Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Christianity,Haitian Vodou, Hinduism, Islam, Wicca, and Southeast Asian and African traditions. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects on the host.

In a 1969 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, spirit possession beliefs were found to exist in 74% of a sample of 488 societies in all parts of the world, with the highest numbers of believing societies in Pacific cultures and the lowest incidence among Native Americans of both North and South America.As Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian churches move into both African and Oceanic areas, a merger of belief can take place, with "demons" becoming representative of the "old" indigenous religions, which the Christian ministers work to exorcise.

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Herbert Richard Baumeister (April 7, 1947 – July 3, 1996) was an American businessman and a suspected serial killer. A resident of the Indianapolis suburb of Westfield, Indiana, Baumeister was under investigation for murdering over a dozen men in the early 1990s, most of whom were last seen at gay bars. Police found the remains of eleven people, eight identified, on Baumeister's property.[1][2] Baumeister committed suicide after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was later linked to a series of murders of at least nine men along Interstate 70, which occurred in the early to mid-1980s

The Eddy Brothers were William and Horatio Eddy, two American mediums best known in the 1870s for their alleged psychic powers.

The brothers were sons of Zephaniah Eddy and his wife Julia Maccombs, natives of Vermont. It was alleged that their family could be traced back to the Salem witch trials, and that they had a long history of psychic ability. Growing up on a small farm in Chittenden, Vermont, both brothers claimed to have exhibited strong psychic abilities from an early age. Both the sons took up mediumship and held séances, in which it was alleged that they produced ectoplasm materializations and communicated with spirit guides. William would work in a séance cabinet on occasion and his brother Horatio would sit outside a cloth screen where it was alleged that spirits would play musical instruments behind the screen.

The issues began in 1968 when Gerard and Laura Goodin were living in the house and adopted their daughter Marcia. It was during this time period that the Goodin family insisted they could hear pounding noises from inside the walls, doors would slam shut on their own, and items would shift places.

By 1974 the events had transpired enough that the media started to get involved. The house was drawing in attention not only from the aforementioned Ed and Lorraine Warren, but also the American Society for Psychical Research and the Psychical Research Foundation. The Goodin family were interviewed by police who were patrolling the area 24 hours a day. It was enough that public civilians began crowding the house and one person even attempted burning it down to the ground.

Apparently this is even when the entity which reportedly haunted the house showed itself. As described by author Bill Hall, who wrote The World’s Most Haunted House which includes details about the story via eyewitness reports:

Aside from this, reports continue to get even crazier, with claims that even the family cat Sam would begin speaking and saying strange phrases like “Jingle Bells” or perhaps even more creepily, “Bye Bye.”

As taken from the website Damned Connecticut, there was a story regarding the house. In the comments section one man named Nelson P. said he worked at the City Hall in 1974 when these events took place. He was reportedly able to see records of the incident at the Bridgeport Police Department. As he stated:

It must be said, however, that most of these events seem to be the result of a clever hoax. Apparently one of the patrolling police officers at one point noticed the Goodins’ adopted daughter, Marcia, attempting to tip over a television set with her foot. When she was caught in the act, she was questioned, and admitted to being the cause for all the “paranormal” events within the house.

Nevertheless, the witness reports from the likes of law enforcement officers and other trusted individuals make for an interesting counter argument. Many claimed to have seen things when Marcia wasn’t even in the house.

The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The twelve accused lived in the area surrounding Pendle Hill in Lancashire, and were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft. All but two were tried at Lancaster Assizes on 18–19 August 1612, along with the Samlesbury witches and others, in a series of trials that have become known as the Lancashire witch trials. One was tried at York Assizes on 27 July 1612, and another died in prison. Of the eleven who went to trial – nine women and two men – ten were found guilty and executed by hanging; one was found not guilty.

The official publication of the proceedings by the clerk to the court, Thomas Potts, in his The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, and the number of witches hanged together – nine at Lancaster and one at York – make the trials unusual for England at that time. It has been estimated that all the English witch trials between the early 15th and early 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500 executions; this series of trials accounts for more than two per cent of that total.

Six of the Pendle witches came from one of two families, each at the time headed by a woman in her eighties: Elizabeth Southerns (a.k.a. Demdike[a]), her daughter Elizabeth Device, and her grandchildren James and Alizon Device; Anne Whittle (a.k.a. Chattox), and her daughter Anne Redferne. The others accused were Jane Bulcock and her son John Bulcock, Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewitt, Alice Grey, and Jennet Preston. The outbreaks of 'witchcraft' in and around Pendle may suggest that some people made a living by traditional healers, using a mixture of herbal medicine and talismans or charms, which might leave them open to charges of sorcery.[2] Many of the allegations resulted from accusations that members of the Demdike and Chattox families made against each other, perhaps because they were in competition, both trying to make a living from healing, begging, and extortion.

The Great Amherst Mystery was a notorious case of reported poltergeist activity in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada between 1878 and 1879. It was the subject of an investigation by Walter Hubbell, an actor with an interest in psychic phenomena, who kept what he claimed was a diary of events in the house, later expanded into a popular book.

The Amherst Mystery centred on Esther Cox, who lived in a house with her married sister Olive Teed, Olive's husband Daniel and their two young children. A brother and sister of Esther and Olive also lived in the house, as did Daniel's brother John Teed.

According to Hubbell's account, events began at the end of August 1878, after Esther Cox, then aged 18, was subjected to an attempted sexual assault by a male friend. This left her in great distress, and shortly after this the physical phenomena began. There were knockings, bangings and rustlings in the night, and Esther herself began to suffer seizures in which her body visibly swelled and she was feverish and chilled by turns. Then objects in the house took flight.

The frightened family called in a doctor. During his visit, bedclothes moved, scratching noises were heard and the words "Esther Cox, you are mine to kill" appeared on the wall by the head of Esther's bed. The following day the doctor administered sedatives to Esther to calm her and help her sleep, whereupon more noises and flying objects manifested themselves. Attempts to communicate with the "spirit" resulted in tapped responses to questions.

The phenomena continued for some months, and became well known locally. Visitors to the cottage, including clergymen, heard banging and knocking and witnessed moving objects, often when Esther herself was under close observation. In December Esther fell ill with diphtheria. No phenomena were observed during the two weeks she spent in bed, nor during the time she spent recuperating afterwards at the home of a married sister in Sackville, New Brunswick. However, when she returned to Amherst the mysterious events began again, this time involving the outbreak of fires in various places in the house. Esther herself now claimed to see the "ghost", which threatened to burn the house down unless she left.

The Demon House On Brownsville Road

The house at 3406 Brownsville Road was built in 1909-10 and had three previous owners prior to the Cranmers. In December 1988 Bob and Lesa Cranmer bought the house upon being transferred to Pittsburgh by his employer. Bob states that the house was his “dream” to own, and that it mysteriously went up for sale the same week that they began looking for a house to buy. As a young child he would often stand and stare at the house hoping that someday he could see the inside. The three-story house was built in the Craftsman style and would later be designated as a historical landmark (by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks) because of its unique design. Bob and Lesa married in 1980 while Bob was an officer in the U.S. Army. He left the service in 1986 and went to work for AT&T in Whippany, New Jersey. Their objective was to eventually relocate to Pittsburgh, where Bob had grown up. This was unexpectedly realized quicker than they had expected as they had just built a new house in 1987. They had four children: Jessica (4), Bobby (3), David (2), and Charles (2 months) when they moved to Pittsburgh.[4]

Bob Cranmer states that the sellers seemed very anxious to move out and surprisingly accepted his first (low-ball) offer without any negotiations. During a walk-through of the house young Bobby Jr. wandered off by himself as the group went to the basement. He would soon be found on the front staircase crying and hyperventilating as if “he’d seen a ghost”. Lesa later expressed to Bob her misgivings about the house, that it was much too large, and furthermore “gave her the creeps.” Bob discounted this and was determined to make this house a home for his young family. He did however ask the seller if there “was anything wrong with the house.” Understanding exactly what he was referring to the seller assured him that the house was fine and that Catholic Mass was conducted several times in the living room of the house. Bob thought this was an odd response but took it with the reassurance that had been implied. Later the next Spring Bob discovered a small metal box buried in the front yard containing Catholic religious items. He called the previous owner who had assured him that “the house was fine” only then to hear him say “just put it back where you found it.”

Within weeks of moving in Bob and Lesa began to experience paranormal activity in the house. The first phenomenon they experienced was a pull-chain on a light in a coat closet that continuously wrapped itself around the light and would never remain in the hanging position. Soon other nuisance activities would begin and continued for years, the family choosing to ignore them, accepting that they shared their home with a “spirit”. Bob would go on to hold political office in the 1990s, first as a councilman and then county commissioner, gaining significant notoriety and celebrity in the western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) area.

Over the years the Cranmer family became increasingly dysfunctional and eventually Lesa and two of the children would experience serious mental issues which would require hospitalization. Bob had no idea that the spirit in the house had anything to do with the relational and psychological issues within his family and he attempted to manage his way through it. However, one night in 2003 his oldest son attacked him and Bob would be arrested. The next morning his elderly aunt who was living with the family was also found dead in her bed from natural causes.