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Episode 36 - The Possession of David Glatzel
18 Plays1 month ago
Nylene takes the floor of the cottage to weave the tale of Ed and Lorraine Warren, beginning with the possession of David Glatzel.
Enter the Nightmare for show notes, sources, transcripts, and more!
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Transcript
Introduction to Nightmare Cottage
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome to Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage, where we explore history, mysteries, and other tales of the macabre. I'm Nim. And I'm Nyleen. Let the nightmare begin.
00:00:48
Speaker
Sorry.
New Year Excitement and Plans
00:00:57
Speaker
Happy New Year! Happy New Year's! i don't know why I really wanted to, like, go into, like, a happy birthday tone with that, but... Just breaking the song. We're doing some new things this year. We are. Apparently. Indeed. It's Nightmare Cottage, the musical.
00:01:12
Speaker
ah yeah Oh my God. And we lost all of our listeners. It will be so great because I don't know if anyone remembers I Love Lucy and there was the episode where and Lucy really wanted to be- in the show? That's all of them. That's every episode. That's true. i know Yeah, she wanted to be the ah the the princess that sings, but she ended up being the queen of- the gypsies which is horrible please don't come at me this was the writing in the 20s yeah um sorry but yeah that's what that reminds me of what what what what was the question so happy new year happy new year bitches so what do you what do you usually do for new years because like i mean i guess we're not quite there yet but we'll have been by the time this comes out
00:02:05
Speaker
ah So I usually will do the arcade New Year thing since where I work is so fun a thing. But this year, i'm actually babysitting your child.
00:02:17
Speaker
And I'm very excited about that. That's New Year's Eve. Oh, you mean New Year's Day? New Year's Day. So, okay, that's another thing. Like, we say New Year's, and we always get New Year's Day off. But I feel like everyone celebrates New Year's Eve, right? Yeah, but they need New Year's Day to recover. That's that's fair. I just think it's interesting that it's like a pre-celebration Well, I think it has to do with the, and there's there's a lot of like, folkloric roots in that. i It's the moment of debauchery before you go towards King's Day or Three three Kings Day. I'm not, I don't, it's like, it's epiphany. It's epiphany. It's Three Kings Day, depending on what, you know, lore you're looking at. Kids go to bed on January 5th. They leave a box with hay under their bed. So the Kings will leave good presents. Yeah.
00:03:03
Speaker
So there's a lot of leading up to epiphany of, you know, being debaucherous because you're about to, you know, repent or whatever. Oh, fair enough. so It's like before. oh it's like, what is it called? Fat Tuesday? Yeah. Yeah. it's It's the same kind of concept as, you know, you maximize your indulgences to to have a bigger contrast.
00:03:23
Speaker
That's a thing. Why were we talking about I don't remember. You were asking me what I do for New Year's. So and then we were talking about New Year's Eve versus New Year's Day. But ah now that I understand the question, I will. But that's still part of the tradition.
00:03:39
Speaker
I usually do i'm you know, Southern. So we make black eyed peas and what and greens and cornbread I don't know if I've ever had like black eyed peas that weren't like made by my mother this one time. And I love you, mom. I'm so sorry if you're listening to this, but they just weren't good. And I don't know if that's because I was a kid because I like a lot of stuff that I didn't like when I was a kid now. this I don't know. Black eyed peas were so bad.
00:04:04
Speaker
i don't want to offend your mother, but I feel like it's a cook method situation, but it's hard to, I feel like it's hard to make them good, but I make them good. I might.
00:04:16
Speaker
I'll save some for you. If you want to, if you want to swing by, you can just have like a little bite. So you, okay. What do you, you just like cook them and eat them for dinner with anything? What, with what else? With greens, um you a giant pot of mixed greens, like turnip greens, mustard greens, that kind of shit.
00:04:31
Speaker
Yeah. Those. And I usually put and like a pepper vinegar sauce on them. and it's But that's like condiment that goes on after. And then cornbread. Just cornbread. love cornbread. I know you do. Dude, I love cornbread so much. And no one around me likes cornbread like I do. Like, don't know how anyone can sit in front of a bowl of cornbread and not eat some. You need talk to my mother, who is... She definitely understands the love of cornbread is the reason why cornbread is in my life. yeah Okay, well, me and your mother are going to have a cornbread party. She'll be very excited to hear that. oh How does she feel about peas?
00:05:16
Speaker
i She loves peas. I love peas. Love peas. I love, oh my gosh. When I was growing up, there were only two foods I hated, and that was peas and sweet potatoes.
00:05:27
Speaker
Now, sweet potato is one of my favorite things in the world now. Me and peas get along now. Like I can have them, but I like it's not. I'm never going to crave peas. Oh, I'll just sit there and a bowl of peas. That's how monkey likes with a little bit of salt. Monkey likes peas in his mashed potatoes. Yes. Peas and carrots and mashed potatoes is the way to go Sorry. i don't know. I'm i am I'm hungry, apparently. So sorry.
00:05:54
Speaker
but So usually New Year's Day, you end up cooking the most Southern thing I've ever heard you make or anyone around me. Well, because, you know, it's tradition.
New Year Traditions and Meals
00:06:07
Speaker
Is that any meat? I feel like meat.
00:06:09
Speaker
Depending on what i feel like doing, I'll either put like ham or... Like a like a ham. That's what I'm doing this year. I got some thick cut bacon. Oh, yeah. And I'm going to saute that. And then that's also going to be how I season the greens. And it's going to be delicious. That does sound really good. and yeah I'm telling you, you just got to. i might show up with a little boy. yeah I think the thing is, is that your mother probably made it healthy.
00:06:35
Speaker
Yes. One million percent. My mom, I could not see her making bacon and putting that fat into anything. She's going to hate me forever. No. No. No. Because I mean, now she'll eat something like that. But like, no, never like. She would not have given that to the children who she was trying to nourish. Exactly. exactly Yes. yeah yeah Yeah. No, they didn't. I learned those horrible habits growing up watching Food Network, not because my mother fed me junk. My mother gave me, she usually puts ham or she like cooks the beans with a ham hock in it or like Like the ham hock from leftover from Christmas or whatever. That's the traditional thing. It's it's me who adds the horrible, horrible bacon, which is delicious. delicious
00:07:14
Speaker
Horrible, delicious, yummy. Honestly, like I've never had New Year's Day traditions. My traditions growing up are pretty much all food related. Yeah, fair enough. I mean, like I can tell you how like how we eat for St. Patrick's Day and like how you're supposed to eat for like Fourth of July. Like there's like classic foods for classic holidays. And that's I don't really subscribe to most of that.
00:07:36
Speaker
But my mother insists on this because of luck. And you know how I feel. But. Yeah. yeah it's for my mom yeah and i mean for us we would make tamales but like not like the traditional i guess what you see to be mexican tomales is because we're because i'm i'm colombian right so we would do the pastelless And it's just like ah banana leaves are really hard to find. but and And so they'd they'd wrap them and plant. They'd make a big big pot of rice and cook it with some good chicken. and It's like chicken and rice and and veggies and just so freaking good and got some pork in there. It's just everything delicious that you could ever imagine.
00:08:19
Speaker
And then, so sorry, I'm, yes. And then you put it in this banana leaf and you close it and then you steam it. And it is, i know it sounds gross. No. but it is good.
00:08:31
Speaker
So good. That's awesome. little salsa in there. Some lime. Make me this. Feed it to my face. All right. We'll trade. We'll trade. I will bring you my southern cuisine. No, we'll come to you. We'll come to you.
Podcast Format Changes
00:08:46
Speaker
Okay. yeah Anyways. So with the new year, we decided that we wanted to switch up the format a little bit. Kind of felt like we didn't have a lot of a lot of time to like really dive deep into our topics because we had to like shove two episodes. and Into our busy freaking lives with, you know, well, I mean, your busy life. Okay. Don't sell yourself short.
00:09:12
Speaker
I think we're going to be able to give more care to our topics. Yes. It's easier to search too. So we're going to be still coming to you every other week. We'll probably be ah generally a little bit shorter than our other episodes.
00:09:25
Speaker
Yeah. We would still love to hear any topic suggestions anybody has. So nightmare cottage at gmail.com. Oh, yes. We still still have that thing going on. Yeah. That whole thing, that whole situation. And Nim does still like update the blog and stuff on there. So look. On occasion. So yeah. So good. I mean, look on there if you want to see some. ah Yeah. Just nightmare cottage.com is the website. We've got the archive of all of the nightmare fuel.
00:09:50
Speaker
We have the show notes and everything transcripts, our sources and everything on there. And my blog where I have occasionally updated little bits here and there. Yeah, but and the blog is like just fun little nothing additional tidbits to the things we talk about.
00:10:10
Speaker
With it being the first episode of the year, i really struggled. Let me tell you. i struggled to like figure out which ah like what I wanted to do because I was like, like do I want to start off with a cryptid? Cryptids felt like a good...
00:10:25
Speaker
good strong thing i almost did like a new year's like traditions and stuff and like superstitions but then i felt bad but then you guys would have to be hearing about all the stuff you already messed up so let's not do that instead gonna start off with a possession like like Okay. Sorry. I have a lot of questions, but I will reserve them for now. I mean, yeah, sure. Up to you. We we can that we can- Well, get give me some bases because, I mean, it's going to a lot of ways. No, we're just going to get started.
00:11:00
Speaker
Our story begins in July of 1980 with Debbie and Arnie Johnson.
Strange Occurrences in New Rental
00:11:07
Speaker
Debbie is the oldest and only sister in a family of four kids. She decides it's time to move out of mom and dad's house and move in with her boyfriend, Arnie. I see this is going well.
00:11:16
Speaker
Yeah, scandalous, isn't it? They had found a house to rent. um It was in Newton, Connecticut. It was just a few towns over from ah where Debbie's family home was. And the family home was 3 Oak Grove Road.
00:11:31
Speaker
The house they would rent needed a little bit of work before it was move-in ready. So Debbie's three brothers were enlisted to help out. Upon arriving at the house, each of the boys is given their own task in the house and left alone to do them.
00:11:45
Speaker
After about an hour or so, with the youngest boy, David, age 11, comes running out of the house and is begging to go home. He won't tell anyone why he needs to leave, just that he's scared and had a bad feeling about the house and and and he needs to leave.
00:12:00
Speaker
His parents decide he's too wound up and they load him into the car and head home for the day. Over dinner, David's family pesters him over why they had to leave the house in such a hurry. And David finally gives in and recalls.
00:12:13
Speaker
How old is he again? Eleven. Eleven. So, I mean, still pretty young in that in that age where you're still... Yeah, but agency is... is Yes. Is there. ah Yes, correct. So David recalled he's in one of the bedrooms sweeping...
00:12:31
Speaker
And he started to feel uneasy, like there was someone else there. Suddenly, he's pushed backwards onto the bed, and he sees an old man with a white beard, wearing jeans and a torn flannel shirt.
00:12:44
Speaker
His skin was charred and looked to have been burnt. He had, quote, eyes that were black, solid black, just like a chunk of coal. And then it said to beware that it was coming for his soul.
00:12:59
Speaker
Even... as i assume the child is making it up of course and that's my thing yes that's really fucked up for a kid to make up where does one get that i mean at 11 yeah i mean i guess you're right right you're right like you've seen some stuff at 11 or read some horror books yeah or you know your dad fell asleep with the tv on and there was a movie on or something that you shouldn't have seen i was already watching tales from the cri yeah same exactly so fair enough
00:13:31
Speaker
there in Okay, sorry But real quick here, there are multiple records of David saying that he encountered the old man. And then there was another documentary where he says it looked like a person wearing an old devil Halloween mask.
00:13:45
Speaker
So I'll just leave that there for you to decide how you feel about that. But keep in mind, like this was when he was 11 and now he is full grown man. And i will caution you to understand that this...
00:14:01
Speaker
Eventually became so sensationalized that I imagine there's probably a lot that he doesn't know what was real and what was a sensationalized part of his childhood at this point after all the interviews and and media, that coverage that ended up on it.
00:14:19
Speaker
That
David's Terrifying Experiences
00:14:20
Speaker
sucks. Yeah. So โ After explaining what happened at the rental house, David seemed to be terrified and going on and on about how he's doomed and that he keeps hearing this thing saying it's coming for him and and he's scared and he just he needs help, right? So he's trying to get his family to help him.
00:14:37
Speaker
They think he might just be wound up. Maybe he's overtired. Maybe he fell asleep and and had like a night terror or something. You know what I mean? Like something. Either way, David's mom decides it's late.
00:14:48
Speaker
Let's all go to bed. Let's just see how everyone feels in the morning. You know, let's relax. So everyone goes to bed and David reports that later that night, he suddenly starts feeling that odd feeling again.
00:15:02
Speaker
He says he sees images of something getting closer and closer to the house. Think like first person view, right? David gets out of bed and he looks out the window. He can feel it watching him.
00:15:15
Speaker
He sees what he thinks is a figure staring at him outside. Suddenly, he's distracted by a noise in his room, and when he looks back, the figure is gone. David decides to lay back down and just try to go to sleep.
00:15:28
Speaker
He lays awake most of the night, dreading what is coming. I mean, like, fair enough, because I remember when I was, like, I used to have a lot of night terrors when I was around 9, 10, 11, and, like, I do feel like I would get so scared that I would just hide under my covers, because it's like, what the fuck else are you going to do, all right? Like,
00:15:49
Speaker
I don't know that I ever had that issue when I was a kid. Let's see.
00:15:57
Speaker
For months, David claims to be pestered by this little voice. It speaks to him in Latin. What they later identified as Latin, by the way. He doesn't go, hey, this is Latin. It speaks to him in Latin and threatens to take his soul and hurt his family.
00:16:13
Speaker
David starts to do really odd things like reciting Bible passages and lines from Paradise Lost as his body is seizing on the ground. For those of you who don't know, Paradise Lost is a book from the late 1600s that retells the story of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. And the focus is mainly on the rebellion of Satan and his fall from grace. right So really weird that this 11-year-old is doing that.
00:16:41
Speaker
Yeah. David's mother reported that he would kick, bite, spit, swear, and just say really terrible things. I'll give you a little taste of that here in a little bit. So it was just kind of one of those things that it was โ things were just starting to feel a little too out of control.
00:16:59
Speaker
ah So David's mom, Judy, she's decided that being a devout Catholic, she decides to call the priest of her church Father Dennis. Yeah. and asks him to come and bless the house.
00:17:10
Speaker
The priest comes to the house sometime over the next few days and brings with him some holy water, holy oil, and some incense, which he used to bless the house. The blessing went on without incident.
00:17:22
Speaker
The family goes on with their day, and they go to bed, and and they feel like everything maybe is going to be fine. at around 3 a.m., m David wakes up screaming at the top of his lungs.
00:17:33
Speaker
He's yelling, he's coming for me. He's coming for me. He's going to punish me. With most of the family convened in David's room, they report the house started to rumble, like something was smashing into the house.
00:17:45
Speaker
The lights started flashing throughout the house. Everything was falling off the walls and the counters. This went on for about a minute, and then everything just went silent. Dead silent.
00:17:57
Speaker
With the entire family having just witnessed this, they all decide that they must have a problem of a spiritual nature.
00:18:05
Speaker
and go ahead i don't know what to say i just i i say whatever you want i mostly just want to know that this has been debunked
00:18:20
Speaker
because i just i can't but it's like i mean there's no there's just it's just like okay sorry i'm sorry So I think it's absolutely wild that this is the first thing you would jump to You would have a hard time proving to me that we didn't just experience the first secluded zone earthquake.
00:18:38
Speaker
So just because I felt like I had to, I did some research on earthquakes near Newton, Connecticut in 1980. The only one I could find was one in October of 1980, about 45 minutes away from Newton in New Haven. It was a 3.2 magnitude minor earthquake with an aftershock having been felt in the east shortly after.
00:18:58
Speaker
Newton would have been to the West and this haunting took place in July. Still, i don't know if I could jump directly to it being a ghost in this situation. Now, I want you close your eyes for me. I'm talking to you now. I want you to just close your eyes and I want you to reach on top of your head and I want you to take off that hat. Take off that skeptic hat. I need you to take it off. Okay.
00:19:24
Speaker
And you're, you're, you're with me. at my and in my cottage and this happens to us okay like okay i just regardless of anything like there's just all of this happens what would you do
00:19:42
Speaker
i i would assume i mean earthquake sounds right i'd be like looking up on next door hey guys do you guys feel that It's 1980. They don't have next door. Oh, you're right.
00:19:57
Speaker
i I'd lean out. The window? My window to my next door neighbors because, that you know, people would talk to their neighbors back then. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Hey, neighbor. Did you feel that? At three in the morning. i mean, if that happened in my house, I would assume it happened everywhere else. Exactly. Or maybe like a gas line eruption or something. Yeah. I cannot...
00:20:18
Speaker
I cannot conceive of that being my first thought, but I'm not a religious person. Yeah. So that that's just not in my top 10. Okay. So the Glitzel family...
00:20:33
Speaker
That's David's family, the blood cells. They're terrified at this point, and they're trying to figure out where to go from here. Since they feel this is a spiritual problem, because they are very religious, they decide to talk to their next-door neighbor. She did tarot readings and knew some psychic investigators who she thinks might be able to help.
Seeking Spiritual Help
00:20:51
Speaker
Enter Ad and Lorraine Warren. Famed Demonologists. You may remember them from the Dudleytown episode, if nothing else. They were the last resort in this sort of thing to try to remove haunted cursed objects and help with demonic possessions. They became famous for their involvement in the Amityville haunting.
00:21:10
Speaker
The Glitzel family call up the Warrens to come check out their situation and see what they can do. Lorraine Warren agrees to come, but will also be bringing a doctor to check out David and see if they can rule out if anything else has happened. Because he hasn't been checked out by a doctor to this point. They have literally called everyone but a frickin' doctor at this point They went to the next door neighbor and got a tarot reading person to find a demonologist. They went to the church. They, like...
00:21:40
Speaker
Guys. That all sounds like rational behavior. Go to the doctor, please. I don't โ believe what you want to believe. I'm sorry. We are both skeptics. But believe what you want to believe. That's okay. But just always check your your actual, like, person first.
00:21:58
Speaker
Your physical like self and your mental self. And like call your local authorities or whatever and see if there is some kind of a geological or gas line problem or whatever that might have made your house shake.
00:22:11
Speaker
Just a thought. Yes. When the Warrens do arrive, the doctor checks out David and and he doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. They sit down with the family and they decide to record a session with the family to introduce a situation and evaluate, you know, what's going on.
00:22:27
Speaker
In the interview, David mentions that the entity says, that it wants his soul. To this, Ed Warren challenges the spirit to show itself. Quote, make yourself known, he says. If you have the power, I need you to knock on the table three times.
00:22:45
Speaker
After a few moments, suddenly they hear three large bangs coming from under the kitchen floor. Your face, I love your face right now. The electricity starts flickering and the house starts rumbling. Everyone there reports to have felt it.
00:22:59
Speaker
Lorraine was known for her psychic abilities. She reported to Ed that there was a large, dark mass standing behind David and that this entity was not a ghost. It was a demon.
00:23:11
Speaker
bum, bum. So over the next month, the Warrens told the Glitzels that they recorded 43 demons in David.
00:23:23
Speaker
And they were able to help him get three lesser exorcisms performed. That is a lot and oddly specific number. Yes, it is. I'm sure it has some kind of meaning. I mean.
00:23:35
Speaker
For the sake of whatever, do they have documentation of this? Like what the demons were and like what information they got from them? Did they like sit on a spreadsheet anywhere? is that is this like I mean, this was something that Ed Lorraine Warren did. I don't. I'm very curious if they have archives of data. tried something tells me they don't. Yeah. um I know since they passed, their son has gained a lot of their things, but I don't know. I doubt he archived any of it.
00:24:09
Speaker
All three of the exorcisms were performed by priests, but could not be approved as full-on exorcisms by the Catholic Church.
Exorcism Attempt
00:24:17
Speaker
Lorraine claims that during one of the one of the exorcisms, David levitated.
00:24:22
Speaker
I couldn't find any other reports of this. So, okay, again, you're in this situation somehow. Maybe you were in the cottage with me and things got out of control, right? and And we are here with famed demonologist Ghost Hunter, and they're saying, I have a demon attached to me.
00:24:40
Speaker
What do you tell them?
00:24:44
Speaker
I'm so sorry.
00:24:48
Speaker
i i I feel like i'm like ah I'm not trying to be a contrarian. I'm not. But I would ask them if they were okay and if they needed any help.
00:25:01
Speaker
And then what if at that moment i my eyes rolled in the back my head and I started levitating? If you started levitating in front of me, I would believe something was up. That's what I'm saying. That's what i so Okay, so you're saying if there is definitive proof in front of me that there is some shit going on that is not... Yes, 100%. Okay, ok I'm picking up what you're laying down. Yeah. Okay, I got you. Sorry, I'm stubborn. Yes, so we know.
00:25:23
Speaker
That's why I told you before this. To take off my hat. Yes. Okay, so... Then I would probably start trying to enact um rules from various um folklore and fiction that... um Like, would you... Do you think, like, you would personally, like, do research? Or would you just, like, trust whatever the demonologists are telling you? I mean, but even if it wasn't the 80s, right? Like, you could still go to the library and and get... Yeah, no I don't know how much... If you...
00:25:56
Speaker
If you're talking about me, yes seeing something real in front of me, yes, I would be the one who would want to go to the library and and learn and figure it out. And I would not trust somebody advertising to fix it.
00:26:11
Speaker
So what if she's like saying there, she's like, hey, look, we're we're doing these exorcisms, you know, like ah we we need it we needed we need to get more hardcore with it. Would you be like, all right, let's do it? I would i would probably go towards witches before I'd go to the church.
00:26:27
Speaker
Really? Yeah. I would go towards people. people Like, if if if I thought that this was something that was a supernatural thing, I would not immediately go to demon. Like, I wouldn't think about religious demons. yeah My brain would think...
00:26:41
Speaker
some nether creature from the primordial, whatever the fuck, you know? yeah So, yeah, that's, I would, I would go towards wi people with witchy inclinations that, that understand protection and and things like that. I, that, that just, that's where I'd go. Okay.
00:26:58
Speaker
Just curious. All right. So back to David. and This 11-year-old child has just had someone of authority in the matter tell him that he is attached to a demon. So in other words, he's possessed and this infection will only get worse.
00:27:11
Speaker
David's already hearing voices and all these things are already happening around them. They need to bring in the big guns, so to speak. Ed tells the Glitzel family that they need immediate intervention by the Catholic Church. And since the local church isn't listening the Glitzels and what they're doing isn't working, it's just not enough, Ed decided that he'll get someone from the church in here.
00:27:33
Speaker
They're told to start documenting everything. And Ed will submit it to the archbishop to get an exorcist involved, a real exorcism. This is now a situation of when things will go to literal hell, not if.
00:27:47
Speaker
So while they wait for the church to approve an exorcism, they work to gather evidence. Judy Glitzel purchases a tape recorder that they can leave on at all times. Debbie purchases a Polaroid camera to take instant developed photos.
00:27:59
Speaker
It does look like they had camcorders back then, though. So like they had VHS Embedamax recorders. But like yeah that that was definitely not an every family situation. That was like you're youre rich if you have that shit.
00:28:13
Speaker
Yeah, and if you don't know what those are, um they were like tapes that you could insert into a like a camera and it would record what you had until the tape was full and then you pulled it out. and then and then and But yeah, that's what I was wondering. like Maybe they were too expensive, but I feel like they would have been a better bet for this evidence. But they had a Polaroid camera and a tape recorder on at all times. I honestly feel like for the time, that that feels appropriate.
00:28:38
Speaker
Really? Okay. As far as... i mean, you lived that time, so I'll let you that. didn't. I was not alive in 1980. You bitch. ah ah Anyways, ah so it was August or or September of 1980 at this point. Everyone's hanging out at the house and watching TV.
00:28:55
Speaker
Suddenly, David starts feeling odd again. That really odd feeling. They recorded on tape and took pictures of him having a supposed demonic episode.
00:29:06
Speaker
He was screaming that they would die. that the the The evidence is online, by the way. They recorded on Take and Take pictures of him having a supposed demonic episode. He was screaming that they would die, laughing maniacally about it. His mother spent a lot of time telling the thing to get out of her son, which just caused more laughter.
00:29:23
Speaker
They all start praying and David's screaming in pain, trying to keep from something from choking him. This started happening more and more and often, and and they would take turns keeping watch of him to keep him from hurting himself or others around him.
00:29:38
Speaker
All the while, they would record what was happening and praying to try to keep the demon at bay. David reports that he didn't remember anything from when he would go like into that place. like He would basically black out, and his family was starting to get increasingly worried that David was going to cause severe harm to you know himself or others.
00:29:59
Speaker
Do we know what the family was like before all this happened? Like, were they happy? Were they financially stable? They seemed like it. It was?
00:30:10
Speaker
Oh, they seemed like it. Got it. Unfortunately for the family, David's father felt that this was not a demonic episode. He felt that David was having a mental health episode and that the entire family and the attention from it, ah from the Warrens, the church, all that, it's feeding into it.
00:30:28
Speaker
He didn't want to be a part of it. And he started burying himself in the work that he was doing to avoid being at the house whenever he could. Personally, I'm surprised there wasn't more of a mental health analysis as well as a neurological analysis done for possible epilepsy or schizophrenia. I'm not saying that it I don't believe that they were going through something supernatural or anything like that. It's just more that I i don't feel like all the scientific avenues were explored enough before bringing in religious medicine for lack of a better word.
00:30:58
Speaker
Yeah. Expression. One visit with a psychiatric specialist is not enough to determine something like this, I think. That's my professional opinion, which actually has no value because I have no medical training whatsoever. But back to all this. So in September of 1980, the church approved a minor exorcism and the family was told to meet the Warrens and members of the church that would be involved in this at St. Joseph's Church in Brookfield, Connecticut.
00:31:22
Speaker
Something odd to mention here, St. Joseph's was also the name of the church in Berkeley, California, that was enlisted to help get everything under control in the possession case of Adeline Bottini that I did a few weeks back. The Warrens were not involved in that, but it's just an odd thing. Maybe it's a popular Catholic church name or something. I mean, I would assume, yeah. Yeah. Just funny that they're both involved in exorcisms. Anyways, Father Virg Lech would be the priest who was performing the ritual. He warned the family that things could get so intense that a death could happen.
00:31:53
Speaker
They needed to be prepared for anything. They began the ritual with something like a normal mass. David says he remembers being in the church and hearing prayers happening. The family reports that the room suddenly got ice cold and David started acting oddly.
00:32:09
Speaker
He started growling and then yelling obscenities as the priest performed the ritual. They have recordings of the session. And at one point he called the priest, quote, fat dick pork chop.
00:32:21
Speaker
Oh. End quote. Which the first one, I think that's a compliment. Oh, no. The second, I mean, tasty pork chops. Right.
00:32:33
Speaker
The family saying he's fully in the throes of it, jerking around as his family held him down. um They reported that David would contort in ways that should be impossible. And they got deeper into the ritual. Things were getting more intense in the room and the responses of the purported demon was giving.
00:32:51
Speaker
At one point, Arnie, you remember Arnie, he's still here. He didn't want to have, he's the one who didn't want to have anything to do with it, right? No, he's Debbie's boyfriend, the one that they were moving into the house together. And that's where he got. Yes. Yes. He got ghost in his blood. I did forget about that. Yeah. So that happened in the beginning. So Debbie's boyfriend, Arnie.
00:33:11
Speaker
He is deeply involved in this exorcism for whatever reason. I guess the family is really close. Arnie grabs a crucifix, places it on David's head. One of the brothers reported that the area began to sizzle.
00:33:22
Speaker
David was struggling and screaming so much that his tongue swelled up to the point that he was having trouble breathing and started turning blue. At this point, they decided to stop the ritual and start trying to save David instead.
00:33:35
Speaker
At this moment, Arnie, in frustration, yells out, quote, leave this little kid alone. Take me on. I'm here. Take me on. End quote. Arnie says he suddenly felt a coldness take over him, and Lorraine yelled out, what did you do?
00:33:53
Speaker
Not call a doctor, apparently. David was recovering and seemed to be coming out of it. It seemed the exorcism was a success, but what happened to the demon?
Post-Exorcism Uncertainty
00:34:04
Speaker
David seemed to be in a better place after this event.
00:34:07
Speaker
Things seemed relatively normal around them. They felt that they had won and things were getting better. Debbie and Arnie finally felt like things were settling down, so maybe they could finally settle down too.
00:34:18
Speaker
Debbie ended up getting a job at a kennel in Brookfield, Connecticut. This job came with a little apartment next to the kennel, which gave Debbie and Arnie a great opportunity to be able to move in together, start fresh.
00:34:30
Speaker
The apartment was owned by Debbie's boss, Alan Bono. And it seems that maybe he occupied an adjacent unit or something, so they all got to be very nice and cozy.
00:34:41
Speaker
Now, during the time of all the prior events, the police had been getting noise complaints for the residents where David and the Glitz cells had been living. They were aware of the suggestion that there was a demonic possession or supernatural things taking place in the house.
00:34:56
Speaker
I think it was a situation where there wasn't exactly anything illegal going on, so they couldn't really do much. But at some point, Ed and Lorraine Warren introduced themselves to the local police department. In the town of Brookfield, Connecticut, where this was taking place...
00:35:11
Speaker
Funny enough, in one of the documentaries I was watching, the sign for the police department says it was organized in 1977. This happened in 1980. So they had only been like running for like three years at the time that this happened in that city. Like, so I don't know, maybe like it was, they had shared resources or something. i don't know.
00:35:33
Speaker
Anyways, so Ed presented himself to the police as a demonologist and Lorraine presented herself as a psychic. What a way to start a conversation, right? Yeah. The balls on. ah Like, I'm sure as a police officer, you run into some, like, really bizarre things, but...
00:35:49
Speaker
This is one of those things that that toes religious values outside of just like normal societal values. So it's just i don't know. It's weird to me. um But yeah, so Lorraine gets to talking with one of the detectives and she seems really troubled.
00:36:03
Speaker
She tells him that an exorcism had been performed and that Arnie Cheyenne Johnson had challenged the devil to leave the kid and take him on. She goes on and on about how he shouldn't have done that and what the implications are and how horrible this will all end.
00:36:19
Speaker
She says she sees a serious injury or death with a knife coming and that Arnie would be involved. She was very matter-of-fact about it and seemed to be very seriously wanting to warn the police that this would happen.
00:36:37
Speaker
What do you think about this? And, like, how would you expect the police to react in this situation? i mean...
00:36:48
Speaker
They couldn't possibly take her seriously, but they could maybe do like a wellness check. Is my thought on looking at it rationally. And then if you were in that situation, right, all of this had like actually been happening to you.
00:37:03
Speaker
Like, would you go to the police, too? or do you think you'd be too scared that they wouldn't believe you? Oh, I would assume they would not believe me. So you wouldn't even bother going? wouldn't bother. At that point? No, but I would have called the police before any of it started. yeah I would have checked with them to ask if there was a problem with the gas line. Is my house about to explode? Like that's, I would have already been in touch with authorities before it got to this point. yeah So, um, so then it would just be calling back old friends. Like, Hey y'all turns out this is some shit.
00:37:40
Speaker
And then they'd lock me up. Yeah. So with Lorraine going to the police and telling them all this, you know, that that is on record of her doing that.
Warning and Teaser for Next Episode
00:37:54
Speaker
And this was right after the exorcism. Again, things seem to be completely okay with David at this point. But maybe not so much with Arnie.
00:38:08
Speaker
And we'll talk about that on my next episode.
00:38:13
Speaker
This was just about the possession of the little boy.
00:38:20
Speaker
So I guess with the need for a cold shower after not getting an ending. ah Do you have any nightmare fuel? i do. So this actually was the stuff from this case was documented. So I do have some nightmare fuel. I suggest The Devil in Connecticut by Gerald Rittle. It was published in 1983. It was actually based on ed and Lorraine Warren's case on this. And we'll talk about more of it on my next episode too.
00:39:01
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah. I also have some nightmare fuel that is inspired by your story. i didn't actually have anything prepared. There is a book called My Best Friend's Exorcism. and There's actually a movie. I haven't actually seen the movie yet, but it's written by Grady Hendrix and it it's been out in the last 10 years. but it takes place in the 80s and this girl's friend gets possessed and it's everything that she has to go through dealing with that it's funny and it's very time capsule-y for an eighty s vibe and it's you know horror in a fun way in a stranger thingsy kind of way oh i love that so my best friend's exorcism and it's what she ends up doing in that book is actually what I was thinking I would do when you asked me what I would do. So I couldn't say it because it was going to be my nightmare feel. So you have to read it to find out what I would do. Nice. I like that.
00:39:51
Speaker
I do, you know, realize when you said that, like I missed, I really enjoyed reading the Goosebumps books because it did feel like you were going through a dungeon crawl. Like it felt like Like you were going through, for I don't know. I don't know if you really got into the Goosebumps books. It's a travesty. I missed them. I actually went straight to Fear Street.
00:40:13
Speaker
I actually did not have that as part of my childhood, which I regret deeply. Yeah, because it felt it felt appropriate for the for the for the time, like for my age, without getting to. But I do remember the, I need to read more thrillers, I think.
00:40:27
Speaker
I can recommend some. I know, I'm scared though. I can recommend some so you can pick from. Because like my picture brain when I'm reading, like the pictures that form are so much more vivid than anything. Oh, there's a lot of great thrillers that aren't graphic where it's more about the story and the drama and the twists of it all. Yeah, that's what I like. Yeah, no, there's a lot of great stuff. Okay. Yeah, yeah. I'll dig into the archives and pull some shit out for you.
00:40:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:55
Speaker
know I know have been talking forever, so I actually wanted to ask you some questions or a question as a palate cleanser. Let's see how this goes. Completely unrelated to our story, but I just really want to know.
00:41:08
Speaker
If you were a serial killer, what do you think would be your calling card? Like to make someone realize that like this is your victim, right? Like what would be your calling card? What would be your your joker?
00:41:22
Speaker
you you You know i don't know how like Joker would always leave a mark. I would leave. zero evidence whatsoever no this is like this is like in a a right i know in an imaginary comic book world where where you're like absolutely insane if i were an actual villain i've got to make it fictional right if i were a villain and not a serial killer i'm sure it would be halloween related but i would be afraid that it would villainize it to kids so maybe i wouldn't that's a good question
00:41:55
Speaker
I mean, the comic book villain version of me would probably leave like a small evil looking jack-o'-lantern that like... Like coins on their eyes. hu Aw, do a little stamp on their forehead. like a little a little Halloween pumpkin stamp.
00:42:10
Speaker
A sticker. That's it. That is exactly what I would do. You slit their throats and then put a sticker on their Yeah, just random Halloween, like a kids looking like an elementary school jack-o'-lantern sticker.
00:42:23
Speaker
like right on their forehead. Oh, that's so sad. I'm an adorable serial killer. That's what they'll call you in the pan I'll say trick or treat.
00:42:34
Speaker
That's our our first episode of the year in the bag. i hope you're still with us. We will see you in two weeks. Yeah. Sweet dreams. Night-night. If you have topic requests, book or movie recommendations, or just want to say hi, email us at nightmarecottage at gmail.com or visit our website at NightmareCottage.com. Sweet dreams!
00:42:56
Speaker
Bye-bye!
00:43:13
Speaker
by bye