In the annals of American paranormal history, few cases achieved the level of mainstream notoriety as quickly as the Smurl haunting. Between 1974 and 1989, the Smurl family of West Pittston, Pennsylvania, claimed to be the victims of a relentless supernatural siege. Their modest home at 328 Chase Street became the epicenter of a media frenzy, spawning books, a television movie, and a national debate about the nature of evil. While skeptics dismissed the events as hallucination or hoax, the Smurl case remains a defining artifact of 1980s paranormal culture—a narrative that bridged the gap between private domestic terror and public spectacle.
By the third night, the faucets ran with hot water that tasted faintly of butterscotch, and the basement stairs had gained an extra step. Not a loose board—an entirely new step, carpeted in a pattern no one had ever seen, leading down to a landing that definitely wasn’t there yesterday. The Barlows called Frank.
“They always want something simple,” Frank whispered. He pointed to the pantry, which had been a broom closet an hour ago. “See? The house is greedy. It wants a better kitchen.”
“Ah, the Smurl Hauntings,” Frank said, arriving with a leather briefcase and a weary smile. “Family tradition. Great-grandpa Horace Smurl invented the term in 1922. See, a haunting is ghosts, demons, ectoplasm—unpredictable, scary. A Smurl Haunting is different. It’s just… a weird house. A house that lies about how many closets it has. A house that changes the lock on the bathroom door when you’re inside. We sell ‘em, we warn ‘em, and we offer the Smurl Guarantee .”
Mrs. Barlow, surprisingly calm, said, “What if we offer it the pantry in exchange for the basement step disappearing?”
In 1973, following the devastation of Hurricane Agnes, moved into a double-block duplex at 328–330 Chase Street in West Pittston. They shared the home with Jack’s parents, John and Mary, who lived in the adjoining unit. Initially, the disturbances were minor: tools disappearing, strange odors, and toilets flushing on their own.
“Charming fixer-upper,” Frank told the young couple, the Barlows, as they stood on the porch. The doorbell, a tarnished brass cherub, suddenly played a perfect, mournful chord of “Auld Lang Syne” by itself. “See? Original details.”
However, the activity soon escalated into physical violence:
For 15 years, the Smurl family of West Pittston, Pennsylvania, claimed they were the targets of one of the most violent and persistent demonic hauntings in American history. Spanning from , the case of the Smurl Hauntings eventually drew international attention, leading to an investigation by renowned demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren and the production of the 1991 TV movie, The Haunted . The Origins: A Quiet Move to Chase Street
