The Smurl Haunting
The Smurl Haunting: A True Story of Terror in the Poconos
Some houses look perfectly ordinary from the outside. The Smurl family’s home on Chase Street in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, was one of them — a two-story duplex painted white, with a small yard and a front porch where you might expect to see kids riding bikes or neighbors stopping by for coffee.
A Duplex and a Fresh Start
In 1973, Jack and Janet Smurl were a young couple with four daughters, looking for stability. They found it — or thought they did — in a duplex on Chase Street. Jack’s parents, John and Mary, lived in one half, and Jack, Janet, and the kids lived in the other.
The home was affordable and close to work, schools, and family. The neighborhood was quiet. There were no local ghost stories about the property, no rumors of tragedy. If anything, it seemed like the perfect place to settle down after years of renting.
For the first year or so, everything was normal. But then, subtle oddities began to creep in.
Small Things at First
It started with water stains on freshly painted walls. A strange, sour smell that would drift through the rooms and vanish as suddenly as it appeared. Then came the sounds: footsteps in empty rooms, the soft murmur of voices no one could quite make out.
Janet would be cleaning and hear her name whispered. Jack would walk into the kitchen to find the faucet running, though no one had been there.
The family tried to explain these things away — old pipes, a settling house, maybe even a mouse in the walls. But the activity didn’t stop. It escalated.
Year by Year, It Grew Worse
By the mid-1970s, furniture began to move on its own. Drawers would slide open, chairs would scrape across the floor, and pictures would fall from the walls without warning. The smell — sometimes like rotten meat, sometimes like decaying garbage — became more frequent.
Appliances started breaking down without explanation. A new television would last only weeks. Toasters, washing machines, and even a brand-new ceiling fan burned out. Repairmen could find no cause.
Then came the cold spots — pockets of air so frigid that walking through them felt like stepping into a freezer.
The family dog began growling at empty corners. At times, it refused to enter certain rooms at all.
The Attacks Begin
By the early 1980s, the activity turned violent. Jack claimed he was scratched and shoved by an invisible force. Janet reported being pinned to the bed. One night, she said, the blankets were ripped off while she slept.
Their daughters also began experiencing disturbing events. They heard voices calling to them when no one was there. One of the girls reported being grabbed by the arm and yanked hard enough to leave a bruise.
John and Mary, living on the other side of the duplex, weren’t spared. Mary claimed to have been shoved down the stairs. John said he saw a dark shadow pass through the kitchen, solid enough to block the light.
Calling in the Warrens
By 1986, the Smurls had endured over a decade of strange phenomena. The activity was now daily and severe. In desperation, they contacted Ed and Lorraine Warren — the famed husband-and-wife paranormal investigators who had worked on the Amityville case.
The Warrens spent months visiting the Smurl home, interviewing the family, and conducting investigations. Lorraine, a self-described clairvoyant, claimed she could sense four entities in the home: a harmless human spirit, a violent poltergeist, a demonic presence, and a spirit she described as “something inhuman.”
According to the Warrens, the demonic entity was the strongest and was using the others to terrorize the family. They claimed it could mimic voices, move between rooms instantly, and had the ability to physically harm people.
Escalation During the Investigation
After the Warrens got involved, the activity reportedly grew even worse. Ed Warren claimed to have been physically attacked during one visit. Lorraine said she saw a dark, hooded figure that radiated pure malice.
The family reported that strange noises followed them outside the house — even on vacations. At one point, Jack claimed to see a “black, headless form” hovering over Janet as she slept.
Janet began having vivid nightmares, often waking with scratches on her arms and legs. The girls were plagued by terrifying dreams and sudden illnesses that doctors couldn’t explain.
Skeptics Push Back
Not everyone believed the Smurls. Some neighbors said they never saw or heard anything unusual. Skeptics suggested that the family’s troubles could be explained by stress, plumbing issues, or even a shared delusion brought on by years of living in a tense environment.
Others pointed out that the Smurls cooperated with media interviews and eventually worked with author Robert Curran to publish The Haunted, which some believed was a bid for publicity.
The Smurls maintained that they were simply trying to be believed — and that living with the haunting was far worse than dealing with public scrutiny.
The Church Steps In
The local Catholic Church became involved after the Warrens recommended an exorcism. Several priests visited the home, blessing the rooms and performing rites.
While the Smurls reported temporary relief after these visits, the phenomena always returned — sometimes within hours.
By 1989, after nearly 16 years in the house, the Smurls decided enough was enough. They moved to another location — and claimed that some of the activity followed them.
Pop Culture Legacy
In 1986, before the family moved out, the haunting began attracting media attention. Newspapers, talk shows, and even People magazine covered the story.
In 1988, the book The Haunted was published, detailing the family’s experiences. Two years later, a made-for-TV movie based on the book aired, starring Sally Kirkland as Janet Smurl.
Now, decades later, the Smurl haunting is set to re-enter public consciousness thanks to The Conjuring: Last Rites. While the filmmakers haven’t confirmed how closely it will follow the case, fans speculate that the Smurl story will play a major role — especially given the Warrens’ involvement.
Why It Still Clings
The Smurl haunting endures because it’s one of those rare paranormal cases that spans years, involves multiple witnesses, and blends domestic life with something otherworldly. Whether you believe the Smurls or side with the skeptics, the story is unsettling: a family in a normal, suburban setting claiming to be under siege by forces they couldn’t fight.
And that’s the kind of story that sticks with you — the idea that terror doesn’t have to come from a graveyard or an abandoned asylum. Sometimes it moves in right next door.
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