I just watched the movie "American Haunting" and like always, the movie leaves a ton of things out that were either reported or mentioned in the book.

I don't want to go into detail about the movie, but I'd like to quote what I read. Apparently future president Andrew Jackson was an eye witness to the hauntings:



[url=Good read]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Witch[/url]

There's another movie that's apparently coming out that's also about this in 2007 called "Season of the Witch"

And yeah, I still haven't slept yet.

Didn't know about Jackson actually being a witness. Am going to have to rethink my position on if this incident really happened or not. Thanks for sharing.

Decapitated this is your 'mother' here...I am concerned you STILL haven't slept yet?!! Dear boy hit the sheets and call it a day!!

I am wondering about that movie, I rented it the othe day and my husband fell asleep (figures he hates the paranormal) and I tried to stay up and watch as much as I could, but did not find it interesting. Maybe its because I didn't know the history and didn't give it a good enough chance. I thought I did, but answer me this; what was so scary about it?

theres a song too. i forget who its by

I have a bit of a hard time with The Bell Witch legend, as I do almost anything that supposedly occured in the early 1800's and has been re-told numerous times since then....details get forgotten...or exaggerated...or just plain ommited or worse...CREATED. Now I'm not implying that the entire story was just a hoax...who know's what really happened...obviously SOMETHING happened.....what?...we don't know, but the entire story died a long time ago with the last IMMEDIATE relative of John Bell.

Jackson's involvement is actually questioned. As Onyxdk said, the story has been so distorted by the different writers it is difficult to pick out which details are true. I like to think it's true though, I like that part of the story. Maybe someday they will find an account written by one of the other soldiers present.

Donovan.

I'm not sure but I think the song is by Bob Dylan.

What always puzzled me was that it was supposed to be Kate Batts, who sued John Bell, yet, she attacked Betsy as well. Did they never ask her why she attacked the girl?

If I remember correctly, in the legend, Kate was dead and came back to haunt them.

In the movie version ****SPOILER HERE****** there really was not a "haunting" at all. It was the daughter the entire time. It was poltergeist activity that she was responsible for over the anger and guilt she felt from being molested by her father.

I think the movie was meant to explore one possible explanation for the haunting. Poltergeist activity and young females in particular are known to go somewhat hand in hand so I think it may be a valid angle to explore.

As for reference, the best I've found is Pat Fitzhugh's website BELL WITCH.ORG. Most of the legend is told via two written volumes known as the Red Book and the Black Book. The Red Book was written by Martin Van Buren Ingram in 1894 and is based on interviews and some first person experience. The Black Book was written later by the great grandson of John Bell, Charles Bailey Bell, and is an account of family history. The Black Book is very rare and difficult to find on the net.

You can read the Red Book, if interested, HERE. It is long, drawn out, and boring, but there are some gems to be mined in it.

I have a copy of the Black Book but don't know exactly where it resides on the net... do a google search if you want to read it and you'll probably find it. It's less interesting than the first and is actually quite similar in the info presented.

All in all The Bell Witch haunting is one of the spookiest paranormal accounts out there. If you can get past the victorian prose in the Red Book, and try to imagine it as it happened it really is a frightening tale. I wish the movie (American Haunting) would have explored a different possibility for the root of the Bell Witch haunting. It was done well, but only tells a small part of the tale.

What other possibility is that Carnivale? If you don't mind me asking. What do you have in mind?

I haven't seen An American Haunting. The Bell Witch story has always intrigued me and I was anxious to see the movie when it came out. I was disappointed when such a well documented and scary story had to resort to a fictitious premise. I haven't bothered renting it.

There was a movie in the Halloween series, Halloween III Season of the Witch. Obviously that wasn't it. The only other project by that name is one that is due out next year and is about a witch that is supposedly the source of the Black Plague in Europe. That doesn't sound very similiar to this story.

There are many possibilities that could explain what this 'entity' actually was. One school of thought is that it was a demonic entity that somehow originated in what is now known as the Bell Witch cave. Another school of thought is that it was a demonic entity somehow summoned by Kate Batts to exact revenge against Bell for some bad trading (over a slave). It could also be that it was just some other malignant spirit and the above are coincidental to the 'haunting'. The aspect that the movie explores is the possible (spoiler, highlight with mouse>) incestual relationship of John and Betsy Bell.


No one really knows if the angle the movie took was fictitious or not. You are correct though, there are so many well documented angles to the story I cannot personally see the wisdom in taking the way that the studio took with this project.


Not sure where you were going with this... I liked Season of the Witch though. I saw it in a drive in theater when it came out. It was the perfect blend of creepy/cheesy that goes well with a beer and a date (you don't really have to pay attention to the movie to get it )

I haven't seen the movie, just kept up with what everyone has said about it.
I find it very difficult to believe that the writers could fill the holes on this one. The Bell witch was/is known for it's blatantly violent outburst or taunting on many people, and not just the Bell's. Andrew Jackson even wrote about his experience. We know his part in our history, but to think this thing scared him and his men says a lot to me. We had a book called "13 southern ghost" and Bell witch was one of them- And none other is like it.

I see where the Red book is based on Interviews, first hand experiences.. that seems interesting enough. I appreciate you sending out the links.

I love the 13 Southern Ghost stories. I grew up checking them out of the school library, reading them up until bed time and then dreading when my dad told me to turn out the lights. Personally, I believe the witch was a demon, of course, it said it was many things. It also loved to get into discussions on religion and could supposedly quote the Bible backward and forward, and announce in public what folks had been up to in private. I saw a special about the witch on CMT last year. One of Bell's descendants was in the cemetery where the family is buried talking about the witch, and every time they came close to John Bell's grave the camera malfunctioned.
Also, has anyone ever heard of The Surrency haunting?
Or read the book "Strangely Enough" by C. B. Colby? Take Care...

LOL! I remember checking those out very well, that Bell witch has stood in my mind since then. Those stories were downgraded, I believe, mainly for kids to read. But, dang, that Bell witch story seemed impossible to go around-- very eery.
I saw two specials last year, if I'm not mistaken, taken about the same time. One was on Discovery and the other was CMT. I remember their camaras had quite a bit of trouble filming, batteries would somehow uncharge or go dead, something or another... Yes! In this cave. Very interesting.
From what I have read, I tend to agree with you it being a demonic spirit. This Bates woman theory was supposed to have been debunked a long time ago.

Thank you for your replies, sir.

I had never heard of the molestation angle until the movie came out, and so figured it was a recent angle, more in line with modern times. You are correct though, in that no one knows whether it was fictitious or not. I can't see that wisdom either. To me it was exploitation. I said as much on a movie forum I frequent.

I actually saw Halloween III in the theatre too. Not my favorite movie, but one that I thought was undeservedly dissed consistently by critics. The "five more days 'til Halloween" etc. tune has stuck in my mind until the present day. It was one of the first full-frontal female nude scenes I ever saw short of a porno film.

I just mentioned the first Season of the Witch because it DOES have the same name and people were talking about a new movie of the same name documenting the Bell Witch. I could find no evidence of it, although there does seem to be a movie by that name in the works. It seems to be about something completely different however.

I agree with the thought that the Witch was a demon. Where from and why John Bell is a question for the ages. One of the scariest true stories to come out of the American South.