Episode 724: The Hinsdale House Haunting | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid. [music] This is morbid. It's very dreary today.
It's a very fall gloomy day and I love it. Oh yeah, it's gloomalicious. Yesterday was even more fall.
>> Yeah, yesterday was like super duper fall. And then the day before that I was
driving around at night and I was like, "Oh, this it looked like the '9s outside. It looked like '9s fall to me."
>> I love when it looks like the '9s. >> Yesterday to me looked like the '9s. >> Yeah, I agree. And you know what? Even
today looks a little bit like the '9s. >> It does look a little like the '9s. I I
just long for a simpler time. >> Yeah, I have that word that we looked up like probably a couple days ago that I
don't remember, but I have it. >> That's true. We do. We have that. >> We have the nostalgia.
>> That and I just >> Yeah, you have just regular nostalgia. >> Sadness for the time that I can't. It
started with an A. You're probably yelling it at me. >> Yeah. I don't feel like looking it up
right now. Uh we're tired. Like >> Yeah, it's been a tiring week. >> Yeah, >> we we always have, you know, something
going on. >> There's always somebody in the hospital. >> There's always somebody in the hospital.
>> Everything's fine. >> It's always my mom. >> Uh [laughter] she's okay. She's fine.
>> She's okay. She's >> She had the penomi. Yeah, she had pneumonia, which is not great to get
when you're like almost 80. >> No, it was freaking me out because Ma is Diane Katon. Diane Katon and Ma are the
same person, I think. Like they look so of each other a lot. >> So when Ma got diagnosed with pneumonia,
I was like really beside myself for a minute there. >> Yeah, she was in the hospital for over a
week. So it's been >> it's been a lot, but things are good now. >> She's doing better. She's home.
>> Trying to get her on the on the road to recovery >> on the up and up. >> But I'm going to make her some pastina.
you know. Yeah. Let me tell you, I don't know if we've mentioned this. I'm sure we have.
>> People want my recipe. >> Okay, I'm going to say it again for the for everybody in the back.
>> Tell them. >> I fully believe that [laughter] Ash has magical pastina that can cure what ails
you because Thank you. >> I have this [ __ ] make me this pastina. I don't even have her do it. She just
says, "You want my pasta?" It's I know when somebody requires I said it to your one of your kids today and her eyes
she's like she isn't feeling well. Her eyes lit up and she was like she nodded emphatically.
>> Yeah. Like one of my kids has like just one of those small little like you know
uh cold and flu season viruses. Like she's completely fine. I think [clears throat] it was just like dry.
>> Yeah. Literally. It's probably allergies to [laughter] be honest. But you know
everybody needs a little health day. Yeah. >> Uh so she was home and Ash told her she
would make the pastina and she was like yes. It's like [laughter] hell yeah. >> It cured my co I it was the only thing I
would eat after neurovirus. Like >> it's a it's it's a delicacy. >> Thank you. >> It's a delicacy
>> cuz I stragana. >> It's true. I love that pastina. >> I'm just like a I'm I posted it the
other day. I don't know if you saw it. I think I'm a kitchen witch. >> I think you are too.
>> You know how everybody's like a certain kind of witch. I'm a kitchen witch. >> I think you are. And that pastino alone.
>> Thank you. Well, and I like to do like simmer pots and like that kind of thing,
you know? No, I think you are. >> Thanks. I'm going to make an apple crisp today, too. I got to Let's record this
because I got to get baking. >> I know. I want to get bacon, too, cuz I got to make I haven't made my pumpkin
loaf this year yet, and I always make one. >> Please make that today. >> Yeah. And I know Ma likes that, too, Mom
and Peppa. So, >> I will trade you pastina for pumpkin loaf. >> Oh, yeah. I will do that.
>> We will trade the pea dishes. >> And today is the It's the day before Halloween.
>> Yeah. And I have been trying to make a super spooky lunch for the girls every
single day this week. >> Like over the top spooky. >> What did you do today? >> I was running out of ideas, but I I
really hit it out of the park today, I think. >> Let's say what you already did first.
>> So, let's see. So, for on Monday, >> mummy pizza. >> I did um an everything bagel, but I made
it like a pizza bagel, but I made it look like mummies. >> That was cool. >> I should post pictures of these cuz
they're real cute. >> Yeah. This [ __ ] is easy to do. >> This [ __ ] is giving Pinterest bomb, but
she's the [laughter] gothiest goth. >> I just I like to wake up early, so I that's when I do it.
>> Yeah. >> Uh cuz like I just I don't know. It's fun. >> Then you did Frankenstein wraps.
>> I did Frankenstein wraps, which was just a spinach wrap, and I put hummus, cucumbers,
uh carrot, like matchick carrots, apples, >> and like a little bit of uh like spinach
in there. >> Yummy. Uh, and I did like garlic hummus because they love that. And I just
wrapped it up like a burrito. And then I took a food marker that I got on Amazon.
You can get them. >> Get them. And I drew Frankenstein on it cuz it was green. I can only imagine all
the moms out there listening to this right now like, "Yeah, Lena, my [ __ ] kid's not going to eat matchstick
carrots, red peppers, apple slices, and garlic hummus." >> Let me before before I come off as like,
"My children will eat that. They will eat that." But let me tell you, [laughter] anything else, it's been a
like one of my kids is not picky at all. >> She will eat anything. She will try anything. She'll tell you if she doesn't
like it, but she will always try it. And she's pretty open with [ __ ] >> My other one, 50/50.
>> Sometimes she's going to try it, sometimes she's not, sometimes she likes it, sometimes she doesn't. She's she's
the one you don't really know, but you have a shot. >> It's a toss up. My youngest,
>> nothing >> is in the pickiest phase I have ever been through. >> And her favorite thing to do right now
is to tell you something you make looks something you made looks disgusting. >> Yeah. And or and she'll try to she'll
try to like uh like kind of couch it. She'll be like, "Oh, it looks disgusting, but maybe it tastes good."
[laughter] And I'm like, "That's an awful thing to say." >> She told me my apple crisp looked and
she literally goes, "That looks disgusting." >> And then she loved it. And then she
loved it. And she says it. She's like, "It looks gross, but [laughter] it tastes really good." She says that about
my sweet potato stretch. >> Damn girl. >> But yeah, so it's that for some reason
that that wrap the it happens to have a mix of things that they will all they all do love cucumbers and carrots.
>> There you go. >> And they love a hot peppers >> and they love apples. >> These Mediterranean queens.
>> I love a Mediterranean food. So in their blood >> at loving a Mediterranean food.
>> It's so good. It feels good to eat. American [ __ ] I also want >> I love fried food and McDonald's.
>> I like a lot of [ __ ] [laughter] but I like healthy stuff, too. >> Yeah, but it's honest. So, just so you
know that I'm not being like, "Oh, my kids will eat vegetables all the time, and they will eat everything." No, they
constantly won't eat things. >> What did you do? >> That just happens to work. >> What did you do today?
>> So, today I did um pizza skulls. So, I had a skull mold that I got from Michaels,
>> as one does. >> Uh, and it's like a little silicone mold of like skulls. >> And I used crescent rolls.
>> Mhm. >> As the dough, and I put them in there. Yeah. >> Very easy. Took me five minutes.
>> I took Hunts tomato sauce or no, I put mozzarella cheese in there. >> Yep. >> Cuz you just like put them in the skull
thing. But leave enough room around it where you can like cover it up >> cuz it'll like it'll pop out a little
bit. So, you put the mozzarella cheese in there and then you put a little bit of Hunts tomato sauce or whatever tomato
sauce you like. I just like Hunts. >> Hunts is correct. >> Put a little more of the mozzarella on
top. And then you just close it up. Pinch it around. Make sure it's all closed up.
>> And you just bake the crust 350 20 something minutes in the oven. And then I took like an extra step cuz we happen
to have extra time this morning. You can just do it like that and it's perfect. They like it gets like golden brown and
then when they bite into it, it's like a little crisp. It's very yummy. >> And then you get you get the mozzarella
pull. >> The mozzarella pull. And so today I did I melted a little butter in a bowl. And
then I just put some Parmesan cheese and some garlic. >> Made a little garlic butter and I just
kind of brushed it on top. >> You're just the most casual [ __ ] >> Today for you I've [laughter] created a
garlic spray. >> Took like no time. >> It really doesn't. It really did. the fanciest things like I mean some fancy
things obviously take a long time but like sometimes you'll be like people be like oh my god I can't believe you
whipped that up and it's like genuinely did like >> it's not it's not >> and I heard about this one on like Tik
Tok and I all the moms that I saw do it were like this literally takes 5 minutes.
>> Yeah. >> Like you're just using jar tomato sauce and mozzarella that's already shredded.
>> Here's my secret. When I make my pasta sauce, my Sunday sauce Oh yeah. >> It's just h tomato sauce that I like
spice up. >> Yeah. You put a little put an onion in there. >> Put an onion. I do a bunch of garlic. I
put some wine sometimes. >> Wine and tomato sauce is really good. >> Yeah, you got to. But then you have to
cook it so much longer. I get so scared it burns off. >> Yeah. >> But yeah, that's I mean that's it. I
have no I did say I really I back I really painted myself into a corner. >> Why?
>> Cuz um I told them I was really going to knock it out of the park with breakfast
tomorrow morning for Halloween. So I really got to come up with something fancy for that.
>> Go on TikTok. >> Yeah, I'll figure something out. And then I also kind of used up all my
lunches. [laughter] So I'm like I got to figure out what to do. >> You can make make cinnamon buns, dye the
frosting black. >> Oh. >> And then put something as the little legs. >> Oh, there you go.
>> And you could put the weird eyeballs on them and they could be like giant spiders.
>> Yeah, cuz honestly your best friend during Halloween with kids is to get a little jar of those candy eyeballs. Like
just the white ones and they're different sizes. You can put them on everything. Mhm.
>> Put them on brownies. Put them on cupcakes. I put them on the pizza. >> Yeah.
>> I'll post that pizza, the little pizza bagel cuz it was real cute. I was adorable. Stick it out of the wrapping
so it looked like a little mummy. >> I loved it. >> It's so much fun. I'm trying to think
what else you could do tomorrow. Oh, you could make breakfast sausages and use crescent dough to make mummies again.
>> Oh, yeah. That's a good one. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I think this is the Food Network.
Now, >> I'm also going to set it up. That that's [laughter] also my uh my little tip to
you is anytime you can do it like at night, like set it up at night >> the best.
>> So you can just throw it in the oven or you can like heat it up. That's what I've learned for me works really well.
>> You got to plan ahead. >> Yeah, it's all trial and error. >> And that was our Food Network segment.
>> It is. So I'll post those pictures. >> I can't wait for Halloween. I'm excited
>> cuz it was really easy. >> Yeah. And it was super cute. >> Oh yeah. And um Drew and Ash are going
to be Blanch and Sydney for Halloween. [laughter] The kids have no idea. We always try to
be something like that the kids will think is funny cuz like what's the point otherwise? And we always go
trick-or-treating, too. >> Hell yeah. >> Like we don't go to the door and everything. Let me let me be clear.
>> We partake. [laughter] >> I'm like trickor treat. >> Imagine my my grown half showing up at
your doorstep >> as a dog. Trick or [laughter] treat. They'd be like, "Are you okay?" I love
it. But yeah, we're going to be Blanch and Sid. And I'm excited to see the kids' reactions.
>> Yeah. And John and I are finally going to be Jack and Sally. The girls have been wanting us to be Jack and Sally. So
that always makes me want to sing Blink 182 at you. >> I know it's true. >> Jack
on Christmas. >> We could go forever. >> Oh, great. All right. Well, spooky season isn't over yet. Queens and kings
and >> Yeah, cuz you know >> it's almost over. But >> which hurts me deeply to my core.
>> Halloween is almost over. Spooky season isn't. Yeah, spooky season November very
state of mind. >> Yeah, >> November is spooky. I think it's pretty [ __ ] spooky.
>> Yeah, it is almost. >> But because um spooky season is not over yet, we have a haunting for you today.
>> A haunting. >> We're going to talk about the Hansdale house haunting. >> The Hansdale house, you say?
>> Yeah. It's like close to our neck of the woods. It's in New York. >> Oh [ __ ]
>> Upstate. >> Oh, damn. >> So, we're going to talk about the Hinsdale family, which all starts with
Clara and Phil Dandy. >> All right. Dandy. Did I say we're going to talk about the Hinsdale family?
>> I think just the house. >> Okay. Hopefully I just said the house. [laughter] Let me say that cuz they're
not the Hinsdale family. It's just the Hinsdale house. >> I think you said the house.
>> Okay. Well, you can leave that in. And listener, you tell me what I said. So,
when Clara Miller met Phil Dandy in 1954, he was just getting out of the military and he was working at the local
grocery store in Buffalo, New York. >> Phil Dandy. >> We I know Phil Dandy sounds so much like
um Phil Don. >> Thank you. [laughter] I kept wanting to say Dundy. >> Dundy. >> The coffee hasn't hit, honey. So, Phil
had grown up in rural Kentucky and after he got out of the service, he decided to, you know, give Buffalo a try instead
of going back to Kentucky where he probably would have spent the rest of his life working in the coal mines,
which wasn't super desirable in his opinion. >> Black lung pop. >> Yeah, I think I have the black lung.
[cough and clears throat] So Clara said she was immediately drawn to Phil's soft southern accent, but she
admitted as a staccato talking buffalonian, I was impatient with a slow draw. I don't even know if she sounds
like that, but she does in my head. >> So before long, they were seeing each other most nights a week. And by July
1955, they were married. A year later, she had their first child, Mike, who was followed by Beth in 1957, Laura in 1960,
and the baby Mary in 1962. So they got a lot of kids. >> They got a lot of kids. Now the first
year or so of their marriage was very happy but things started to get rocky as you know more kids came into the picture
and life challenges arise and you know all that. So in retrospect Clara felt like the differences in their
upbringings and their personalities were a lot more consequential than she wanted
to accept when it was like when they were in the thick of it. >> Yeah. It becomes more pronounced.
>> Yeah. Well and looking back you're like oh now I can I can see clearly what happened.
>> So she said I was a devout Roman Catholic. I attended a Catholic grammar school and a Catholic academy and Phil
had no real religion at all, which like those are big differences, you know. >> Yeah. I mean, yeah.
>> Yeah, they can be. So, Phil's time in the military and living outside of Buffalo, he had I was going to say gave
him and then I just said I like switched my thing, so I said, [laughter] >> it gave him like a wider take on the
world that Clara didn't have or he didn't feel she had. So, they just had simple differences.
>> Yeah. Clara said, "I was a convent educated prude while he was a freewilling product of an entirely
different upbringing. Our relationship suffered from the clash of cultures and backgrounds."
>> Oh, that's sad. >> Which could happen. >> Having kids together definitely helped
keep them on the same page, though, and looking toward the same goals. And in 1963, though, Clara gave birth to their
last child, who was unfortunately still born. >> Oh. >> So, that really only led to the tensions
in their marriage coming back. >> Oh, that's terrible. >> Yeah. That's if you're already having
problems and then you go through something so traumatic like that. >> That's really sad.
>> That's going to be really tough. >> Yeah, >> it's tough no matter what. I can't
imagine. >> I can't even fathom that. >> So, eventually Clara was like, "We've drifted way far farther apart than I
ever even thought." >> So, to try to get some good vibes going again, she was like, "You know what? Why
don't we take a little like family vacation together? I think we need some, you know, slow down, reconnect, change
of scenery time." So, by that point, it was 1967 and some friends of theirs had actually just bought a small cabin near
Alageney State Park in upstate New York. And they were nice enough to offer it up
to the Dandies to enjoy whenever they weren't there. >> Yeah. If we're not there, Dandies, go
enjoy the Dandy Cabin. >> Hell yeah. >> So, just as Clara hoped, the time spent together on this, you know, quiet, cozy
trip, it actually did wonders for her relationship with Phil. >> And in time, it started to feel like
their marriage was, you know, spiced back up again, like how it was in the early days. The kids also seemed to
thrive in the more relaxed atmosphere and you know it was the mountains up there so there was a ton for them to do
and explore and when it came time to head home to the city everybody was actually pretty disappointed to be going
home and like leaving the you know the nature behind. >> So in the three years that followed the
Dandy family pretty much spent all of their vacations in upstate New York and every time they they would go it became
clearer and clearer that they were all much happier when they were away. I was going to [clears throat] say it feels
like there's a common denominator here. >> Yeah. So, finally in 1970 they decided
that even though they both had jobs in Buffalo, it would do the family a world of good to get out of the city. And so,
they were like, "Let's find a house in the country. We can enjoy a slower pace. Let's do this. Like, we're we're
committing." >> That's very selfless of them. It is. >> They already had jobs. They were already
like really That's not easy to do. No. >> To just pick up and leave. >> But they saw like, you know what, this
will be so good for our family. It's good for the gander. >> Let's figure it out. It's the greater
good. >> Yeah. >> So, they hired a realtor and they started looking at houses in the western
New York area. >> At the time, like we were just saying, they both had reliable, pretty
well-paying jobs in Buffalo. But if they moved to a more rural part of the state,
one of them was going to have to quit their jobs to stay home with the kids. You can't just like leave your kids in a
cabin in the country. >> Why not? >> Uh, so many reasons. >> Okay, [laughter] >> I'll trust you.
>> Okay, >> I'll take your word for that. No, since Clara obviously made less money than
Phil because we hate wage gaps, um that person was going to be Clara. >> Yeah. >> Living on only one income limited their
options obviously for housing to a degree. But to their surprise, once they got far enough outside of the city,
housing prices obviously dropped significantly. >> Yeah. >> So ultimately, they determined that they
could afford a house price a little under $6,000, >> which today would today would be about
$50,000. Holy [ __ ] And then I wrote in my notes, "Inflation is really a [ __ ]
huh?" The bitchiest of [ __ ] When I read, "Holy [ __ ] they could afford a house a little under $6,000." I was
like, "What the [ __ ] are you going to get?" >> Yeah. Today it would be under $50,000.
It's not a thing anymore, >> but like that was that was a thing. >> People used to buy houses for like
$3,000 and they'd be like sick ass like cape houses. >> Damn. >> Yeah. Life is tough these days.
>> [ __ ] I mean, yeah, sure. So, back then, their budget didn't seem like much, but
the Dandes realtor had the perfect place in mind, and the small town of Hinsdale,
about an hour outside of Buffalo. Clara remembered, "When we saw the house, I can't really describe the feeling we had
because it was so peaceful and the air was like breathing in champagne." >> Wow.
>> I was like, I think that would be lovely. >> What a what a way to describe that.
>> I think it's just like saying that the air is crisp, but in the most poetic of
ways. It is because my like blunt ass was just like that's a good way to aspirate. [laughter]
I was like that that feels uncomfortable. >> Don't breathe in the bubbles. >> Don't breathe in the champagne.
[laughter] I think she meant like the smell of champagne. >> Yeah, that poetically that makes a lot
more sense. >> Crispy Elena. Okay, so the house was over a hundred years old and it
definitely needed some repairs, but it was big enough for their large family. It was in it was in their budget and
more importantly it was exactly the kind of rural environment that they had all envisioned. Hell yeah. Looking back,
their son Mike Dandy said he remembered having similar feelings. He said, "I was
very much into wildlife, so this was just perfect for me. It was where I wanted to be. So everybody's happy.
[music] Uh, the house was situated on 8 acres of land with the nearest house about a half
a mile away. And it was like a typical 19th century American farmhouse. It's beautiful if you look it up.
>> I was just looking it up. It really is. >> Yeah, it's gorge. The top floor had a
large bedroom, a bathroom, a large closet. So, that would be Phil and Clara's area of the house. And
downstairs were the remaining bedrooms, a living room, and a nice large kitchen.
The only thing that Phil and Clara hadn't expected was the crawl space underneath the stairs.
>> Oh. >> Clara had always lived in, you know, modern homes that had attics. So, she
had never seen a crawl space, and she really didn't like it. >> Yeah. >> She said it gave her a funny feeling.
>> And the other strange thing was that inside the crawl space, there was a brick fireplace and a chimney that like
seemed to go up into the staircase above. >> So, it's like very strange. Yeah. >> Crawl houses, I think, are very like
obviously New York isn't New England, but >> Yeah. >> It's like a very New Englandish vibe.
>> Yeah. >> You know what I mean? >> Yeah. >> So, the Dandy family moved into the
house on July 18th, 1970, and Clara's parents and her younger brother, Gordon, was there to help. That morning, Gordon,
her brother, got ahead of the moving truck. He just had like some small items packed up in his car. And when he got to
the house and went inside, he was horrified to find that almost every room in the house was swarming with bees.
Just bees. Like there were so many bees that you couldn't even see out the windows. He said bees on bees on bees.
That'd be scary. That'd be terrifying. >> Yeah. And in the handful of times that
they had visited the house between the first time they saw it and moving day, Clara said she couldn't remember seeing
a single bee in the area. But now the house was like infested with them. >> I hate that a lot.
>> It's just very random and really gross on like >> I don't like that at all. And also on a
side note, I was looking at the house and I was like, what does this house remind me of? It reminds me of Zisa axe
murder house. >> Yeah, it's very similar looking. >> I could definitely >> It's got a little bit of vibes of Hinter
Kyek as well. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Just had to put that up there. >> Fun. >> Yeah. So
>> good. Not good vibes >> and bees. >> And bees. >> Bad bad vibes and bees. Yeah, swarms and
swarms of them. >> So, according to the exterminator who came later that day, it was actually
completely unnatural for bees to even swarm at that time of year. So, this was even weirder. Like, that wouldn't leave
you feeling really good at all. >> No, cuz it's like if this is cuz when was this? Do you know like what what
time of the year? >> Yeah, it was July. >> July. Cuz I was going to say like certain times of the year you would
expect to see more bees, but you would not expect to see swarms of bees in the house.
>> That's the thing. swarms of them is crazy. >> So he was like, "Yeah, like this is not
typical." But he left and Gordon and Clara's mother spent more than an hour sweeping up piles and piles of dead bees
that were now just covering the floor. >> Damn. >> Now, in the weeks that followed, there
would actually be several more run-ins with the bees, but eventually they managed to evict the hive completely.
>> Dang. >> Luckily, so after moving a mass of insects from inside the house, they the
move in got underway and things actually went smoother after that. And Clara was
like, "Yeah, I should have known it was too good to be true." Especially after the bees.
>> Yeah, especially after the bees. >> It didn't take long for them to get settled in. And even though she had
spent her whole entire life in the city up to that point, Clara actually found that she liked being a homemaker in a
more rural area cuz remember she was working before this. >> Yeah. >> Within a few days they met their
neighbors and they found that they had a lot in common. They had children around
the same age. This that and the other thing. And Clara, you know, she had some initial reservations about the move, but
she was starting to think that they were going to be better off in the country. >> Unfortunately, that was very
short-lived, that little comfort that she felt. >> The first bizarre incident, aside from
the bees, came about a month after the move. Clara was still working at the office, actually finishing out her last
week when she got a frantic call from her son, Mike. He and his sister Beth had been out in the field behind the
house with some neighbor kids when somebody started shooting at them. >> What? Yeah. Somebody started shooting at
them. >> What the [ __ ] >> Apparently, as soon as they all heard the shots, they all dropped to the
ground and crawled back to the neighbor's house. >> What? >> Where they called Clara. According to
Mike, he none of them could see where the shooting was coming from. They just knew that it was close. And Mike told
his mother that just before the shooting, they had seen the car of a man who lived about 2 miles from them and
was known locally as an eccentric and he would chase people who got too close to
his property. So that he was like, "Maybe it's that guy and like he was upset with us or something and he's
shooting at us." >> So Clara reported the shooting to the state police, but nothing ever came of
her report. >> That's [ __ ] up. >> Yeah. So she was like, "Wow, maybe I don't love real life." Yeah, because I
it's like, wow, cool that I just reported that somebody shot at my family and nothing happened.
>> Yeah, like my family and my neighbors, like young kids, too. The hell? >> About a week later, Mike was walking
home with his friends Bob and Matt when they spotted what Mike later said was a tall teenage boy in the woods just
walking by the road carrying a rifle. That's too rural for me. >> It's so rural,
>> you know. Way too rural. >> Much too rural. At first, Mike was like, "Oh, is that like a farmer?" Like a
local farmer or something. And when he pointed him out, the other two boys were like, "Oh, no. That's that ghost that
lives around here and is like known to walk up and down the road." >> I'm massively obsessed with that because
I really [laughter] like how casually they dropped that lore. >> Lore lore like that should always be
dropped with not a [ __ ] to be seen. Like, >> no, that's just that guy. That ghost
>> that that that's just that's a ghost with a gun who just walks up and down like what the [ __ ]
>> Obviously >> what you think that's a corporeal being >> over there? That's just a [ __ ] ghost.
>> And not out here in these rural streets. >> That would put me weirdly at ease.
>> That says a lot about >> that everyone's so there's like, oh yeah, that's just that ghost with a gun.
>> I would just think they were [ __ ] with me. >> Why do you why do you ask? Like I'd be
like, you know what? Why do I ask? Like why am I should mind my [ __ ] business is what I should do. I would just
probably cry, [laughter] I think. >> I just love that. >> Yeah, >> the casual lore drop will get me every
time. >> Well, they were very excited. They started running to get a better look at
the ghost, but the ghost always managed to stay about 6 or 8 feet ahead of them.
But then when they finally got close enough to touch him, Mike said the mysterious teenager stepped behind an
apple tree and disappeared, >> as everyone should, >> which I am also highly obsessed with.
>> Yeah, that's how I'm going to be uh getting out of situations when I'm a ghost. So, I'm going to step behind an
apple tree and you and I'm gone. >> I'll throw up throw up the deuce at you and then I'll step behind my apple tree.
>> It's always going to be an apple tree, [laughter] too. >> You got to find the nearest one.
>> Yeah, >> you might be running for a little bit, but it's worth it for the >> I'll find the apple tree. Yeah.
>> So, afterwards, Mike ran home and told Clara about what he'd seen. He's like,
"Mom, there's a [ __ ] ghost and he disappeared behind an apple tree." >> Sick. >> And Clara was like, "Yeah, cool. You
kids are just so silly." >> Yeah, that's obviously didn't take it very seriously. I wouldn't either. Well,
I am who I am, so I probably would. But I get why Clara did it. >> Absolutely. >> So, she might not have taken that story
about the gun toing teenage boy, but it turned out that the other children had also seen the ghost, too. Like her other
kids, either out on the road or walking along the treeine at the edge of the woods. And the neighbors kids had also
seen him on multiple occasions. So, everybody's talking about it now. Most of them described him as looking like a
farmer. But one of the neighbors kids, Pat, insisted he was a black man. And she didn't mean like like his race. She
meant that his skin was like blackened. Like he was like like burnt >> Yeah. >> And she was absolutely terrified of him.
That's scary as like the other kids were like, "Oh yeah, like there's a ghost and
like I think he's a farmer. Like isn't that so crazy?" >> She's like, "Nah, he's charred." She
literally said he's charred and like she was so scared of him that her parents were like, "Okay, like some awful. I
hate that a lot." Yeah, >> that I I'm not massively obsessed with that. I hate that.
>> No, I'm like I'm the I'm not even a little bit obsessed with it. I'm the least amount.
>> So to Clara, the early experiences could have been written off as kids just being
kids and adjusting to moving into a more rural area, but a few weeks later, she had her own experience in the woods that
she simply could not explain. >> Oh no. Stay out of the woods. >> I know. What the hell are you doing in
the woods? But they just moved there. So, they're obsessed with the woods >> and they're just in the woods.
>> Yeah. >> Like there's nowhere else to go. >> Yeah. >> So, it was an early fall afternoon. Oh,
love to see it. And Clara was just taking the dog out for a walk in the woods behind the house.
>> Oh, I can't get mad at you for that. I would too. >> I would too. She was about a half a mile
from the house when she started to hear what she said sounded like chanting like
like chanting you might hear in church. >> Yeah. >> Oh, turn around. >> Yeah. Get out of there.
>> Get home. For the life of her, she said she couldn't figure out where the sound
was coming from. And somehow she said it sounded like it was coming from every direction all at once.
>> That's because it's none of your business and you [laughter] should go. >> When things are coming at you from every
direction, >> it is none of your business all at once. [laughter] It's >> Pave had no mind, mama.
>> That's not for you. >> You did not see something. You did not need to say something.
>> No. Just get out of there. Take that dog and run. I'm also like, what was the dog
doing? >> I know. So later after she got home, she casually mentioned the sound to Mike and
moments later he was like, "Yeah, cool. Me, Bob, and Matt are going to go investigate that. Peace out.
>> That's awesome." >> So he just ran out of the house. >> Another casual lord drop.
>> Yeah, we love the 70s. >> Send him in action. >> Yeah, just go out in the woods, figure
out what that was. So on both occasions, the boys, like the other two boys, were
game for whatever investigation that Mike wanted to undertake. >> Oh yeah. >> But this time when they got to the
woods, Bob said he got an intense feeling of dread and he was like, "Yeah, I'm not going any. Good for him." Into
the woods, I'll be here. Good for him listening. >> So the other two were like, "Okay, we'll
head in without you." And they just left him standing at the edge of the woods, which is almost worse than going into
the woods. I think >> that charred kid is is patrolling the edge of the woods. >> Exactly.
>> I'd be more scared of that. >> Me, too. I don't want to run into a charred kid.
>> No. So, after about 10 or 15 minutes, they had reached the spot where Clara said she heard the chanting, and they
stopped to see if they could hear anything. They stood quietly. They closed their eyes so that they wouldn't
be distracted, and they just listened as hard as they could. At first, they didn't hear anything, but then out of
absolutely nowhere, they heard the loud, sharp sound of a woman screaming her [ __ ] head off.
>> That is got to be one of the scariest things to hear out of nowhere. >> Out of absolutely nowhere. And
especially when you're like >> in the woods, >> you're and you're locked in. Like you're
10 toes down in those woods just trying to hear what's happening and it's quiet and it's quiet and then you hear,
[screaming] >> "Oh my god, >> I would poop my pants." You're out there trying to figure out what the woods are
trying to say and they're just saying >> ah >> like that's no >> too scary. >> No.
>> So they um ran the [ __ ] out of there and went back to the Dandy house and they
were like Clara help us. And she was like I don't know what to tell you. She's like [ __ ] that. So since moving to
the Hinsdale house several members of the Dandy family had now had really [ __ ] weird inexplicable experiences
and they had mostly brushed it off to that point. Mike's story about hearing the scream in the woods was different
though. At that point, they wanted to see and they started to realize that something was off. And you know, Clara
was like, "Is it like the house or is it the entire area that we moved to?" Now,
the swarm of bees on moving day turned out to be just the first of many problems with the house itself. During
their first winter, the main pipes leading into the house froze and broke, which was obviously super expensive to
repair and very annoying because while they were getting fixed, they had to carry water from a well to the house.
[groaning] >> Which also, if you think your house is haunted, and honey, the land is also
haunted and you got to go to down to a well. >> Oh, that's [ __ ] up. >> I'm not going to a well in the middle of
a haunt. >> No. What are you asking of me? Honey the land. >> Honey the well. Honey the well. Honey,
Samara. Yeah. Uh-uh. [laughter] Exactly. Honey, no. Uh-uh. So, after that, it seemed like things were just going wrong
every other day. Within a two-month period, the kids four pet birds, a dog, and two guinea pigs were found dead in
Mary's bedroom from unknown causes. >> Oh, which like I'd be looking at Mary. >> Yeah. What the
>> like what's up with our kid here? >> I'd be real worried about Mary, first of
all. And also >> second, I would want to square up with a whatever entity >> did that.
>> I don't even know if this entity has hands, but it's got to figure out some way to square up. [laughter]
>> Four birds, a dog, and two guinea pig guinea pigs. >> Guinea pigs. >> Those poor guinea pigs.
>> The guinea pigs. [laughter] >> Not the guinea pigs. >> Not the guinea pigs. >> Clutching my pearls.
>> So that's the other thing. Things were constantly going missing, including small sums of money and jewelry from
Clara's lock box, which um was locked. Oh, [laughter] that's a good detail to have, you know.
>> Uh, holy [ __ ] >> Yeah. So, she said she started to feel like they weren't wanted in the house.
Like she just got this distinct feeling. >> What gave you that idea? I don't know.
Was it when they killed your pets? >> Was it when they killed literally every pet you've ever had?
>> Every living thing that isn't a human in that house >> and stole all your money?
>> Yeah. >> But because it seemed like a lot of the unfortunate mishaps had reasonable
explanations, maybe the more bizarre occurrences didn't stand out at first, but like they were getting more and more
bizarre as time went on. >> Yeah. that many animals uh end up dead in one of my kids' rooms.
>> I'm calling someone. >> It's going to stand out. >> I'm probably going to call a
psychologist first. >> Yeah, it's going to be top top of mind. >> Yeah. >> You know,
>> well, that's not one you have to write down to remember. >> No, you'll remember that for sure. And
there was things even in the beginning that they were like after all these bizarre experiences had happened, they
were looking back and being like, was that also like a weird [ __ ] like what was that? So, there was the time a few
months after they moved in where Clara and Phil came home to find that even though all the doors had been locked
while they were gone, it looked like somebody had broken into the house and thrown the family's clothes all around.
>> Oh, >> like the entire family. >> Oh, I hate that. >> Mary's record player had also been
smashed, but money and valuables were all untouched and in plain sight. So, it wasn't like somebody had robbed them.
Yeah. They just like ransacked the house, >> came in and threw clothes around. >> Yeah. Then there was the time in early
1971 when Clara and Mike were home alone and something outside was emitting such
a strong light through the windows that it would lit it like lit up the entire house.
>> What? >> And they both were like, "What?" A few nights later, Mike said he was woken up
from sleep when a board game on the shelf above his bed fell on his head while he was sleeping.
>> Oh [ __ ] >> He was like, "That was weird." >> Rude. >> It didn't seem like that unusual, but
when he looked at the shelf, everything that was stacked on top of the board game was still in place.
So it had literally like >> slid out. >> Slid out from the bottom of a stack of other things and fell on his head
>> and everything else had stayed up there. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. That's weird. It's
>> like when you like pull the tablecloth out and everything stays on the table.
>> Everything else stays on. >> So that was weird. And he said there was absolutely no way I could come up with
an explanation for that. >> No, I wouldn't be able to. >> And then of course there were the
frequent sightings of the farmer on the road and all the strange noises both in and outside of the house.
>> Yeah. On one afternoon in 1971, Phil took the kids into town to do some shopping. And he just left Clara at home
to relax and enjoy some quiet time. You mamas know you need that. >> In the haunted house.
>> In the haunted house. I know. Well, that was before they really realized how haunted it was.
>> She said it was a warm day, so she opened up all the windows on the first floor to, you know, clear the house out.
And she was just settling on the couch to read a book, >> and she started to hear all the windows
slamming back shut. >> Oh, [ __ ] that. But then when she went around and checked all the windows, they
were all still open. >> I hate that. >> Yeah, >> I hate that a lot. >> Like first of all, I'm trying to relax.
>> I'm I'm just sitting down with a book. >> I'm like all my kids are gone. Like
quiet in this house. >> And then I'm I need some fresh air even though it's for dead people. And you're
like pretending to close my windows and you make me get up and look and then they're not even [ __ ]
>> They're not even close. Like that's some [ __ ] up [ __ ] Come on, man. >> I don't like that.
>> Come on. >> I don't like that teasing. >> So, now that they were looking back at
all of this, they were like, "Okay, there's definitely a pattern of like es there's an escalating pattern here,
>> for sure." >> So, it was only when the inexplicable things started to enter the home that
Clara and sort of Phil started to take things more seriously. Clara definitely took things more seriously than Phil
did. One evening in July of 1973, so they'd been there for like a few years at this point. Beth, one of their older
daughters, had some friends sleepover and they were all sleeping in sleeping bags in the living room. By that time,
Mike was already sleeping most nights on the couch because he found the atmosphere in his own bedroom
disturbing, quote unquote. And a little, so he was down there and the girls are down there. And a little before midnight
after they wound down and were trying to sleep, they all heard heavy footsteps walking around the kitchen like somebody
was angrily pacing in the kitchen. So Mike was like, "Okay, it's probably just one of the dogs maybe angrily pacing
around the kitchen." >> Yeah, as dogs do. So Beth got up to check and there was no one in the
kitchen, human or canine. >> Imagine if it was just a dog on two on like two legs angrily pacing. He's just
pissed. >> That's I hate that. I hate it as well. That also used to happen in our house.
>> That's really scary when that happens. >> But we would hear them coming up the
stairs, which would be even scarier. >> And it was like heavy boots >> and then you'd look out in the hallway
and there would be literally no one there, >> but you could feel it. >> Yep. >> So after 2 years of increasingly
aggressive encounters with things that they couldn't explain in and around the house, Clara was like, "Yeah, I have
nothing left to explain. Like I'm trying to explain this all away, but I don't have anything."
>> Yeah. This only so long you can explain it away. >> Yeah. So a few days after the sleepover,
she was speaking with their local priest, Father Bob, of course, >> Father Bob. >> And she was telling him about the
activity, and he suggested that she get into contact with, "Are you ready?" Father Alonsis Alrebled.
>> Honestly, yes. >> Alonsa, if your name is Alonsus, Yeah. >> What the [ __ ] are you doing going by Al?
>> Yeah. >> Missed opportunity, my guy. >> You go by Alons. I would shove my hand
into everybody's face and say, "Hey, it's me, Alonsus." [laughter] >> I would never shut up about who I was.
>> And also, if your name is Alonsus and what is the full name? >> Alonsis Al Trabold.
>> Yeah. If your name is that, [laughter] you >> you said I better be a priest that can
perform some kind of exorcism and get rid of demons in a house. >> You better be.
>> You better be. >> You better be. Not only was he a priest, but he was also an assistant professor
of theology at St. St. Bonaventure University. >> Yeah. Obsessed. So throughout 1973,
Father, >> he goes by Father Al, but I got to call him Father Alons. Father Alfonsis has
had given several lectures on the paranormal and had invited other experts to speak. So if anybody could help
Clara, it was probably him. So she called and she left a message for Father Alonsus. And in the meantime, Father Bob
blessed the house, which made everybody feel a little bit better. >> Yeah. Two days later, Clara finally got
her Alfonsa's call. The two of them spoke spoke briefly, and Father Alfons suggested that they were probably
experiencing a poltergeist. >> Okay. >> Which kind of sucks. >> I don't know. >> You don't know if it sucks or you don't.
>> I don't know if that's a poltergeist. >> So far, nothing really sounds poltergeist to me.
>> Poltergeist. I also think this was the ' 70s and like they didn't [clears throat]
have a lot of uh >> Yeah. like research on this stuff. I I guess like the clothing everywhere and
stuff is kind of poltergeisty. >> Yeah. >> But I don't know. I wouldn't have immediately said poltergeist on this
one. >> Well, he said they had two adolescent children in the house and their heightened energy might be causing the
problems and poltergeists do feed off of that. >> They do love the the whole puberty
thing. >> It's a weird I hate that part of it. >> Such a such a weird connection.
>> It is. It it makes sense when you think about it, but it's like [laughter] [ __ ] [gasps]
>> [ __ ] Oh my god, >> my heart. >> Holy [ __ ] >> I wish you could feel how hard my heart
is beating right now. >> Oh my god. I actually just started crying. [ __ ] >> All right, so now that we've recovered
from that, let's find my place. So like, yeah, adolescence, puberty, weird poltergeist feeding off of that. By
then, Clara had done some research and the suggestion of a poltergeist also didn't make sense to her.
>> She said, "I felt like there was more to it than that. From what I've read, poltergeist had no motive, no mind
behind it. And this seems to have motive." Yeah, >> which is true. >> I agree. >> But given how stressed Clara sounded and
the fact that she wasn't reassured by his advice, Father Alfonsus said, "You know what? I'll come out tomorrow."
>> That's really Alfonsis. >> It's so Alonsus of him. >> Yeah. So, it took Father Alfonses much
longer to get to the house than he expected cuz he got lost along the way. Lost in the woods.
>> You know who among us has Alonsus. >> So, by the time he arrived, there really
wasn't as much time like that for him to explore before he had to leave to get back to the church again, which kind of
sucked. >> So, Clara and the kids spent about 20 minutes explaining everything they
experienced. And to their surprise, Father Alfonsus did not seem phased at all. >> And he also didn't seem to doubt
anything that they were telling him. >> What a good guy. So after hearing them out, Father Alfonsis got a tour of the
house and the immediate property by Mike and Clara's brothers, Gordon and Craig.
They didn't see or hear anything unusual on the tour, but in each room, Father Al
said a prayer, and he said one in the yard, too. And then he performed a blessing before he headed back out for
the night. He was like, "Good luck with that. Bye, [ __ ] [music] Who knows if it was the blessing or just
the simple fact that somebody had listened to them without judging them, but Father Al's visit did have a calming
effect on the house and the family, it seemed. >> Mike said it bonded us in a way because
we were more together for support and which is nice like, you know, everybody realizes like something's going on here.
>> I like it. Now, not only did he validate their experiences, but Father Alfonsus
also explained that they weren't defenseless against whatever they were dealing with, and there were people who
researched the scientific basis of experiences like theirs who might be able to help them get rid of whatever it
was that was causing all their trouble. So, for the first time since moving in, Clara was like, "Okay, maybe this nice
country life is possible without all these disturbances, >> without the ghost. >> Maybe we can move on from this." For a
few days after Father Al's blessing, like I said, things felt better in the house. But it didn't last very long.
>> No, it never does. >> No. One night, less than a week after the first visit from the priest, Phil
was away on a business trip, and everybody else in the house was asleep when Clara was woken up by the sound of
somebody walking around on the first floor. She thought it was one of the kids, so she looked over the banister at
the top of the stairs, and she saw what looked like a teenage girl walking down the hall on the first floor toward
Beth's bedroom. cuz remember all the kids bedrooms are on the first floor. >> So she was like, "Oh, okay. Must be
Beth." Like maybe she went to the bathroom. She's going back to her room. >> So she turned and started to walk back
to her own bedroom. But then she realized that the girl she saw was wearing a flannel night gown and she
knew for a fact that Beth had not worn that to bed. So she was like, "What?" And then she was like,
>> also she had shorter hair than Beth now that I'm thinking of it. Like who the
[ __ ] is this girl? >> Oh, this that made my hair stand on end. So, she ran downstairs, tore open Beth's
bedroom door, and when she got inside, Beth was just fast asleep, and there was nobody else there.
>> Oh, that [ __ ] me up. >> I would light the house on fire. >> That [ __ ] me up and leave.
>> Yeah. No, I don't want anything to do with that. >> Like, who is that? >> And just being like being half asleep
and just like seeing that and being like, "Oh, okay. That's just one of my kids." And then just being like,
>> "Wait a second. >> That did not look like my child." like I would lose it >> when that happens and you're and you
realize like okay like that's not one of my kids >> and I just saw that person like I saw
their form where are they now? >> That's the thing like are they still in the house hiding? What the [ __ ]
>> Yeah. Like it's like um with the Sally house it's like you probably part of her
was like is that an intruder or is that a ghost? Like I don't know. >> Absolutely.
>> So the experience of seeing the unfamiliar girl in the house was pretty [ __ ] unnerving.
>> Yeah. >> But Clara tried to put it out of her mind because she was like no the
blessing worked. I'm going to have my nice country life. [ __ ] this. God damn it.
>> But the next day, she heard a scream from Beth's bedroom. >> And when she ran in to find out what
happened, Beth told her mom that she was just sitting at her vanity when she saw
a teenage girl behind her reflected in her mirror. >> And she said when she turned to look,
the girl vanished. She was gone. Oh, no, no, no. And Clara said, "I thought, wait
a minute. I'd been taught that this worked, that a priest could come in and say a blessing. It did not work.
>> It did not." She's like, "Well, this is supposed to work." Cuz remember, she grew up religious, like super religious.
So, she's like, "I went to the priest for help. The priest came and he did his thing. It's supposed to work."
>> Yeah. I mean, he he can do that. >> Yeah. Um, >> ghosts have other plans, >> but the ghosts can can say, "Fuck off."
Like, they you know, >> the power of Christ doesn't always compel them. >> It's not always compelling. So,
>> unfortunately. >> Yeah. >> So, that night, Clara called Father Alfons. She said, "911 Alfonsus."
>> Alonsis. >> And he said, "On my way." She said the blessing didn't work. They were still
experiencing the frightening phenomena. So he was like, "Okay, I'll come back with an a paranormal expert. Like we're
gonna we're gonna guns." >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> So a few nights later, while Mike was
staying with friends and the other kids were in bed, Clara and Phil, who was back from his business trip, they were
just watching TV and they heard a loud thud out just outside the living room window. So Phil grabbed a flashlight and
they both went out to see what the [ __ ] was outside. After looking around and finding nothing, they were like, "Okay,
it was probably like an animal going through the trash. It's rural out here. >> It's rural out here.
>> It's rural out here." So, they turned. They went back inside. And as they rounded the house in the direction of
the front door, Clara casually looked up at Beth's bedroom window and saw the same girl that she had seen a few nights
earlier just looking out at them. >> I This is Okay, this and the farmer the charred farmer kid.
>> You got to go. >> That would send me into orbit. I don't know. Please stop being in my space.
>> Yeah, that's we've crossed a line here. >> So, they ran back inside because Phil
she pointed up and Phil also saw it and he was like, "What the fuck?" So, they ran back inside to check on Beth and
when they got to her room, they found her sitting at her vanity completely unresponsive and just straight up
disassociating. What the [ __ ] It took a few minutes to snap her back into reality. And when she did, she said,
"Yeah, I saw her, too." But she struggled to describe the girl, saying all she remembered were her big dark
eyes and her filthy hair. >> Why is her hair so filthy? >> Why is her hair dirty?
>> It's full of secrets. >> Oh my god. >> I hate that. >> It's full of darkness.
>> Oh, that's so much worse than her perfectly clean hair. Like I I >> Perfectly clean hair is the best.
>> I Oh, why is her hair dirty? It's washed in. >> Why is it filthy? Filthy. Filthy.
>> I don't know why that [ __ ] me up so much >> because you picture just like >> like a greasy, stringy.
>> I hate it. >> I can still feel my heart beating from when the alarm went off and that was
like 42 minutes ago. I'm scared right now. >> I'm in fight or flight right now. >> Telling these stories gets me into a
place. >> Apparently it gets both of us in there. >> I know. >> Damn. >> So, as they stood in Beth's bedroom just
trying to comfort her, they all started to hear scratching and thumping noises coming from the room above them. Oh, god
damn. >> And then all the lights in the house went off like somebody had cut the
power. >> Come on. Like that's horror movie [ __ ] >> What the [ __ ] >> So the lights came back on a few moments
later and the scratching sounds had moved from the upstairs and were now coming from the crawl space.
>> Oh, that [ __ ] crawl space. We got to learn about that crawl space. You knew
the crawl space was coming back. >> That crawl space. >> You knew the crawl space was coming
back. >> There's some [ __ ] that went down [laughter] there. Clara, Phil, and Beth
reluctantly approached the crawl space, and after a few moments, Phil gathered the courage to open the door.
>> Phil, >> just inside the door, there were loose bricks from the fireplace stacked in
small piles. >> Oh, >> they'd been in there before. >> Oh, >> and that hadn't been there.
>> Oh, >> and then they open the door and like somewhat Blair Witch style, there's just
small piles of bricks. Oh, [snorts] >> ew. Period. >> No. >> And Clara said, "I can't fight this
thing." Whatever it is, it's too strong. She just succumbed to the beast in that
moment. >> She just succumbed. >> I would said >> we all succumb at some point. She was
[laughter] like, "Okay, stack the bricks. I suppose >> end of the road for me. >> Okay, look at me from my come to my
window." That's what she said. >> She was like, "Whatever. Eventually, you got to just go Melissa Aidge and just
start singing, you know, >> just gotta. It's [laughter] all you can do. So, the next night, Father Alfonso
said, "I'm back." And he he said, "Here I am." >> And this time, he was in the company of
a well-known psychic medium, Alex Tanos. >> So, not Sylvia Brown. [laughter] >> No, no, no, no. He introduced everybody
and Clara started to explain the history of the house but was immediately cut off
by Alex who told her he actually didn't want to know anything about the house before walking through each room which I
respect. He was like >> this is this is before he could be looking this up on like interwebs.
>> No, there was no interweb. >> He could go look it up like elsewhere obviously, but it would take a little
more effort. >> It would. So, Father Alfonsus took Alex throughout the house, letting him get an
impression of each room before returning to the family in the living room. When he walked into the living room, he just
casually dropped, "Did you know you had a mass murder here?" >> Again, a casual lore drop. I love it. I
love it. I would sit down, >> tea would materialize, and I'd be like, "Tell me everything. Tell me everything
about you had a mass murder here. Do I look like I know I had a mass murder? You think we'd be calling you if we
didn't know that? >> Babe, you're here with a priest. >> Yeah. >> Do you think I know that there was a
mass murder here? >> I say, "No, the [ __ ] I did not." >> Who Who ever knows that there was a mass
murder? >> Oops. >> Come on. >> So Clara said she was stunned and she just said, "Uh, no.
>> No, I don't." >> According to Alex Tanos, there were seven spirits in the house.
>> Some much stronger than others. He said there was a man who had been stabbed to
death on the property. >> Dang. >> A woman who was hanged by the pond out back. a woman who was drowned, a man who
had been beaten to death, >> a young girl of around 8 years old who had also been beaten to death,
>> which is awful. >> Oh my god. >> And then two other spirits who he said he just couldn't really get a read on.
Like he couldn't figure out who they were or why they were there, but they were there.
>> And one he described as an elderly woman whose death was recent, and Clara wondered if that was maybe the previous
resident of the house who had died in the house at age 90. >> Holy [ __ ] >> So he was like kind of on to something.
Yeah. So, he explained that over a hundred years ago, before the house had even been built there, there was a
general store and an inn on the property and it was a regular stop along a popular stage coach route.
>> Okay. >> So, he said the original owner knew nothing about the murders, but he
believed somebody else used the space to find victims that they would rob and kill like on the stage coach stop.
>> And they he said they would sometimes hide their bodies in the crawl space under the stairs until he was able to
bury them. This is very bloody benders. It is like coded, you know. >> It is super. You were so right with
that. So, when Father Al showed uh medium Alex there, the crawl space, he said he quote saw bodies piled up like
stacks of firewood. What the [ __ ] >> Which it's like, is that why they're stacking bricks?
>> Oh, >> like they just like to stack. >> These love to stack. >> They love piles.
>> Doesn't matter what it is. Bodies are bricks to stack. >> Makes no diff. >> That was it. Were they trying to like
show like this is what I do? >> I stack. >> This is my thing. >> This is >> and I could stack you.
>> This is kind of my thing. >> I'm a stacker. >> I'm kind of known for this. >> I stay stacking.
>> He stays stacking. That's [ __ ] up. >> So, he managed to identify a lot of the
spirits in the house, but he was Alex was visibly drained by the end of the night. And he said he needed to rest
before he could go any further. >> I I don't blame him. So he dipped and he told them he'd be back soon to let them
know how or if they even should proceed with anything. >> Yeah. >> In the meantime, Clara and Phil started
to consider the options if he wasn't able to get rid of the ghosts in the house. The strange occurrences and
annoyances that they experienced when they first moved in were one thing, but now in recent months, the ghosts had
actually gone after specific family members in ways that were very scary and unsettling.
>> Yeah. But the problem was like it is with so many other cases like this, they
were living on a single income and they sunk all their money into this house because not only had they like, you
know, purchased the house, there was all these things that had gone wrong with it
that had cost a lot of money. >> Yeah, of course. >> Over the past 3 years, so they didn't
really have the money to move at that point. >> It's not that easy. >> So like what the [ __ ] do we do?
>> Damn. >> So a few days after Alex visited the house, the mood and the air in the house
felt better to Clara than it had in some time. and she was again optimistic about
the future. But then one afternoon in late October 1973, that all changed with a visit from a state trooper.
That morning, Phil and Clara woke up early. They had gotten on, you know, with some chores around the house. Mike
had stayed with a friend the night before, and he said he would be home early the next morning to help with the
chores, so his parents were really annoyed when late morning rolled around and he still hadn't returned. A few
minutes after Clara came back from a trip into town, there was a knock at the door and when she answered it, there was
a New York State trooper standing there. >> Oh [ __ ] >> So, he explained that Mike had actually
been in a car accident about a mile down the road and he'd been taken to the local hospital. And the doctors
explained when they got there that Mike's injuries were pretty severe and they actually wanted to transport him uh
to Buffalo once he was stable enough to move. >> [ __ ] So, as they drove to Orleenos or
Oolene Hospital a few miles away, Clara and Phil passed Mike's car and they literally saw it like leaning against a
tree on the side of the road. >> Oh my god, that would have been horrific. >> Yeah. As far as Clara could tell, it
really didn't look too badly damaged, though. So, she was like, "Okay, like maybe maybe he's not in that bad of
shape. Like, maybe they're making too big a deal out of this." >> But unfortunately, when they got to the
hospital, she realized things were a lot more serious. Mike had suffered a head injury and he was also bleeding
internally from a torn spleen. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Which is crazy when you think about the
fact that they saw the car and they were like, "Oh, it's probably not that bad."
But like, I mean, that's >> Oh, damn. >> awful. >> So, they said they needed to operate as
soon as they could to reduce the swelling. And that after they were done with the operation, he was going to have
to be placed in a medicalinduced coma to let his brain heal. >> Oh my god. >> Like things were this was pretty dire.
So they gave their permission obviously and Mike was put under. So while they waited for him to come out of surgery,
they were approached by another state trooper who wanted to know if either of them knew where Mike had been coming
from and who was in the car with him. And they explained like he was probably on his way home and he must have been
alone. And that caught the trooper off guard because according to the paramedics who brought Mike to the
hospital, he kept saying there was somebody else in the car with him right before the crash. But they searched the
area and they didn't find anybody. >> What? >> And like nobody had al nobody had come
to the hospital with injuries from a car crash like like that. >> So the trooper and paramedics were like
um you know I mean he has head trauma. Like it's probably some kind of injury that he thinks somebody was with him.
>> Yeah. >> But to Clara, she took it as proof that whatever had been attacking them in the
house had now managed to get Mike in the car. >> Holy [ __ ] So it took several weeks
before he came out of a coma. And when he did, he was suffering from temporary blindness,
>> which is awful. >> Holy [ __ ] He's really going through it. >> He is. So eventually they were able to
bring him home and obviously they wanted him to rest and recuperate. But as soon
as he was well enough, they said they were going to contact Father Alfonsis to do something about the haunting once and
for all. So, by the time Mike was starting to feel like himself again, you know, had recovered mostly, it was early
1974, and the paranormal experiences had taken such a toll on the kids that Beth
had actually started to see a specialist for stress induced ulcers. Oh my god. >> Things were so bad, she was getting
ulcers. Holy [ __ ] And to make matters worse, Bob Curran, a writer for the Buffalo News, had written a series of
articles on Father Al and his work with the paranormal that ran in late February. And the article didn't name
the Dandy family specifically or provide like super easy identifiable details, but a lot of the locals were savvy
enough to know that they like they could point out some of the details and they figured out that it was the Hinsdale
house. >> Oh [ __ ] >> So now they're being like attacked by the press, which is the last thing they
need. Yeah, >> Father Al had told the outlet, "I visit there a couple times a week and they're
always glad to see me because nothing ever happens when I'm there." >> Oh [ __ ]
>> I know. [laughter] >> So, the art >> sort of like a read to me. >> I know, right? The articles in the news
kicked off a growing interest in the house and with permission from the family, Father Al came to the house with
Bob Curran and Bob's son, the reporter. Nobody experienced any ghostly happenings at that point in the house
during the visit. But Bob's interviews with Father Al gave people a unique window to look into about just how
taxing this whole thing had become and how defeated everybody was feeling. He told Curran, "I had hopes of helping the
family, but there were so many problems. Then I was disappointed when Alex Tanos,
the renowned psychic, reversed his course after making some definitive statements about seven murders being
committed here. I know the pressure on psychics, but I had hoped he'd help more than he did. So, it sounds like he just
never went back. >> Wow. which is pretty >> tells you something. >> Yeah. Like he was exhausted.
>> Yeah. So, Father Al was referring to the last time that Alex had been to the house. He tried to clear some of the
ghosts, but by the end of the visit, he said he was so exhausted and he had to leave. And then later on, he called them
and was like, "Yeah, I can't come back again. Like, there's nothing I can do for you."
>> Holy [ __ ] So, they all hoped that the efforts of Father Al, Alex Tanos, and
some of the other experts who had come in would finally get rid of the spirits haunting the house, or at least make it
livable. But just a few weeks later, the activity started to ramp up again. And Clara and Phil were like, "We're out of
ideas. We're completely defeated here." >> Yeah. >> By that time, Mike had recovered and he
had joined the Navy, so he was out of the house. Beth had married her high school boyfriend, so she was out of the
house. And now they really didn't need this big place anymore. >> Yeah. So that August they put the house
on the market listing it at just $20,000. >> Wow. >> Which remember they bought it for like
>> 50. >> I think it would have been today's 50. Exactly. >> So by the time they listed the house,
the news about the haunting had been spread far and wide in all the articles. So there was no point in trying to hide
it from anybody. >> You might as well lean in at that point. >> Well, and they did cuz they actually
even started getting calls from out of state news outlets who were interested in in buying the house.
>> Oh [ __ ] So, by the end of October, Clara and Phil moved out. And without the kids or the ghost to distract them,
it seemed the problems in their marriage had returned. And this time, it didn't seem like there was going to be room for
a resolution. >> So, they ended up separating and they did eventually get a divorce.
>> A year since the Dandy family moved out of the Hinsdale house, interest in the
house and the story of the haunting has remained. People are super interested in
this house. >> Yeah. Subsequent owners throughout the years have reported seeing super unusual
things, hearing things, hearing the screams that Clara heard. Like, this house is very much still active.
>> Yeah. >> In 2011, it went up for sale and it was listed as one of the nation's top 10
haunted houses. >> Holy [ __ ] >> And in an article about the sale, the property agent told a reporter, "I'm in
hopes that somebody who really respects and believes the paranormal will buy it and remodel it." But in the end, the
house was purchased and turned into a haunted attraction that is still active to this day.
>> I kind of want to go. >> We will be going there. >> Yeah. It's not that far. >> Go. It's really not.
>> We could go. >> It's like, yeah, >> let's do it. >> Let's go. Let's Let's grab Sabrina and
Karen >> and go. >> And we're going. >> But that means we have to go in the woods, too, cuz honey the land. Honey
the land. Honestly, we got to do it. I love that the psychic was like, "Yeah, all this [ __ ] happened
here and like I would love to come back and help you, but I can't. It's too exhausting.
>> Too much. >> That's big for a psychic." And he was like renowned, too. He's very highly
respected in this. >> He said, "Honey, the house." >> He said, "Honey, the tired."
>> Yeah. He said, "Absolutely not." >> Damn. >> Yeah. For me, it's really the charred
teenager and then the filthyhaired girl. >> The filthyhaired girl. >> The filthyhaired girl takes the cake.
>> She's getting me. >> She's in the house. She's just walking around in her [ __ ] flannel night
gown. She's just looking at people. >> Something about that. Something about a flannel night gown and filthy hair. I'm
like, not only do you have filthy hair, but you're probably hot. >> Maybe that's why your hair is so filthy
cuz you're so sweaty. >> A sweaty Betty. >> Like I can feel how hot you are at night.
>> Yeah. >> And that makes me feel sick. >> It makes me feel yuck. >> And I don't like that you're just like
looking in my mirror while I'm looking in my mirror. >> No, I hate that. >> That would freak me the [ __ ] out.
>> No, I don't like it at all. Yeah, that's that's a fascinating and terrifying story.
>> It's a spooky one. And I love that it really had no resolution whatsoever. My
favorite thing is when there's a haunt and there's no resolution >> and they're just like, "Yeah, I don't
know. It's still haunted." >> Like [laughter] Alonsus couldn't do anything. Alex couldn't really do
anything. >> Slowed down. It was just like >> Yeah. The ghost said, "I'm here to stay,
bitch." >> Yeah. >> That's crazy. >> Yeah. And we're going to go there. >> Damn. We're going there.
>> So, we hope you keep listening for when we do go there. >> Yeah. And we hope you
>> keep it weird. But is it weird that you're a ghost with filthy hair? Wash your hair in the
afterlife. >> Yeah. God damn. God damn. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music]
[music] [music] [music] [music]

When Phil and Clara Dandy first saw the house on McMahon Road in Hinsdale, NY, in the spring of 1970, they thought they’d found the home they could spend the rest of their lives in. Since the mid-1960s, the Phil, Clara, and their four children had been vacationing in rural western New York, and the house represented everything they loved about the tranquil region of the state. Within the span of a few months, they’d bought the house and that summer, they began their new life in the country.

Unfortunately for the Dandys, their new slower pace of life didn’t last long. Within a few months of moving into what would become known as The Hinsdale House, the family was besieged by disembodied voices, inexplicable sounds, and the presence of ghostly apparitions. In time, what began as bizarre occurrences and disturbing encounters became a daily battle for the health and safety of Phil, Clara, and their children.

Want to visit??? Book an experience NOW by visiting https://hauntedhinsdalehouse.com/

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

References

Curran, Bob. 1974. "For rent: Nice home in Hinsdale suitable for psychics and skeptics." Buffalo News, June 18: 41.

—. 1974. "O.J. brings joy in remote resort; lib joke draws a sharp retort." Buffalo News, February 27: 37.

—. 1974. "The mystery house and the exorcist." Buffalo Times, February 22: 33.

Erkelens, Alluson. 2006. A Haunting - Dark Forest. Directed by Davbid Haycox and Jeffrey Fine. Produced by New Dominion Productions.

Miller, Clara. 2009. Echoes of a Haunting - Revisited. Buffalo, NY: Virtual Bookworm .

Tokasz, Jay. 2011. "Ghost home up for sale." Buffalo News, October 30: 41.

Brief Summary

The Dandy family experiences haunting events in the Hinsdale house, leading to paranormal investigations and personal tragedies.

Key points

Magical Pastina. Ash shares her belief in the healing powers of her pastina recipe.
Halloween Preparations. The hosts share their creative spooky lunch ideas for Halloween week.
The Dandy Family's Journey. The Dandy family decides to leave the city for a slower-paced life in the country.
The Dandy Family's New Home. The Dandy family moves into a rural house, only to find it swarming with bees.
Shooting Incident. Clara receives a frantic call from her son about someone shooting at him and his friends.
Mysterious Screams in the Woods. Mike and his friends hear a terrifying scream while investigating the woods behind their house.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I think you are a kitchen witch.

3:10WatchNov 3, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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