Haunted houses are pretty common in areas rich in history, but most of the time it is human spirits which refuses to leave their abode or a poltergeist making mischief and scaring the hell out of people. Sometimes due to the history of the house, there could be multiple hauntings and when it involves a demon, then there is a lot to be worried and feared about. The Pittsburg Demon house- made famous by this name had a myriad of creepy incidents happening in it. What makes it more fascinating than any other haunted house in America is the detailed notes the owner of the house made about the paranormal and demonic activity occurring in it. The account of the haunting of the Pittsburg house on Brownsville road, Pennsylvania has become the most famous modern haunting ever recorded.
The house was constructed on a mass burial site of white men killed by Native Americans in the 1700s. Although this has not been historically proven, it holds ground. According to Bob Cranmer the author of the journals, the land was already cursed. The second theory was during the actual construction of the house; a workman allegedly put a curse on the property because the “then” owner H.P Malick owed him money as well as had a beautiful wife which made him envious.
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It was believed that a doctor rented a room in the property to perform illegal abortions which was a taboo at the time. Obviously, there were no records but a doctor named Doctor Mahan Sr. was reported to have carried out such activities in the area. According to Bob Cranmer a devout catholic kid called Connie Valenti, met the doctor and confronted him that he was a reincarnation of one of the many kids he illegally aborted and he wanted his revenge.
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This where the sinister play starts unfolding which would engulf Cranmer for a long time. In his book, the Demon of Brownsville Road, he described the house as extremely pretty and idyllic. He was shocked when the house of his dreams actually came out in the market exactly the time he started looking for one. It was as if the house was beckoning him. The sellers of the house were willing to sell the house at any price as if they wanted to get rid of it.
Cranmer should have been more suspicious during his first walk through the house with the family. They were extremely tensed and suddenly they one of their boys disappeared and was found sobbing on the front staircase as if something had violated him. Still, Cranmer decided to ignore the red flags and moved in. the paranormal activity started almost immediately after he moved in and dream house was slowly becoming the chief source of stress in the family.
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After the purchase and moving in, the family tried to make peace with the fact that may be sharing their house with a ghost and nothing more sinister than that. In fact, for weeks there were typical poltergeist activities such as the house in a complete mess, taps running at full flow, all the lights on etc. However, things started getting darker.
The family actually witnessed blood dripping from the walls, ghostly poundings which by the way signals a trademark demonic presence. They wanted to scientifically verify what they saw and invited Ryan Buell from A&E paranormal state to film an episode in the house. The findings were bone chilling. Ryan claims he saw a metal crucifix bend in front of him and blood again materialized on the wall. The people’s magazine later verifies through forensic tests that the liquid was indeed blood.
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In all the haunted house there has to be a source from which all the negativity and demonic energy emanates. This is regarded as a portal from another world which we cannot see. In this house too it was no different. The prettiest room called the blue room because it had lovely blue wallpapers and rugs and belonging to the kids became the epicenter of all the horrific activity. The children simply refused to live in it finding it creepy. Unfortunately, if it’s a demon lurking in your room you just can’t lock the room and feel safe can you?
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The showdown finally began when the demon first made its appearance to Cranmer’s grandson! The demon called himself Molech and manifested himself to anyone who passed close to the room. He had made the blue room his lair. Anyone who passed the room could smell a stench and was lunged upon whenever they crossed this shadowy creature.
One night when the grandson was making his way to the kitchen, he passed the blue room and collapsed after getting a glimpse of the demon. He was stunned and shaking as if paralyzed with fear. He was screaming that “the monster was going to get me” but as Cranmer deduces Molech was trying to scare the hell out of everyone to keep off his lair which was working. But Cranmer proudly states that Molech could never outwit him.
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Molech was not satisfied as he wanted to terrorize every single living being in the household. He ventured across the house and was first seen by Cranmer’s son-in-law who saw a scary looking shadow standing over one of the boy’s bed in the blue room. He thought it was his wife and called out her name but the apparition just retreated without a response. Things got physically abusive when Cranmer decided to stay up all night trying to ward him off through bible recitations. In the morning he was greeted with ugly scratch marks on his neck which slowly started appearing on every family member’s body especially his son David who received a nasty claw mark across his chest.
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Believe it or not, amidst all these horrors the family was actually putting up with the haunting and stayed firmly in the same house, fighting and resisting this inhuman menace for 18 years! Their weapons were loud bible readings and all the kids were armed with a cross around their necks. But the demon was no easy game either; he gradually found ways to pervert the family from their faith which was trying to keep them strong and even perhaps safe!
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Cranmer’s son Bobby was facing a different problem in the meantime, his chain was constantly found removed from his self by itself. There was always a pattern here, whenever the cross was found it was always curled up with clasps closed as if Molech was trying to yank off the crossover bobby’s head. Well, this happened many times eventually stopping when the cross itself was found neatly folded in half as if someone has bent it with pair of pliers!
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The Cranmer family decided to get help. Bob got in touch with his friend and former mayor of Pittsburgh Tom Murphy, who directly put in contact with the bishop. Several priests visited the house. In his own experience, Cranmer admitted in a paranormal radio show that exorcism was very similar to calling an exterminator to the house!
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It took almost 2 years of struggles, constant blessings and Catholic masses to get rid of Molech. It was an open fight between the priests and the demon and once when Friar Ron sprinkled the house with holy water, Molech openly challenged him by sprinkling blood down the staircase!
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Bob Cranmer lived in the house with his family till 2014 as reported by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. The fight between the haunting and the haunted was in its feverish pitches during 2005-6. But after the wise decision of bringing in the church and the reinforcements from a Paranormal Crew, Molech finally gave in and retreated to the heathen world.
Cranmer gave all the credits in an interview with the WRNR radio, to the fact that he had converted to the Roman Catholic faith. He also said he played the Mel Gibson movie “Passion of the Christ” non-stop in the house for 6 months! So much so that Molech could not stand that movie anymore and gave in! It would not seem odd to think now that it was Bob torturing the demon not the other way around!
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