A Haunting (2005–…): Season 11, Episode 6 - Return to Bergen House - full transcript

Hey, Dad. It's Cathy.

[narrator] The prodigal
daughter returns home.

I didn't wanna be there,
but I had to be.

[narrator] To the place
that haunted her youth...

[Cathy] I could feel the dread
start to come in the room.

I couldn't scream,
I couldn't do anything.

[narrator] Only to find the
house won't give up its ghosts.

Something dead is
definitely up there.

[loud knocking]

I had no control.

[spirit screaming]



- [crow cawing]
- [narrator] In this world...

There is real evil.

- [girl speaks eerily] Someone's alone...
- [thunder rumbling]

[narrator] It lurks in
the darkest shadows...

[spirits whispering]

[narrator] Between what we see,

- and the things we fear.
- [spirit screaming]

There are doors.

When they are opened...

Nightmares become reality.

[pleasant music playing]

The town of Bergen in upstate
New York was founded in 1812.

A community of farmers
and lumber workers

carved their future out of the
region's dense woods and fertile soil.



But they were not the first
to inhabit this ancient land.

Bergen sits on the edge
of a vast primordial swamp.

For over 10,000 years, its black
creeks still pulse through the wetlands,

bringing new life
to age-old darkness.

You have to pick the right
kind of plants to put in this soil.

They all can't survive here.

[narrator] It is here,
at the edge of the swamp,

where Cathy Heglund grew up.

My parents moved to
Bergen in the late 50's.

And they found this old
farmhouse out in the country

that they could afford.

My father thought
he would fix it up

and he'd have a little land
and a bigger home.

My father was in the back yard,

tilling up a garden space
for my mother

to have a vegetable garden.

[mysterious music playing]

What is it, Dad?

And he uncovered part
of a woman's body.

There was tufts of hair

that were still curled.

You could tell that
this woman had red hair.

There were seven or eight
vertebrae, from, like, a spine.

That looks like a piece
of a lady's dress.

- Do you think... - Don't. It's
nothing for you to worry about, Cathy.

I want you to go inside now.

Go inside.

- Okay...
- Now.

I have no idea if the
authorities were ever called.

We didn't really talk about
that incident after that.

[eerie music playing]

[narrator] Cathy sensed that there
was something unusual about her home,

and the land it sat upon.

[object jangling]

[Cathy] One night, I noticed
a shadow in the corner.

[jangling continues]

I could feel the dread
start to come in the room.

That creepy feeling that makes
you just want to run and hide.

And I remember the room
got very, very, very cold.

And I couldn't move, the only
thing I could move was my eyes.

It was like I was paralyzed.

I couldn't scream,
I couldn't do anything.

Cathy! Cathy!

God, are you okay?

You okay? Shh. What happened?

- I don't know...
- What happened?

- It...
- God, come here.

[exhales]

It took me a few minutes to
gather myself, so I could even think

to tell my dad
what my side of the story was.

You all right?

Tell me you're okay.

- It's okay...
- [young Cathy] Mmm-hmm...

[Cathy's father sighs]

[narrator] Cathy tells
her father what she remembers.

[Cathy] He would listen to me,
and he would be afraid for me,

but he didn't know what to do.

Cathy, we can't let our fears
get the best of us, okay?

Understand?

We have to be careful who
we talk to about this stuff.

Because...

Most people don't believe in...

Ghosts.

But, Dad...

Put it out of your mind.

Okay?

[Cathy] My father wasn't as open

to acknowledging some of the
things that were going on in the house.

I think because he didn't know
how to handle those things.

He didn't know how to
protect us from those things.

Nothing here can hurt you, okay?

[Cathy] I think in his mind,

if he ignored it, and he
didn't give it any attention,

it would go away.

But it didn't go away.

[narrator] As soon
as she could leave Bergen,

Cathy started a new life

in Rochester, New York.

When I was old enough
to get married,

and I moved out of the house,

it was a great relief to me.

[narrator] She starts
her own family,

builds her own home,

and tries to forget about
the nightmare in Bergen.

I actually tried
to convince my father

to sell that house
more than once.

To get my mother out of there.

Hey, Dad...

He was very firm that he
would never sell that house.

Hey, Dad. It's Cathy.

Dad?

What you got here?

Oh, Dad...

[Cathy groans]

Oh...

[Cathy's father sobbing]

[Cathy] Oh...

You're okay...

He actually became sick and
had to go into a nursing home.

[eerie sound]

We were gone for eight years.

Eight years,
that house stood like that.

Like the day
we just shut the door.

[narrator] By 2018,
Cathy's children are grown,

and her marriage has ended.

Health problems had forced
her into early retirement,

and taken a toll
on her finances.

Leaving her
only one place to go.

She returns to the Bergen house

with her new boyfriend.

Could be worse.

Could it?

Only one way to find out.

[Cathy] During that time period,

people had been
breaking into the house,

because they realized
it was empty,

and it's off the road.

Stealing antiques,
dropping garbage off.

I don't know where to start.

Come on now,
we're in this together.

[Cathy] I just can't believe
I had to move back here.

I promised myself
I'd never move back.

You'll be okay.

It'll be great, it'll...
We'll make the best of it.

- Well, I'm glad you're here with me.
- Mmm.

[Cathy] I didn't wanna be there.

I didn't wanna be there,
but I had to be there.

The idea was that
we would fix up the house,

try to get it cleared, sell it,

move on with our lives.

[eerie music playing]

The very first night,
my boyfriend,

he fell asleep rather quickly.

I was very nervous.

- I got that old, familiar feeling.
- [spirit panting]

- [door creaking]
- [object jangling]

[spirit sobbing]

[jangling continues]

[whispers] Hey. Wake up.

Wake up!

[spirit] Please help me...

[jangling continues]

- [rattling]
- [Cathy gasps]

[Cathy's boyfriend groans]

What's wrong? What happened?

Look...

It brought back all of
those fears I had as a kid.

[spirit crying]

- [rattling]
- [Cathy gasps]

[Cathy's boyfriend groans]

What happened?

Look...

[gasps]

[spirit] Please help me...

[Cathy] It was like it got
to the end of the bed

and it would just disappeared,
it was just gone.

Sorry, Cath, but I'm not
sleeping in this bed.

[Cathy stammering]

Air mattress. Living room.

I'm not sleeping in this house.

What?

Come with me, Cath.

Or don't.

I just can't.

[coat hangers jangling]

[Cathy] I did feel like
this might be a mistake,

moving back into this house.

But yet,
that was my family home.

When I thought about home as
a kid, that was what I thought of.

So, even though I was terrified,
that was also my comfort.

Give your mom a hug! Oh!

- Thanks for coming, sweetheart.
- Hey, Mom.

You remember Justin?

Justin, so good to see you.

I'd say pardon the mess,

but it is way too far gone
for that.

So, what do you think?

Can we salvage this wreck?

[Cathy] Justin is a good,
good family friend.

Out of the kindness
of his heart,

he volunteered to help us
try to clean it up a little bit.

It's gonna take a lot
of work, but, yeah.

It's under there somewhere.

Well, let me show you around
before you get too optimistic.

[all chuckling]

You okay?

Yeah, I just...

Feel like someone walked
across my grave or something.

It was definitely a warm day
when I walked in.

And I walked in
and felt a chill.

It just kinda sent hairs
up my spine a little bit.

Keep an open mind.

It's a strange old house.

What do you mean?

Make yourself useful.

Always doing something here.

[narrator] After a full day of
sifting through years of debris,

Justin and Max settle in
for the night.

- [exhales] I'm done, man.
- Yeah, me too.

- Hey, you crash upstairs, I'll take the couch.
- Cool.

[eerie music playing]

[groans]

[narrator] Justin Morrison was told
that he's staying at a strange old house.

But nothing could have prepared
him for what he encounters upstairs.

[groans]

[groans]

It just kinda sent hairs
up my spine a little bit,

and it was like someone
put their hand on me,

and just fully extended
their arm.

- Dude, are you okay?
- Yeah. I think so.

I felt the initial fall of
when my butt hit the stairs,

I remember my head hitting,
but I don't... I didn't...

There was no pain.
My head didn't hurt.

- Did you see anybody?
- No.

[Justin] It was like bouncing
your head off of a mattress.

I can't explain it other than
whatever it was,

didn't want me to get hurt.
They just didn't want me there.

They didn't want me upstairs.

Something dark
is definitely up there.

I slept in the living room.

[narrator] In the morning, Justin tells
Cathy about his experience in the house.

Hey, boys. Here you go.

- Thanks, Mom.
- [Justin] Thank you.

Miss Cathy...

You know how you said
to give this house a chance?

- Yeah.
- I think I know what you meant.

Something happen?

Yeah.

[Cathy] I let him tell me
his story.

I let him know
that I believed him.

There I was, like,
"So, I'm mad?"

She's like,
"No, you're not crazy, no."

Have you ever...
seen anything?

Yes.

I mean, as a kid.

I saw a lot, there was
crazy stuff that happened.

Dad told me not
to talk about it ever, so...

Yes. A lot.

I asked, "Who are they?" She goes,
"I'm not really sure who they are."

Do you know what they want?

No.

I have never really
thought about what they want.

[narrator] Cathy decides it is
time to seek definite answers

about who or what
is haunting her house.

[Cathy] We had a neighbor. He
suggested, you know, you meet this woman,

she can enlighten you on some of
the other things that are going on there.

'Cause Janet is
a psychic medium.

The original house
was built in 1858,

but most of the rooms were added

in the 1880s and 1930s.

What is it, Dad?

[Cathy] I didn't tell her
anything about the garden,

and she just stopped.

She stopped in the exact spot
my father dug up that body.

Something happened here.

I had a feeling of... death.

I had felt there
was a woman back there

that had been killed on the
property, and had been buried.

[creaking]

And she goes, "There's
people buried on this property."

And I said, "Yes, I think so."

Can we go in there?

[nervously] Of course.

When I entered the barn,
I got a feeling,

overwhelming feeling of
fear and dread, and sadness.

[eerie music playing]

Being a mother, I could feel
that feeling of being pregnant.

[crashing]

And that's when I saw the woman
hanging from the rafters in the barn.

[creaking]

I know what happened here.

A woman took her own life.

[crickets chirping]

[narrator] Janet decides
to conduct an investigation

to see if she can calm the
restless spirit lurking in Cathy's barn.

She has her friend D.J., a
paranormal investigator, join her.

Is there someone here
who wishes to communicate?

[Cathy] We were actually
out there one night,

and we were actually going
to try to cross over

the spirit of the woman
that hung herself.

I'm reaching out
to the woman who died here.

I know what happened to you.

Can you help me understand why?

[Cathy] I glanced over at her,

and I instantly knew something
was wrong with her.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In the barn behind
Cathy Heglund's house,

psychic medium, Janet Toal,
makes contact

with a restless spirit.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Cathy] I saw someone
behind her.

It was like their face
was coming through her face.

It was almost like they were
pushing through her from the back.

Janet, are you okay?
Can you hear me?

[camera shutter clicks]

Janet... Janet... Janet!

Janet.

I called to her,
and she wasn't responding.

Can you hear me now?

I was, like, "Janet,"
you know, a little bit louder.

Yeah. What was that?

I just remember, kind of,
feeling dazed.

Like, uh, sort of, out of it.

I got something here.

Look at this.

Come to find out, after reviewing
the video and the pictures,

uh, there was a spirit that
had stepped inside of my body.

[Cathy] You could actually see
another face over the top of hers.

It's a very creepy photo,
because in the photo

the face that's turned
to look at you,

the eyes are completely black.

The woman who died here,
she needs our help.

[whispers] Okay.

[narrator] Cathy reaches out
to a local historian,

in hopes of identifying the
woman who died in her barn.

[Cathy] The town historian
is the one that told us

about the woman who hung
herself in the barn, Katherine.

I'm with child.

With your child.

Come to find out that this
young girl actually had an affair

with one of the married
justices of the peace at the time.

And when he found out
she was pregnant,

he broke off the relationship.

- You want my counsel?
- Hmm.

End it.

Be rid of it.

[Cathy] To be an unmarried
young woman, pregnant...

No, her whole life
was over with.

[gasping]

[stool crashes]

[creaking]

Her family wouldn't help
or anything.

They would turn their back on
you, back in those days, you know.

So, she became very
despondent, and took her life.

[creaking]

[narrator] Because of the
aggressive nature of the hauntings,

Cathy invites investigator
and psychic, Tim Shaw,

to help get answers to the questions
that have plagued her since childhood.

Oh, come in.

- You must be Cathy.
- Mr. Shaw.

Janet knew Reverend Tim Shaw,
and she mentioned the house to him.

And he wanted to come see it for
himself and experience it for himself.

Let me see.
What can I tell you?

If you don't mind, I'd like to take a
walk around the house first, myself.

Whenever I go
to a "haunted house,"

I'll do a cold walk,
which means I wanna go

and I wanna read the energy
in the house.

I wanna get impressions.

I wanna go in every single room.

I want the house to tell me
what's going on.

- Of course. Let me know if you need anything.
- Thank you.

I'm standing in the home
of Cathy Heglund.

I'm kinda looking around, and I got,
like, a sick feeling in my solar plexus.

And the first thing that
you learn about,

if you work with exorcists
or demonologists,

if you get a little butterfly
in your solar plexus,

that usually means there's something
that's not real happy that you're there.

[eerie sound]

I was walking up the stairs,
and I got about halfway,

and I got a gentle push,

felt it, like, right in
my chest, centralized,

like somebody had just put
their hand out, said "Stop."

There is definitely
something here.

It's stronger
on the second floor.

Ow!

[groans]

And I was, like,
"What the hell did I hit?

What did I...
Was there something here?"

[breathing heavily]

[suspenseful music playing]

I'm in the upstairs bedroom.

Whatever attacked me
on the stairs,

seems to have backed off.

I went to the back window,

and I looked out, and I'm
looking into the swamp.

[eerie music playing]

[narrator] Paranormal
investigator, Tim Shaw,

has encountered the dark entity

haunting Cathy Heglund's home.

I'm not afraid of you.

And you can't hide from me.

[narrator] Tim Shaw's
experience gives him an idea

about the cause of the haunting.

We know that water
plays an important part

in amplifying psychic phenomena.

That primordial swamp predates
European occupation of the area.

That tells you that, that
swamp has a lot of energy to it.

So I believe that that is what's
powering whatever's in the house.

I immediately thought to myself,

"This would be a great
location to attempt a seance."

If it was done correctly,
done safely,

that we could go and we
could contact something.

Get some kind of
two-way communication going.

Uh, because it just felt
that the house was alive.

[narrator] Cathy recruits a
team of paranormal investigators,

including researcher and
psychic medium, Rob Thompson,

and his assistant, Renata,
to help with the seance.

[Rob] From the moment we arrived,
I felt that we were being observed.

And immediately, I felt that
there were multiple spirits there

who needed our help.

Let's get started.

Right.

[suspenseful music playing]

Everybody ready?

Yes.

[Renata whispers] Okay.

There's several ways
of doing a seance.

But every seance
is almost the same.

You start off with a prayer.

We ask for your protection,

for all those
within this circle tonight.

Help us to raise our energy to
communicate with the spirits here.

You can really raise the vibration
enough to give them enough energy

to be able to move things,
do things.

It can get pretty intense
during a seance.

Is there someone out there
who'd like to communicate with us?

Damn it.

[Rob] Our equipment
was starting to drain.

Brand new batteries that'd just been
fully charged, even the disposable ones.

Boom. It's a sign that spirit
is willing to come forward,

and is using energy.

Okay. Good to go.

We are here to help you.
Make your presence known to us.

The energy is building.

All of a sudden, the table... You could feel
the vibrations coming up through the table.

Right through the table,
as such, you could just feel...

[Cathy gasps]

I can't believe I'm seeing this.

It was the first seance I had
ever experienced first hand.

The table was actually
off the ground.

[Janet] The table levitated
off the floor

and was shaking back and forth.

And it was just incredible.

It went up and stayed there for, I
don't know, three, four, five seconds.

- [table rattling]
- [Cathy gasps]

I felt something behind me.

It was... nasty.

And then, you could feel,
just the energy, just drop.

- [thud]
- [Cathy gasps]

And it was over. It was done.

Damn it. Again?

I think I need some air.
[breathing heavily]

Okay. Let's give it
a few minutes.

And we'll try again.

[Renata sighs]

[narrator] When the
investigators regroup,

Janet Toal leads the seance.

I am reaching out to the young
woman who died on this property.

Katherine, can you hear me?

[crying]

[Janet] As the seance
was going on,

one of the participants
started crying uncontrollably.

She just... was wailing and
we couldn't get her to stop.

- Are you there?
- [Renata continues crying]

For me, a seance is giving
spirit, like, a giant antenna.

Sometimes things can go awry.

Sometimes people can
break the circle, out of fear.

Everyone, keep holding hands.

I looked over and I saw
in my mind's eye,

that Katherine, the woman
who had hung herself in the barn,

had stepped in too close to
her and was making her cry.

Katherine, listen to my voice.

[Renata continues crying]

I need you to step away
from the circle.

[Janet] I had to ask her if she
could please step back from her.

You know, that she wasn't
allowed to be that close.

That you could communicate
with us,

but she wasn't allowed
to be that close to the woman.

And as soon as she stepped back,

the woman just completely
stopped crying.

That was it. She was done.

And she didn't know
what was happening.

[Cathy] I was sitting
in the front room,

and I felt the dark presence
come into the room.

I could feel the anger.

There is something
in here with us.

[suspenseful music playing]

What is it?

It's him.

We could feel this rush
of negative energy come in.

[Renata gasping]

[screeching]

[growling]

[breathing heavily]

[narrator] During the seance
at the Bergen house,

investigator, Rob Thompson,
becomes a vessel with the dark entity.

[gurgling]

[screeching]

[growling]

Again!

At some point, I blacked out.

I have no connection
with what is going on.

I had no control.

[growling]

It was very aggressive energy
from that spirit.

And he definitely was
trying to intimidate.

Who are you?

Tell me your name.

[screeching]

[spirit growling] Who are you?

[Janet] I'm not afraid
of you at all.

I never will be, either.

[spirit laughing maniacally]

Now I know who you are.

[screeching]

That was me,
showing the confidence

that I can't be intimidated
by him.

[screeching]

[Rob breathing heavily]

Rob?

- Are you back with us?
- [breathes heavily]

You could tell that this man who was in
the seance with us, he just came out of it.

Is he gone?

Yes... for now.

His whole purpose
was to make us afraid.

And when somebody
stood up to him,

he lost that power and he left.

[Rob breathing heavily]

The seance is over.

Thank you.

[Rob breathing heavily]

[narrator] With the seance
concluded,

the investigators give Cathy
what she has long awaited...

Answers.

Tim... thank you.

You have a very active house.

Hopefully, it'll quiet down,
but with the swamp, I doubt it.

I believe there's a young
woman here from another time.

Demure, quiet.

Seems like she was in
an abusive relationship.

I hope she has found peace.

Me, too.

[Katherine] You told me
that you loved me.

I see now that you are
incapable of loving anyone.

You are a monster.

And I hope that
you are damned in hell.

[crows cawing]

And you have a male spirit,

who feels dark, punitive, cruel.

The darker guy,
the darker spirit personality,

[grunts]

I believe that he is someone
who has lived in the house.

He feels as if,
he's part of that house.

And I believe that he was somebody
that was just unbelievably stern.

He ruled by having an iron fist.

Uh, women had no rights.

I don't like you
sharing a space with him.

Be careful, Cathy.

Cathy, uh...

[chuckles] Good luck
with this place.

[chuckles] I'm afraid
you might need it.

I feel we did good work
while we were there.

I feel that the energy
changed, it shifted.

But, honestly...

I wouldn't go back there
for all the tea in China.

[crickets chirping]

[Cathy] I started to talk
to my father a little bit,

about the spirit activity
in that house.

And about why he would
never let us tell anybody

about things when we were kids.

And I told him I wanna know
why this place is so haunted.

And why we had to grow up...
the way we grew up.

Experiencing those things.
[sniffles]

And he agreed with me.
[sniffles]

That we needed to find out why.

[crickets chirping]

I've kinda told myself that the
spirits in the house, they're people.

They're part of my family,
whether I like it or not.

I talk out loud to my ghosts
sometimes, and I said,

"You know, like me or not,
we're in this together."

And we can either get along
or we don't have to get along.