In 1921 Dr. William Wilmer, the first director of the ophthalmology department at John's Hopkins, published an article in the American Journal of Ophthalmology. The story chronicled the mysterious occurrences surrounding his patient Mrs. H and her family's encounters with supernatural activity within their home. Was this a true haunted house or was there a scientific explanation for the eerie events that transpired? Mrs. H and her husband Mr. G purchased their home on November 15, 1912. The house had been unoccupied by permanent residents for ten years prior to the family's purchase. Built in 1870, the house had fallen into a state of disrepair. It lacked electricity; instead relying on sunlight from the windows and gas from the furnace for lighting.
Days after the family moved in, Mrs. H became inexplicably depressed. She began to hear unusually loud footsteps coming from the floor above her despite the thick carpeting, which normally muffled the footfalls of the servants and created a tomb-like silence within the home. On more than a few occasions, investigating the origin of these resonant footsteps yielded no results-- the entire area would always be vacant.
Several weeks later, Mrs. H developed severe headaches and complained of weakness and lethargy. Mr. G reported the sensation of being watched whenever he was alone. Even their two children were not immune to the strange ongoings within the house. They became listless and pale and had little or no appetite. They were more prone to cold and flu-like symptoms, which would greatly improve almost immediately after leaving their home. In time the kids refused to go into their upstairs play area for no discernible reason, adamantly requesting to move their toys into their downstairs bedroom.
The family and their servants continued to be plagued by visual and auditory disturbances. Strange persons would appear out of nowhere, ofttimes at the foot of a family member's bed, only to dissipate back into nothingness. All who lived within the home frequently experienced heavy footsteps, unexplained ringing, and disembodied voices. In one instance, Mr. G awoke to the sound of a fire engine blaring outside. When he rushed to the window, he was greeted by an empty street. The servants believed the house was haunted, though the family wasn't entirely convinced.
Mrs. H's research into the house's history revealed that the previous tenants had remarkably similar experiences, with the exception of figures witnessed creeping around at night dressed in purple and white. All past occupants had also been under the care of a physician, with no definitive diagnosis for their symptoms.
Soon the activity turned violent. Mr. G claimed he was abruptly awoken in the middle of the night by the sensation of being strangled. His first thought was that their home had been invaded by burglars, but the stillness of the house made him think otherwise. He entertained the notion that his wife was playing a joke on him, but she lay nearby in a deep coma-like sleep. Another night while the husband and wife were away at the opera, the family's nurse witnessed one of the children run out of his room in terror, begging her to protect him from "the fat man." That same night the other child questioned why his Nanny had been sitting on top of him while he slept.
When Mrs. H shared these events with her brother-in-law, he was quick to suggest the possibility of poisoning; influenced by an article he had read several years prior. A home inspection revealed a furnace with incomplete combustion. In a functioning furnace, oxygen reacts with fuel to create the harmless by-products carbon dioxide and water. However, in this instance there wasn't enough oxygen to complete combustion, which produced the dangerous gas carbon monoxide. The toxic gas had steadily seeped into the house instead of exiting through the chimney.
According to the American Lung Association, low levels of carbon monoxide in the body cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, weakness, disorientation and confusion. Regular exposure to the harmful, odorless gas at low levels may lead to permanent mental or physical problems. At high levels, carbon monoxide poisoning causes the same symptoms as low level exposure plus sleepiness, vomiting, anxiety, depression, and both vision and motor disturbances. Prolonged inspiration of elevated carbon monoxide levels will lead to loss of consciousness and eventually death.
Mrs. H and her family moved out of the house immediately. Fortunately, they left early enough to prevent permanent disabilities. Once removed from the harmful gas, the entire family and their servants were able to make full recoveries. The strange occurrences that had plagued them for months came to an abrupt end. While carbon monoxide poisoning does not account for all reported hauntings, in this case it was clearly the cause of the alleged haunted house.
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