The Haunted House Diaries: The True Story of a Quiet Connecticut Town in the Center of a Paranormal Mystery

By William J. Hall

A paranormal investigator explores a haunted Connecticut farmhouse—with the diaries of a resident detailing decades of unexplained phenomena.

Nestled deep in Litchfield Hills, Connecticut, a 1790 farmhouse overlooks the epicenter of a paranormal crossroads. The family that resides there regularly encounters its own ancestors, as well as strangers - human and nonhuman - who seemingly occupy the same physical space in parallel worlds. When ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated, they dubbed it "Ghost Central".

When William J. Hall visited the house, family member Donna Fillie showed him her journal of the paranormal activity she’s experienced there over the years. Here is Donna’s diary spanning five decades of uncanny occurrences, supplemented with background information provided by Hall. It tells of notes from old friends who insist they didn't deliver them; a grandson playing with an invisible - but very real - friend; and Donna awakening to phenomena at precisely 12:42 a.m. - an eerie correspondence to her house number, 1242.

This compelling work includes many other kinds of inexplicable incidents that frequently occur in this otherwise normal area of Connecticut, which some believe is also the site of a secret military base.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781632659927

Book preview

Praise for The Haunted House Diaries

"Best-selling author William J. Hall thrills and chills us again with a tale of a house that is incredibly haunted with his latest book, The Haunted House Diaries. It is a must read for those captivated by haunted spaces and places. Bring your flashlight and your courage…you’ll need them both!"

—Jim Harold, president, Jim Harold Media LLC; host, Paranormal Podcast, Jim Harold’s Campfire, The Paranormal Report, and TV You Grew Up With; author, Jim Harold’s Campfire: True Ghost Stories series

This book is a refreshing advancement in the field of paranormal study! The diary is fascinating with its diverse incidents…. The approach the author has taken to this broad case dispels many old school myths and finally provides some real insight into the paranormal.

—Steve Hudgeons, host of The Texas UFO Radio Show

"The Haunted House Diaries is, bar none, one of the most terrifying stories I have come across. A simple word of caution before venturing forth and settling in to read this book: double check that the doors and windows are locked firmly, you have your phone close at hand, AND have a flashlight nearby…just in case your lights suddenly snap off for NO reason. Expect no mercy from the contents of this book!"

—Brent Holland, host of Night Fright Show, the number-one show of its genre

William J. Hall has focused his unique investigative skills on a 50-year experience documented by an actual witness. This powerful first-person story is a riveting read supported by an array of photographs for the reader to review and judge on their own. The stories captured in this exciting book display an array of paranormal activity that intrigue the reader to continue—this is not your typical ghost story or investigation. This is a wide range of paranormal stories that span five generations and continue today! I could not put this down and had to read on to see what was next!

—Al Warren, host/producer of The House of Mystery radio show and host of WarrenXchange Paranormal Radio Show on the Z Talk Radio Network Seattle, and host/producer of Dark Shadows Radio on BlogTalk Radio Canada

Author Bill Hall takes you to a small Connecticut town for an intimate look into the world of the paranormal through the mind of one person’s personal journal entries. There are years as well as pages of notes, skilled documented investigations, and numerous eye witness accounts. One thing is for sure…after reading the book, you’ll never get me within a mile of this house and you can take that to the Vegas bookies!

—Tina Marie Caouette, host of Restricted Airspace, Las Vegas

This is a fascinating book about a paranormal flap that produces all kinds of unexplained activity. This book is a must have for any serious paranormal researcher and a fascinating read for anyone interested in this subject. William J. Hall gets two thumbs up as Siskel and Ebert used to say!

—Royce the Redneck Radioman Holleman, Talknow Radio http://talknowradio.blogspot.com/

THE HAUNTED HOUSE DIARIES

The True Story of a Quiet Connecticut Town in the Center of a Paranormal Mystery

WILLIAM J. HALL

Copyright © 2015 by William J. Hall

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

THE HAUNTED HOUSE DIARIES

EDITED AND TYPESET BY GINA SCHENCK

Cover design by Dutton and Sherman design

Printed in the U.S.A.

To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press.

The Career Press, Inc.

12 Parish Drive

Wayne, NJ 07470

www.careerpress.com

www.newpagebooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP Data Available Upon Request.

To Paul and Ben Eno

I am sure we are the best of friends throughout the multiverse.

To the Fillie Family

A heartfelt thank you for sharing your journey. You have made a valuable contribution to our ongoing quest to understand the paranormal.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks to Rita Rosencrantz (my literary agent), Michael Pye (senior acquisitions editor), Gina Schenck (editorial director), Kirsten Dalley (senior developmental editor), Jeff Piasky (cover design), and the rest of the delightful folks at New Page Books. I am humbled by the opportunity to do it all again.

Donna, Bob, Michelle, and Diane: Thank you for your help, enthusiasm, and bravery to share your story, which has spanned so many years.

Paul and Ben Eno for your time, expertise, generosity, dedication to serious paranormal investigation, and, most of all, friendship.

Shane Sirois for your refreshing insight and experience with the paranormal. Your contributions enriched this book and me, and helped make more sense of all of this. I am proud to call you my dear friend.

Marc Dantonio for all of your assistance and expertise with photo analysis, for telling your part of the story, and for being a generous friend.

Ray Swec for the photography, investigation assistance, and of course for the many years of laughter-filled friendship.

Greg Harold for your help in identifying similar entities to Ashwar and sharing your fascinating theories on those entities.

Julie Turner and Nancy Cardone of Jewel Photography for coming to my aid once again for photo prep. Your generosity and support are very much appreciated.

And to you reading this. Without you, I am just alone talking to myself on paper.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

Time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live.

—Albert Einstein

CONTENTS

Disclaimer

Note to the Reader

Foreword by Donna Fillie

Introduction: Paranormal Crossroads

Part I: The Haunted House Diaries

Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Diary

Chapter 2: Diary Entries From the 1960s

Chapter 3: Diary Entries From the 1970s

Chapter 4: Diary Entries From the 1980s

Chapter 5: Diary Entries From the 1990s

Chapter 6: It Follows Michelle

Chapter 7: Ashwar: The Invisible (but Not Imaginary) Friend

Chapter 8: Diary Entries From the 2000s

Part II: Phenomena in the Flap

Chapter 9: Missing Time on Burr Pond

Chapter 10: The Most Famous Cryptid and a Secret Government Base

Chapter 11: When Are They From?

Chapter 12: Other Haunted Houses

Part III: Investigation, Theory, and Discussion

Chapter 13: Paranormal Assumptions

Chapter 14: What Magic Has Taught Me About Interpreting the Paranormal

Chapter 15: Analysis of the Phenomena

Chapter 16: The Investigation

Chapter 17: I Don’t Know What Universe You’re Living In

Epilogue

Appendix I: Initial Family Interview

Appendix II: Historical House Records

Appendix III: Bonus Features

Appendix IV: Litchfield Hills Phenomena Reporting Procedure

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

DISCLAIMER

The farmhouse in this book is real. It is a private residence and is not open to the public.

Under no circumstances are the residents to be contacted directly by anyone for any reason related to the house or their story. All direct contact will be refused and ignored.

Any inquiries by anyone for any purpose should be directed to William J. Hall, who owns exclusive rights to the story and acts as a liaison for the family.

NOTE TO THE READER

What you are about to read is a true story. It is based on an investigation that began in 2005 and continues to this day. It features an expanded and detailed diary of events from notes written over a period of five decades while growing up in the home.

All of the photos and video evidence contained in this book and on the bonus Website have been examined by a photo and video professional. However, the theories or conclusions presented from evidence remains the sole opinion of the author unless stated otherwise.

As a result, all reflections, smudges on camera lenses, and other optical effects that are not evidence of the paranormal have been eliminated from consideration in this work. Note that no photo evidence is foolproof. The best that we can present is evidence that appears to have merit and is considered in our minds to be unexplainable and more likely evidence of paranormal phenomena. This is even more valuable when it is a component of the overall activity going on.

My experience is that about 98 percent of all paranormal photos are actually misinterpretations of normal camera phenomena unknown to the casual photographer. This is true even when photographing in areas where there is known phenomena, such as the farmhouse and areas featured in this book.

Figure N-1. A selection of diary entries written on various paper over a period of decades.

FOREWORD

When I was 16, I began recording accounts of unexplainable experiences in my journal. I have finally transferred it on to a disc and onto a computer. Originally, I had decided to write down everything as it took place and ended up with about 250 pages of experiences. I remember that I began writing things down on the backs of envelopes, in the margins of my kids school papers, and on whatever I had close by whenever something happened. That system lent itself to built-in disorganization, although it did preserve many fascinating observations and occurrences. Fortunately, most of the scraps had been dated. In the end, I had a sizeable box of history that made absolutely no sequential sense. It took me nearly six months of intensive sorting and filing to arrange them in order. When I got my first laptop, I spent many long nights moving the information on to it, piece by piece.

For years I have thought it held the promise of being an interesting first-person account of the phenomena that my family and I have witnessed here. It was meant for future generations that might live in this house. I am proud to see it being expanded upon from the recollections of the family, and written and released so it can be shared on a broader level. Perhaps we can band together and discover additional insights into this mystery that is not only part of my life, but part of all of our lives and very existence.

My family and I would like to thank Bill Hall for bringing my story to the public, and for doing so in an objective manner. We appreciate his keen ability to meticulously research a story and present it to his readers in an open and honest way. I would also like to thank Paul and Ben Eno and Shane Sirois, who have helped so much by being attentive and supportive, and opening our eyes to possibilities we never dreamed of!

—Donna Fillie

INTRODUCTION

PARANORMAL CROSSROADS

Mysteries once thought to be supernatural or paranormal happenings—such as astronomical or meteorological events—are incorporated into science once their causes are understood.

—MICHAEL SHERMER

The investigation of the house on Lindley Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut (the subject of my book The World’s Most Haunted House), profoundly changed me. There was no preparation, however, for what lay in my immediate future. The singular, malevolent essence I had encountered in studying the case on Lindley Street would be replaced by a vast variety of fascinating, if often irritating, entities whose existence seemed to intrude not only on one another, but more specifically on the lives in an extended family, which for generations had occupied the farmhouse that sat there at the vortex of a paranormal flap.

There are some areas that are just ripe for paranormal activity. It doesn’t mean everyone in that area will experience phenomena. Far from it. Some will go their entire lives without an incident. Others, however, will experience a small piece of phenomena at these virtual paranormal crossroads. They will see a UFO or hear the cry of an unknown animal and then see a new species with their own eyes. Or perhaps a few odd things are happening in their house and have been for years. And some, the few, lie at or near the epicenter of all such activity and experience a mix of all things paranormal.

Litchfield Hills and its surrounding towns contain just such a crossroads. And located in Torrington and Goshen, Connecticut, lies one of the most fascinating and unusual paranormal flaps ever discovered.

Like most wanna-be paranormal investigators, I, too, found myself in the somewhat awkward position of wanting to be a part of it—to witness the unearthly, unexplainable things for myself. My friend and mentor, Paul Eno, explained to me how one has to be psychologically ready for this sort of journey, and it is most definitely not for the unprepared, run-of-the-mill curiosity seeker. One has to adroitly tread the fine lines between that of investigator and intruder, friend and professionally detached skeptic. However, one has to start somewhere and, as is so often the case, it begins with a boundless portion of curiosity. On that count, I certainly fit the bill. I trusted Paul’s advice and proceeded with care and caution.

It was during one of our regular luncheon meetings—paranormal investigators Paul and Ben Eno and I—that we began discussing one of the most interesting and varied cases they had ever investigated. This investigation had been ongoing since 2005!

Paul said, This is more in your neck of the woods, Bill. Right down your alley. Would you like me to introduce you to the family? I’m sure we can arrange for all of us to meet there at the house.

Boy, would I, I thought. It seemed almost too good to be true. Once again, I was filled with the wide-eyed anticipation and heart-pounding joy of a little boy hurrying down that long winding stairway on Christmas morning.

Not long after, it was arranged for Paul, Ben, Marc Dantonio (an astrophysicist), and me to meet at the 1700s farmhouse that sits at the center of the paranormal crossroads in Litchfield Hills, Connecticut. The family was cordial and open, and the relationship built easily and comfortably.

After our initial meeting, as we walked around the knoll and down the hill, Paul turned to me and said, Perhaps this is book two for you. It certainly is worthy of it.

That paranormal flap is the subject of this work. And one home in particular, located at the epicenter of this activity, is the subject of the haunted diaries contained within and will be our focus for identifying the broad scope of phenomena that transverses this rural area.

Paul was right. And this is it.

—Bill Hall

Plainville, Connecticut

November 2014

Figure I-1. Aerial still taken from the drone filming of the land for the investigation. Photo still used by permission of Marc Dantonio.

PART I

THE HAUNTED HOUSE DIARIES

CHAPTER 1

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DIARY

Every time we go to the house, there is something new.

—BEN ENO

It was a sunny, November afternoon just after Halloween. I was sitting across the kitchen table from Donna Randall Fillie, the keeper of the diary that is central to this investigation. Her stories—well, really the fascinating snippets from her life—simply enthralled me. They report and document the seemingly unworldly, or perhaps multi-worldly, events that she has witnessed in her life while occupying the historic farmhouse. She thoughtfully reflected on the diary entries as we dug into her experiences with one from the summer of 1972:

I lie awake in the sweltering heat, so not typical for the Connecticut countryside where our old farmhouse stands. How can he sleep [her husband] in this ungodly heat, I think to myself, resentful of his quiet, even breathing.

Up under the eaves in the back bedroom we freeze throughout the long winters, then suffer in pools of sweat through the short, but unpredictable weather of the summers.

Restless, I swing my bare legs over the side of the large antique bed, remembering for a moment that it once belonged to my grandparents. They had a long and happy marriage, raised a family, and lived most of their years in that same house. This bed was a gift to my grandmother at the time they bought their first farm. Those mental ramblings distract me for only a moment and my mind returns to feeling the relentless heat. I slide down onto the floor and make my way around the foot of the bed, ducking, without thinking, under the beam, which supports the slanted ceiling. Maybe the bed in the spare room will offer some comfort or at least dry sheets and more ventilation. In the black quiet I lay down, hiking my flimsy nightgown up to my hips.

Suddenly my eyes flip open. My breathing becomes deliberately short and quiet. There is a hand on the back of my left thigh, seductively rubbing up and down. It is not a physical hand, no feeling of flesh against flesh or the distinguishable massaging of individual fingers, but, nonetheless, a hand-shaped area of pressure. It begins to move, slowly rubbing up and down, back and forth. My skin begins to crawl. Kicking my legs wildly in the frightening discomfort of the moment, I bolt back into my bedroom, waking my sleeping husband. Hysterical as I am, I try to explain what has just occurred.

The events—the encounters—that Donna and Bob have experienced are something more than the typical ghost stories encountered around campfires or, for that matter, even those offered in professional reports or exposés. They do not conform to the more typical single entity encounter. In their lives, a wide variety of paranormal themes have being playing out, repeatedly, across many decades and during generations before them. Five generations of the family have lived in the house currently owned by Donna and Bob.

And why is it you continue to stay here? I asked.

Donna shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly don’t know! Understand that I am not afraid; this is my home. It’s all I know. Throughout everything we’ve seen and heard here in our house, our ties remain strong and unwavering."

The extraordinary old New England farmhouse was built in 1793 and has been home to six generations of the Randall family; Donna and her family have been there for more than 60 of those years. It is extraordinary in size and stark simplicity, in service and security. It is extraordinary in that it was constructed at the point of a paranormal flap where time and dimensions, life forms and realms, flow together seam-lessly; where visitation between and among them occurs more by chance than by plan, more as unexpected bumps in the night than the meeting of well-defined visions.

Figure 1-1. The farmhouse in 1935. The paranormal was a regular occurrence even then. Photo used by permission of Donna Fillie.

Figure 1-2. Donna on the family land in 1964. Photo used by permission of Donna Fillie.

Figure 1-3. The old barn, which sits on land that still has active paranormal activity. Photo used by permission of Donna Fillie.

It is less a haunted house than a path side inn where entities from across time and space and multiple dimensions converge and lodge on their ways toward their individually unique destinations. Donna’s family had the nearly exclusive opportunity to engage these essences, witness their endless forms, and become familiar with their obsessions and patterns, their persistence, and, often, their capricious nature.

Within these pages I will share with you their experiences down through the generations, what we believe we have learned, and their own reactions to them, which range from delight to irritation to exasperation, but rarely fear. Some they recognize; most they do not. But each of them has presented a wonder-filled possibility for the family to gain a glimpse into the elusive and confounding realm of paranormal phenomena.

This house is Donna’s home, and like most homes, it has typically been a comfortable, safe, and serene oasis away from the trials and tribulations of the world outside. Unlike most homes, they have always had co-inhabitants who, it appears, also claim the house as their home. Donna grew up learning to be pleased and proud to share.

Donna is not inclined to argue or debate the point. She knows what she has experienced and is content that knowledge

Reviews for The Haunted House Diaries

[irregularreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

An enjoyable read, by an enthusiastic writer. Recommended for any lover of the supernatural.