the day as the

(21:30):
Warrens went about their business. The police contacted electric and
plumbing inspectors to see if they could discover what might
be behind the truly remarkable events. Ultimately, they couldn't. When
they left, though, according to William Hall, they were told
to keep your mouth shut about what you just saw
and that it was a police matter. By mid afternoon,

(21:52):
and with the onslaught of activity seemingly stopped, the police
made the decision to leave the property, Ultimately unable to
offer any explanation to the truly strange incidents they'd witnessed.
They informed the family to report any further activity to them,
although in reality there appeared to be very little they
could do. Within hours, though not only would the strange

(22:15):
activity indeed begin again, the family were presented with a
new problem. Perhaps what compounded the happenings somewhat were the
gathering crowds outside the Goodin's home, which, according to William Hall,
had grown to more than two thousand people by four pm. Furthermore,
many of the crowd were reporters from radio and television stations.

(22:37):
None of the reporters were granted permission to enter the
property or speak with the family. When the Warrens, along
with father Charbonneau and Paul Eno, left the property, they
did so under the watchful gaze of the masses outside
the small home. Needless to say, rumors and hearsay chat
of what was going on inside the house swirled around

(22:57):
the crowd. As stated by William Hall, in just a day,
the Goodin's home became the most popular attraction in the
state and soon the country. The police would return when
the activity began later in the afternoon, and ultimately they
would set up a barrier which they would stand at
so as to control the ever growing crowd outside the

(23:18):
good Inn's house, and on occasion even some of those
in the crowd would witness statues outside the property moving
of their own accord, with some even hearing a demonic
like voice uttering unheard words coming from the house itself.
The strange moving of household objects, the tipping over a furniture,
and strange booming noises continued throughout much of the evening.

(23:42):
The good Inns simply did their best to ignore it.
When the Warrens, father, Charboneau, and Paul Eno returned to
the property, the crowds outside remained, with reporters from much
further afield than the local area also arriving. Although they
were largely ignored, some of them did not managed to
get small snippets of information from police as they left

(24:04):
or entered the building, as well as brief words from
some members of the good and family. These snippets of
information slowly began to form a basic picture for their
viewers and listeners, consequently attracting even more attention. The scene
the investigators walked into was one of utter chaos. Ed
Warren had instructed the family to leave anything that was

(24:27):
moved where it was so they could see for themselves
what had happened, something they had indeed done. As the
investigators interviewed and spoke with the family, the strange events
continued to occur around them, including curtain rails falling down,
and even the lights all going out for several minutes
throughout the house. However, perhaps the strangest incident occurred around

(24:49):
an hour after the investigator's arrival, at a little after
nine am. As the family and the investigators sat at
the kitchen table and discussed the events of the day,
as written about by William Hall, Paul Eno noticed that
a second degree burnmark was forming on Lorraine Warren's arm
right in front of his eyes. At around the same time,

(25:10):
paul noticed a smell of sulfur. This is perhaps particularly interesting,
as not only does this detail appear in other paranormal accounts,
but also in accounts of UFO and close contact alien encounters,
as we will examine a little later. Might this be
evidence that there is a connection between these otherwise unconnected,
unexplained phenomenon in the house on Linley Street, though all

(25:35):
those present were deeply concerned at how events were playing out.
What's more, according to William Hall. When paul Eno and
Lorraine Warren were discussing the events at the Warren's home
later that evening, they suddenly felt a presence there with them,
almost as if something had followed them from the Goodin's home. Ultimately,
whatever it was, it appeared to disappear within a few moments.

(25:58):
The bizarre events continue throughout the following morning and afternoon.
The investigators discussed the possibility of arranging an extorcism in
the house. Perhaps one of the strangest incidents, though, took
place while paul Eno was resting his hand on the
kitchen chair where Marsha was set. Suddenly he felt the
chair begin to rise into the air, seemingly pushing against

(26:21):
the pressure of his hand. Instinctively, he began to push
back down on the chair and was amazed to suddenly
feel whatever was pushing up suddenly relinquish their attempt to
lift the chair into the air. Paul Eno remained at
the house into the early evening, and while the activity
had seemed to die down somewhat, it had not completely stopped. Outside,

(26:43):
the crowds remained, hoping to see something out of the
ordinary for themselves. However, later in the afternoon, as the
rain beat down on the Goodn's home, something truly strange
and menacing occurred. As the family and the investigators played
a game of monopoly. During a particularly quiet spell, a
strange force began to be noticed by all in the room.

(27:07):
Something was about to appear to them. Writing in the
World's Most Haunted House, William Hall states that whatever it was,
it resembled a large, cohesive assemblage of smoky yellowish white
gauzy mist. What's more, although the form was somewhat transparent,
everyone present could see the outline of four bodies, essentially

(27:29):
four entities. Furthermore, the sulfur type smell had also returned,
as well as a constant hum that all present could hear.
Even stranger was the fact that Jerry began to suddenly
chant a prayer in fluent Latin, and he did so
in a voice that was clearly not his own. Seemingly
in response to this, the figures began to move around

(27:50):
the room as if in an organized pack, and followed
Jerry from room to room. At this point, Marcia was
stood near Paulino, clearly fright by what was taking place. However,
when one of the entities began approaching the young girl.
Eno stood in front of Marcia in an attempt to
block its path. Then things turned even stranger when Eno

(28:12):
clearly felt the entity push against him, allowing him to
clearly feel the physicalness of the apparition. He would later
describe this frame of the entity as birdlike. Despite his efforts, though,
the entity managed to get around you know, when all
of a sudden, Marcia was lifted into the air and
thrown to the floor. Unsure what to do, but sensing

(28:32):
they had to leave, Eno asked everyone to step outside
the property, which they duly did. When they did so,
the swelling crowd looked on at the events. Even so,
with the cacophony of noise coming from inside the house,
Eno insisted the family stay outside while he contacted the Warrens.
By the time the Warrens arrived, the strange and disturbing

(28:53):
events were continuing in abundance. On this occasion, two members
of the local wnab R radio station convinced the good
Ends to allow them entry into the property, upon which
they witnessed the incidents for themselves, including moving furniture, the
tipping over of the televisions, as well as general and
unnerving noises. To them, it must have been like walking

(29:15):
on the set of a horror movie. Of more concern
to the police, however, was the still gathered crowd and
the permanent police presence required to keep them under control.
It became apparent to the police that they had to
do something to get the crowd to disperse, and this
would not happen as long as they believed that something
out of the ordinary was taking place. Ultimately, the Warrens

(29:38):
and Paulino left the good In House, expecting to return
the following day to continue their investigation and attempt to
find a way to combat the bizarre activity. However, things
were about to change dramatically, and not in a way
any of them had foreseen. As the police officers changed
shifts on the evening of the twenty fifth going into

(29:59):
the twenty fe sixth of November, the events were about
to change course. As the officers were going about their
business in the home, Marcia appeared to pretend the recliner
chair she was sitting in suddenly flung itself back. She
had done this on previous days. Once more, Laura scolded
her for fooling around. However, it was something that one

(30:20):
of the policemen, Officer Costello witnessed for himself that would
alter the course of the case. As the adults were talking,
Officer Costello noticed Marcia stretch her leg out slightly and
nudge the television, forcing it to make contact with Jerry. However,
before she could move her leg back, she realized that
Costello had seen her. Costello would quickly inform the other

(30:42):
officer's present. Shortly after, according to Officer del Toro, Marcia
had confessed to being behind the bizarre happenings at the house,
although at least in retrospect, it appeared that Marcia was
only confessing to some of the more recent incidents. It
soon snowballed, perhaps helped along by the police into giving
them a reason to ultimately close the case as a

(31:04):
complete hoax, and they would waste little time in making
their decision public, something incidentally, which helped in dispersing the
crowd outside the house. The police would also recommend that
Marcia was taken in for counseling, something that her parents
did agree to do. What's more, several theories began to
emerge that the Warrens themselves had perhaps aided in the

(31:26):
events after becoming involved and ultimately the good Inns, who
were not suspected of any involvement in the hoax, would
cease working with them. Of course, a large part of
the reason that the good Inns stopped working with the
Warrens was down to the apparent confession of Marcia, in
particular that she had seen Lorraine Warren purposely scald herself

(31:46):
under the hot water tap to bring out the burn mark.
The other was the revelation that Ed Warren had used
their phone to contact members of the press, alerting them
to these strange goings on. It would later come to
light from the interviews done by a Hall with some
of the police officers involved, that the police essentially knew
that something out of the ordinary was taking place, but

(32:08):
wished to make out to the wider world that it
was nothing but a hoax. This was in part to
deter the crowds from gathering outside the property, and perhaps
indirectly to take the focus and pressure away from the family.
We will examine some of these statements a little later.
The warrants as well as Paulino, would learn of the

(32:29):
apparent confession as well as these suspicions, voiced that they
were in part encouraging a hoax through the radio reports.
Later that morning, according to the report, Marcia had confessed
to being the one who had done the banging on
the walls and the floor. She was, the report continued,
responsible for the furniture moving and household items crashing to

(32:50):
the floor, as well as the strange voices, even demonstrating
how she achieved this. Ed would immediately call the good
in home, but was promptly informed that the family no
longer needed their help. Paul Eno would drive to the
property and was told to leave and not come back. He,
like the others involved, knew that what they had seen

(33:10):
was not the result of a hoax, and certainly not
a hoax by a single ten year old child. However,
the police department issued a statement claiming the incident was
officially classified as a hoax and that there were no
ghosts in Bridgeport. Individual police officers would even offer their
own statements to the media, further adding credibility, at least

(33:31):
to the wider public, that the events were not genuine. However,
some officers appeared to reject the hoax theory. Officer Tomic,
for example, would state that he did see some bizarre things,
but he didn't have an explanation for them, further saying
that he doubted the good ends could have caused these
things to move, and that they typically weren't even near

(33:52):
the items that seemingly moved of their own accord. Another
officer would state that it wasn't merely one or two
moving items, but many different things happening all at once.
Regardless of these voices of dissent, though, the case, at
least as far as the police were concerned, was closed
and no longer required their presence, although small units were

(34:14):
left for several weeks to control the crowd outside. The crowd,
albeit diminished, would remain outside the home for several days
following the announcement of the case being closed by the police.
Inside the hum, despite the good and s apparent belief
that their daughter had caused these strange incidents, at least
in part, the bizarre happenings continued, although they were further

(34:36):
apart than they had been over the weekend of activity. However,
they now appeared to face a new threat. After returning
home from a Thanksgiving meal and beginning to settle down
for the evening, Jerry noticed the smell of smoke along
with one of the police officers outside. They soon discovered
a small fire at the back of the property. Although

(34:57):
it was quickly put out, it appeared obvious that the
fire had been purposely started. Ultimately, three people were arrested
and charged with the arson attack. However, it was confirmation
for the family that they were now targets from the
outside of their home as well as the strange forces inside.
Over the days that followed, though, and much to the

(35:18):
good End's relief, it appeared the strange events inside the
family home were dying down, and by the time December
had rolled around, they appeared to have stopped altogether. However,
after a little over a week of no strange activity
at all, things would suddenly flare up once more. The
unnerving activity was much the same as before. When it

(35:40):
began once more on the evening of December tenth, nineteen
seventy four, Furniture would move by itself, the television would
topple over, and all manner of household items would seemingly
fling themselves from shelves or walls. As the days went
by following the sudden restart of activity, the family did
their best to carry on with their lives. However, it

(36:01):
would increase seemingly daily in intensity. At this point, any
notion that Marcia was behind the activity in the minds
of her parents was pretty much dispersed. Not only did
they witness the events themselves, but police officers still positioned
outside witnessed them again. Also, whenever they did leave their home,
Upon returning, they would find it in a complete ruin,

(36:23):
with all manner of items strewn around each room, as
if someone had entered the property and simply ransacked it.
A dog they had recently acquired also appeared to sense
something wrong in the house, routinely pacing and barking at
what seemed to be an invisible presence. They even turned
back to Father Doyle in an attempt to have an
exorcism authorized by the church, something he assured them he

(36:47):
was attempting to do. Once more. Becoming distraught at the
prolonged chilling activity taking place in their home, the Goodins
didn't know where to turn for help. Then, just short
of a week after the insects had restarted, on December sixteenth,
the good Inns received a phone call. Upon answering the phone,
Jerry was introduced to an apparent poltergeist investigator from the

(37:09):
American Society for Psychical Research named Boyce Batty. What's more,
he claimed he might be able to assist the family
of even more importance and likely why the good Ins
would agree to work with him, he wished to keep
his investigation private and out of the media. They ultimately
agreed to meet at the house two days later, on

(37:29):
December eighteenth. In the meantime, the activity continued, even appearing
to increase in strength and intention as promised. Boyce Batty
arrived at the good In house on the eighteenth of December.
With him were investigators from the Psychical Research Foundation, Blue
Harari and Jerry Sullivan. Unbeknownst to the family, the team

(37:51):
had met with Ed Warren beforehand, who, while disappointed at
how his involvement in the case had ended, fully briefed
them on everything he knew of the case. They also
managed to speak to the police department, who were seemingly
happy to assist in the team's investigation, although they wished
to do so quietly. This of course suited Beatty, who
very much wished to work away from the glare of

(38:13):
the media and onlookers. Their investigation would continue throughout the
month of December and was witnessed to as much, if
not more, paranormal activity as was witnessed by the Warrens
and paul Eno. However, as much as they believed they
were witnessing genuine paranormal events, they also believed that the
gooduns overbearing parenting style of Marcia was a cause of her,

(38:36):
at least partly genuine unhappiness. Beatty would ultimately conclude that
this parenting style unhappiness of all members of the family
had resulted in a pathological environment, and that this ultimately
set the stage for the poltergeist disturbances. This is interesting
as it's been noticed in many poltergeist cases that a

(38:58):
young child is very often and both the focus and
potentially in ways of tapping into energies we don't understand,
may be the source of it. There are also many
who believe that such negative energy not only feeds such
ghostly apparitions, but may even attract it. With this in mind,
a widespread study of such Poultergeist like hauntings could possibly

(39:20):
be quite revealing. Beatty also noticed that events appeared to
take place following a psychological change introduced into the home.
He would state that this occurred when someone new entered
the house or a certain room, as well as the
constant coming and going of the police and investigators. In short,
the more people the good Inns introduced into their home

(39:42):
in an effort to combat the incidents, the worse it
perhaps made it. Beatty would ultimately conclude that the goings
on at Linley Street were a genuine poltergeist case with
genuine paranormal psychokinetic effects, although they also concluded that at
least some of the events were solely the responsibility of Marcia.

(40:03):
The incidents themselves began to settle somewhat as nineteen seventy
five unfolded, and while the good Inns did attempt to
sell their home in order to move, they would remain
there for the rest of their lives. For a time,
Marcia would seemingly disappear into anonymity. Laura Gooden, on the
other hand, was killed in a traffic accident in June
nineteen ninety three. Her husband remained in the family home

(40:26):
after his wife's death, passing away from natural causes in
September nineteen ninety seven. It appears that Marcia, at some
point after nineteen eighty went back to Canada. It would
eventually come to light that she passed away from natural
causes at the age of fifty one in February twenty
fifteen in Ohio med Central Shelby Hospital. Author William Hall

(40:48):
would state that he was looking for her during the
writing of the book, but that he didn't manage to
track her down. By the time of the book's release,
not much was known of the journey Marcia took following
the incident. Paul would state in a twenty fifteen interview
that she had left home mad at them, although he
wasn't sure if this was a consequence of the poltergeist
encounters of the mid nineteen seventies. Coming up, we'll look

(41:16):
at some of the accusations against the Warrens. Should the
paranormal investigators be criticized for their part in the case
were defended? That's next on Weird Darkness. The case was,

(41:46):
as we know, initially investigated by even then experienced paranormal
investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, and it is probably fair
to address some of the accusations thrown at the pair
in the fallout of the case. For example, some claimed
the parent manufactured and embellished the goings on themselves in
order to make their money in their defense. However, even

(42:09):
in the mid nineteen seventies, the couple were experienced and
respected in their fields. Furthermore, they did not charge the Goodines,
nor any family with which they investigated such strange happenings,
a single dollar. They made their money from their written
work and public speaking. It is perhaps interesting, though, that
the couple were accused of making more out of the

(42:30):
incidents than there actually was a decade and a half later,
when investigating the haunting in Connecticut of Carmen and Alstnedecker
in nineteen eighty six, specifically, they were not concerned so
much with getting to the bottom of the apparent hauntings
as much as the promoting the most outlandish aspects of
the happenings, with Ray Garton claiming ed Warren had said
to him to just use what works and make up

(42:52):
the rest. Whatever the realities of the situation, the Warrens
are certainly respected paranormal investigators by most, and we might
consider how the accusations levied against them in the fall
of the Linley Street case may have damaged them, perhaps
more than they deserved later down the line. After all,
even if the Warrens wished for publicity, and even if

(43:14):
they did use what was most palatable to their audience,
it doesn't suggest or endorse claims that they manipulated the
events of the cases they worked on. We've relied heavily
for the more intricate details of this case on the
book The World's Most Haunted House by William Hall, and
with good reason. It is arguably one of the most
comprehensive and indeed reflective publications of the strange incidents on

(43:38):
Linley Street. And it goes without saying that we recommend
you obtain a copy and read the events in Bridgeport
in full. I'll leave a link to the book in
the show notes. What he managed to do was collect
statements from almost all of those involved or who had
witnessed the incidents for themselves, and those statements indeed contribute
to a fuller picture. For example, elaborating that he seriously

(44:03):
doubted that the family could have caused all of the
incidents that took place in the house, Officer Tomic would
state that the case is a serious story that has
to come out. He would further contemplate how many people
lived their lives not realizing that these kinds of incidents
are happening to their neighbors just several feet away. Another
policeman who witnessed the events, Officer George Wilson, would also

(44:26):
state that there is no way a little girl could
have done all of that, and it was his belief
that she may have got carried away with the excitement
of the situation and activity and consequently did some things herself,
but many of the incidents were simply beyond her control.
Assistant Chief William Parks would echo this belief, stating that

(44:47):
there were so many people in the house at any
one time that it would be extremely difficult for a
small girl to move something without being noticed. We should
perhaps note that on the several occasions she did attempt
to fake an event the reclining chair and the television,
for example, she was caught each time. Fire Chief Jack Messina,

(45:09):
who witnessed much of the initial activity, would later state,
when it was announced that the whole thing had been
a hoax, that they can't convince me it was her.
It's physically impossible. The WNAB radio reporter Tim Quinn, one
of the few media people allowed in the property, claimed
that it was too damn convenient for the police to
dismiss the entire case as a hoax, elaborating that after

(45:33):
the initial genuine events had died down, Marcia was quote
just trying to keep herself in the limelight unquote. We
have to remind ourselves that what had previously been a
pedestrian home was now full of life and new people. Ultimately,
Quinn would conclude that he couldn't rationalize what I saw,
but it was all the same, very real. From the

(45:55):
police department's perspective, Quinn would continue that this apparent confession
from Marsha gave them an out to declare the case
a hoax and shut it down, and the prime reason
for this was so as to disperse the gathering crowd
that was not only a problem for the Good Ends,
but residents and motorists all over the city. Investigator Paul
Eno would state to Hall that from his personal perspective,

(46:18):
the case was not only traumatic, but also ironic. He
would explain that even his involvement in the paranormal was
at odds with him being a student for the priesthood,
at least in the eyes of the church. Incidentally, Eno
was ultimately thrown out of the seminary due to his
involvement in paranormal investigations. An interesting note here is that

(46:39):
many writers often make the error of assuming Eno was
thrown out of the priesthood. However, in ENO's words, he
was expelled from the seminary long before ordination. Eno would
also reveal that he was flattened by the case in
terms of the sheer amount of paranormal poltergeist like activity. Ever,

(47:00):
instead of finding an explanation to the incidents in such
things as demons or distressed spirits of the dead, Eno
believed that the Linley Street case and others similar to it,
might reach into the core of what reality is and
of our disconcerting place in it. Eno believes that our
very existence might reside within a multiverse, a reality where

(47:22):
all possibilities and levels of consciousness exist, and occasionally these
levels of consciousness and different realms or dimensions of existence
crash into each other and overlap. In fact, it is
to Paul Eno who we will turn our attention to next.
We might recall Eno was a young paranormal investigator at

(47:42):
the time working on the case with Adam Lorraine Warren,
and he was witnessed to some of the most intriguing
and intense activity that took place. For example, regarding the
incident with the burnmark appearing on Lorraine Warren's arm, and
that Marcia allegedly confesss that Lorraine caused this use the
hot water tap, Eno has no doubt that it was

(48:03):
genuine I saw it, he would state recently, adding that
he personally was not aware of any such confession from Marcia,
elaborating that such a notion would be typical of the
urban myths that have surrounded this case. Eno reminds us
that he was sitting at the kitchen table when Lorraine
suddenly yelped. What's more, he watched as a second degree

(48:23):
burn blister developed on her right hand. He would add
that he was barely two feet away at the time
and there was no heat source. Eno also states that
the whole incident was captured on audio tape which is
in the possession of William Hall, and he Eno can
clearly be heard saying there's a blister forming. Eno would

(48:44):
conclude that unless she Lorraine had developed some way to
physically burn herself, it was what it was. Also, Eno
states that many of the actions attributed to Marcia simply
could not have been accurate. That the very first time
he met her, she was in the cellar with a
huge police officer who was trying to get her to

(49:06):
admit that she was moving the objects around. This, of course,
suggests a pressure being discreetly put on her by at
least some of the police at the house. He further
states that he stood right next to Marcia on several
occasions when heavy objects moved in other rooms, adding that
many of these objects and pieces of furniture were so

(49:27):
heavy he couldn't have moved them himself. Of course, one
of ENO's main tasks was to observe Marcia, and he
would make some intriguing observations, indeed, not least as they
echo those of Boyce Baby. He would state recently that
Marcia struck him as a very deep child, highly intelligent,
but very lonely. Eno would recall that she seemed very

(49:50):
pleased with all the attention she was getting, although this,
according to the veteran paranormal researcher, is something that is
common in poltergeist cases for the alleged agent. Ultimately, although
he did once see her push a lamp, it was
clear that she just wanted to see if it would
do anything dramatic, adding that any child would do that.

(50:11):
He also noted, though, that a neighbor told him at
the time of the investigation that she did sneaky things
when her mother isn't looking. Marcia, however, and the events
that unfolded were, in ENO's opinion, very genuine without a doubt.
One of the most intriguing happenings at the house on
Lindley Street was when the kitchen chair Marcia was sitting
in began rising into the air as Eno rested his

(50:34):
hand on it. As he pushed back down, he could
feel whatever force was lifting it letting go. Even stranger,
he felt a strange presence at the time. He elaborated
that this was strange, and that usually when he felt
such presences it was almost always when objects weren't moving.
He would further contemplate whether he himself might have moved

(50:57):
the chair unconsciously, recalling the parent normal weight loss party
game where people managed to lift a person with only
their fingers. It is certainly an interesting notion. In a
recent interview, Eno stated that the Bridgeport poltergeist case is
likely the best witnessed poltergeist case of the twentieth century,
if not of modern times. He would further state that

(51:19):
what he witnessed on Linley Street smashed my belief system. Initially,
Eno believed, like the warrants, that they were likely dealing
with demons. However, the attack on November twenty fifth was
not only terrifyingly physical, but was carried out by entities
I can only describe as completely alien, he said. He
did state, though, of his confusion as to why Ed

(51:42):
Warren didn't bring a camera and a tape recorder when
they first went to investigate the case, further stating that
if anything, this hurts the credibility of the case. He
would continue that if I had to do it over again,
things would be different. There would be plenty of documentation,
and he would employ the theories and method ben ENO's
son and I used today. As mentioned earlier, a theory

(52:06):
ultimately arrived at by Paulino was that of the multiverse theory.
It was in part while working on the Bridgeport poltergeist
case that Eno began to question the then usual theories
of the paranormal. He would state recently that starting with exorcisms,
I assisted at nineteen seventy three to nineteen seventy five,
through this case and into the late nineteen seventies, when

(52:28):
I was running into time displacements, people seeing ghosts themselves
and ghosts of people who were still alive. I became
convinced that the classical ideas about demons and dead people
being behind the paranormal simply weren't good enough. As Eno
began to research quantum mechanics during the nineteen eighties and beyond,
he began to consider the notion of multiple universes, where

(52:51):
there was a concrete reality of all possible outcomes. When
he considered there might be different versions of ourselves, as
well as Einstein's ideas from special relativity through the simultaneity
of all time, everything began to fall into place. These
ideas that ENO's explored and now continues to explore with
the sun ben have peeved new roads into understanding our

(53:13):
own spirituality. Ultimately, Eno would state that with the multiverse
theory in mind, he doesn't accept the classic parapsychological explanation
that Marsha was an agent who created a thought form
or just projected energy. This, he would state, was simply
not good enough. What he does believe, however, is that
they were dealing with four textbook multiversal parasites who were

(53:37):
farming the good in family because of the negative energy
food they provided. This is an interesting take and one
that has been used to describe anything from hauntings to
apparent attacks from astral beings and even reptilian entities. Eno
would further state that you could feel these entities coming
and going, especially before and after the attack, all the

(53:59):
recognition and just gave them more energy. ENO's perspective is
perhaps right on the money. If we accept there is
a connection between many seemingly different aspects of the paranormal,
then this way of thinking resonates very nicely. If you'd
like to watch a video of Paulino speaking more in
depth about the Bridgeport haunting, I've posted a video about

(54:20):
it in the Weird Darkness blog when we'd Darkness returns.
A few final thoughts to consider about the Bridgeport haunting.
Is it one of the most credible cases of paranormal
activity on record or was it nothing but a hoax?
Up next, if we accept that the multi theory or

(55:00):
something similar to it is potentially accurate, then what might
that mean for the Bridgeport poltergeist case and other similar cases.
Might the negative energy highlighted by Batty and Eno have
contributed significantly to the incidents. Might this build up of energy,
perhaps a combination of Marcia and Laura goodin being in

(55:21):
the same close quarters of their home, have allowed entities
from another realm or dimension to enter into hours. If so,
what does this tell us of the power of such energy,
both negative and positive, and if we could learn to
control it. Beatty also noted that there were some apparent
effects of the happenings on the family. For example, Jerry

(55:42):
appeared to develop a keen sense of premonition as to
when things were going to happen. He would often note
that the atmosphere had changed or became heavy. Was this
merely a result of him adapting to his environment, or
might the build up of energy that potentially opened whatever
doorway the presence came from have also affected the mind

(56:03):
of Jerry, perhaps opening it up to whatever resonation it
required to pick up on such upcoming events. It might
also be interesting to contemplate why the paranormal activity suddenly
began to stop. Might this have been a result of
the energies of Marcia and Laura changing to a more
positive and serene outlook and consequently depriving what these strange

(56:25):
forces required to exist. It is perhaps worth noting that
some paranormal investigators have noted that hauntings and strange incidents
often occur while the witness is under a certain amount
of stress, and also cease once this stress is gone.
That is not to say that the incidents are imagined,
but that the potential power and energy of human emotion

(56:48):
is perhaps underestimated and little understood. And what might the
case mean for other aspects of the paranormal? Might it
suggest that a connection between energy and apparition exists in
whatever form. These apparitions reveal themselves just what might be
taking place all around us that we are simply not

(57:09):
aware of. That the Bridgeport poltergeist incident was nothing but
a hoax is clearly wide of the mark, and while
at least some of the activity was undoubtedly fabricated or
even manufactured by Marcia, the vast majority, witnessed by multiple
people on multiple occasions, could simply not have been orchestrated.

(57:30):
And while it may be unfortunate that such behavior could
potentially damage the credibility of the case, we should remember
that these were the actions of a ten year old girl,
a child with a somewhat traumatic past and in the
middle of traumatic, if exciting events. In short, when the
legitimate events began to quiet, it's perhaps understandable that a

(57:51):
young child would want to encourage them again so as
to maintain the uniqueness of the event, rather than returning
to normality. Furthermore, for the several incidents that possibly could
be attributed to Marcia, there were many more strange events
that were witnessed by multiple people that simply could not
have been a result of her manipulation or orchestration. Essentially,

(58:14):
as expressed by the Warrens, Paul Eno, and even Officer Tomic,
it appeared simply impossible that even a team of people,
much less a single person of such a young age,
could have orchestrated the strange happenings for a prolonged period
of time, That something strange and monstrous had taken place
at the small home on Lindley Street, and quite possibly

(58:36):
in others on the same road, appears to be without
a doubt. When we further take into account the wealth
of witness statements collected by William Hall, as well as
their recent views from Paul Eno, it appears overwhelmingly the
case that the goings on at the House of Lindley
Street was for the most part, genuine examples of real
paranormal activity. The real question should perhaps be one what

(59:00):
that paranormal activity represents and what an eventual understanding of
them might mean for our collective reality. Perhaps the best
words to leave with are those of Jerry Sullivan, who
was part of the investigative team of the second batch
of incidents. He would state that it was definitely a poltergeist,
but what is that? He would then go on to

(59:22):
ask whether we as a collective have lost our sense
of wonder and consequently attach misshapen explanations to things we
don't understand. He would conclude, it's nothing but phenomena unexplained phenomena.

(59:48):
Thanks for listening. If you like the show, please share
it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or
strange stories, true crime, monsters, or unsolved mysteries like you do.
All stories and Weird Darkness are purported to be true
unless stated otherwise, and you can find source links or
links to the authors in the show notes. The Linley
Street Poltergeist was written by Marcus Louth for UFO Insight.

(01:00:12):
Weird Darkness is a production of Marler House productions, and
now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave
you with a little light. One Peter three, Verses three
and four edited. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment. Instead,
it should be that of your inner self, the unfading
beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of

(01:00:33):
great worth in God's sight. And a final thought, work harder,
especially when nobody is watching. I'm Darren Marler. Thanks for
joining me in the weird darkness.