Truly haunted houses are few and far between. Some of them simply have poltergeists, others may be haunted by a ghost or two, but this Pittsburgh home is one of the few real-life haunted houses that played host to an actual demonic possession.
The Pittsburgh demon house has a storied history of creepy things happening within; even if it weren't possessed by a demon, this isn’t the kind of place you’d want to rent as an airbnb. The account that follows is one of the most fascinating modern haunted house stories that’s ever been recorded, and it’s all thanks to the house’s owner, who took comprehensive notes during the haunting.
Out of all the haunted houses in Pennsylvania, the home on Brownsville Road contains some of the most terrifying tales that have ever been written – involving curses, a murdered child, and even a shadow creature stalking the halls of this home that still stands today.
According to Bob Cranmer, who lived in the house for nearly two decades before writing the book The Demon Of Brownsville Road, the land was initially cursed due to allegedly the being site of a Native American massacre of white settlers in the 1700s. It should be noted, however, that this is purely speculation.
Regardless of race, if there was a mass murder committed on the site where the house was built, this is likely a cause for ghostly activity. Cranmer claims that the paranormal activity was exacerbated in 1909 when a workman constructing the house placed a curse on the grounds, allegedly because the original owner, H.P. Malick, owed him money. Additionally, the builder was allegedly jealous that Malick had such a beautiful wife.
The House May Have Been Used To Perform Hundreds Of Abortions By An Alcoholic Doctor
Adding to the already cursed nature of the home, it’s believed that a doctor rented out one of the rooms to perform illegal abortions. Obviously there are no records of illegal operations taking place, but a doctor who supposedly performed abortions, “Dr. M,” did exist in Pittsburgh at the time. Or at the very least, there was a Doctor Mahan Sr. in the area.
So, how does this fit into the story? Well, Bob Cranmer claims that a catholic “intuitive,” named Connie Valenti, told him that he was a reincarnated spirited of one of the aborted children, and that he was born to fight evil.
The Cranmer Family Received A Suspiciously Good Deal On Their New Home
In Cranmer’s book, The Demon of Brownsville Road, he admits he should have been suspicious about the house the moment it came on the market. While the house on Brownsville Road was his ideal home, he never thought it would go on the market. However, Cranmer claims the house went up for sale the week he started looking, almost like it was waiting for him. The sellers immediately accepted his first offer, and the family had a suspiciously inexpensive home in Pittsburgh.
Cranmer says, on his first walkthrough with the family, that one of his sons disappeared and was later found crying on the front staircase, as if something had happened to him. After moving in, the paranormal activity began almost immediately, and stress within the family grew increasingly tense.
The Cranmers Thought They Were Victims Of A Classic Haunting
Initially, the Cranmer family believed that they were simply living with a ghost, and not the demonic presence that would soon make itself known. Cranmer says that, within weeks of moving in, he and his family began waking up to find their home in disarray – with their lights on and their water running. This may seem like basic poltergeist activity, but soon afterwards, things began to get spooky. He claims that his family witnessed blood dripping from the walls, heard footsteps walking through the hallways, and heard a ghostly pounding.
To verify these claims, Ryan Buell from A&E’s Paranormal State filmed an episode in the house and caught the brunt of the demonic presence. Buell claims that, while filming in the house in 2005, he saw a metal crucifix bend in front of him and, “a blood-like substance that materialized on the walls.” People Magazine clarified, in the same article, that a forensics team tested the substance and agreed that it was a blood and “flesh-like material.”
In house hauntings, you tend to see the trope of a particular room either being the source of terror for the inhabitants, or, at the very least, exacerbating the haunting to a degree that the room becomes uninhabitable. The “Blue Room” is referred to as such because it had blue wallpaper and a blue rug. The Cranmer’s thought it was beautiful, but something felt off.
The room initially served as a bedroom for Bob’s children, although none of them would stay in the room for long because it made them feel uneasy. Cranmer believes that the blue room was the epicenter of the house’s evil, however, the haunting couldn't be avoided by simply locking up the room and throwing away the key.
Whatever the cause of the spiritual attacks on Cranmer’s family, he believes that the evil manifested itself as a demon named Molech – a shadowy creature who appeared in a black fog and would fill the home with a dank stench whenever it appeared. According to Cranmer’s book, Molech spent most of his time in the Blue Room, and if you passed by his lair, he would lunge out at you.
One night, Cranmer claims his grandson passed the room on his way to the first floor kitchen and completely broke down after seeing the creature. In his book, Cranmer says that he found his grandson in front of the Blue Room “shaking like a leaf” and saying, “Monster, monster will get me.” Cranmer felt that Molech was simply trying to scare his family in order to drive him crazy, and for a while, it seemed to work. However, according to Cranmer’s book, Molech never truly got the best of him.
