A Haunting in Horicon
Horicon, Wisconsin is a small town of just a little over 3,500 people. The kind of town your drive through or past and see a charming main street, a local diner, and plenty of friendly faces. It is not the kind of town you would ever think would have one of the most intense hauntings in America.
Debbe and Allen Tallmann has been living on Larabee Street, Horicon for about two years. The couple had a seven-year-old son named Danny, a daughter named Mary Ann, and Debbie was pregnant with the couple’s second daughter, Sara. One day, wanting to economize space and even bring some fun to the home the Tallmanns decided to go out and purchase a bunk bed for their children.
Before the purchase of the bunk bed, the Tallmanns home was your average American household. However, things began to change and shift around the time the bunk bed was bought and put into the home at the end of 1987.
Strange things began happening in the home but at first, they could be brushed off. The children, who were rarely sick previously, were now regularly sick or fatigued. When the couple would tuck Danny in at night his clock radio would suddenly spring to light seemingly on its own, even changing channels. Then storied signs of a haunting began to manifest...doors would open and close at will, chars would rock themselves, and quiet, disembodied voices could be heard in rooms that were known to be empty.
On one night the children began to complain of the old woman that came to their room at night. They described the woman as being old, ugly, red eyes, having long black hair, and that she glowed. There were also reports of the children seeing fires within the room.
Allen and Debbie felt that something was happening in the home that was beyond their control so they went to their local church for help and guidance. Their pastor agreed to come to the home and see if anything strange was going on. When the pastor entered the Tallmanns’ home he immediately felt uncomfortable and shaken. The pastor went as far as saying that he felt the devil within the home. He blessed the home and left...but the activity continued.
The children were now regularly frightened, Debbie and Allen felt uncomfortable, and it seemed like the blessing of the home had not helped enough. One night, Danny came into his parents’ room crying and said he wanted to leave the home. Frustrated that he was unable to protect his family, Allen told the spirits to get out of his home and that if they wanted to frighten someone they should stop picking on his children and fight him instead.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened.
Three weeks after Allen’s challenge to the evil that was tormenting his family, he returned home from a late shift around 2 am. It was January 7th, 1988 and when he pulled his car into the driveway he heard a howling sound that seemed to emanate from within the garage. As he got out of his car to further investigate he said the howling stopped and a voice said simply, “come here.” Wanting to get to the bottom of the noises he decided to check around back to see if anyone was playing tricks on him but he saw no one. Then, he walked back to the front of the garage which, to his dismay, was now on fire. He ran inside to get the fire extinguisher but when he returned to the garage just seconds later the fire had gone out. The garage door was completely undamaged.
Feeling shaken, Allen reentered the home quietly so he would not wake his family. He went to put away his lunch pail from his shift that he had put on the table but then suddenly it flew across the room.
Unsure of what to do, he went to bed. Over the next few weeks, he began to sleep in his daughters' room where most of the activity seemed to take place. On one night he awoke to fog swirling in the room and heard a clear voice say “You’re dead.”
Shortly after those two major events, a family member was babysitting the Tallmann children while Allen and Debbie were away. Allen’s relative was only vaguely aware of what was happening in the home but was doubtful and unperturbed at the thought of having to watch the children there. However, the horrible old woman seen by the children appeared and screamed at everyone in the house. Scared to death, the relative phoned Debby to tell her what had happened and Debby told her to pack some clothes for the kids and to get them out.
Shortly after this final event, the family moved out of the house on Larabee street. After moving, the family was contacted by Unsolved Mysteries and some footage was shot at the actual home with permission from the new owners. The episode itself aired in October 1988.
The family, who suspected the activity may be related directly to the bunk bed since the activity started around their purchase, also destroyed the bunk bed. Since moving and destroying the bunk bed no one in the family has had another paranormal experience. Those who have lived in the Larabee street home have also reported no activity.
The above image is unrelated to the story and is from flickr user Anthony Woodside. It is liscensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).