The Exorcisms
When the Smurl's attempts to involve the Roman Catholic Church for help failed the Warren's brought in Father (now Bishop) McKenna, a traditionalist priest who said mass in Latin and had performed more than 50 exorcisms for the Warren's. He conducted the ancient rite which did nothing but infuriate the demon.
After the failure of the Warren's to quell the poltergeist activity the Smurl's invited a medium, Mary Alice Rinkman, who visited the house and corroborated the Warren's findings of 4 spirits. She identified one as an elderly woman named Abigail and another as a dark, moustached man named Patrick who had murdered his wife and her lover. Patrick had then been lynched by a mob. She could not identify the third but the fourth was a powerful demonic presence.
McKenna performed a second exorcism in late spring but the haunting continued even attempts to escape the haunting were also unsuccessful. The family was followed on a camping trip; and Jack Smurl was even having paranormal experiences at work. In desperation, the family decided to turn to the media for help. The resulting press coverage opened the floodgates, and the Smurl's home became a tourist attraction, press magnet, and forum for skeptics.
After repeated refusals by the church to help, Jack Smurl decided to appear on television. Remaining anonymous behind a screen, they were interviewed by Richard Bey on a local Philadelphia show called "People are Talking." Immediately after returning home the demon retaliated. It levitated Janet and then hurled her against the wall. Later that night Janet was throttled and thrown about by invisible forces, whilst Jack was raped by a monstrous creature resembling a pig on two legs.
After repeated refusals by the Church to become involved, the media coverage finally motivated the Scranton diocese to offer an investigation into the Smurl's case. A third exorcism performed by Father McKenna brought a stop to the activity. In December 1986, however, after only 3 months of freedom from the torture, Jack saw a dark form beckoning to him. He clutched his rosary and prayed, hoping this was simply an isolated incident. It was not, the banging started again, as well as the putrid smells and violent poltergeist activity.
Frustrated, tired, and hopeless, the Smurl's moved to another town, shortly before the release of a book concerning their ordeal, "The Haunted", went to press. The church performed a fourth exorcism in 1988, which finally seemed to have brought peace to the property. A movie version of "The Haunted" was released in 1991.
The Smurl PoltergeistThe Smurl Poltergeist Investigation
The Smurl Poltergeist Exorcisms
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