WARM MIC FLAG IN SPOOKY BOOK

[mevansrock]

Hey all...

Since Halloween will be here before you know it, I thought this would be appropriate.

I was at the Circle Drive-In Flea Fair this past weekend, and I saw a copy of THE HAUNTED in paperback. You know the story -- the Smurls. I had to laugh at first, because a handful of "personal" memories came flooding back. My Uncle Frank piling us in the car and taking us to Grablik's for ice cream, and then taking us to see "the house" down on Chase Street when all this stuff was happening. Seeing the Smurls on the Phil Donahue show. And of course, back then it seemed everybody knew somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody who knew the Smurls or witnessed something. I remember my friend Tom telling us he knew someone who was at the same campground as the Smurls when the "demon" followed them out of their house and to the campground. Yeah...whatever. Well, after I had a chuckle, I plunked down my dollar and bought the book.

I started reading the book this week and frankly it's not really a great read -- kind of "matter of fact" and "simplistic." It makes the AMITYVILLE HORROR seem like WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Maybe that's why Hollywood gave it the old "TV Movie" treatment instead of a theatrical release. It was written by a guy named Robert Curran, along with the Smurls, and Ed and Lorraine Warren (I've always been highly skeptical of those two, but that's another story).

In the middle of the book, there are a few pages of pictures (highly staged) of various members of the family. "Jack points to a wall in the basement." "Janet shows how high she was levitated." "The Warrens talk to local reporters." BAM! There it is -- the WARM mic flag! Another mic is from a TV station -- Channel 6. Not channel 16, but channel 6. Anybody know what station that is? I'm assuming it's somewhere in PA or NY.

Also, any radio or TV people here have Smurl stories? My own career didn't start until a couple of years after this all went down. And then, I wasn't doing news but spinning oldies. I'd be curious to know if anyone here ever got sent down to Chase Street in West Pittston to cover all the haunted happenings.

 

[Pocono]

At times I pick up a channel 6 from Philadelphia. ABC affiliate.

 

[normhill007]

The Smurls gave Harry, Terry and me lots of good laughs..But I much preferred the Dunmore Demon..

 

[Andy_Palumbo]

Hey! That was my hand and my mic.

I felt dirty being there. We all knew it was a scam.

The only one who had it right was Steve Corbett, then of the Times-Leader.

The kids complained of bumps and bruises from the ghosts/demons/spirits throwing them down stairs. Corbett wanted the DA to investigate for child abuse.

 

[mevansrock]

"Felt dirty being there" That's funny.

Hey Andy, I should have you sign my copy of the book, since you're technically "in it."

I would imagine a press conference with the Warrens would be creepy, but not in a "haunted" sort of way. More in a "jeez -- I feel all slimy now. I have to take a shower" sort of way. Ed's been dead for years now. But Lorraine is still at it.

Never thought of the child abuse angle, but I'm already past the part in the book where the little girl gets tossed down the stairs.

 

[Andy_Palumbo]

I vividly remember the time, and we in the media were constantly asking each other "Why are we here?"

 

[MCNDRWS]

I went down to check things out one night when the media attention was at it's height .... What weirded me out was the branches of The Big tree in front of the house were swaying back and forth in the wind ... but the other trees around were still.

 

[mevansrock]

No way Dave! That wasn't the trees moving. I know you. You were home jamming to "Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)" from McCartney's RED ROSE SPEEDWAY. And you were still stoned when you ventured out. ;D

Kidding aside. Actually, that's a really cool recollection.

 

[Zenith Transoceanic]

Yes the channel 6 mike would have been from Philadelphia.

I don't think it was a scam, and I think Corbett's attitude during the whole thing was a disservice to both the community and the family.
That said, I have to say I never knew the Smurls, but the problem with hauntings of this sort is they come and go in cycles. Stuff kicks up and then goes dormant for years, even decades.
Robert Curran was a reporter for The Scranton Times or whatever it was known as back then.
He at least had the decency to treat the Smurl's story with some respect.

As for the Warrens, I had read some of their books, and had spoken with them a few times on the phone about Amityville, and other places. My only problem with them is that their perspective was so narrow. Everything was demonic to them. A ghost couldn't ever be "a good guy" it seems.

Having been in a few haunted places myself, I can assure you that the most outrageous stuff can and does happen. It doesn't always make sense.
But there are many places around here where creepiness reigns. The kind of things the Smurls reported are not unique.

 

[mevansrock]

Well I finished the book last night. I never really "dove in" and read non-stop. Just a chapter here, two chapters there, that kind of thing. Again, it's not a GREAT book. There are only so many levitations you can read about before it becomes old hat.

Hey -- but WNEP gets a mention in one of the final chapters. And I can't help but think that I was a small (very small) part of the story. The Smurls talk about the "traffic" outside their house right after they went public in the late summer of '86. One night, I myself was in one of the cars (but at least I had the decency not to camp out on the front lawn).

In the end, I ain't buying it. An eight foot demon at the foot of a bed? Nope. But thank you all for sharing your stories and for your replies.

Now the book gets tossed in my literary archives, right next to the old issues of Fangoria and the Judy Norton Taylor issue of Playboy that a Rock 107 listener sent me after Daniels and Webster and I mentioned it on the morning show one day.

Thanks again...and Happy Halloween!