Family flees house they say is haunted

Just one week after Josue Chinchilla and Michele Callan moved into their new home in Toms River, the couple and her two children plodded into the lobby of a local hotel about 1:15 a.m. and asked for a room. As soon as the family had settled into the three-bedroom ranch at the corner of Terrace and Lowell avenues on March 1, they began to suspect they were not its only tenants. The family would come home and find their clothes and towels ejected from the closets and strewn over the floors. Doors would creak open and slam closed in unoccupied areas of the house. Lights switched on and off without human intervention. At night, footsteps could be heard from the kitchen after everyone was tucked in and unintelligible whispering seemed to fade in and out of thin air, according to the couple. The most disturbing and consistent phenomenon, they claim, is the sound that comes through the vents to the basement — the muffled din of something lumbering seven feet below their feet. Last week, Chinchilla, 37, and Callan, 36, filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court against their landlord, Dr. Richard Lopez… In response, Lopez filed a counter suit against the couple for breaking their one-year lease. He claims the couple is using the specter of “paranormal activity” as a cover for personal financial troubles, which he contends have forced Chinchilla and Callan to conclude, after the fact, they cannot afford the $1,500 monthly rent. Lopez’s attorney, David A. Semanchik, said his client has been renting the house at 100 Terrace Ave. to tenants for more than 10 years and this is the first time anyone has claimed the house is haunted.

Tip: Google alerts “paranormal”

The fact that I found this story ALL OVER my Google alert for “paranormal” is telling. The feed is usually full of references to the movie Paranormal Activity. The story told by the residents is remarkably similar to fictional tales of hauntings. And, it is, shall we say eerily, reminiscent of the Amityville Horror tale which is accepted as a concocted hoax by the Lutz family.

So, this story goes on to detail two paranormal investigation teams that were called in:

Nick Carlson, an investigator with the Shore Paranormal Research Society of Toms River, said the results of their investigation into the house on Terrace Avenue are inconclusive. While there is evidence of paranormal activity in the home, based on the data his team collected, the facts suggest a residual haunting from the past associated with a significant release of psychic energy, but not an intelligence. Marianne Brigando, co-founder of NJ Paranormal Investigators of Old Bridge, said that group’s findings confirms the house is the site of an active or intelligent haunting, one level above a residual haunting. “We were shocked,” Brigando said. “Out of all of the investigations we have done, this is where we came up with the most concrete evidence (of the paranormal) in close to 20 investigations.”

Here is where I got angry. PAGING JOE NICKELL OR BEN RADFORD! Of course you will document paranormal activity if you bring in paranormal BELIEVERS to document your haunting. It’s not a sound investigation when everything odd or unexplained is labeled “paranormal activity”. Besides being biased, their methods are unreliable and unscientific. But, I wonder… if this is genuine activity, why did they come up with different conclusions? Why don’t they share their results with actual scientists? If no one is in the house, bring in more critical thinkers who can evaluate the evidence in light of ALL possible explanations, such as problems with the construction, electrical wiring, pests, etc. I haven’t seen mention of attempts to rule out less fantastic causes.

There is no reason whatsoever to believe claims of such extreme paranormal activity simply on the story we are given here and by the “findings” of amateur paranormal enthusiasts. But, I will allow that something interesting may be going on in the house. Why not bring in real investigators to find out what?

Here’s a funny coincidence… Guess where the outdoor scenes were filmed for the movie, The Amityville Horror? Toms River, NJ.

[edited for typos on 4-14-2012 because I type to fast without spell check on]

UPDATED: (15-Apr-2012)

Here is a video from ABC News showing some supposed evidence.



The light may have a short or some loose connection. The bowling pin? SOMEONE just walked by it. Why isn’t that a more logical explanation? As I noted below, EVPs are worthless – they have never been shown to be voices from beyond so not sure how that is going to wash in court. I’m sorry. Not impressive. But, that’s just from the video. If you are going to try to convince a judge, you HAVE to bring more than that. Once again, I reiterate, bring in skeptical investigators. If something weird is there, and you impress them, then I’ll think there is more to this.

As you will note in the comments below, members of Shore Paranormal have left their opinions. Moderation is on, so I will disallow comments that do not further this discussion in a rational manner.

The story continues…here.