By 1986, the Smurls had reached their limit. They reached out to the most famous paranormal investigators in the world: Ed and Lorraine Warren.

What began as a quiet life quickly dissolved into a fifteen-year ordeal of reported paranormal terror. Initially, the disturbances were minor: tools disappeared and reappeared, strange stains bled through fresh paint, and unplugged appliances occasionally caught fire. However, by the mid-1980s, the activity turned violent. The family reported bloodcurdling screams, putrid odors like sulfur or rotting flesh, and physical assaults from unseen forces. Jack claimed he was repeatedly assaulted by a demonic entity, and one of their daughters was allegedly thrown down a staircase.

Whether you think they were besieged by demons or trapped by their own imaginations, the image of a family huddled together on the first floor of a dark Pennsylvania home, listening to the footsteps above—that fear is very, very real.

What began as nuisance-level paranormal activity soon turned sinister. The Smurls claimed to witness: