America’s First Haunted House

🕯️ This Halloween, the haunting begins where it all began...

Before Amityville, before The Conjuring, there was The Bell Witch of Tennessee — America’s first documented haunted house.

Step back into the 1800s with me as we uncover the chilling true story that terrified a nation and inspired centuries of ghost tales.

Was it a curse, a con… or something far darker that refused to die? Join me, Tony Sweet, on a solo journey into the roots of American paranormal history — where whispers in the dark first became a national obsession. 🎧 Truth Be Told: America’s First Haunted House

👻 Streaming now at www.clubparanormal.com and wherever you get your podcasts. Keep your mind open… but not too open. 🕯️

#TruthBeToldPodcast #ClubParanormal #BellWitch #HauntedAmerica #HauntedHistory #ParanormalPodcast #GhostStories #HauntedHouse #HalloweenPodcast #SpookySeason #RealHauntings #Supernatural #AmericanFolklore #ParanormalInvestigation #GhostsOfTennessee #TonySweet #TrueGhostStory #SpiritWorld #ParanormalActivity #HauntedLegends

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There's something about an old house that stirs the imagination,
the way the wood groans as if it remembers something
or someone, And if you'd listen closely, sometimes you might
swear the walls themselves are whispering. Welcome to truth be told.
I'm your host, Tony sweet, and tonight we're going to
be stepping back into America's most famous early haunting, a

(00:23):
story so chilling it helped define what we now know
and what we call a haunted house. This is the
Bell Witch of Tennessee, or, as some call it in
the eighteen hundreds, America's first haunted house. In eighteen seventeen,
a small frontier town called Adams, Tennessee, the Bell family,

(00:44):
John Bell, and his wife Lucy, and their nine children
had settled near the Red River, living a quiet, farming life,
but that peace was about to break. One evening, John
noticed something strange in his cornfield, a creature unlike anything
he's ever seen, half dog, half rabbit, and it darted

(01:05):
off when he raised his rifle. Soon after, the family
began hearing knocks, three at a time on the walls
outside the cabin. When they opened the door, there was nothing,
no footprints, no person only silence. At first, John thought
it was a prank, but the sounds grew louder followed

(01:25):
them inside, and then came the voices. The Bell children
would lie awake hearing the sounds of lipsmacking and fabric wrestling,
as if individual hands were tugging at their blankets. Then
a whisper, at first too soft to understand, then clearly
the voice called itself. Kate. I am a spirit, it said,

(01:48):
I was once happy, but I have been disturbed. Kate's
voice could mimic anyone, neighbors, preachers, even strangers passing through,
and before long, words spread and people came from miles
away just to witness. Some said they heard Kate sing hymns,
others claim she quoted scripture perfectly, and many swore they

(02:09):
saw objects move by themselves, chairs sliding, food disappearing, doors
slamming shut on their own. Even General Andrew Jackson, yes,
the future president, visited the Bell farm after hearing of
the haunting. Jackson's wagon stopped suddenly at the edge of
the property. The horses refused to move, and from nowhere

(02:30):
a woman's voice rang out, General Jackson, you may proceed,
but your stay will be paid for dearly. Jackson was
said to have spent one terrifying night before leaving, declaring,
I'd rather fight the entire British Army than spend another
night with the Bell Witch. The spirit's main target was
John Bell himself. His health began to decline. First, it

(02:54):
was trimmer's even paralysis, and the more his body weakened,
the louder Kate's full specame. She mocked him, she cursed him,
She even predicted the day he would die. On December twentieth,
eighteen twenty, John Bell was found lifeless in his bed.
Near his bedside was a small vial of black liquid,

(03:14):
and Kate's voice rang out through the house, laughing, I
gave old Jack a big dose of that last night,
fixed him good. When a drop was offered to the
family cat, it died instantly. John's death certificate, one of
the first in the US to list spiritual causes, sealed
his place in legend. The Bell Witch claimed victory, and

(03:36):
then she vanished. Now here's where he gets fascinating. No
written accounts of the haunting appeared until over seventy years later,
when a local writer named Martin Ingram published an authenticated
history of the Bell Witch. Ingram claimed to have spoken
to descendants of Bell compiling their stories, but the historians

(03:57):
have questioned whether the hauntings were exaggerated or perhaps invented
just to sell books. Still, the Belwitch legend endured. It
was told around campfires, whispered in schools, and even made
its way into the pop culture, inspiring films like an
American Haunting and influencing the Blair Witch Project. But what

(04:18):
makes this story truly endure isn't just the terror. It's
that it feels uniquely American, a haunting set not in
a crumbling European castle, but a humble, wooden farmhouse, a
symbol of innocence invaded by the unknown. It was the
first time that the supernatural came to Main Street, USA.
Even today, people say the Bellwitch is still there. The

(04:41):
Belwitch Cave, near the original property has become a major
paranormal hotspot. Visitors report hearing disembodied voices, feeling sudden cold spots,
or seeing orbs of light dancing in the dark. EVP
recordings captured their reveal whispers, one clearly says I'm here
and yes. Some paranormal investigators claim they've even spoken to

(05:04):
Kate herself, still mocking, still restless. Locals refuse to speak
her name after dark, and more than one person has
said it, if you go into the cave and taunt her,
she'll follow you home. Won't be doing that. So what
really happened? Was it an elaborate family hoax, a case
of mass hysteria fueled by religious fear in isolation, or

(05:26):
something older, a spirit drawn to the energy of conflict
and death on that land. Every version of the Bell
Witch story reflects on evolving fears. In the eighteen hundreds,
it was the devil in the witchcraft. In the nineteen hundreds,
it's become spiritualism in seance culture and today paranormal investigations

(05:46):
and psychological energy. The haunting is trauma, not just fear.
Maybe that's why the Bell Witch endures, because she's not
just a ghost. She's a mirror showing us what we
fear most about our homes, our families, and the darkness
inside of us. The Bell family never rebuilt their home,
the land they say, never truly settled in the story

(06:07):
of Kate the Bell Witch became the foundations of every
haunted house tale that ever followed. Think about it, whispers
in the dark, objects moving on their own, the unseen
presence that knows your name. That's the blueprint for every
haunting we've ever known. And it all starts right there
by the Red River. So tonight, as the October winds

(06:29):
move through your home. If you hear a knock three times,
don't be too quick to answer, because some stories never end. Well,
I'm Tony sweet, this has been truth be told, America's
first Haunted House. Happy Halloween, and remember keep your minds open,
but not too open. You never know what might come knocking.

(07:02):
Fish