Episode 105: A Haunting on Lindley Street

There are some stories that seem to get more coverage than others...

Episode Transcript

There are some stories that seem to get more coverage than others. This is true with true crime cases, instances of natural disaster, reports of seemingly inexplicable events. Like for instance the story of America’s most haunted house. 

Now I won’t lie when I first came across the subject of today’s episode, the claim that it was the most haunted house in America, sort of took me by surprise. I mean that title has been granted to more haunts than I can count.

The Winchester mystery House, the Sally House, the Whaley house. The list goes on and on and it seems like everyone has their own opinion when it comes to America’s most haunted.

So that got me thinking how does this story find itself in the running for that title? What sets it apart and really why should any of us care? 

To be honest at first glance at least in my opinion this haunt is just another story of poltergeist activity that was investigated by everybody’s not so favorite paraprofessionals—Ed and Lorraine Warren. Which means that, whether we like it or not, the evidence presented, may have been collected and shared from a less than objective point of view. 

And yet, this story may just be one of the most famous cases in the paranormal space. Showcasing the sort of evidence that would give even the most seasoned of paranormal researchers pause. Meaning that to some degree this really is one of America’s most haunting legends—as well as one of its most controversial.

So if you’re asking yourself why stories like this get so much more attention than other claims of paranormal activity and spiritual attacks, it might be worth considering this simple fact—bad things always seem to happen to good people. 

I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to Haunts stay tuned.

It all started in November of 1974 in a quiet suburb of Bridgeport, CT. There in a modest one story bungalow on Lindley Street, the Goodin family was unloading groceries.

It was an otherwise ordinary evening. Laura was in the kitchen putting their purchases into cupboards and pantries, her husband Jerry was busy unpacking the shopping bags, while their daughter Marcia was off playing in another room. 

That’s when, seemingly out of no where, chaos erupts in the kitchen. The groceries fly of the counter, cupboard doors are nearly pulled off their hinges, steak knives fly across the room. It was truly a scene out of a paranormal activity movie. 

Then just as quickly as the activity ramped up, it just stops. All is quiet. 

As you can imagine, the incident was a shock to the Goodin family. But saying that it all began on this night in particular may not be 100% accurate. 

So to amend my previous statement, it’s worth mentioning that the family had been experiencing odd activity since they adopted 10 year old Marcia several years prior. It’s just that this incident was the crowning event that had the family thinking—hey maybe there’s wicked afoot. 

Those of us who have experienced paranormal activity—especially the type that’s ongoing and persistent—know that sometimes it’s easier and often comforting to try and debunk or write off the experiences as something a bit more mundane.

At least in the beginning, you might tell yourself that the footsteps you’re hearing upstairs are just the house settling. The movement you saw out of the corner of your eye, must’ve been a trick of the light. That shadow in the corner of your bedroom at night is almost certainly the stack of laundry you haven’t gotten around to putting away yet. 

And then comes the aha moment. The incident that is so beyond normal and mundane that you couldn’t write it off even if you tried— and so you go from debunking to believing. 

For me, it was the night that my kitchen stove somehow managed to catch water on fire. For the Goodin’s, it was the night that their kitchen quite literally attacked. And in the weeks that followed that incident, the activity only seem to get more and more apparent to the point where the Goodin family could no longer write things off or ignore them.

Specifically, furniture, all around the house began to move on its own accord. And no, in case you’re wondering, at least according to the testimony, no one in the vicinity was close enough to actually move those objects on their own. So as the activity progressed, Laura and Jerry decided to seek out help—contacting the Bridgeport Police Department to come investigate. 

Pause 

Okay so I know what you must be thinking. Why contact the police? What are they going to do in the case of extreme paranormal activity? 

Well those are valid questions—and you’d be right if you’re thinking that police involvement would only serve to hinder the investigation that would eventually unfold. But worth considering that this family was, at least according to their own testimony, under attack. 

Sure maybe not by person and persons unknown, but allegedly by entities unseen. So in a state of heightened anxiety and likely a haze of confusion, well it’s no wonder why the Goodin Family would have first thought to contact the police, and from there the fire department, city officials, and the press after that.

Before long, the home on Lindley Street was dubbed in the press as the most haunted house in the country—maybe even the world. Now I don’t know about that, but it was certainly the most documented haunting. And yet, even with all of the press coverage the Goodin family had little answers to show for it. So in the fall of that year, Jerry and Laura finally called in the experts.

By the time that Ed and Lorraine Warren got involved, the haunting on Lindley Street had become somewhat of a public spectacle. At one point nearly 2000 onlookers gathered in the front yard all in the hope that they could catch a glimpse of the activity.

Inside the home, emergency personnel were baffled by the ongoing phenomenon. With the police looking at the fire department like “do you know how to handle this?” And the fire department looking back at them like “why would we know how to handle this?” Eventually they even released a joint statement saying that they felt ill-equipped to help in the case of apparent paranormal activity.

Of course, that didn’t stop the city of Bridgeport from trying to get to the bottom of these events. In fact, on one occasion, city officials were visiting the home when they witnessed a 450 pound refrigerator move clear across the kitchen. 

Which was jarring, sure. But here’s the real kicker—those city officials ultimately blamed that incident on Marcia Goodin. Who quite literally was all of 90 pounds soaking wet. Because yeah—that sounds like the description of someone who could move a full sized refrigerator without help. But we’ll discuss that more later on the episode.

First let’s turn our attention back to Ed and Lorraine Warren who first got involved in the case after they were contacted my one of the Goodin’s neighbors. And it was this neighbor who had brought the Warren’s up to speed on everything the family had experienced.

By that point, the Goodin’s were hearing pounding on the walls late into the night, the furniture continued to move around the home, and on a few occasions it seemed like the family cat was actually talking—as if it was possessed.

Now I know that’s quite the claim to make. It was the sort of thing that Ed and Lorraine specialized in at the height of their career. So in the days after speaking with the neighbor, the warrens made the short trip down to Lindley Street and began investigating the activity for themselves.

almost immediately upon their arrival, Lorraine allegedly had an encounter with what could only be described as dark energy. One that allegedly even burned Lorraine on the hand right in front of the family. 

Of course that might sound a bit convenient given situation and who it is that’s making these claims. But to give credit where it’s due the Warrens did at least seem like they were trying to remain objective here. 

They interviewed those involved—speaking with everyone from little Marcia to police officers and neighbors. And by the time that all was said and done they had come to one conclusion. There was an ongoing battle between good and evil taking place inside the house on Lindley Street. This was no regular poltergeist, instead it seemed that they were dealing with something demonic. 

Over the last couple of years, we’ve explored the concept of poltergeists on several occasions. By now, we all likely know that poltergeist activity—in the form of inexplicable knocking, moving objects, even spontaneous fires—is often associated with a child. Usually one in their tweens. 

That said, it wasn’t exactly surprising to me—or to the Warren’s for that matter—that a lot of the activity in this case seemed to center around Marcia Goodin. In fact, like I said at the top of the episode, the initial activity began a short while after Jerry and Laura adopted their daughter. And by the end of it, the girl was so affected by the activity that she was regularly being attacked—to the point where the warrens and other members of their team witnessed Marcia being thrown across the room by an unseen force. 

Still it’s worth mentioning that there are varying theories when it comes to poltergeist activity. There are some—myself included—who believe that a poltergeist is the manifestation of stress and other negative forms of energy often associated with a single living person. 

Then there are those who attribute poltergeist activity to a restless soul that is too tormented to move onto the next life—or worse maybe even the work of a demon. One who will seek out a vulnerable person to latch onto. In most cases that person is a child.

Now after investigating it for themselves, Ed and Lorraine were under the impression that the second of these theories pretty much encompassed the haunting on Lindley Street. Or at least they did at first.

Then only days after the warrens came to this conclusion, thereby beginning the pro   cess of setting up an exorcism to rid the home of this so called demon, the Bridgeport police superintendent released a shocking statement: the activity at the house on Lindley had in its entirety been orchestrated by none other than 10-year-old Marcia Goodin. And so the haunting on Lindley Street was, in fact, a hoax.

I don’t know what is the bolder claim to make. The idea that the haunting on Lindley Street was fraudulently orchestrated by a child or the assertion that the activity was the work of a bona fide demon.

I mean, on the one hand, I find it really hard to believe that a 10-year-old girl would have had the desire or the capability to fool thousands of adults into believing that she was haunted. Then on the other hand, I think we all know that demonic activity—that this struggle between good and evil—is a lot less common than pop culture makes it out to be. So I at least am privy to believe that the truth lies somewhere in between.

And yet, after the police superintendent official statement, public interest in this case began to wane. The Bridgeport police department began pulling officers from the home to focus resources on other beats which, to be fair, in recent weeks had gone unattended. 

And as for the Warrens they dropped the case as quickly as they had picked it up. So in the end the Goodin Family was left with more questions than they had answers and no one to help as the activity in their home continued to escalate.

Now the Warren’s abandonment of the family and this case surprised me more than any other aspect of this story. I mean, after allegedly seeing Marcia being thrown clear across the home on multiple occasions, in the face of these hoax allegations they left the family to their own devices—which is saying something considering that many of the cases they investigated throughout their careers have also been met with scrutiny. 

And yet, in the case of the most haunted house in the country they opt to protect their reputation over the protection of the family they agreed to help. I don’t know about you, but that just seems strange.

Even stranger was that even after their investigation came to an abrupt halt, Ed had been frustrated that the court of public opinion had deemed this haunting hoax--even in spite of the overwhelming evidence and eye witness testimony associated with it. And yet, it seemed that he and Lorraine too didn’t believe the family’s story by the time that all was said and done.

Now even in spite of the widespread criticism and scrutiny that this case has received over the last 50 years, the Goodin family never seemed to escape the notoriety of this story. It ruined their good reputation—with fellow Bridgeport locals going as far as egging the home, slashing car tires, even breaking windows.

By January of 1975, Jerry and Laura had had enough—ultimately deciding to place the house up for sale, listing it at the low price of just $21,500, roughly half of the average list price in Bridgeport back in the day.

With a price like that, one might think the house would have sold in an instant. Still at least, as far as potential buyers were concerned it was too good to be true. Hoax or not, it seemed Bridgeport residents were not willing to take a chance on purchasing the home. So it remained in Laura and Jerry’s possession until they passed away in 1993 and 1997 respectively.

Marcia wasn’t mentioned in either of their obituaries and from what I can tell Laura and Jerry spent the rest of their lives remaining very tightlipped about the entire case. So all we can do is wonder if this battle of good versus evil is still ongoing. And if it is, why did something so bad latched itself onto a family as good as the Goodin’s.

As always, I’ll let you form your own opinions where that’s concerned. But I hope you’ll share your thoughts on this case with the rest of the community. Do you think this story deserves the widespread media attention it’s received? Was this truly bona fide poltergeist activity—among the most haunted in the country—or are you of the mind that it was all a hoax?

Let me know by joining the community discord server or by commenting directly on podbean. No matter where you stand in this debate, let’s keep this conversation rolling.

Sources:

https://www.screengeek.net/2020/03/19/haunted-house-connecticut-still-standing/

https://www.iamnotastalker.com/2015/10/07/the-worlds-most-haunted-house/