The Tallman House Haunting: One of America’s Real Poltergeist Cases?

The Tallman house in Horicon, Wisconsin, became known in the late 1980s for a series of well-documented paranormal events. Reports claim that a cursed piece of furniture brought malevolent entities into the home, making it one of the most important modern poltergeist cases.

---

---

Key Takeaways

Attribute	Details
Name	Tallman house, Tallman family home, Haunted Bunk Bed House
Location	Horicon, Wisconsin, United States
Longland Scale	L-4 [See the Longland Scale Explanation]
History	Purchased by the Tallman family in 1986; hauntings escalated in 1987 after the acquisition of secondhand bunk beds.
Death Toll	0 confirmed deaths; however, multiple reports of severe unexplained physical illness.
Type of Haunting	Poltergeist, Demonic, Apparitions, Cursed Object
Lunar / Seasonal Pattern	Activity peaked during the winter months of 1987-1988; no specific lunar data is confirmed.
Entities	The Witch, Red-Eyed Entity, Shadowy entity, Old Woman with long dark hair
Manifestations	Mysterious voices, moving furniture, red glowing eyes, phantom smoke, illusory fire, mechanical interference.
First reported sighting	February 1987
Recent activity	1988; the family fled, and the beds were destroyed. No recent activity reported by later owners.
Threat Level	8/10 (dangerous) [See the Threat Level Explanation]
Hoax Confidence Rating	2/10 (Extremely likely authentic) [See the Hoax Confidence Rating Explanation]
Open to the public?	No. The location is a private residence; the original furniture was destroyed.

What is the Tallman House Haunting?

The Tallman house haunting is seen as both a poltergeist activity and a cursed object case. Instead of being linked to the land, the events focused on a set of secondhand bunk beds brought into the home in early 1987.

Witnesses described seeing a ghost called the “Witch,” with long black hair and glowing red eyes, along with a threatening shadow entity. The haunting was considered intelligent because the entities seemed to respond to spoken challenges and targeted family members with taunts and intimidation.

Strange events included electronics turning on and off, heavy furniture moving by itself, and lifelike illusions of fire and smoke that gave off no heat.

Tallman House’s Haunted History

The Tallman house was an ordinary home until the infamous “Tallman’s Bunk Beds” arrived. Before spring 1987, the property on Larabee Street in Horicon, Wisconsin, had no known history of crime or tragedy.

Paranormal researchers sometimes look into the area’s history, suggesting the house might have been built on land with hidden spiritual energy that only became active after a specific event.

The haunting started after Allen and Debbie Tallman bought wooden bunk beds from a local thrift store for about $100 for their children. The beds’ past is mostly unknown, but many paranormal sources describe them as cursed objects. When the beds first arrived, they were kept in the basement. During this time, the home’s atmosphere reportedly worsened. The basement felt heavy and uncomfortable, and even the family dog refused to go inside.

After the beds were moved to the children’s upstairs room, strange problems began to occur. The children became sick with ongoing fevers and breathing issues. As their health got worse, the mood in the house also became more negative.

The children said the beds gave off a low hum or vibration. Soon after, the youngest daughter described seeing an entity she called the “Witch,” an old woman with long, tangled hair and glowing eyes who appeared from the closet near the beds.

The “Tallman’s Bunk Beds” seemed to attract even more aggressive forces. People noticed the area around the beds would get colder, and sometimes the wood felt hot even though the room was freezing.

Things got worse when the family tried to use religious rituals to cleanse the house. Instead of stopping the activity, it seemed to make the entity angrier. During the winter of 1987-1988, people saw what looked like the bunk beds on fire, but the flames gave off no heat and left no marks.

This kind of event is rare in poltergeist cases. It suggests the entity was trying to cause as much fear as possible. The haunting got so bad that the entities appeared even during the day, and the family decided they could no longer live in the house because of the cursed furniture.

Tallman House Ghost Sightings

Since 1987, many people have given statements about the case, including the family, relatives, and skeptics. The reports describe a shift from small noises to frightening visual experiences.

Date	Sighting/Report Details
February 1987	Initial reports of children becoming sicker than usual and radios turning on/off while unplugged.
March 1987	The Tallman’s son, Danny, reports a radio dial moving on its own and feelings of extreme dread.
May 1987	The youngest daughter reports seeing a “Witch” with red eyes and flames in her bedroom.
Late 1987	Allen’s mother witnesses a pair of glowing red eyes staring at her from a window while babysitting.
December 1987	Allen Tallman hears a voice in the garage growl “Come here” before a door slams on its own.
January 1988	A skeptical babysitter witnesses a fog and flames in the house, leading to her immediate departure.
January 1988	Allen Tallman observes the bunk beds engulfed in “heatless flames” and hears chanting.

---

---

The Red-Eyed Entity (1987)

When Allen and Debbie were away, the children’s grandmother stayed at the house. She woke up from a nap feeling like someone was watching her and saw two glowing red eyes looking at her through the window. This matched what the children had described, even though they hadn’t told her about their experiences, suggesting the same entity was involved.

The Garage Encounter (1987)

At first, Allen Tallman didn’t believe his children’s stories. But one day, he heard a voice call his name through a baby monitor and found the garage filled with strange smoke. A voice then growled, “Come here,” and said, “You’re dead.” After this, the haunting became more active and started targeting the adults.

The Tallman House Case File

The “Unsolved Mysteries” Production Anomalies

The Tallman house became famous nationwide after it was featured on “Unsolved Mysteries” in 1988. During filming, the crew reported strange problems, like feeling a heavy atmosphere upstairs that made some people feel sick or get headaches.

The show used dramatic re-enactments of the “heatless flames” and the “red-eyed witch,” which the Tallman family said were very close to what they experienced. There have also been rumors for years about “lost tapes” with real electronic voice recordings from the shoot, but these have never been released.

This episode is still one of the most talked about and requested in the show’s history. It also provides the main visual record of what the house looked like before the family left.

The Destruction of the Cursed Furniture

The resolution of the case involved a definitive act of physical destruction that is unique in the annals of poltergeist research. Unlike many haunted house cases that end in exorcism or abandonment, Allen Tallman felt a personal compulsion to destroy the source of the distress.

In January 1988, Allen took apart the “Tallmans Bunk Beds,” brought the pieces to a remote spot, and used a chainsaw to cut them up before burning them. He said that as the wood burned, he immediately felt clearer and less troubled.

Researchers call this a rare case of “cleansing by fire,” in which destroying the cursed object seemed to sever the entity’s connection to the physical world.

The Mechanical Interference and Radio Manipulation

A key part of the case was the strange behavior of electronics, especially a clock radio in the children’s room. Allen and Debbie said they saw the radio dial move on its own several times, as if someone invisible was turning it.

Sometimes, the radio would turn on at full volume even when it wasn’t plugged in. Investigators found this important because it suggested the entity could control both electricity and physical objects.

The radio also made odd, rhythmic static noises that the children thought sounded like “whispering.” This added to the idea that the haunting was intelligent and used technology to scare the family.

The “Phantom Fog”

Both the family and a skeptical babysitter reported seeing a thick, unexplained fog appear in the hallways. Unlike normal smoke, this fog was cold and damp, smelling like “stagnant water” or “old earth.”

In the last nights before they left, the fog got so thick that family members couldn’t see their own feet in the living room. This “Phantom Fog” is often linked to strong poltergeist activity and is thought to be a sign of an entity using a lot of energy.

The babysitter’s decision to leave the house after seeing the fog is important because it shows that the strange events were not confined to the Tallman family.

---

---

Theories

The Tallman house case is still debated by paranormal experts, psychologists, and scientists. Since the activity seemed to center on the “Tallmans Bunk Beds,” most theories look at how physical objects and human perception interact. Some think it was a real supernatural event, while others believe it could have been caused by things that make people see or hear things that aren’t there.

The Cursed Object (Metaphysical Attachment)

This theory suggests the bunk beds acted as a “vessel” or “conduit” for a non-human entity. In demonology, some believe objects can become attached to demons if they were involved in trauma or occult rituals.

Supporters of this idea note that the children’s illnesses and ghost sightings started soon after the beds arrived and stopped completely after the beds were destroyed. This suggests the entity was attached to the beds, not the land.

Shared Delusion (Folie à Famille)

Some psychologists think this case may be an example of Folie à deux, or “shared madness,” which can involve an entire family. This happens when one person, often a parent or older sibling, has a strong delusion or hallucination that others then start to believe too.

When under stress, like money worries or moving to a new place, the family might start seeing normal house noises as something scary. After the children talked about the “Witch,” the adults may have expected to see things like “red eyes” and “smoke,” even if they weren’t really there.

Infrasound and Frequency Resonance

One scientific theory has that the house—or perhaps the way the room was set up—could have generated infrasound—sound waves too low for people to hear (below 20Hz).

Studies show that infrasound can cause the eyes to vibrate, leading people to see shadows or blurry shapes. These sounds can also make people feel scared, sick, or cold. If the beds vibrated with nearby machines or the home’s heating system, it might explain what the family saw and felt.

Carbon Monoxide and Toxic Mold Exposure

A more practical theory involves environmental toxins. Carbon monoxide poisoning is known to cause symptoms like chest pressure, hearing things, and seeing “ghostly” figures.

Additionally, certain types of Stachybotrys (black mold) produce mycotoxins that can cause neurological distress and respiratory illness. Given that the children became physically ill before the sightings began, it is possible that an undetected environmental leak or fungal growth in the basement—where the beds were first stored—compromised the family’s cognitive functions.

The Water Vein and Geomagnetic Stress

Another theory says the Tallman house might have been built over an underground water vein or fault line. Water moving underground can create small electromagnetic fields in the area.

Some researchers think strong electromagnetic fields can cause small seizures in the brain, making people hear voices or see things that seem real. The metal parts of the bunk beds might have strengthened these fields in the children’s room.

Lead Paint Neurotoxicity

Another theory considers that the “Tallman’s Bunk Beds” were secondhand. If the beds were old, they might have been painted with lead-based paint. The children could have breathed in or swallowed lead dust, especially if the paint was chipping.

Lead poisoning can make children very irritable and sick, and in serious cases, it can cause hallucinations and “night terrors.” This could explain why the children were most affected and why their health got worse after using the beds.

Stress-Induced Psychosis

This theory says the haunting was actually a result of family stress. Sometimes, stress can make people turn their fears into something they think is real, like a “monster.” In this case, the “Tallmans Bunk Beds” might have symbolized the parents’ worries and responsibilities.

The “Witch” and “Red Eyes” could have symbolized the parents’ fear of not being able to protect their children in a new place. Destroying the beds acted as a strong psychological ritual, helping the family feel like they had ended the haunting.

---

---

Tallman House vs Other Haunted Locations

Name	Location	Type of Haunting	Activity Level
Enfield Poltergeist	London, England	Poltergeist	9 (very active)
Amityville House	New York, USA	Demonic	8 (very active)
The Conjuring House	Rhode Island, USA	Intelligent/Demonic	10 (extremely active)
Myrtles Plantation	Louisiana, USA	Apparitions	7 (very active)
Annabelle Doll	Connecticut, USA	Cursed Object	9 (very active)
Boleskine House	Scotland, UK	Elemental	5 (occasional)
Ancient Ram Inn	Gloucestershire, UK	Shadow People	9 (very active)
Villisca Axe Murder House	Iowa, USA	Residual/Intelligent	8 (very active)
Monte Cristo Homestead	New South Wales, Australia	Apparitions	7 (very active)
Lizzie Borden House	Massachusetts, USA	Residual	6 (occasional)

Is Tallman House Haunting Real?

The Tallman house case is still interesting because many people witnessed the events, and everything stopped after the bunk beds were destroyed.

Skeptics cite stress and environmental factors, but the fact that several people, including the babysitter, described the “red-eyed witch” suggests something beyond mere suggestion. Most investigators see this as a classic case of a haunting focused on an object.