A Haunting in Connecticut

I watched this while alone and regretted it, although I was fascinated. This documentary is very well done and doesn't get "cute", as this genre is wont to do...it is just scary as hell. I am always amazed at these families that STAY in these houses through all this horror (literally!) The basement scenes gave me shivers and I felt bad for the boys when the parents wouldn't believe what was happening to them. Of course, the film would be much more effective if it was commercial free. The ads always are placed at a particularly spooky place in the story -nothing takes you out of a deliciously scary moment like a commercial for Viagra. All in all, however, this is the best recounting of an actual haunting I have seen. This documentary is usually aired with "A Haunting in Georgia", which is also worth viewing.

I went to the gym last week. I flipped on the TV for background noise, with no intention of actually watching TV. This documentary happened to be on. I overheard some of the dialouge during my first set. It made me curious, so I started watching a bit. 45 min later, and with 5 other people who had joined me, we had all abandoned our work-outs. We were glued to the TV. I'm not a fan of horror or suspense movies. I am generally a skeptic about the supernatural. I do not believe in God. However, something about this show really, really got to me (and the 5 other people at the gym!). It was the most well done, and scariest account of a co-called haunting that I have ever come across.

I watched this for the first time around Christmas of last year with my wife.

And we could barely sleep after wards.

We had to watch something funny to make ourselves forget about it.

What makes me so scared of this is that I have experienced things that I to this day cannot explain or even really care to remember.

Please do not think I'm nuts but here are a few of the things I've experienced that made me think a little more seriously about a spirit world.

1. A week or two after my wife's grandfather died a few years ago, my nine year old daughter tells me that she saw her great-grandfather in a navy blue suit and red tie in her bedroom. HE was buried in a navy blue suit and red tie and she did not attend his funeral.

2. My son who's only three recognized my deceased mother's photo (died four years BEFORE he was born)as his grandmother long before I ever told him this. He'd look at the photo and saw 'granma'.

Gave me and my wife the willies.

3. As a kid I remember hearing rumors that the apartment complex I lived in was built on an old graveyard. I used to discard this as my friends trying to scare me, until one night in my bedroom I saw a figure walk into my room, it was totally black so I couldn't make out any features, I was half sleep and simply assumed it to be my mother looking in on me, the figure walked back out into the dark hall and I went back to sleep, thinking nothing of it.

The next morning I asked my mother had she come in and peeked in on my that night ad she told me she never got out of bed.

I don't really think the presence was malevolent, because I didn't feel any fear, in fact I felt protected, which is why I guess I thought it was my mom. It was like whatever it was it was simply checking on me in the middle of the night.

4. As a kid in the same house, me and a pal of mine were playing video games when a tile from the bath tub flew out into the hallway. We were home alone. And I would have thought it the tile had just fallen it would have fallen into the bath tub. It was as if it were thrown.

5. And perhaps the most chilling account, was once when my mother and her boyfriend at the time(who would eventually become my stepfather) had gotten to arguing and when she tried to prevent him from leaving he happened to shove her to the side. Well later that night, after they made up, he told her that at that moment he felt as if someone grabbed him by the neck. I did not witness this, but my mother did say he leave coughing and gagging.

Even remembering these things and writing them runs a chill up my spine.

So I truly believe in the paranormal and spirits.

Watching this documentary only fueled my belief.

The man with the red eyes was the most frightening thing I'd ever seen on television.

If I woke up and saw something like that looking at me, I'd pee all over myself.

My experiences were mild and in most cases seemed benevolent and just playing light hearted jokes (the tile), but I couldn't imagine facing something this evil.

I made the serious mistake of watching this feature length documentary shortly before going to bed. I did not sleep at all that night.

This is the allegedly true story of the Parker family, whose eldest son is terribly ill and requires frequent hospital visits. In order to be closer to the hospital where he receives treatment, the entire Parker family move into a new home which is a shorter drive from the facilities. It is also conveniently located quite close to a cemetery. The house itself is a large, impressively grandiose estate, but when Mr. and Mrs. Parker head downstairs just after purchasing the home, they discover a basement room filled with an odd assortment of surgical tools and a large freezer. To their horror, the couple realize they are standing in a disused embalming room. The house was once a funeral home.

Having sunk their life savings into the purchase of their new home, The Parkers have no choice but to go ahead and move in. They decide to conceal the history of the house from their children, but odd things soon begin to occur. A kitchen floor stubbornly refuses to be cleansed of a vicious pool of blood. The sickly teenage boy, Paul, begins hearing voices, and all of the children see phantoms and shadows moving throughout the house. Paul's temper begins to fray and he grows increasingly violent. Not even removing him from the house seems to help, which his parents do after he attacks his own cousin. Instead, the forces inside of the house shift their focus, and the demonic displays of physical violence and destruction reach explosively frightening levels. By the time a team of parapsychologists arrive to investigate, it is almost too late.

This is a very eerie documentary, and incredibly well made. The mood throughout is suffocatingly dreary and filled with unrelenting dread. The performances are all quite good and somehow, genuine fear is infused into every frame. Whether it's the discovery of the embalming equipment in the basement, or a face-to-face encounter with a black-eyed demon in the darkness, this documentary will leave you with a sinking feeling of horror in the pit of your stomach and an overwhelming urge to glance around your immediate surroundings during the commercials, just to make sure there is nothing lurking in the shadowy corners.

I really had not intended to stay up and watch the entire program, but it hooked me easily and kept me watching late into the night, despite the fact that I had to get up early for work the next day. I didn't sleep that night anyway, and kept my bedside light on all night long. That's how unsettling I found this program to be, and I don't scare easily.

If you like ghost stories, historical accounts of haunted houses, and having the holy old crap scared out of you, watch this show the next time it's run on TV. It's one of the best shows of its kind I have ever seen. Be sure to catch its companion piece: A Haunting in Georgia, as well.

The Parker family moves into an old home in Connecticut in order to be closer to the hospital where their son Paul is undergoing cancer treatment. Turns out that the house used to be a funeral parlor that is haunted by several demons who proceed to terrorize the family in general, and poor Paul in particular, threatening to undo his physical improvements by damaging his mind, and forcing him out of the house altogether, which does not end the haunting... First of two specials that led to the TV series creates an effectively eerie isolated & snowy atmosphere, even if viewer gets the feeling that the whole story is not being told. Still quite good regardless.