Description Of Place: Built in 1986, the Stevenson House is a one-story remodeled three-bedroom home with a converted garage area in a residential area fronting a small patch of woods the extends to Highway 156. 

Ghostly Manifestations: In paranormal circles, it is well acknowledged that locations of tragic deaths have created some of the most popular haunted locations in paranormal research. Over fifty thousand soldiers lost their lives on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, so much so that the Civil War ghosts of the battlefield seem to spill over into the local college and the local homes and hotels, and while murder locations typically fail to reach the high numbers of deaths at Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Shiloh or even Stones River Battlefield, the living still report things at the former home of Lizzie Borden in Fall River, Massachusetts. Locals are fearful of the woods around the former farm of Ed Gein outside Plainfield, Wisconsin. A forgotten murderer still pursues the apparitions of young children at the Old Moore House in Villisca, Iowa, and at the Sowden House in Los Angeles, the spirit of slain actress Elizabeth Short (who was dubbed the Black Dahlia by reporters after her death) screams the name of her murderer out to an otherwise deaf public as well as from the Biltmore Hotel where she was last seen alive. However, the case known as the Stevenson House is so complicated that it seemingly interconnects with the histories of at least five other unsolved murders along the west coast.

"I don't do ghosts...." Writer Ellison Oswalt is slow to integrate writing about true crime stories with their paranormal legends. "But the deeper I researched this case, the stranger and more odd it became." Oswalt is the successful author of the book "Kentucky Blood," which detailed the ritualistic murders of  eleven-year-old Amber Morrissey in 1999 and the highly publicized trial that followed. His books have been praised for their consistent high-provoking writing, almost on par with authoress Dr. Temperance Brennan, but in researching the Stevenson murders, Oswalt confesses he started to feel more like Stephen King.  

"This is the first time I've actually lived on the property the murders occurred..." He ignores the strained eye roll of his wife from the next room. "And I've never got the creeps from analyzing crime scene photos before, but... There was just something weird this time... Something I just couldn't put my finger on."

In private, Oswalt describes hearing the sounds of children running through the house, a sensation of being watched when the house was empty and even an overwhelming sense of foreboding from the house. 

"I usually learn to ignore this stuff because of the nature of my writing, but this time... something was different." He continues. "The first day we moved in, my wife and I were standing in the back yard and looking at the tree in the back yard with the broken limb. I was pretty complacent looking at it, maybe ambivalent... but then I felt this gust of wind blow up and with was this horrible stench of decomp. I just naturally assumed it was a dead animal in the bushes and let it go at that, but after that moment, things started becoming weird... almost surreal."

Oswalt believes something could be in the attic. Upon moving in, he noticed a box left behind full of Super 8 millimeter film involving family activities, but now, he believes the footage could be a relic left behind by the murderer of the Stevenson family before him, who were drugged and hung from the tree behind the house. Footage of the Stevensons being murdered was part of the macabre memento, possibly left to mock the police, as well as that of four other unsolved murdered families along the coast. However, since bringing the box down, Oswalt has heard something moving around in the attic as well as the sound of footsteps.

"About a week after moving in, I was up late working when I heard the sounds again." He continues. "It was also the same night the power went out and I went up to the attic to make sure there wasn't an intruder. So armed with a flashlight, I went up into the stark blackness of night expecting to see maybe to see a spaced out junkie or the ghost of one of the Stevensons, but instead, I stepped into a weak section of floor and crashed through down into the hallway. However, my camera was going at the same time and I caught what looked like a four set of hands in a brief frame grabbing and pulling me through the floor. At first I thought it was a glitch, but as you go frame by frame, they become clearly defined. There was nothing there with me at the time, and they're too distinct to be camera malfunctions, so I started wondering... Could this be the ghosts of the Stevenson kids?" 

As things went on, Oswalt started experiencing other things. He woke up on a few nights and found the Super 8 going by itself in his study, often in tandem with his computer which held copies of the footage for analyzing fine details. Although he isn't sure if his family was experiencing things, Ellison was aware of his son's increased night terrors. Although he had not been sleepwalking in years, seventeen-year-old Trevor started wandering through the house again and even into the front yard.

"I've also seen a presence standing and staring at the house from the bushes." Oswalt confesses. "I don't known if it's James Stevenson or something else, but the face of it is disfigured as if distorted from a terrible accident."

History: Built in a Late Eighties style, the house was acquired by James and Edith Stevenson in 1995. Their neighbors described them as a very out-going and well-liked family who often had backyard parties and large New Year's Eve parties. Unfortunately, on August 29, 2011, James and Edith with their son, Brian, and daughter, Jenny, were found hanging by their necks from the back tree using the rope off an old tire swing. To pull their bodies off the ground, their murderer had used the weight of a severed limb to lift their bodies off the ground. The only one not present was the youngest daughter, Stephanie, who was ten-years-old.

"Extensive research into the Super 8 films from the attic suggests we may be dealing with ritualistic murders performed by a coven of devil worshippers." Deputy Andrew B. Seanseau was a police liaison for Ellison Oswalt during the research of his book. "We have demonic symbols, figures in black and records of property ownership linking the families in the films going back to the Montague family of Salem, Oregon in 1966."

As Deputy Seanseau can reveal, the Stevenson family once lived in the home of the Miller family of St. Louis, Missouri who were murdered in 1998. The Millers once presided in the DeLuzio House in Orange County, California, who were murdered in 1986. The DeLuzios once presided in the home of the murdered Martinez family of Sacramento, California from 1979 who previously lived in the Montague family house. The Super 8 films are recorded with the grisly natures of the murdered families, and they all share common pieces of evidence, particularly an occult symbol and a robed figure seen in reflection wearing a horror mask and the fact that one child was removed from each murder scene.

"At this moment," Andrew adds. "We're not clear if the missing kids are indoctrinated into the cult or if they're being used as ritual sacrifices. However, since this has come to light, we've had several amateur crime buffs trying to link this string of murders with other unsolved murders such as the Bordens, the Moores and other cases. I mean, there are hundreds of unsolved murders through the country that were usually blamed on vagrants and itinerants, but at this time, we actually have no indication of any murders before the Montagues."

Sadly, Seanseu believes that when Oswalt moved from the Stevenson House that he hastened the cults activities and placed himself and his family in danger. A week after moving, Ellison, his wife, Tracey, and son, Trevor, were found viciously axed to death on the floor before the fireplace of their previous house. His daughter, Ashley, was not among them.

Since this case has unfolded, the FBI Behavioral Science Division has alternately concluded the string of murders to be the work of a family of Romani gypsies. Several members of the clan have been arrested and taken into police custody for suspicion in the abductions of children and murders of their families through the Southeast United States. While they have not been conclusively linked to the succession of the Martinez-to-Stevenson families on the West Coast, investigations into the cases are still in process. 

Identity of Ghosts: The common belief is that the ghosts of the Stevenson children are haunting the house; however, as one is quick to point out, the Stevensons only had two children in their early teens. 

"Could two of the additional kids be from the other murder sites?" Oswalt asks.

Investigations: There has not been a plethora of investigations at the Old Stevenson House. After Oswalt's research suggested paranormal connections to the murders, one informal investigation was conducted under the purview of the local authorities to determine if "supernatural reasons" could be attributed to the case. Conducted by the Seattle Office of Psychic Research from the University of Washington, the team used scientific means to determine logical reasons and rational answers to prove or disprove what Oswalt experienced in the house. In addition to their tests, they recorded inexplicable sounds of vague voices in their footage of the location that was considered too incoherent to be factual evidence. Following Oswalt and Seanseau's research that the activity moved with the family, the office also researched the Oswalt's old house in Tacoma, where the family had moved back to, for similar activity. At this location, the team also uncovered incoherent voices at a similar wavelength too low to be electronic or biological. They also recorded sounds of footsteps, footage of shadows in the upstairs hall and an observation by one researcher who reported seeing a girl running lose on the property. Though not considered reliable evidence, her description matched the missing ten-year-old Stephanie Stevenson.    

Source/Comments: Sinister (2012) - Activity based the activity in the movie and partially on the Moore House in Villisca, Iowa.

Dr. Temperance Brennan from the TV-Series, "Bones" (1999 - Recent)

Romani Clan from the TV-Series, "Criminal Minds" (Episode: "Bloodline")