The Smurl Family Haunting: A Case of Demonic Infestation?

The Smurl family haunting is a complex case of alleged demonic infestation and poltergeist activity that happened in a double-block house on Chase Street in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The site is associated with multiple paranormal entities, including a malevolent demon, believed to have tormented the family for over a decade. The haunting is important for the intensity of the alleged physical and sexual assaults and the extensive media attention it garnered in the mid-1980s.

Key Takeaways

What Is the Smurl Family Haunting?

The Smurl family haunting refers to the alleged supernatural events experienced by Jack and Janet Smurl, their four daughters, and Jack’s parents, John and Mary, in their duplex in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, from 1974 to 1987.

The haunting began with benign phenomena but escalated into severe physical and sexual assaults attributed to a powerful entity. The haunting is classified as a poltergeist due to the movement of objects, unexplained noises, and physical interactions.

Due to the sexual attacks, the alleged presence of a “dark mass,” and the claims of an inability to be removed by religious rites, the haunting is further classified as demonic.

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren concluded that the family was terrorized by four distinct spirits, the most powerful of which was a malevolent demon that they claimed was accompanied by a succubus and an incubus. The entities allegedly followed the family when they moved to a new location in Wilkes-Barre.

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Smurl Family Haunted History

The Smurls moved into the double-block house on Chase Street in August 1973, following the displacement caused by the remnants of Hurricane Agnes in 1972, which had damaged their previous home.

The Smurls lived in one half of the duplex, while Jack’s parents, John and Mary, occupied the other half. The initial months of residency were marked by normal household issues, such as electrical and plumbing problems. Still, by 1974, the activity began to transition into the inexplicable.

Early manifestations were subtle, including tools going missing and reappearing, or old wall stains seeping through fresh paint. These events quickly escalated.

The family reported that kitchen appliances would turn on despite being unplugged, and an awful stench, described as rotting flesh, would frequently overwhelm the home before suddenly vanishing. Unexplained banging and rapping noises began to be heard throughout the house, primarily on the walls and ceilings.

As the years progressed, the events became more violent and focused. Unseen forces allegedly picked up the family dog and threw it against a wall. A light fixture was reported to have fallen from the ceiling, cutting one of the Smurl daughters.

Jack’s mother, Mary, suffered a heart attack at home during a time when the unsettling activity intensified. The family also reported seeing black masses or shadowy figures floating through the home, often coinciding with sudden, drastic drops in temperature.

The consistent intensification of these phenomena from 1974 to the mid-1980s suggested an entity that was not merely residual but intelligent and growing in malevolence, culminating in the later claims of direct personal attack.

Smurl Family Household Composition (1973)

At the time of the alleged haunting, the household consisted of Jack and Janet Smurl, their two young daughters (Dawn and Heather), and Jack’s parents (John and Mary Smurl), who lived on the other side of the duplex.

Notes:

• The twins, Shannon and Carin Smurl, were born on January 10, 1977, so they were not part of the household in 1973.
• Occupation details for Jack and Janet are based on reports from the early period of their residence; Jack worked at Topps Chewing Gum company, and Janet was a full-time homemaker.
• The grandparents lived in the adjacent half of the duplex.

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Smurl Family Ghost Sightings

Since 1974, the Smurl family has reported a persistent pattern of highly aggressive paranormal activity. The activity intensified dramatically between 1985 and 1987, turning the case into a national media story.

The First Physical Assault Report (1985)

By 1985, the disturbances were described as no longer merely inconvenient but actively terrifying. Janet Smurl reported that she was physically assaulted by an unseen force. These attacks were serious enough to leave visible evidence, as she claimed she was left with bruises and scratches on her body.

At the same time, Jack Smurl claimed that an unseen entity was able to lift him completely off the floor and throw him across rooms. These reports marked the transition from classic poltergeist activity (moving objects, noises) to direct and violent physical interaction with the inhabitants.

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The Alleged Sexual Assaults (1985–1986)

The most shocking and publicized claims involved alleged sexual assaults against Jack and Janet Smurl.

Jack Smurl claimed to have been sexually assaulted on multiple occasions by a succubus (a female demon who seeks to have sexual relations with men). He reported seeing a scaly-skinned, red-eyed entity beside the bed during one of these encounters.

Janet Smurl claimed that she was attacked by an incubus (a male demon who seeks to have sexual relations with women). This demonic focus on sexual violence was central to the Warrens’ conclusion that the case involved a demonic infestation rather than a lesser spirit.

The Black Mass and Temperature Drop (1986)

During the 1986 investigation by Ed and Lorraine Warren, Ed Warren reported experiencing phenomena firsthand. He claimed that on his first night in the home, he experienced a temperature drop of at least 30 degrees Fahrenheit and observed the formation of a “dark mass,” a black, smoke-like humanoid form, within the house.

He also reported seeing furniture, including a mattress, jump on its own and objects move off a bureau. Warren further claimed that the entity left a message on a mirror telling him to “get out,” suggesting an intelligent and aggressive nature targeted specifically at investigators.

The Smurl Family Case File

The most controversial aspects of the Smurl case often lie not just in the alleged demonic attacks, but in the life of the family before and after the public spectacle, and the lack of validation from non-partisan sources.

Medical History and Skeptical Scrutiny

A critical detail often cited by skeptics, particularly by Paul Kurtz of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), involved Jack Smurl’s health.

In the years leading up to the most intense period of activity, Jack had undergone surgery in 1983 to alleviate water buildup on his brain. This issue was a possible late-onset effect of meningitis he had suffered in his late 20s. His resulting symptoms included cognitive impairments and short-term memory loss.

Skeptics believed that these factors could have influenced his perception of events, or at least provided a non-paranormal psychological foundation for the extreme claims, especially the sexual assaults. The family’s refusal to undergo psychological examinations further fueled the skeptical community’s belief that the events were a hoax.

The Aftermath and Following Tenants

The Smurl family eventually moved out of the West Pittston duplex in 1988, relocating to Wilkes-Barre, PA. They stated publicly that the spiritual oppression finally subsided after intense prayers, crediting the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus for their relief.

Importantly, they reported that the demonic activity did not follow them to their new residence, a point often debated in “attachment” type hauntings.

The notorious duplex was purchased by Richard Bridle, who initially struggled to find tenants due to the house’s infamy. However, later tenants, including a woman named Debra Owens, publicly reported that they experienced zero supernatural activity during their time living in the house.

This testimony became a foundation for the argument that the haunting was either subjective (a folie à deux or folie à plusieurs within the family) or a deliberate fabrication, as the site itself failed to produce further evidence once the Smurls departed.

Post-Media Life

Despite the case’s controversial end in the media spotlight, members of the Smurl family found different ways to cope with their past. Patriarch Jack Smurl returned to a quiet life, maintaining his job at Topps Chewing Gum for more than 30 years and remaining active in his local Catholic community until his death in 2017.

Daughter Carin Smurl, one of the twins who was an infant when the family first moved in, later developed an interest in the paranormal and occasionally worked as an investigator, stating that their difficult experience inspired her to help others facing similar inexplicable events.

Janet Smurl, the matriarch, has consistently defended the family’s claims throughout the years, dismissing the idea that they sought fame or money from the ordeal, and insisting their experiences were genuinely traumatic.

Theories

The Smurl family haunting has generated numerous theories, ranging from supernatural explanations to psychological and environmental hypotheses.

The Environmental Contaminant Theory

This theory suggests that the family’s symptoms, particularly the reported hallucinations and physical distress, could be attributed to exposure to environmental contaminants.

Toxins such as carbon monoxide (CO) and certain sewer gases (e.g., hydrogen sulfide) are colorless and odorless at low concentrations. They can cause severe neurological and psychological effects, including confusion, memory loss, and vivid auditory and visual hallucinations.

The Smurls’ duplex, being older and having alleged plumbing issues, may have been susceptible to such gas leaks, leading the family to misinterpret the symptoms as paranormal activity.

The Psychological Contagion Effect

The Contagion Effect proposes that the media attention and the involvement of controversial demonologists like the Warrens created a psychological priming effect.

Once the initial reports began and the family believed they were haunted, they became psychologically conditioned to interpret natural or mundane stimuli (creaking pipes, old house noises, sleep phenomena) as evidence of the entity.

Since multiple family members reported similar events, this may reflect shared delusion or mass hysteria, in which each person’s belief validates the others, intensifying the collective experience.

Geological Stress Theory

The Geological Stress Theory suggests that seismic activity or stress near a fault line could generate measurable physical effects that influence a building’s inhabitants. Geological stress can reportedly generate piezoelectric currents (electrical charges from mechanical pressure) or localized magnetic fields.

These fields, although not supernatural, have been hypothesized to affect brain function, potentially inducing feelings of dread, anxiety, or even visual disturbances (e.g., shadowy figures or black masses) that the Smurls interpreted as a demon.

The Suggestion and Fraud Theory

This skeptical theory, strongly argued by figures such as Professor Paul Kurtz, suggests that the claims are either a deliberate hoax or the result of unobjective investigation.

Professor Paul Kurtz stated, “The Warrens are not objective, independent, or impartial investigators. Their claims are merely a hoax, a charade, a ghost story.” He also advised the family to submit themselves to “psychiatric and psychological examinations.

Skeptics highlight that the most severe, sensational claims (sexual assault, demonic identity) only appeared after the Smurls began cooperating with the Warrens and the media.

What’s more, Jack Smurl’s prior surgery for water on the brain in 1983 (due to a case of meningitis) was cited by a psychologist as a potential source of delusions or brain impairment, providing a non-paranormal explanation for the claims.

Smurl Family Haunting vs Other Haunted Locations

Is Smurl Family Haunting Real?

The Smurl family haunting remains a case defined by its dichotomy of claims and counterclaims. Proponents, particularly the Smurl family and Ed and Lorraine Warren, presented the narrative as a clear, long-term demonic infestation evidenced by physical assaults, sexual attacks, and the successful “following” of the entity to a new residence.

Skeptical investigators, however, pointed to the lack of objective, verifiable evidence (despite audiotape claims), the highly sensationalized nature of the later reports, and the complete lack of any paranormal activity once a new, unrelated tenant moved into the original house.

In the end, the question of authenticity hinges on whether one accepts the Smurl family’s consistent testimony and the interpretation of the Warrens over the counter-explanations of psychological distress, environmental factors, and possible fraud.