02x09 - The Black Monk

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR:

America's top ghost hunters

relive their most extreme

assignments.

Something was hunting me

this whole time.

NARRATOR: Hardened veterans

of the paranormal,

these are the cases

that truly tested them.

I don't think

I was ready for this.

NARRATOR:

In New York, a vengeful spirit

wreaks havoc on a small family.

[ Woman screams ]

KENNA: Both her and her son

in the home

were experiencing all kinds

of terrible, terrifying things.

NARRATOR: In Indiana,

a remote farmhouse

hides a terrible secret.

What probably

frightened me the most

was the eyes peering in at us.

They were evil, as if this thing

had never experienced

kindness before.

NARRATOR:

And in Yorkshire, England,

a residential haunting turns

personal for one investigator.

ESTEP: "Richard Estep."

That has never happened

to me before

in over years

of investigation.

♪♪

NARRATOR: In New York,

a woman is being terrorized

by an aggressive spirit.

♪♪

[ Woman sobbing, man laughing ]

[ Crash ]

Day and night, she's troubled

by sudden violent noises,

and it's not long before her

teenage son is also targeted.

♪♪

Night after night,

he's disturbed

by the sense of a spirit,

waking to find himself

completely alone.

♪♪

His mother

is similarly disturbed,

sleep-deprived and frightened.

♪♪

[ Screaming ]

NARRATOR:

But there is worse to come.

The most terrifying thing for

Rachel was this sexual as*ault

that she was experiencing

at night in her own bed,

and even, she said, during

the day, it would happen.

By no one.

I mean, no one there.

But she would feel as if

she was being sexually abused

and assaulted.

♪♪

NARRATOR:

Jack Kenna is a ghost hunter

and founding member of the

paranormal investigation group

SPIRITS of New England.

♪♪

The three best attributes

for a paranormal investigator

is patience, a clear head,

and the will to keep going

even in the face of adversity.

NARRATOR:

A firm believer in helping

families in spiritual need,

Jack is intrigued when

Rachel reaches out to him.

He thinks the timing of Rachel's

call for help is significant.

Her ex-boyfriend, Matthew,

has recently passed away.

The activity began

shortly after that.

Both her and her son in the home

were experiencing all kinds

of terrible, terrifying things.

NARRATOR: Just how terrifying

Rachel's experiences are

quickly becomes apparent.

Rachel believed she was

being att*cked by Matthew.

He had been abusive

most of his life.

He also had a drinking problem,

so pretty much the whole time,

he was abusive to her.

NARRATOR:

Rachel's obvious torment

prompts Jack to act quickly.

KENNA: These people need help,

and they needed help right away.

You can't wait on this,

so we actually made it

to the client within two weeks.

NARRATOR:

He arrives at the family home

along with his wife and

co-investigator, Eileen Kenna,

and team member Ellen MacNeil.

Amen.

Ellen is immediately fascinated

by the alleged haunting.

What was intriguing

about this investigation

was someone coming back

and continuing

their abusive behavior

towards someone in the house.

NARRATOR:

And sensing Rachel's fear,

Ellen is empathetic.

MacNEIL:

She was terrified.

She did not know

what was going on.

She couldn't explain it.

In her heart, she felt

that Matthew had come back

to continue to dominate her

and to control her

and manipulate her.

NARRATOR:

Jack begins the investigation

by trying to contact the spirit

of Rachel's late boyfriend.

Matthew, are you here?

♪♪

KENNA: We just started asking

some basic questions.

"Is Matthew here?

Why are you here?

Are you trying

to bother Rachel?

Are you the one

that's doing these things?"

And we start getting some

knock responses in the kitchen.

Matthew?

[ Thud ]

We looked around. We couldn't

find any cause for them.

But every time

we brought that up,

we get a couple knocks --

knock, knock --

every time you'd say his name.

Am I communicating

with Matthew?

[ Thud ]

Those knock responses

in response to that question

tell us that it is very likely

Matthew that is there.

Are you the one

doing these things?

[ Thud ]

NARRATOR:

The knocks are quickly followed

by some significant

EMF activity,

which indicate

some strong spirit presence.

We asked, you know,

"Are you here, Matthew?"

And it lit up.

And we said, "Are you

trying to scare Rachel?"

And it lit right up again.

So he was letting us know

that he was still in charge

in the house.

NARRATOR: The volume and

intensity of the EMF readings

make Jack reevaluate the case.

And it's all in this one area

in a very kind of circular

pattern between these two rooms.

The best we could figure out

was going on

is we had a spirit portal

in this area,

that things were coming

and going through it.

NARRATOR:

A portal acts as a doorway

between the human world

and the spirit world.

MacNEIL: As Jack went around

with his divining rods,

he found a very high

energy concentration,

and we felt that

we were dealing with a portal.

I got a hot spot here.

Ellen, get me my medal.

NARRATOR:

Jack uses a Saint Benedict medal

to determine

the portal's location.

And it began swinging,

and that's telling you

that there's energy right there

and there's something

coming out of this.

It can come and go freely,

whatever it wants.

NARRATOR: But although

the Saint Benedict's medal

can tell them there's

a strong spirit presence,

Jack needs more.

KENNA: We decided we need

to try to figure out

what's really happening here.

We can't connect it

to any wiring.

We can't connect it

to any appliances.

It's just in midair and in

a circular pattern on the floor,

about a -foot

circular pattern.

NARRATOR:

The team decides to conduct

an EVP session in the son's room

to find out how many spirits may

have entered through the portal.

MacNEIL: Her son's room

was very uncomfortable,

and we were getting very

different readings in his room,

and I did not like

being in his room.

It was myself,

Eileen, and Ellen,

and we did capture

a couple EVPs down there.

Is there anybody here?

So, the first EVP we got was

the voice of a child saying,

"Please go home now."

You heard that, right?

There was another male voice

that came through saying,

"Threw the X,"

or, "Throw the a*,"

something like that,

but these are all

kind of negative EVPs,

stuff that was

basically telling us

it didn't want us there.

You heard that, right?

You hear Jack's name

mentioned by a male voice.

When you hear something that

doesn't exist say your name,

it freaks you out.

NARRATOR:

In New York, a vengeful spirit

is terrorizing a family.

[ Man laughing evilly ]

KENNA:

Both her and her son in the home

were experiencing all kinds

of terrible, terrifying things.

NARRATOR: But for paranormal

investigator Jack Kenna,

things just got personal.

It's doing something deliberate

to the client.

And it's freaky. It scares you.

You're hearing your voice

on a recorder.

None of us.

It's whoever is or whatever is

targeting our client.

NARRATOR:

The att*ck has turned personal,

and the team is worried.

Deciding to split up

to cover more ground,

Jack heads to Rachel's bedroom.

KENNA:

When I entered Rachel's bedroom,

where most of her

sexual att*cks had happened,

it did have a very dark

kind of atmosphere to it.

It felt heavy, oppressive.

A lot of anxiety. That's what

I felt when I walked in.

And while I'm in there,

I see this dark figure,

looked like a man, move

behind me, in the mirror.

So I turn around, I look,

and there's nobody back there.

None of my investigators

are back there.

I'm the only guy

that's there anyway.

So, I did see this dark shadow

figure move behind me,

which kind of freaked me out

a little bit.

[ Man laughing evilly ]

♪♪

NARRATOR:

It's clear to Jack

that the paranormal activity

is amplifying.

KENNA: You could feel

a change in the home.

You could feel

a shift in the home.

The atmosphere got --

It was heavier.

You felt a lot more anxiety

in the building.

That tells me there's

something starting to happen now

that's more on

a paranormal level.

NARRATOR: Energized

by the spirit's hostility,

Jack and his team

decide to take action.

The investigators need to

cleanse the home of spirits...

Saint Michael

the Archangel!

...and, crucially,

close the portal

to prevent further spirits

from entering.

I did blessing through the home.

I used white sage to sage

the energy out of the home.

Defend us in our battle against

principalities and powers!

I call on the Archangel Michael

and Archangel Azrael

to take these spirits

that are in this home,

move them out,

take Matthew away

because he doesn't need

to be there anymore.

You don't belong here

anymore, Matthew!

You don't belong here!

NARRATOR:

Once the blessing is complete,

Jack sets about

closing the spirit door.

In order to close a portal,

it's just a visual process

of me envisioning, like,

a torn piece of fabric,

and I sew that fabric shut

and close that portal.

You don't belong!

[ Man screaming ]

You don't belong!

[ Man screaming ]

Begone!

[ Man screaming ]

It took a lot of energy

to do it.

You're extremely drained

when that happens,

so that was

physically challenging.

NARRATOR:

Not wanting to take any chances,

Jack also leaves

some spiritual protection

for Rachel and her son.

I also did bring some

Saint Benedict medals with me.

Saint Benedict is an exorcist,

and he has big connections

upstairs.

[ Chuckles ]

Let's put it that way.

NARRATOR: With protection

firmly established,

the investigators head into the

house to check in with Rachel.

You know, we just asked her

how she was feeling,

if she felt better

in the house,

and she said

that it felt lighter.

I haven't felt this good

in a long, long time.

I'm pleased to hear it.

KENNA: We feel great

about helping people.

I mean, this is what

we kind of do it for.

This is our thing.

We learn a lot for ourselves

about the paranormal

in the process,

but we also get the satisfaction

of seeing people's lives

turn around

and go in a positive direction.

Knowing that

you've helped a family

and taken care of what

has been tormenting them,

that's the best feeling

in the world.

NARRATOR: Still to come,

a haunted house in England

has a violent surprise

for one ghost hunter.

I can guarantee you that no

human being broke that mirror.

NARRATOR: But first, a farmhouse

haunting leaves its mark

on a father-daughter

investigative team.

ALAN: The face that she saw,

the figure that she saw,

will impact her

the rest of her life.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Revenant Acres Farm

in Charlottesville, Indiana.

This th-century farmhouse

is set on acres of land,

and its newest owners

have plans to renovate.

[ Screeching, low growl ]

-What was that?

-I don't know.

♪♪

NARRATOR:

As construction gets under way,

workers report strange growls,

doors opening on their own,

and, most disturbingly,

there's evidence

of poltergeist activity...

♪♪

Did you open that?

No.

♪♪

Rick?!

NARRATOR:

...and then possession.

Something just touched me.

Rick? Rick!

Rick! Rick!

Hey, hey, hey! Rick!

What the hell

just happened?

I don't know, man.

Let's just go.

♪♪

NARRATOR:

The reports pique the interest

of paranormal investigator

Anna Tolf.

Anna's education gives her

the edge in ghost hunting.

♪♪

ANNA: I have a degree

in behavior-analysis psychology,

and I really think

those skills transfer

over into

paranormal investigations

because you start tuning

into things they're saying,

things they were feeling,

why were they doing this.

And just the concept

of studying the mind,

I think, goes beyond just life.

NARRATOR: Anna's partner in the

paranormal is her father, Alan.

A former

law-enforcement officer,

he, too, brings a unique

perspective to ghost hunting.

ALAN: I think being

a law-enforcement officer,

in an investigative capacity,

was very beneficial.

Basically, you utilize the same

things I would at a crime scene.

Just translate them to work

in the paranormal

investigation setting.

NARRATOR: Alan and Anna have

a significant operation planned.

For this particular

investigation,

Anna and I made arrangements

with the owner

to spend the night at the farm.

When we first arrived,

it looked like an old farmhouse

that needed a good painting,

and everything changed

once we entered the residence.

And the feeling the minute

you walk through that door

is just an electric charge.

A static charge is, I guess,

the best way to describe it.

There absolutely was

something there with us.

I mean, it was very prevalent.

Chills, goose bumps.

I mean, it's a physical feeling.

%, you know, I mean,

there's something

out of the ordinary there.

NARRATOR:

In Charlottesville, Indiana,

ghost hunters Alan and Anna Tolf

have been called out

to investigate

a possible poltergeist,

but nothing

could have prepared them

for what was to come.

ANNA: We knew going in

that we were going to be

up against something

very evil and malevolent.

NARRATOR:

Anticipating an active evening,

Alan and Anna take steps

to protect themselves.

Our faith plays a large role

in our investigating.

You know, we say a prayer

prior to investigating.

This time, I was worried

that our precautions

wouldn't be enough with

the severity of the activity

going on in the home.

-Are you okay?

-Yeah. Yeah.

NARRATOR:

It quickly becomes clear

that Anna is right

to be worried.

ANNA: We immediately started

experiencing activity,

and it was

an indescribable experience.

Things started to get fuzzy.

Things looked different.

Started perceiving things

differently,

and I know that was,

without a doubt,

the spirits or entities

projecting those things onto us.

NARRATOR:

Nonetheless, the Tolfs begin

setting up their equipment.

ANNA: We put the Mel meter

on the piano bench

because that was where

there had been

previous poltergeist activity.

A Mel meter measures temperature

and EMF frequencies,

and it's thought that,

when a spirit is present,

there can be fluctuations

in the temperature

and a decrease, typically,

as well as an

electromagnetic field.

[ Piano note plays ]

When we first started

the investigation,

we actually heard

a piano key hit.

NARRATOR: Impressed by the early

activity, the Tolfs press on.

♪♪

So we utilized an Andy's Box

for a spirit-box session

and began investigating

in that parlor area.

An Andy's Box is a variation

of a spirit box.

It's more controlled. You can

utilize more tools with it.

And it sweeps through

different frequencies.

I was filming Anna, and she

was holding a K-II Meter.

She was asking questions.

Is there anybody here?

Male voice: Hello.

Anna was asking questions,

"Who are you?"

You would get a "hello,"

a voice come through.

Male voice: Hello.

Ohh. What's your name?

[ Male voice

speaking indistinctly ]

[Bleep]

It turned extremely dark

very quickly.

Very unwelcoming,

very threatening,

vulgar responses like the,

"Get out. Leave.

Get the [bleep] out."

Actually even said our names.

At one point

directly said, "Anna."

And so it became dark

really quick.

NARRATOR:

The sinister communication

starts to take its toll

on the investigators.

ALAN: I start to feel like

I'm sucking into myself,

like, moving away.

I guess it felt like I wasn't

absolutely % comprehending

what was taking place

like I should be,

and I recognized that,

and it was very odd.

And I'd not felt

like that before.

I didn't say anything to Anna.

I continued filming.

And as I looked through

the viewfinder,

at times,

Anna didn't look like Anna,

which was disturbing, as well.

During the session

in the parlor area,

Anna's K-II

was in her right hand,

and it would

spike up to the red.

NARRATOR: Anna, too, is feeling

the effects of the activity.

ANNA: And it was at that time

that I started to feel sick,

got really sharp pains,

like a bad headache,

started to feel dizzy.

Felt like you were

somebody else for a moment.

ALAN: And I had said,

finally, to Anna,

"Look, I'm feeling sick.

We need to step out."

And she's like,

"I feel sick, Dad.

I didn't want to say anything."

So she was trying to gut it out

at that same time.

ANNA: I was getting dizzy.

Things were getting fuzzy.

I did become very frightened

because I could tell

I was starting

to perceive things

differently

than I would naturally,

and that was probably

when I knew, like,

I need to put my guard up.

We need to just take a break

before this goes too far.

[ Gasping ]

Right as it was happening,

I don't even think I realized

how influenced I was.

NARRATOR:

Fearing for their safety,

the investigators decide

to take a break.

We went outside, and everything

just immediately alleviated.

The headache was gone.

I wasn't nauseated anymore.

The pains, the dizziness,

that was gone.

So I felt like

somebody was using me

to communicate in a way

I wasn't familiar with

and in a way

that I'm not used to

in all the other investigations.

NARRATOR: While Anna and Alan

take some time out,

a camera is discreetly

picking up the ongoing activity

back inside the farmhouse.

While we were outside,

the boom mic

captured footsteps

shuffling around, knocks.

NARRATOR:

Once recovered, Alan and Anna

return indoors

to continue their investigation.

At this point

in our investigation,

we relocated to the large

bedroom on the second floor

which basically encompasses the

entire second floor of the home.

NARRATOR: But nothing

could have prepared them

for what happens next.

We went in, and we had

set up a command post

where we were utilizing

a computer to capture the audio

and conducted

a real-time EVP session.

I asked, "Who are you?"

And received the response,

"Reverend. The reverend."

I do not think

it was really a reverend.

I feel it was something

very malevolent

and very dark that was trying

to open us up

and trying to

take advantage of us.

ALAN:

It did, to me, substantiate

there's something --

It's not just residual

or potentially

poltergeist-type activity.

I mean, this is

an intelligent haunting.

♪♪

Who is with us?

♪♪

NARRATOR: And as Anna

starts asking questions,

the responses

become even darker.

I asked who was present with us,

and immediately

"Demon" came through.

NARRATOR:

In Charlottesville, Indiana,

paranormal investigators

Alan and Anna Tolf

are communicating with a spirit,

but they may not like

what the spirit has to say.

ANNA:

Hearing the word "demon"

makes me feel

extremely threatened.

I think it's something

to be taken very seriously.

As we were conducting

the spirit-box session

in this bedroom, you could feel

the energy building.

It was kind of like

before a thunderstorm

right to where you're gonna

get struck by lightning.

I mean, you know

something's coming.

I believe we felt that way

because there was something

on the landing that

didn't want us in that room.

-Why are you here?

-What do you want?

ALAN:

Anna was having the sensation

of her hair being tugged,

poked, touched.

ANNA:

I actually had my hair tugged.

A couple times were poked.

Felt like something

had scratched over my leg.

I know whatever was there

wanted me to know it was there,

and it did so physically.

NARRATOR:

Terrified, the investigators

turn towards the stairway.

I started to see something

come up the stairs,

and it actually happened

really fast,

but it felt like forever,

but I see a figure

outside of the doorway.

I mean, it'll be

in my brain forever,

but the only way

to really describe it in words

was a very tall, hooded figure.

It had glowing eyes.

Its face was extremely dark.

And it was looking

in the doorway at us.

I was extremely panicked.

I had never seen something

so vividly and so clear

and staring at me

with glowing eyes.

I had never seen such a thing.

ALAN: Anna described

that there was this

hooded figure hunched over.

It was an -foot doorway

that it's hunched over,

kind of looking in at us.

Anna, you know,

was very descriptive

as to what she had saw,

very, very adamant.

Very upset, very frightened.

What probably

frightened me the most

was the eyes peering in at us.

They were evil, as if this thing

had never experienced

kindness before.

ALAN:

The DVR footage % aligns

with Anna's response

at the time or reaction

to what she had saw

in the doorway,

and I believe that to be

what Anna saw.

NARRATOR: Based on the evidence

collected that night,

Alan has a theory.

ALAN:

What Anna had observed

and what we captured

with the DVR

is what I believe to be a demon

that resides in that location.

No nice spirit

would present itself

in the fashion that this thing

presented itself.

I feel like it was allowing me

to see it as a warning,

and I feel like it was

warning me to tread lightly,

to be cautious, and that

he didn't want us there.

♪♪

So it took quite some time

for Dad to calm me down.

I was worked up, overwhelmed,

and emotions that you don't

even know how to describe.

I felt emotions

I'd never felt before.

Just in awe, scared,

frightened, panicked.

It still makes me afraid

to think of it today.

[ Gasping ]

NARRATOR: Alan decides

it's time to call it a night.

ALAN: Anna was shook.

We were both mentally exhausted

and physically worn out.

I feel that if we stayed,

something terrible

could have happened.

We could have experienced

a possession

or some type of harm to us.

NARRATOR:

The investigation is closed,

and the demon, for now,

remains dormant,

but for Anna, the memory

of that night is still vivid.

To this day --

and, again, after hundreds

of investigations --

for Anna, this is still

the most frightening thing

she's ever seen,

and to this day,

it impacts her, absolutely.

The face that she saw,

the figure that she saw

will impact her

the rest of her life.

♪♪

NARRATOR:

Ghost hunting is a test

of both strength and spirit,

pushing investigators

to their very limits,

but sometimes

the promise of a haunting

is too intriguing to turn down.

The Black Monk case

is probably the world's

most violent poltergeist case

on record,

and it was an offer

I couldn't refuse.

♪♪

NARRATOR:

Pontefract, Yorkshire.

A quiet market town

in the rural north of England.

Here, in a peaceful

residential neighborhood,

stands a house that is said

to be among the most haunted

in Britain.

The home first begins

exhibiting signs

of the paranormal

in the late s.

♪♪

Taps excrete

mysterious green slime.

Cupboard doors

open and close themselves.

Then the activity escalates.

♪♪

The family's young daughter,

returning home from school

one day,

is violently att*cked

by a shadowy, hooded figure...

[ Screams ]

...and is dragged

up the stairs.

[ Screaming ]

It's local legend that a monk

was said to have molested

a young girl, m*rder*d her,

and, when he was caught,

was ex*cuted by the public

and his body thrown down a well.

NARRATOR:

In Yorkshire, England,

folklore tells of a black monk

terrorizing a family home,

and ghost hunters to this day

are captivated by the rumors.

It's local legend that a monk

was said to have molested

a young girl, m*rder*d her,

and, when he was caught,

was ex*cuted by the public,

and his body thrown down a well.

NARRATOR: Richard Estep has been

a paranormal investigator

for over years.

His motives are unambiguous.

The big reward for being

a paranormal investigator

is trying to chase down

that most fascinating

of all questions --

what happens to us

after we die, if anything?

NARRATOR: A native Englander,

Richard has long been fascinated

by the tale

of the so-called Black Monk.

The Black Monk case

is probably the world's

most violent poltergeist case

on record,

and it made international news

back in the 's

when a small family

were terrorized by this entity.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Such is the notoriety

of the case

that a horror film

based on the story is made,

and its producer, Bil Bungay,

buys the infamous home.

ESTEP: Bil had heard that

the house was still haunted

by this entity called Fred, who

had been labeled the Black Monk,

and I think he took it

with a grain of salt at first.

But as he was around the place

and letting friends stay,

he would start to get report

after report after report

of strange occurrences --

footsteps, voices,

bizarre smells.

And then, finally, one night,

Bil was out in the garden.

There are two metal gates

that protect the driveway.

Bil made sure

that he closed the gates

and put a fairly heavy brick

behind them to keep them closed.

NARRATOR: Moments later,

when Bil looks at the gate,

he sees that the heavy brick

has been moved,

and the gate has been opened.

ESTEP:

That's when Bil became convinced

that there was some kind

of paranormal force at work

at the Black Monk house.

NARRATOR: Unnerved by

the unusual activity,

Bil agrees to open up his house

to paranormal investigators,

Richard Estep among them.

So I reached out to Bil,

and I said,

"I would love to visit

the Black Monk house,

but I don't think I could fly

all the way from

the United States

to Britain for just a night,"

and he said,

"Well, I'll give you the keys

for a week. How about that?"

And it was an offer

I couldn't refuse.

NARRATOR: Richard assembles

a team and flies to England

to begin an investigation.

He is accompanied

by fellow ghost hunters

Charlie Stiffler

and Jason Fellon.

FELLON: I felt excited,

going into the house,

because I've heard many stories

about what's going on there,

and it's the first time I'm

actually gonna be investigating

a house and a haunting

outside of the United States.

NARRATOR: The investigators

are immediately struck

by the surprising normality

of the location.

ESTEP: Now, the atmosphere

itself, on my first visit there,

was not particularly

ominous or menacing.

I'm not very sensitive anyway,

but it felt fine to me,

at least that first day.

Didn't feel unusual at all.

NARRATOR: Bil's behavior,

by contrast, is puzzling.

ESTEP: As Bil walked in,

he was extremely wary,

like a cat on a hot tin roof,

and he made a point of saying

hi to Fred, the entity, first.

NARRATOR:

Fred is the nickname

that Bil has given

to the spirit of the Black Monk.

-You fellows must be hungry.

-Sounds great.

NARRATOR: Bil offers to

take the team for lunch,

but ever the

paranormal investigator,

Richard leaves a discreet

piece of equipment behind.

ESTEP: I was really concerned

about missing anything

while we were gone,

so without telling anybody else,

I took out

a digital voice recorder.

I started it running, and that

way, if anything happened

when we were out,

I'd have a record of it.

NARRATOR: And Richard's

precautions seem to pay off.

ESTEP: We came back.

Bil is first inside the house.

I'm the second.

He walked into the main hallway

at the bottom of the staircase

and stopped dead in his tracks.

Looking over his shoulder,

what I could see

was the big mirror

that hung on the wall

at the foot of the stairs

is now laying on the ground,

and it's smashed.

♪♪

The feeling, when we saw

that mirror, was pure amazement.

It was like, "Wow. Something

has already happened.

We haven't even really started

the investigation yet."

I mean, a mirror cracking

is pretty significant

for a paranormal investigator.

Being, like, thrown to the floor

and breaking into pieces

is even better.

So what we ended up doing

is trying to figure out

how this happened.

ESTEP: I pulled my voice

recorder and threw on

a set of headphones,

and I started listening

to the audio feed,

and I'm waiting to hear

the sound of stealthy footsteps

making their way towards

the bottom of the staircase,

where they would

break the mirror,

and there was nothing on

that audio recording at all.

I can hear the mirror

smashing.

With the audio soundtrack

that I have,

I can guarantee you that no

human being broke that mirror.

My suspicion

is that that was a,

"Welcome to the

Black Monk house.

Get ready for a wild ride."

NARRATOR: In light

of the heightened activity,

the team decides to conduct

an electronic voice phenomena,

or EVP, session

to try to collect

audio evidence of the spirit.

We start asking some

of the more generic

and basic questions.

"Are there any entities here

that would like to communicate

with us,

and, if so, what's your name?

What can you tell us

about yourself?"

Are there any entities

in this house?

I was a little taken aback

when I heard my name

come through that device.

"Richard Estep."

That has never happened

to me before

in over years

of investigation.

NARRATOR: In Yorkshire, England,

ghost hunter Richard Estep

is in pursuit

of an infamous spirit

known only as the Black Monk,

but as the investigation

gets heated,

it's unclear

who is hunting whom.

ESTEP:

Could you repeat that please?

FELLON: Richard was amazed when

he heard his name on the box.

He said,

"Did that just say my name?"

We rewound the recording,

and there it was again,

in the recording --

"Richard Estep."

NARRATOR:

A self-professed skeptic,

Richard replays the audio

again and again,

but there is no mistake.

We're all wired to want

to see patterns in things

that are otherwise meaningless,

so I played this back

over and over again.

Did this box really say

"Richard Estep"?

I believe that it did.

The entire experience,

from beginning to end,

was a constant awareness

that this house made me uneasy.

NARRATOR: With communication

firmly established,

Richard decides to invite

a local paranormal enthusiast

to help with the investigation.

This is the infamous

Black Monk house.

ESTEP:

We are joined by Leslie,

who's a relatively new

paranormal investigator.

We decide we'll conduct

a few EVP sessions,

but as we come in

through the front door,

there's something different

about the atmosphere

at the Black Monk house.

Even I can sense it.

ESTEP: The heavy atmosphere

begins to have

an adverse effect

on the investigators.

ESTEP:

Leslie says, "I'm sorry. I've

got to run to the bathroom."

She feels nauseous,

and she runs to the bathroom,

having been in the house for

no more than or minutes,

and throws up in the toilet.

FELLON: Ghosts can make you sick

in numerous ways.

They can affect

your psychological being

and your physical being.

You can get upset stomach

from high EMF fields.

You can get headaches

from high EMF fields.

NARRATOR: The spirit's ability

to appear and disappear

seemingly at will leaves Richard

to come up with a theory

that he may not be dealing with

just one spirit, but several.

I've had a number

of people claim

that there is a portal

in the house

and that the place is

a kind of psychic way station

where entities can come and go

as they please.

NARRATOR:

If the house is indeed a portal,

this would mean

that all kinds of spirits

could enter,

both good and bad.

ESTEP:

Some entities are very friendly.

Others are downright vicious.

You have a whole host

of spirits,

and I think,

on this particular night,

whoever was with us

or whatever was with us

was not one of

the friendlier variety.

NARRATOR:

Richard decides, once again,

to test the level of spirit

activity of the house.

Leslie and I were

sitting on the stairs,

conducting an EVP session,

and heard a small clattering

noise from downstairs.

When we walked

into the living room,

we discovered that my cellphone,

which I had left on top

of a small table,

had slid a good foot

across the table.

It had been physically pushed

across the surface of the table.

There was no way

that could have happened.

These things don't just slide

across flat surfaces.

NARRATOR: Then the activity

starts to heighten.

What is that?

We keep seeing flashes of light

coming through those doors,

and they seem to be coming

from a very similar location,

and they're fairly low down,

close to the floor.

FELLON: They started seeing

little pulses of light

coming from the kitchen

and the dining-room area.

These were quick little pulses,

like a half-second in length.

My first thought is, "Well,

this is probably car headlights

coming through

the kitchen windows,"

except, when I go outside

to look, I see the flashes,

and there are no cars

on the road outside.

The phenomena was intermittent.

Just as we would get up

to go investigate,

we'd see the flash

always in the same spot,

and it's only when I started

combing through the reports

of the hundreds

and hundreds of visitors

to the Black Monk house

that I discover

we're not the only ones

to have seen flashes of light

coming from the kitchen.

To this day, their source

remains unidentified.

NARRATOR: Encouraged by

the continuing activity,

the team decides to keep

investigating through the night.

This is very strange.

STIFFLER: No!

Someone's grabbing me!

NARRATOR:

But this might prove to be

a grave error of judgment.

We heard Charlie say,

"Somebody's grabbing my legs.

I can't move. Somebody is

grabbing the back of my legs."

He was standing

right at the sink,

where a number of visitors

to the house

have reported odd experiences.

He said he felt as if

somebody were very plainly

holding his ankles

and trying to trip him up,

as though a pair of hands

were holding him at the back.

[ Screams, groans ]

And then Charlie said

that his back was burning up.

My back, it --

it's burning up.

Well, what we did is,

we lifted up his shirt,

and there they were.

There was three scratches

on his back.

They were very intense,

well-defined,

and, to me,

pretty intimidating.

Oh, my God.

My back, it's burning up.

I said, "Charlie, man,

you've been scratched."

He said,

"My back is burning up."

And so we broke out

the thermal camera,

could see these very hot,

angry-looking red scratches

getting more and more inflamed

in front of our eyes.

There they were,

three scratches on his back.

They were very defined, and you

could see them from a distance.

It was nothing

you had to search for.

They were right there

in your face when you

lifted up his shirt.

It's getting worse.

I reached back as far

as I could with my hand,

as high as I could, to try to

get into the general vicinity

of where his scratches were,

and I couldn't come close,

so that made me believe

that they were really something

that formed paranormally.

It was almost

as though the scratches

were raised

from the inside out.

It happened in real time,

and we all encountered this.

He said he felt as though

his back were burning,

and this is something

that I've seen commonly

with paranormal scratches.

You don't feel the sharp pain,

let's say, that an animal

scratched you with claws.

You would tend to feel a sharp

pain moving across your back.

NARRATOR:

Unnerved by the aggressive twist

the investigation has taken,

Richard decides it's time to get

the team out of the house.

No, I'm good.

No, no. I'm calling it off.

Come on. We're out.

♪♪

ESTEP: Well, now things

are turning violent,

and this is a location

which has a reputation

as a violent haunting.

Charlie was actually

fairly shaken up about it.

Being in the situation

after the scratching occurred,

it seemed like

maybe the monk or Fred

wanted us to vacate

the premises.

He was trying to show us

that this was his turf

and we weren't welcome there.

We have to walk a very fine line

between being cautious,

between trying to be safe,

and yet also being willing

to push the envelope

a little bit in order

to get some results.

We got on something's nerves

in that house,

and Charlie paid the price.

NARRATOR:

As the team pack up their gear

and prepare to head back

to the US,

Jason is pragmatic about the

events that occurred in England.

FELLON: One of the key findings

we have from the investigation

is, "Be careful

what you're asking for

when you go into the house

there in Pontefract

because you might just get it."

NARRATOR: But for Richard,

the Pontefract investigation

has been a much more

personal experience.

ESTEP: This was one of my

bucket-list locations.

I've wanted to investigate the

Black Monk of Pontefract case

since I was a young boy,

and I feel that my visit there

was just a small part

in a much larger story

that's unfolding to this day

as we speak.

There is a long stream

of paranormal investigators

who are coming in and out

of the Black Monk house,

and each one is adding

their own experience,

their own chapter, to this tale,

and the end of that story

has not been written yet.

When that door closed behind me,

I turned back

to look at the house,

and I thought to myself,

"We're not done yet.

I'll see you again."

Fred and I have

unfinished business.