[UA] Weird US message.

[Chris Cooper]

This is very UA: invisible entity abuse, vomited
needles, and disembodied voices answering Mathematics
and Cypocryphy.

What's not too like?

C.

Curse of the Bell Witch
By Pat Fitzhugh


The frightening events that occurred in Tennessee's
Red River settlement nearly two centuries ago are
supported by public records, church records, and
manuscripts penned by eyewitnesses--farmers, doctors,
clergymen, and others. This is their story.

North Carolina planters John and Lucy Bell moved their
family to Tennessee in 1804, settling in a two-story
log house near present-day Adams. The family's
successful farm and strong religious convictions gave
them prominence in the community and a sense of
happiness and accomplishment at home. The family grew,
more land was bought, and more fields were cleared.
Things would eventually change, however.

While inspecting a cornfield, John Bell encountered a
strange-looking animal and shot at it--the creature
vanished. Thinking it was mix-bred dog, he soon forgot
about the incident. But, as it would turn out, that
fall morning in 1817 marked the beginning of a
malevolent reign of terror that would seize and hold
Bell's family in its sinister grasp for years and
change their lives forever.

They soon began hearing raps on the walls, almost
nightly. No culprit was found. The children began
complaining of rats gnawing at their bedposts and
their bedcovers being slowly pulled away. If they
resisted, a seemingly invisible hand slapped them,
leaving visible welts and handprints. The following
weeks brought sounds of dogs scratching the floor,
stones hitting the roof, and chains being pulled
through the hallways late at night. Again, no culprit
could be found.

The youngest daughter, Betsy, became the target of
intense physical abuse. Her hair was pulled; her face
was slapped relentlessly; and her body often bore
bruises and claw marks. Trancelike episodes often
followed, culminating with her vomiting needles. The
family of the twelve-year-old could only pray while
she lay helpless. These episodes were often followed
by noises and jolts in other parts of the house. The
Bells were experiencing something far beyond their
grasp--and they knew it.

Fearing obvious religious repercussions, John Bell
swore his family to secrecy while trying to gain a
better understanding of the “trouble.” Curious if
the entity possessed intelligence, Bell asked, “How
many miles to Port Royal?” Seven raps were heard.
“How many horses are in the barn?” Betsy's face
was slapped nine times. The entity's persona developed
over time and its malevolence grew to encompass the
entire family.

John Bell began experiencing frequent choking episodes
and sometimes complained of needles sticking him in
the back. Drewry Bell's chair was kicked away when he
sat to read, and JohnJr., noticing strange animals in
the forest. Betsy and her younger brothers began
seeing a strange woman walking about the orchard each
morning and, on one occasion, hanging lifeless from a
tree. The cold nights of winter brought apparitions of
candles dancing in the fields as melancholy whispers
filled the house.

By early 1818, the whispers had evolved into
low-pitched musical tones that often “spoke” in
reverse speech. Overwhelmed, John Bell decided to
confide in is best friend, James Johnston, for
guidance. Johnston listened carefully but dismissed
Bell's story as a hoax being staged by the children
and agreed to prove it by spending the night.

A deluge of disembodied voices soon proved Johnston
wrong. Terrified, he sprang from his bed and
exclaimed, “In the name of the Lord, who are you and
why are you here!” No answer was given, and the rest
of the night proved uneventful. The following morning,
he told Bell it was "a spirit, just like in the
Bible!" and that clergymen should investigate. They
tried forming a secret investigative committee, but
word inevitably spread and the farm soon became a
haven for believers and skeptics alike.

Some felt the events were staged for profit; others
believed they were of supernatural origin. While most
were spared from torture, everyone heard the eerie
noises and sinister voices. Word inevitably spread to
the church, where John Bell was promptly
excommunicated for the sin of “covetousness,”
which arose (supposedly) from an unrelated incident.
The entity's voice continued to develop strength and
articulation, finally reaching a point where it could
be understood. 

It enjoyed religious debate and poking fun at
preachers. It once recited, word-for-word and using
the preachers’ own voices, two sermons that occurred
simultaneously--thirteen miles apart. Both preachers
were present when this demonstration occurred, and
each confirmed its correctness. One asked about the
entity's origin and it exclaimed, “I am Ol' Kate
Batts' witch, here to torment Ol’ John Bell to his
grave and straight into hell!"

Mrs. Batts was a large, eccentric woman who lived
about mile from the Bells.  She was often ridiculed
about her spiteful disposition and eerie ways, which
had led many to suspect involvement with the occult.
The entity's latest claim made perfect fodder. Some
suspected that Mrs. Batts practiced “Black Magic”
against the Bells, possibly in collusion with
Professor Richard Powell, a schoolmaster known to
secretly patronize her on occasion. People began
calling the entity “Kate,” a name to which it
readily answered seemed fond of. 

The entity assimilated four distinct characters and
commenced a series of disturbances more terrifying
than before. Kate's “witch family,” as she called
them, brought new voices and terror to the Bell home.
"Blackdog" spoke in a raspy, feminine tone and left no
question as to who was in charge. "Mathematics" and
“Cypocryphy" spoke like young girls, and "Jerusalem"
sounded like a little boy. The drunken "witch family"
visited nightly, singing out of key, arguing with each
other, yelling obscenities at the Bells, and
proliferating the smell of whiskey throughout the
house. 







The “witch family” demonstrations soon ended, but
Kate remained. She seemed fond of Lucy Bell, singing
hymns and comforting her when she was sick. She spoke
highly of both the Johnston family and William Porter,
a young bachelor who once found her disguised as a
snake under his bedcovers. These people firmly
believed in her existence. Skeptics, on the other
hand, were met with hostility. One such person was
Major General Andrew Jackson, who decided to pay a
visit after hearing of the disturbances.

As they neared the property, Jackson and his entourage
heard what sounded like the cries of an old woman
coming from deep in the forest. The horses spooked and
a feeble voice proclaimed, "You can go now, General. I
will see you tonight." The entourage finally reached
the Bell home where, that evening, one of the men
claimed to be a “witch killer.” An invisible force
instantly slapped him, kicked in the posterior, and
pulled him out the front door by his nose. Kate said
that Jackson's party had yet another fraud and that
she would expose him the following night.

Jackson's entourage left early the next morning, never
to return. Jackson, who later said, “I'd rather
fight the British at New Orleans than deal with the
Bell Witch,” became President of the United States
several years later. John Bell's health continued to
decline. He experienced frequent episodes of seizures
and convulsions, and became weaker each day. Kate was
overjoyed.

One overcast morning, Bell and his youngest son were
walking across a field when Kate began tripping him
and removing his shoes. A faint, disembodied whisper
filled the air, “Your place is in hell, Ol’ John
Bell.” While walking back to the house, John Bell
experienced a violent seizure and lay helpless as his
young son said a prayer. Disembodied voices began
reciting biblical passages and screaming the word,
“Legion.” He eventually made it home and took to
his bed, never to leave again. He died on December 20,
1820.

The family found a vial of strange liquid by his side.
John, Jr. tested it by placing a drop on the cat's
tongue. It jumped and spun around, then died before
hitting the floor. Kate interjected, "I gave Ol’
John a dose last night, and it fixed him!" The vial
was thrown into the fireplace, where it quickly
ignited and shot up the chimney. Kate laughed and sang
about a bottle of brandy as the large crowd dispersed
from Bell's funeral. Although her mission seemed
complete, Kate had another matter to address--Betsy
Bell's engagement to Joshua Gardner.

Betsy was forced to endure Kate's relentless pleas.
"Oh Betsy Bell, don't marry Joshua Gardner; it's
wrong. I won't tell you why, but future generations
will see it true," she pleaded. This finally took its
toll and Betsy ended the engagement, and Kate finally
seemed happy. Betsy was later courted by Richard
Powell, her former schoolteacher who had previously
expressed a fondness for her. They later married. Kate
bade farewell to Lucy Bell and the children in late
1821, promising to return in seven years.

She returned briefly in 1828, promising to visit John
Bell's closest descendant in 107 years. It turned out
to be Dr. Charles Bell, a Nashville physician who
wrote a book about Kate one year before her promised
return visit. No follow-up was published. Did Kate
return in 1935, or did she ever leave to begin with?

The Red River area boasts much unexplained activity
today. Strange voices have been heard; photographic
anomalies are common; animals sometimes act strangely;
and on cold nights, strange “candles” can
sometimes be seen dancing in the fog-laden fields and
forests--just as they did in the days of John Bell,
nearly two centuries ago.
Who or what was, or is, “Kate?” This author feels
that Kate herself gave the best answer: 

"I am everywhere. I am in the wind and the forest. I
am in your house and fields. I am in the water you
drink and the air you breathe."

There is more to this epic tale of terror on the
American frontier than meets the eye--MUCH more. The
events that took place in the Red River settlement
remain a mystery. Something was wrong, and undoubtedly
still is. Should the sinister, malevolent entity that
terrorized John Bell's family return in full force
today, whose family might it choose to destroy this
time?  

Pat Fitzhugh is the author of two books on the Bell
Witch: The Bell Witch: The Full Account and The Bell
Witch Haunting, both released by Armand Press. He is a
resident of Nashville, Tennessee.









Cave of the Bell Witch
By Troy Taylor


Located near where the Bell Farm once stood and near
the old family cemetery, where many of the Bell's
still rest, is what has become known as the Bell Witch
Cave. The cave is located on property once owned by
the Bell family. Many in Robertson County believe that
when the witch departed, she fled to the sanctuary of
this cave. Whether the Bell Witch is here or not, the
cave is a very haunted place. 

It was also mentioned in some accounts that Kate's
voice was often heard nearby this cave and one day,
Betsy Bell and several of her friends had a close
encounter with the witch. 

The cave itself is located in the center of a large
bluff that overlooks the river. The mouth of the cave
opens widely but entrance to the cavern itself must be
gained through a fairly long tunnel. The cave is not
large compared to most commercial caves, however its
true length is unknown because of narrow passages that
go beyond the 500 or so feet accessible to visitors. 

In dry times, the cave has proven to be quite an
attraction to curiosity-seekers and ghost hunters.
Once you pass through the entrance passage, the
visitor enters a large room that opens into yet
another tunnel and an overhead passageway. Another
large room can be found at the rear of the explored
portion of the cave, but from that point on the
tunnels become smaller, narrower and much more
dangerous. 

One day, Betsy Bell and some of her friends were
exploring the cave, using candles as a source of
light. One of the boys came to a place where he had to
get down on his belly and wriggle through. He inched
along the passage before becoming stuck! He twisted
around trying to get free and in his panic, dropped
his candle and it was snuffed out. He called for help
and while his friends could hear him, could not find
him in the total blackness of the cave.

Suddenly, the boy heard the voice of the witch coming
out of the darkness behind him. "II'll get you out,"
Kate assured him and the boy began to feel his legs
being pulled as if twin vices had been cinched around
his ankles. He was dragged through the muddy cave all
of the way back to the entrance and was deposited
there in small pool of water. He was a bit worse for
wear, but at least he was alive!
     
The Bell Witch Cave became an attraction thanks to a
man named Bill Eden, who owned the property for a
number of years. He was a wealth of information about
the cave and about the fact that strange occurrences
were continuing to take place on the land that once
belonged to John Bell. Although he was mainly a
farmer, Eden did make some early improvements to the
cave by adding electrical lights, but that was about
all.

Despite being undeveloped though, the cave managed to
attract hundreds of visitors every year who wanted to
be shown through it. Bill always obliged although was
always puzzled about how they found the place. There
were no signs to point the way at that time but
somehow people found it and they always asked to hear
the stories of the witch, and the stories that Eden
spun from his own weird experiences at the place.

And there were many other stories to tell in regard to
the Bell Witch Cave. Many of the strange experiences
actually happened to Bill Eden himself, while others
involved visitors to the cave. For instance, a woman
came to visit one day and asked to go down and see the
cave. She had brought a group of friends along and in
all, about fifteen people followed Eden down the
rather treacherous path to the cave's entrance. All at
once, the woman in charge of the group abruptly sat
down in the middle of the path. One of the people with
her asked why she was sitting there, and she answered
that she wasn't! She claimed that a heavy weight,
which felt like a ton of lead, was pressing her down
to the ground and she couldn't get up. Several members
of the group managed to get the lady to her feet and
got her back up the hill to her car.

Bill Eden could also recount a number of encounters he
had on his own in the cave. "You can hear footsteps in
there all the time and I saw one thing, " he said in
the interview. "Lots of people come out here expecting
to see a ghost or a witch of whatever you want to call
it. I just call it a spirit ... and it looked like a
person with its back turned to you. Looked like it was
built out of real white-looking heavy fog or snow, or
something real solid white. But you couldn't see
through it. It had the complete figure of a person
till it got down to about its ankles. It wasn't
touching the floor at all. It was just drifting ...
bouncing along."

On another occasion, Eden was leading a man, his wife
and grown son on a tour of the cave. They were all
walking along through the cave and Eden was pointing
out some of the rock formations in the cavern, along
with telling tales of the witch.  The group was
standing in the back room of the cave (as far back as
the tour goes) when the woman happened to look up over
some rock formations. Suddenly, she began to scream!
"Look at that woman!", she screamed at Eden and her
family. "She's not walking! She's floating through the
air!" 

The men looked to where she pointed and then looked at
each other. None of them saw anything. Eden looked
over at the woman again and by this time, her knees
had buckled and she had fallen to the floor of the
cave. They quickly helped her up and started walking
her toward the front of the cave.

When they made it to the front room, another strange
occurrence took place. Close by the entrance to the
passage which connects the two large rooms, there is a
limestone outcropping which comes out from the wall.
As they got close to this limestone section, they
heard what sounded like loud, raspy breathing coming
(it seemed) from the rock itself! Eden would later say
that it was like the hard and labored breathing of a
person, which became more labored until it was finally
the struggling breath of someone dying. Of course, no
matter what it sounded like, it was quite frightening
in the dark recesses of the cave!

The woman almost collapsed again and she began to
weep. She turned to Eden, quite angry, and stated that
he ought to be arrested for rigging the cave in that
way! "You're going to kill somebody if you don't
stop!", she declared. 

Eden replied that he had no idea what she had seen,
and whatever that breathing sound had been, he had
done nothing to rig things up. Her husband came to
Bill's defense and assured her that he had seen no
wires or anything else to indicate that Eden had
rigged things to happen in the cave. The lady slowly
became convinced, although I imagine this was the last
time that she visited the Bell Witch Cave.

In the early summer of 1977, several soldiers from
Fort Campbell came over to visit the cave. Eden took
the young men on a tour and ended up in the back room,
where all of them sat around talking and Eden told his
stories of the odd events on the farm.

One of the men politely expressed some doubts about
the validity of the story. He had been to many places
that were supposedly haunted and nothing out of the
ordinary had ever occurred to him. Eden laughed and
shrugged his shoulders. The man could believe whatever
he wanted to, but as for Bill, well, he had seen
enough things on the farm to know that something
unexplainable was going on.

"If something happened, you probably wouldn't ever
come back here again," Bill added with a grin.

The group sat and talked for a short while longer and
then they all got up to leave ... all except for the
young man who had spoke up about his disbelief in
ghosts. "Mr. Eden! Come here and help me," the soldier
said. "I can't get up."

Eden and the man's friends all assumed that he was
joking and they all began to laugh. It wasn't until
Bill took a good look at the man that he realized that
something really was wrong. The young man was now
begging for help and his face was drenched so badly
with sweat that it looked like someone had poured a
bucket of water over him. When Eden took hold of his
hand to help him up, he could feel the man's hand was
cold and clammy as if he were going into shock.

The man continued to call for help and claimed that he
could feel strong arms wrapped around his chest. They
were squeezing him tightly, he said, and he was unable
to breathe. Eden and the other men helped their friend
to his feet and while the soldiers supported him, Bill
wiped his face off with some run-off water from the
cave. When the soldier got to feeling better, they
took him outside of the cave. By the time they were
ready to leave, the young man had completely recovered
and was suffering no ill effects from his harrowing
experience.

As he was heading to his car, he stopped and shook
Bill Eden's hand. "Well, you were right about one
thing, Mr. Eden," the young soldier said. "I won't
ever be back here again."

The winter rains in Tennessee wreak havoc on the Bell
Witch Cave, which is why Bill Eden (and the current
owners) usually only opened the cave during the summer
and early autumn months. Each spring, Bill always had
a lot of work to do on the floor of the cave where the
rushing water had carved out small holes and ditches. 

One Sunday morning, Eden had taken his shovel and rake
and was working back some distance in the cave, trying
to level out the more damaged portions of the floor.
He was chopping at and smoothing over the gravel when
he heard a noise that he was not making himself. He
spun around because he realized that it was coming
from behind him, from the further recesses of the
cave.

In the darkness, he could hear the distinct sound of
someone walking down the passage, his or her feet
crunching in the gravel on the floor. The sounds kept
coming, moving toward him, until they stopped a few
feet away. Eden strained his eyes to peer into the
shadows, but he could see no one there.

"Something I can do for you?", he called out, but he
got no answer. He called again, but still no answer
came.

Although he most likely would have hated to admit it,
I imagine this incident raised the hairs on the back
of Bill's neck. He decided that he would probably get
more work done near the entrance of the cave, where it
was much lighter, so he picked up his tools and headed
in that direction. He walked up front and as he passed
through the first room, he noticed his dog sleeping on
the little ledge over on the left side of the room.

For the next thirty minutes or so, Eden worked on the
floor between the iron gate at the mouth of the cave
and the first room. He had just stopped for a moment
to rest when he heard the familiar footsteps, tracking
through the gravel once more. They were once again
coming from the back of the cave and quickly
approached the first room, where Bill's dog was
sleeping.

Suddenly, the animal's ears pricked up and he jumped
to his feet. The hackles raised on the back of his
neck and Bill saw his lips curl back to reveal the
dog's rather intimidating set of teeth. The animal
didn't move though. He just stood there, looking
directly at the spot where the footsteps had last been
heard. 

The gravel began crunching again and moved forward, in
the direction of where Bill was standing. As the
sounds moved past the dog, he stared ahead, as though
watching someone that Eden was unable to see. The
footsteps came directly toward Bill, passed by him,
and then continued to the outside of the cave.

Immediately after, both Bill and the dog hurried
outside into the sunlight. He admitted later that he
did not have the nerve to go back inside right away,
nor for several days afterward. From that time on,
that particular dog never entered the main part of the
cave again. He would follow people to the steel gate,
which is about 30 feet inside, but then he would
either wait there or return outside. Whatever he had
seen that day had frightened him away for good.

And those were not the end of the stories told by Bill
Eden about the farm and about the Bell Witch Cave.
There were many other incidents which took place and
Eden never got tired of telling the tales to just
about anyone who would listen.

"They call me William, they call me W.M., they call me
Bill, they call me Judd, and they call me the "Bell
Witch Man." This was the way that Bill Eden introduced
himself to author Richard Winer in 1978. A few short
years later, Bill Eden passed away and sadly, his
death closed a fascinating chapter in the history of
the Bell Witch saga.

There is no doubt about it, Mr. Eden was a true
American character and the impression that he left on
the place, like the impression left by Kate herself,
will always remain.

The present-day owners of the Bell Witch Cave, and the
piece of the old Bell farm made so famous by Bill
Eden, are Chris and Walter Kirby, who purchased the
land in April of 1993. Walter is a tobacco farmer and
Chris manages to stay busy managing the upkeep and
tours of the cave. In the summer months, this task is
more than a full-time job.

It wasn't long after the Kirby's moved to the farm,
and began conducting tours in the cave, before they
realized things were not quite right on the property.
They began to notice first that there were strange
noises that didn't have an easy explanation. "We've
heard them in the cave and we've heard them in the
house," Chris told author Charles Edwin Price. "I feel
like if there's anyplace that could be haunted, it's
this place here. 

I first met Chris Kirby in the spring of 1997. I had
always heard about the Bell Witch case and knew that
there was a cave located on the property that was
purported to be haunted. My wife and I were on a trip
down south at the time and decided to take a side trip
over to Adams. We headed for the cave. In a town the
size of Adams, it's not hard to find but it can easily
be reached by turning off Highway 41, right next to
the Bell School. You can't miss the sign for the cave
alongside the roadway and a right turn takes you onto
a curving gravel road and up to a small brick house,
which was built by Bill Eden. There is a sign here
that reads "Bell Cave Parking."

Behind the house is the trail that leads down to the
cave. The entrance to the cave is closed off by a
locked, heavy steel gate. It is supposed to stop
unauthorized visitors from entering the cave, which
can be very dangerous, especially in the darkness.
There are many sections of the cave that remain
unexplored and this fact, along with the ghost
stories, proves to be a real magnet for teenagers and
curiosity seekers. Chris stated that they always worry
that someone will be hurt in there because the gate
does not always stop the trespassers. They even had
two break-ins within a few weeks of buying the
property. In fact, the trespassing becomes so bad at
certain times of year that the Kirby's have been
forced to prosecute anyone caught inside of the cave
at night.

After taking us down to the cave, Chris told us about
some of the strange incidents that have taken place on
the property. One day, Chris and her dog were leading
a tour of the cave for a group of visitors. She was
just opening the steel gate which leads inside when
she heard a strange sound ... the same sort of sound
described by Bill Eden and one of his tour groups
years before. "It sounded like real raspy breathing
sounds," she said, "like someone couldn't get their
breath. It only lasted for a minute and then it was
gone." Chris looked back to her tour group, but they
were quietly talking amongst themselves and hadn't
heard a thing. 

The tour continued through the first room, down the
narrow passage and into the second room. Here, as is
the tradition in Bell Witch Cave Tours, Chris began
telling stories of the witch, the haunting and strange
incidents on the farm. As she was talking, the dog
suddenly reacted to something that no one else could
see. The hair on the animal's back stood up and she
began showing her teeth and growling. The tour group
asked what was wrong with the dog, but Chris had no
idea.

She was finally able to calm the dog down, but then
the animal began whining and tucked her tail between
her legs. She cowered back against Chris and at that
same moment, the flashlight in Chris’ hand suddenly
went out!

"I guessed that it was just the battery at first,"
Chris remembered, "but then a lady's video camera
stopped working too. We were all standing there in the
dark and I'll tell you, I was ready to get out of
there and everyone else was too!"

Since that time, I have visited and have talked with
the Kirby's many times and there is no question that
the strange incidents on the farm have continued. But
what is it about this farm? Is the old property and
the cave really haunted by the Bell Witch? Or does
something even stranger walk here? I can't say for
sure, although I can say with some certainty that this
land is haunted. If the Bell Witch was as real as the
reports have led me to believe, then I don't think she
has ever left here either. And it didn't take much to
convince me of that.

I have walked the old Bell farm and stood next to the
grave where John Bell is buried. I have been amazed at
the beauty of the hollows and the woods of Robertson
County and I have thrilled to the thunder of the Red
River after a summer rain. And I have walked into the
gloom of the ominous Bell Witch Cave and that was
enough to convince me that something strange is in the
place. This land is tainted and there is a darkness
that lurks here unlike anything else that I have ever
encountered. This is truly one of America's most
haunted places.







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