Activity began with subtle phenomena like strange odors, leaking pipes, and unexplained scratches on furniture.
The Smurls eventually moved out in 1988. They sold the house at a massive loss. The new owners? They reported absolutely nothing unusual for decades. The house on Pennsylvania Avenue stands today, quiet and unassuming, with a basement that is now a finished game room.
This report details the events surrounding the Smurl family of West Pittston, Pennsylvania, who claimed to be victims of a prolonged supernatural disturbance between 1974 and 1989. The case is notable for the high level of media exposure it received, the involvement of the Catholic Church, and the controversial investigative work of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Smurl case remains a polarizing subject in the field of paranormal research, balanced between testimonies of devout belief and accusations of hoaxing. the smurl family
For most people, a “fixer-upper” means peeling wallpaper, creaky floorboards, and a stubborn water stain on the ceiling. For the Smurl family of West Pittston, Pennsylvania, it meant something far worse. It meant a doorway.
The haunting was categorized by an escalation of activity, often categorized into three phases: Activity began with subtle phenomena like strange odors,
The Smurl Family Haunting: A Decades-Old Mystery Between 1974 and 1989, Jack and Janet Smurl claimed their West Pittston, Pennsylvania, duplex was the site of one of the most intense and prolonged supernatural sieges in American history. What began as minor oddities—a missing tool or a strange odor—evolved into a terrifying ordeal involving physical assaults and unexplained phenomena that eventually drew the attention of the famous demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Beginning: Small Disturbances
Jack Smurl passed away in 2018. Janet rarely speaks of the events anymore. But one thing remains: the case file in the Warren’s Occult Museum, labeled Smurl Family: Active. Do Not Open. The new owners
Initially, the entity behaved like a bored teenager. Pictures flew off walls. Bedsheets were ripped off sleeping bodies. Dishes stacked themselves into precarious towers in the middle of the night. Jack tried to rationalize it—settling foundation, faulty wiring, pranksters. But then the shadows started moving. Dark, human-shaped silhouettes would dart from room to room, seen only in the periphery.
This is where the Smurl case diverges from typical poltergeist lore. Janet claimed she was attacked physically and sexually by an invisible entity. She reported being pinned to the bed by a crushing weight, unable to scream. According to the Warrens, this was not a ghost. It was a demonic presence—specifically, a low-level demon posing as a deceased relative to gain trust.
Here is where the story takes its strangest turn. The Catholic Diocese of Scranton initially dismissed the Smurls as hysterics. But after a bishop secretly visited the home and witnessed a crucifix spinning upside down on the wall, the Church relented. They did not perform an exorcism. Instead, a priest came to the house, blessed every room, and performed a "Supplication of the Laity."