Haunted Sallie House - Demon or Ghost?

I’m sure anyone coming across this blog has heard of the Sallie House. It was on an episode of “Sightings” in the 90’s, and has been investigated by Ghost Adventures, Buzzfeed Unsolved & a bunch of gimmicky YouTubers. The Sightings episode is probably the most accurate and convincing coverage of this place, so I’ve placed a link below. In 1993, Tony & Debra Pickman moved into their home in Atchison, Kansas, only to have paranormal happenings begin to terrorize them. Tony was scratched regularly, lights would flicker on and off, as well as the family getting pushed, feeling cold spots, and other poltergeist-like activities. It’s said that in 1905 a desperate mother showed up at the house with her daughter who was suffering from appendicitis. The doctor, who lived in the home, began surgery before the anesthetic kicked in and the little girl, “Sallie”, died on the operating table (some say it was pneumonia, though). According to “Sightings” there are actual records of Sallie, so she was a real little girl! She may be the spirit who haunts the house, but many claim there’s something much more sinister.

So, I wanted to see what was lurking in the home for myself. I set off with Devon, Frank & Audrey to make the 8-9 hour drive to Kansas. Serious question, though...Why are all the best places in the middle of nowhere? We had quite a fun road trip! We saw controlled fires on the side of the road, got the most delicious ice cream, I found the most ridiculous clown hat ever & we stopped by a tiny little church steeple near the road. Eventually we made it to the house around 4PM in one piece, ready to go. The night started off pretty quiet and it didn’t even really feel spooky. Eventually Audrey and I turned on some music and practiced our dance routine to try and stir up activity, which ended up working.

We were doing burst EVP sessions at the top of the staircase and we heard a child's voice loud and clear with our own ears. So loud that we sent Frank outside to check the perimeter of the house and see if there was a child roaming around at 11PM. There was not, at least that Frank could see. I’ve clipped the EVP below.

We did keep hearing odd sounds around us, though we couldn’t say for sure if they were paranormal. After this we took a break. Audrey went to go grab the REM Pod from the other room while Devon and I were throwing one of the balls upstairs towards Sallie’s room. We did this a couple of times, and it would hit the wall, fall immediately to the ground & roll down the stairs. On one throw it went into the room, there was a pause, and it came flying out over all the stairs and landed at the bottom at our feet. Devon and I both looked at each other like, “Did that really just happen?” Audrey rounded the corner just in time to see Devon and I staring at each other like…well like we’d just seen a ghost. We spent an hour trying to debunk it and couldn’t. Not even our resident skeptic, Frank, could get the ball to bounce out of the room or even off of anything. That ball doesn’t bounce.

While we were in the basement we also heard very loud noises & footsteps upstairs. So loud that we thought someone had come into the house to kick us out of the basement. We also had the K2 meter tip over right after we asked Sallie to move something in the room to let us know that she was there with us. Lastly, Frank and I went in the Pickman’s closet and I said, “I don’t think there’s anything in here. It doesn’t even feel creepy.” and the second I said that, one of the touch activated cat balls went off. It was eerie.

I hardly slept that night. I was laying there in the dark with everyone else asleep and I swear I heard someone in the kitchen… It wasn’t as crazy as all of the stories, but it was definitely a very fun night. I’m sad we didn’t catch more on camera/recorder, but we at least caught the EVP & have some amazing memories from the night.

Also, please check out Paranormal Encounter’s investigation there. I give them a gold star because they aren’t gimmicky, and are both very cool people. I believe them to be genuine investigators. They also interviewed Audrey and I about what we experienced. Link below!

Tell me about your experiences! I'd love to hear them.

xo