A haunted history lesson

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A haunted history lesson
June 14, 2009
by Shea Conner
stjoenews.net

Several people pass by a little two-story house on North Second Street in Atchison every day. What’s surprising is how few people know about all of the bizarre things that have allegedly happened there.

Those who are aware of the freaky events know it as The Sallie House. As legend has it, the house is haunted by a little girl named Sallie who died during a botched appendectomy inside. For years, tenants who have lived in the house have reported harmless happenings like electrical appliances switching on and off and pictures turning upside down as well as violent attacks that left victims with welts and bloody scratches. The latter was even documented on the ‘90s TV show “Sightings.”

After watching some amateur videos filmed in the house on the Internet, Atchison Media Services owner Scott Unruh felt the story of The Sallie House was not only worth telling, but putting on film.

“It’s hard to get a spook to act on cue,” Mr. Unruh explains, “but with The Sallie House, the more cameras come in there, the more these weird things occur.”

Mr. Unruh set out to produce a documentary film simply titled “The Sallie House.” The hour-long film has three parts: a re-enactment of Sallie’s appendectomy, interviews with former victims and a paranormal investigation of the house.

The paranormal investigation was headed by acclaimed Canadian psychic, Robbie Thomas (who’s famous for finding dead bodies for law enforcement agencies) and Michael Esposito, a specialist in EVP (electronic voice phenomena), a recording process that captures hidden voices riding ambient noise. Mr. Unruh joined the duo during their investigation and says the results are somewhat unsettling.

“I didn’t feel anything (when I was in the house), but Michael got some incredible EVPs,” he says. “There were some fantastic ones that he pulled out and they do kind of creep me out.”

Chuck Pulliam, Jennifer Stammers and Faith Nagel are the three local actors who took part in the surgery re-enactment. Mr. Pulliam says everyone who was involved takes a great deal of pride in being a part of the film.

“This is a local event,” Mr. Pulliam says. “Not only are the house and the hauntings local, but it’s a local production company with local people and local actors.”

“The Sallie House” premiered June 11 at Theater Atchison. Mr. Unruh also will hold a screening of the movie in Topeka this summer and is trying to find a venue in St. Joseph to hold a screening. For more information or to order a DVD copy, visit www.thesalliehousemovie.com.