A Haunting - S05E05 - Dark Dreams
When Chris Gibbons moves his family into their dream home, it quickly turns into a nightmare including a bizarre combination of terrifying dreams and ghost sightings.
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00:00Chris Gibbons thinks he's found the house of his dreams, but it soon becomes a house
00:13of horrors.
00:14That house, it's his, and he doesn't want you in it.
00:18An evil spirit infects Chris's every waking moment, and when night comes, things take
00:24an even darker turn.
00:26I would hear my dad screaming in the middle of the night.
00:30To defeat the entity, Chris will need to summon unimaginable strength to save his home, his
00:36family, and his sanity.
00:39In America, there is real evil.
00:42It lurks in the darkest shadows in our most ordinary towns.
00:47Between the worlds we see and the things we fear, there are doors.
00:55When they are opened, nightmares become reality.
01:06I ask for whatever lives in this cabin to be ripped from the earth and sent to a place
01:11where evil lives.
01:13I ask for whatever lives in this cabin to be ripped from the earth and sent to a place
01:18where evil lives.
01:24I ask for whatever lives in this cabin to be ripped from the earth and sent to a place
01:31where evil lives.
01:33I ask for whatever lives in this cabin to be ripped from the earth and sent to a place
01:40where evil lives.
01:41You gonna play some music for mommy?
01:42Yeah.
01:43Is everybody ready?
01:44Yep.
01:45The Gibbons family plays traditional Irish music at events in their hometown of Grand
01:50Rapids, Michigan.
01:52Chris, an attorney, and his wife, Kay, have four children, Andrew, Samuel, Sarah, and
01:58Patrick.
01:59Chris believes the band is an important family activity.
02:02The family band puts everyone in a position where in order to make music, you have to
02:08work together.
02:09The family has no idea, but working together just may save their lives later on.
02:21The Gibbons have outgrown their old house, and Chris thinks he's found a perfect new
02:26one in a neighborhood called Heritage Hill.
02:31Heritage Hill is a nationally recognized historic district.
02:35All of the houses have to be maintained in their original condition, so it is to a degree
02:41a step back in time.
02:45The house seems to fit the family's size requirement.
02:48The house was large.
02:49It had great bones.
02:51Everything seemed to be in place.
02:53It just needed a lot of love and attention.
02:56Come on.
02:57Imagine what it's gonna look like when I'm done with it.
02:59I was getting a hankering to take on a new project.
03:04It took nine years to renovate their old house.
03:07Kay does not want to spend another nine on this project.
03:12The house needed a tremendous amount of work, and this was a great concern to me because
03:19I just wanted to move in and get on with life.
03:22I know this is your dream house, but the kids need a house they can live in.
03:27I said, I'll tell you what, I'll get it done in a year, if that makes you happy.
03:31Really?
03:32When would you sleep?
03:33I knew he could do it, because he's crazy that way.
03:36If he sets his mind into something, he's gonna do it.
03:39I made the offer that day to purchase the house.
03:45A week after buying the house, Chris is in the basement, clearing out the previous owner's junk.
03:51There was quite a bit of the workshop material left.
04:00I decided to hang on to some of the hand tools, because they appeared as though they might be useful.
04:05You never know.
04:06Little does Chris know the significance of the former owner's possessions.
04:13Chris works in the basement past midnight.
04:23He feels someone, or something, watching him.
04:28There would be a sensation that someone or something was kind of like hanging over you,
04:34but there really isn't anything there.
04:36Chris attributes this sensation to exhaustion.
04:43Hey guys!
04:44A few months later, the Gibbons family moves into the house.
04:48What do you think? Is it big? Is it amazing?
04:52Biggest kid, biggest room.
04:54It's the kids' first good look at the house.
04:57Sarah Gibbons is seven years old.
05:00She appears in shadow to protect her privacy.
05:03The first time I saw the house, I remember, I thought it was huge, like a castle.
05:08Like it was made for royalty.
05:11The major renovation projects are done.
05:14The house is being renovated.
05:17It was made for royalty.
05:20The major renovation projects are done, but Chris still has to put on the finishing touches.
05:32Two nights later, Chris is up long after the family is asleep,
05:36restoring the living room to its former glory.
05:48The house is being renovated.
06:05I hear a breath, like a gasp.
06:09I just couldn't figure out what possibly could have moved enough air
06:14to have unsecured the plastic in the first place.
06:25The next morning, Kay makes breakfast for the children.
06:33Where is your brother?
06:34Upstairs.
06:36Patrick?
06:39Patrick?
06:41Patrick, breakfast!
06:43Okay.
06:49Patrick?
06:54Mommy.
06:57There's my little man.
07:00Are you ready for some breakfast?
07:02Can I go sit on the spot at the table?
07:04Another spot at the table?
07:06What?
07:07Hi, little robot.
07:09No, put me in my room.
07:11My son wasn't really scared.
07:13He just like, hmm, there's a man in this room.
07:16What man in your room?
07:18With his hair like this.
07:21All right, well, young man, it is time for you to stop fooling around and have your breakfast.
07:26I thought it was just a figment of his imagination.
07:28I just was thinking he made it up.
07:30That's what little kids do.
07:34Three months after moving into the house, Chris finishes the restoration of the living room.
07:40You guys ready?
07:41Yeah!
07:42You sure?
07:43Yeah!
07:44Here we go.
07:46Ta-da!
07:49Phase one of the restoration is complete.
07:52Ahead of schedule.
07:53Can we come see?
07:54Come on in, let's go.
07:55Okay.
07:56The work and the result exceeded my expectations.
08:00It was a lot for Chris.
08:02He had a full law practice.
08:05He renovated the house, but he made it work.
08:08He made it work, he got it done, and he's the man.
08:12And I knew that the rest of the work was going to be done within a year.
08:17I think I'm going to take a nap.
08:19You deserve one.
08:38Chris?
08:54Jared!
08:55Carrie?
09:09Carrie!
09:11Carrie!
09:14I'm here.
09:16When I woke up, it was in the middle of the night and not the afternoon.
09:21What happened?
09:27Nothing.
09:28It was just a crazy dream.
09:31I mean, it's kind of an odd dream to have, but who knows what your subconscious can cook up.
09:36Chris is afraid to explain to Kay what he actually saw in his dreams.
09:41They fall back asleep, unaware that their real nightmare is just beginning.
10:06Chris and Kay Gibbons are renovating their dream home,
10:10unaware they have stirred up much more than a century of dust.
10:16On the same night that Chris has a horrifying nightmare,
10:20Kay experiences her own chilling reality.
10:24It felt like a hand was on my ankle and moving up my leg.
10:29Like somebody was rubbing my leg.
10:31Why?
10:32No.
10:33I think we have mice.
10:35I've been over every inch of this house. We have no mice.
10:38No, there was something crawling up my leg.
10:40Look, there's nothing.
10:44I don't know.
10:45I don't know.
10:46I don't know.
10:47I don't know.
10:48I don't know.
10:49I don't know.
10:50I don't know.
10:51I don't know.
10:53Come on. Let's go back to bed.
10:56It wasn't a mouse. It wasn't Chris.
10:59I didn't know what else it could be.
11:01So we went back to sleep and that was that.
11:13A few nights later, Chris is once again having trouble sleeping.
11:22A few nights later, Chris is once again having trouble sleeping.
11:32I felt near my head tapping on my pillow
11:36as though someone were pushing on it, you know, with a finger.
11:41You don't really know what to think of that at first.
11:43And you think, well, whatever.
11:45And... it happens again.
12:16Chris and Kay have the same paranormal experience, independent of each other.
12:28Over the next few weeks, Chris and Kay try to ignore the bizarre incidents in their home.
12:36Chris continues working half days in his law practice,
12:40restoring the house in the afternoons and evenings.
12:45Chris continues working half days in his law practice,
12:48restoring the house in the afternoons and evenings.
13:16No! No!
13:21As I hit the ground, I wake up completely unnerved and in an utter state of panic.
13:27I felt as though all of that actually happened to me.
13:30I felt completely assaulted.
13:32It was, to me, a real assault.
13:45Over the next months, Chris is haunted by nightmares of his own death
13:49that blur the line between his dream world and reality.
13:55Stop!
13:58Get out!
14:01Chris suspects the recurring dreams are paranormal in nature.
14:07I concluded that there was an entity, a spirit in my home, that did not want me there.
14:13And the fact that I couldn't see it and couldn't fight it didn't mean I didn't feel a desire to defend myself.
14:19To me, it was an assault.
14:23Chris does not reveal to his children his suspicions that the house may be haunted.
14:29He does not want to scare them.
14:33But Chris's secret can't be kept for long.
14:43Mom!
15:09Mom!
15:10Mom, I was upstairs playing guitar and then all of a sudden, just clapping.
15:15Andrew, son, come on. Calm down.
15:18The house is 100 years old.
15:20I mean, every now and then, you're going to get a pop and a crack.
15:24But not in perfect rhythm.
15:26We tried to tell him, there's a logical explanation for your experience.
15:30And he was quite adamant that there was not a logical explanation for what he had experienced.
15:35The logical explanation is this house is haunted!
15:39Kay and I had reached a point where we believed we were dealing with a spiritual problem in terms of a ghost.
15:45Our initial reaction to our son was to waylay his fears.
15:48We certainly weren't going to do anything to encourage the idea that there's a ghost in the house and it was in his room haunting him.
15:55But he really wasn't buying it.
15:57Chris and Kay realize they can no longer try to ignore the strange activity.
16:02We have to do something.
16:04I'm working on it.
16:06We decided I would call the priest because we felt that we had a spiritual problem on our hands that was beyond our capability to deal with.
16:15Hey father, how you doing?
16:16Good morning, Chris.
16:17Chris finds even broaching the subject of a ghost difficult.
16:22Well, we've been having some issues at the house.
16:25I informed him that the entire household was experiencing odd occurrences, that it was disruptive to the house.
16:34My son, we're all spiritual beings, but ghosts as you're describing them, I'm afraid they don't exist.
16:41My suggestion would be for you to go home and pray with your family.
16:46The priest declines Chris's request for a blessing of the house.
16:50Well, thank you, father. I appreciate your time.
16:55But to battle the supernatural in his own home, Chris will have to find his own strength within and unite his family in the fight.
17:05We felt like we were on our own.
17:07This was our problem and we were going to have to solve it.
17:11The Gibbons family is trying to come to grips with a dark spirit that seems to be haunting their house.
17:21Chris Gibbons goes to the library and checks out every book he can find on ghosts and hauntings.
17:28I did what I naturally do, which is try to define the problem.
17:32Define what it is I'm dealing with.
17:34What is the risk?
17:36What is this spirit capable of?
17:38I had really no idea.
17:40Can it attack my family physically?
17:43I mean, the idea that there can be ghosts that start fires and your house burns down,
17:48or people get pushed down the stairs,
17:50or the idea of a spiritual possession.
17:53I mean, the idea that there can be ghosts that start fires and your house burns down,
17:59or the idea of a spiritual possession.
18:03What's all this stuff?
18:05Research.
18:07I mean, I've got to figure out what we're up against.
18:10I didn't want a full-scale war in my house with a spirit.
18:15What's in this folder?
18:17I pulled some of the city records.
18:19For more clues, Chris pulls city hall records on the house's history.
18:24He discovers the century-old home had just three owners before he bought it.
18:29Then, he finds something intriguing.
18:33Here you go.
18:35Chris has no idea he is looking at a photo of the man his son had seen in the hallway.
18:41That's who Sarah talked about.
18:43Chris and Kay decide to ask neighbors about the home's previous owners.
18:47I knew the family that lived here. They lived here a long time.
18:51They learn the most recent were a married couple who lived there for 50 years.
18:57The husband died in the home 20 years earlier.
19:00The widow remained until she moved into a nursing home just before the Gibbons family moved in.
19:06Thank you, folks. Appreciate it.
19:09I think I know what's going on with our ghost.
19:12You know, what if it's the dead husband of the widow?
19:14The theory for me was that maybe because his wife had not passed,
19:17he was kind of lingering behind waiting for his wife to join him on the other side before passing on.
19:23What are you thinking?
19:26I think I want whatever's in this house out and gone.
19:32Chris and Kay have a hard choice to make.
19:35Lie to the children to keep them calm or be honest?
19:39Christopher and I decided we need to tell the kids that we think there's spirits in the house.
19:46Heavenly Father.
19:47At last, Chris and Kay acknowledge what the children have known and been talking about for weeks.
19:53We decided that we would pray as a family.
19:57We would pray for the sanctity of our home.
20:00We would pray for lost souls.
20:02Amen.
20:05When we prayed together, it definitely made me feel safer.
20:11After the prayer, paranormal activity in the house seems to stop for several months.
20:17Family life resumes as normal.
20:20We're thinking, well, this is good. You know, the spirit left.
20:28Months later, Chris is at a neighbor's party.
20:32As entertainment, a psychic offers free readings.
20:36What's up with that?
20:37She's a psychic.
20:39That's probably your fortune.
20:40Yeah, that's what I need is a fortune.
20:42Come on. It's just for fun.
20:44Nah, man, I don't believe in stuff like that.
20:46You look like you could use some fun.
20:49How's it going?
20:51You might want to take it a little easy on me. I just, I really don't believe in this stuff.
20:59Are you trying to restore the past?
21:03The past of a grand old house?
21:05She was perceiving my house, so I became very interested in what this psychic had to say.
21:12Give me something from it.
21:14Do you have a key?
21:26The psychic hones in on the spirit living in Chris' house.
21:32There's someone unwanted in your house.
21:38Someone not living.
21:41She says it's a former owner and that he is very attached to the property.
21:46He's a lost soul.
21:49And I asked her, why won't he leave?
21:52I asked her if the ghosts were waiting for his wife to pass before crossing over.
22:03No! I hate that woman!
22:06The psychic becomes momentarily possessed by the spirit haunting Chris' home.
22:15I'm sorry. That wasn't me.
22:18Her response was, he's not waiting for her. He's just in the house because that's his place.
22:23He loved living in that house and it's his and he doesn't want you in it.
22:31Chris' encounter with the psychic seems to reignite his conflict with the entity in his home.
22:39Chris starts having his dreams again. These nightmarish dreams.
22:45Chris' recurring death dreams are back.
22:48Only this time they are more frequent and more violent.
22:53You get to the point you don't want to go to bed because you know what's coming.
22:59What's coming is a horrible experience where you're being brought to a physical violent death.
23:15The entire family now feels the strain of the paranormal entity in their home.
23:21Sarah often has trouble sleeping.
23:25No one felt comfortable in the home.
23:28When you were alone in the house, you'd hear the knob shake a little bit.
23:32And then you'd hear footsteps or just creepy sounds.
23:36You tried to blame it on the wind, but it really wasn't the wind.
23:42Chris Gibbons is terrorized by an unseen entity in his dreams.
23:48But his family now fears their waking hours.
23:57Chris' family is in a state of panic.
24:01They're afraid of what's going to happen to them.
24:05Their waking hours.
24:13He looked at me for, well it was probably like three seconds, but it seemed like forever that he was staring at me.
24:21I was absolutely terrified.
24:28Hey princess, what's going on?
24:32Hey.
24:36What's the matter?
24:39It's okay, you can tell me.
24:41I... I saw the ghost.
24:45Where?
24:46Standing in the doorway.
24:50Chris instantly knows that the entity in his dreams is the same one appearing to his children.
24:57He had slick back hair.
25:00News that the ghost has physically appeared to his daughter affects Chris even more than the terror he experiences in his dreams.
25:09It attacks his core mission as a father.
25:14Chris is not sure how to protect his family against something he doesn't understand.
25:21He continues the restoration of his house.
25:24This he knows how to do.
25:30SHOOT
25:31SHOOT
25:32SHOOT
25:35SHOOT
25:36SHOOT
25:38Oh
26:08Oh
26:14What happened for Chris the dream of being suffocated was the worst one yet
26:31Why don't you go upstairs try to get some rest for what so we can do it again
26:39The nightmare is an escalation that makes sleep almost impossible
26:46Everybody likes to go to bed when they're tired
26:49Everybody likes to wake up rested the assaults in the dreams act to deprive you of that
26:57basic kind of normal
27:00human function a
27:02Week later Chris and Kay have two friends over for drinks. Yeah, we're trying you know, it's a
27:08It's been a labor of love. I
27:10Was listening to everybody. It was really nice to have friends over
27:14And I couldn't take it anymore
27:17It's been very hard
27:18Kay is really kind of the rock in the house for her to have an emotional breakdown like this just out of the blue
27:25Was very unusual. Hey, what's wrong?
27:28I didn't want to tell you what happened earlier that day. Kay had an experience in the basement
27:38I
27:40Had a feeling that something was not right
27:49Kay senses that the ghost is showing her a scene from the past a
27:54mysterious image of violence
27:56committed against a ghost child I
28:00Could feel her I could feel her soul she was scared. She was not existent, but she mad
28:08It was horrible
28:14I think something horrible happened in this house
28:17Kay fears that the ghost while living may have abused a child in their basement
28:22I know someone who might help their friend suggests they contact a local spiritual healer at this point
28:30We'll just we'll try anything I guess
28:32The
28:37Next day the spiritual healer and her husband who works with her arrive
28:48The healer is agreed to share her story anonymously as she rarely becomes involved in the cleansing of spirits from a home
28:57When I initially got the call I was
29:00Concerned about the whole family. So it was primarily my intuition that said I need to go right away
29:11Did you do the work yourself
29:13One of the first questions she asked me was had we been renovating in the house? Yes
29:17Why do you think it has something to do?
29:21the
29:22entity was present in the house when they bought the house when they renovated the house and
29:28Disturbed all of the dark places
29:30That's when this energy became much more active. There was a very strong draw to the basement
29:37Something in the basement was not right. I
29:41Can sense
29:48Do you feel what I feel
29:53You need to you need to stay back here you two need to stay back here
29:58you
30:03We walk into that room with the intention of getting rid of that thing and it knows that immediately
30:08It doesn't have to be told that out loud
30:14It was very clear where it was emanating from immediately
30:19We open that
30:21Yeah, go ahead
30:28You
30:34The spiritual healers believe they have cornered a ghost
30:38The dark energy that has been terrorizing the Gibbons family in their home
30:43It's the same closet from which Chris was attacked in one of his dreams
30:51No matter what happens just stay there, okay
30:58You
31:08It tried to push back and it tried to find ways out of the circle that we were creating around it
31:16You
31:25And we just kept pushing pushing
31:34Until eventually it shot out the window all at once
31:41It's outside now
31:44You should I get rid of his workbench and all his old tools
31:51It's a good idea
31:53Make sure you put it outside the boundary line though
31:56There may have been some attachment by this entity to his personal things that remained in the house
32:02So if we wanted to avoid that connection, then we had to move that connection off of the property
32:09The spiritual healer suspects the ghost may be still lurking outside
32:18Chris wants to remove the workbench and tools anything tangible that may have been connected to the ghost when it was alive
32:30The workbenches down there have been built by him
32:33I hope he would face the same fate that his bench had which is destruction
32:40And so what we're going to do is create a perimeter here where we're gonna want the negative
32:45Energies to stay over here and the positive energy is on that side
32:49Now the task of creating this boundary is the use of water-based solution
32:54different salts sands and herbs
32:57You're the nurturer you're gonna be the one to protect this house
33:00Anyone can do the sealing of the property, but it's best given to the mother
33:06This comes from the tradition and the understanding that it is women who create and hold space
33:13Okay, are you ready to put your heart and soul into this?
33:16She told me I have to take control. I have to tell the ghost to leave and he can't come back
33:23Has to come through my heart
33:26My mind my soul and I have to mean it
33:31This is our house
33:34No negative energies are welcome here
33:36What we are creating is an energetic wall that those negative energies cannot cross back in. This is our house
33:43I felt very empowered to know that I'm a part of getting this ghost out of our house and never to return again
33:50and our friends
33:52As Kay completes the perimeter Chris brings the last of the previous owners belongings to the curb
33:59With all this junk, it's yours. It's like you it's gone. It's all going to the dump. Why don't you follow it?
34:06My intent about this ghost was hostile
34:12In my heart
34:14That ghost could rot if you feed an entity through negative emotions like fear or anger
34:21It can create a doorway for it to reenter
34:25You're baiting it you're asking it for a fight
34:31The children are invited back into the house to celebrate and seal the cleansing
34:36Okay, I want you to think positive thoughts. I want you to think light being all around us. Okay?
34:44We called in all of the energies of the universe that are within sacred law
34:50That bring light and love and we
34:53Attempted to fill that house with as much love and light as we possibly could
34:58So that there wasn't room for any darkness in the house anywhere
35:02May there be no more darkness in this house
35:06May there be only light
35:10Thank you for having me here, thank you
35:13Thank you
35:16No, thank you, I'm glad I could help I think the cleanse worked I mean instantaneously, I mean you knew
35:24You knew you could feel you felt peace in our house
35:29It's the first time since we've moved into the house that I felt like we were us again
35:35I felt a sincere sense of relief
35:39Four weeks later the cleansing still holds Chris now rested takes up running again
35:48Only to be watched by a familiar figure
35:58For Chris Gibbons an early morning jog becomes a run-in with terror
36:04The ghost he banished from his property months ago
36:08Is lurking just a few blocks away
36:12There was no doubt in my mind that that was the ghost
36:16If it's still hanging around then it's still attached to that environment in some way shape or form
36:22That would mean that this entity was trying to cross back across and get back into Chris's house
36:34May God rebuke him
36:37We humbly pray
36:39fearing a return of the ghost
36:42Chris leads his family on a nightly cleansing of the house
36:45I made it my point to cleanse the house and I also mixed my own Catholic traditions with
36:52Catholic prayers a ruin of lost soul
36:56Amen
36:59I
37:01Chris performs the cleansing ritual every night for weeks, but the family tires of it
37:09You know, I was thinking tonight we could really focus on the third floor
37:12Chris would come home from work and say let's do the ritual and I'm like, I don't want to do the ritual anymore
37:18I'm done with this ritual
37:21This is no way to live. I quit I gave up. I mean the kids and I need you
37:27It's fine
37:33So the ghost had defeated me
37:37Chris continues the cleansing ritual alone. I asked for whatever lives in this cabinet
37:43To be ripped from the earth and sent to a place where evil lives
37:51To be ripped from the earth and sent to a place where evil lives
37:56Chris consciously realizes he's in another of his terror dreams and he can control his movements. Oh
38:04I
38:05Know what's going on? I'm in a paranormal dream. You're not gonna get me this time
38:26And
38:28I hit him, you know with my fist it felt good
38:32Yeah, I'd like to think I'm a peaceful person really in my heart and here I am
38:37Horribly beating someone senseless, you know, I thought you know, this is what I've come to
38:42Chris realizes that he has tried every approach to attack and defend against the entity
38:48except one
38:50Letting go of his anger toward the ghost
38:53And putting my anger down and trying to deal with this spirit
38:57I really did come to see us as equal creations. He exists because God created him
39:04I exist because God created me
39:22I
39:30Really called on everything that I thought was good and right in the universe to come here and to
39:36Show him and to encourage him to do something about making a different choice for himself dear Lord
39:44Please confirm upon the lost soul in this house
39:47all of your love and light
39:50When I approached the spirit with a sense of loving intent and a sense of forgiveness
39:57When I made that shift
39:59That was the end of it as far as I was concerned
40:04Chris believes the entity has left their home
40:09Amen, I loved him out because I couldn't make him leave
40:15The family may never be able to prove that the ghost is gone
40:20but
40:22Years have passed since the haunting and the Gibbons clan has seen no sign of the entity that threatened to destroy them
40:30It was out of love that the ghost left
40:34And it was out of love that we stayed together through the whole thing
40:39I think having survived this haunting that we as a family have gotten really close
40:46Amen
40:48One two three four our kids
40:51I think are very proud of us for what we we've gone through and what we've done to get rid of the ghost
40:57Especially their father but for the patriarch of the Gibbons clan
41:01The lack of definitive proof that the ghost has permanently disappeared will always leave
41:08Haunting doubts. I don't know that it's over. I mean, I don't know what choice the ghost made
41:13I hope that he has truly moved on but if he wants to come back, I know how to deal with him