Ghost Adventures – The Exorcist House – S08E07

So this is an interesting episode, the guys head out to St. Louis to investigate the home made famous by the movie, The Exorcist. Back in 1949, Father William Bowdern supposedly exorcised the demons out of the little boy that lived in the house. It is said the boy and his aunt used a Ouija board to commune with spirits which opened a portal for something evil to come through. And if you’ve watched the movie we all know what happens next.

Supposedly, the evil still lurks in the house, penetrating the very stone and wood of the house. Neither the owner, nor the previous owners actually talk about the house. However, a paranormal investigator claims to have been touched and scratched while investigating there. During their filming a neighbor comes over to say that people move into the house, but that it’s a bad place. They don’t stay very long. No details are given so we’re not entirely sure what he means.

After Zak, Nick and Aaron ratchet up the tension as high as they can, it’s finally time to go inside. You have to consult with priests and demonologists so they can tell everyone what you’re doing is dangerous and scary.

The main activity centers in the bedroom where the original exorcism was performed. Against the better judgment of everyone, Zak pulls out a Ouija board and places the Spirit Box on it. Everyone is scared for their meager lives as Zak stands on the precipice of opening the portal to damnation and bringing ruination to the world. Or he could just be messing around with a piece of cardboard. Take your pick.

When asked the name of the man the entity attacked in the room, the box responds with, "He needs help."

When asked, "What hppened here in 1949" the answer comes as "Ouija board" and "trouble". And it does appear to be two different voices.

When asked, "What is your name?" they get two responses, "Devil" and "Diablo".

The rest of the investigation involves messing around with the Xbox Kinect. Zak feels cold spots at the same time some sort of blue dot shows up on the screen. And there is much rejoicing as they can’t understand why Aaron can’t be tracked on the Kinect. They take both of these as signs of spiritual energy and a presence. In no way should this be taken as a malfunction of the device or it’s inability to track certain people under certain conditions.

As the investigation comes to an end the main evidence is the audio recordings. While they are interesting items, they certainly don’t add up to the Uber sinister and demon infested house the first 20 minutes of the episode tried to instill in us.

I’ve said it before, I don’t believe the Ouija board is a source of evil or a conduit or portal for demonic spirits. It’s simply a piece of cardboard with lettering. That’s the same as saying a blanket with letters you use to help your child with the alphabet is summoning demons into the room or that simply opening the bible will a holy spirit appear. It simply doesn’t work that way. Since everyone has their own differing opinions, we’ll just skip that debate.

I thought the EVPs were interesting, but I can’t agree with most of them. I certainly here Devil and Diablo as well as ouija board and trouble. So, does that make the house haunted? Is there something demonic in there? It really doesn’t seem so since no one got scratched, no one got threatened and no welts with a cross in the middle of them showed up on anybody. All in all the house seemed rather normal. Maybe there is something in there that wants to communicate and it would have been great for the guys to hang around for a couple of days and gather some more evidence. Going off the spirit box alone isn’t going to convince me a house is haunted. To me, it’s possible there is an energy there that should be explored further. As I said, it’s certainly not dropping with the evil that has seeped into the foundation like they want us to believe.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Do you believe in the Ouija?
• Zozo, Darren Evans, Robert Murch and Darkness Radio – A Zozo Hoax?
• Ghost Adventures – The Zozo Demon – S10E03
• Haunted Collector – Firestarter and Haunted Museum – S02E10
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Leger – S16E05
• Ouija – Cardboard and Plastic Toy or Mystical Portal?
• Ghost Adventures – Samaritan Cult House – S14E03
• I Am Zozo – A Review
• Ghost Adventures – Zalud House – S13E11
• Ghost Adventures – Black Moon Manor – S07E05