Haunting in the Heartland

Living in merrill, it seemed like a dream at first.

Eventually, it was a dream kind of turned more into a nightmare.

It was like living in hell.

When I was washing dishes, all of a sudden,

I just feel this cold, and I was thinking,

"somebody is here."

I've handled shootings. I've handled homicides.

Those investigations don't even compare to this.

This room seemed to fill

With, like, burling black smoke.

And then he noticed it.

There was three scratch marks on my neck.

You're playing... you're playing with satan.

Among the idyllic streets

And rolling fields of america's heartland,

Something evil lurks in the shadows

Of these close-knit communities.

I know because I grew up here and witnessed the fear

These hauntings caused firsthand.

Now, as a paranormal investigator

And documentary filmmaker,

I've made it my mission to travel the heartland

And bring resolution to the living and the dead.

Merrill is an old community.

It's quiet. It's slow-paced.

You still have that hometown feel.

The communities were officially established

In the early 1850s.

So this is a huge farm country.

Merrill is a super, like, sweet town.

Everybody waved at each other

And just real down-to-earth people.

Everyone who lives in merrill knows

There's just a weird energy

That's running through this town.

I grew up in merrill pretty much my whole life.

We used to always talk and mention to each other

How awesome it would be to have this house.

Something about the place just kind of drew you in.

It used to be an old store at one time.

We love old stuff, history and antiques and stuff,

So it just fit, you know, like a hand in a glove.

We bought the house about 15 years ago.

I fell in love with the house.

Like, this is gonna be our final house.

It was supposed to be, you know, my dream place,

And now it's more like a nightmare.

Activity has gotten so bad in this house

That my son, josh,

And my granddaughter, aidabelle, had to leave.

Whatever is in this home is...

It's just trying to destroy our family.

If we can't get things to change soon,

We may possibly have to sell the house and move ourselves.

So right now, I'm headed to go meet

With the midcalf family.

Mike contacted me in regards to strange

And anomalous activity taking place in his home.

It's an urgent situation because mike had relayed the fact

That his granddaughter, aidabelle,

Seems to be targeted by whatever is in the house.

Aidabelle is right at that age that I was

When I first realized that my home was haunted,

And I started to experience activity.

I've lived through it.

I know how traumatizing it can be,

So I just had to take on this case.

Wow.

That's definitely an old general store right there.

Hey, mike? Yeah.

How you doing, man? Great, how you doing?

Good, good. Come on in.

Nice to see you. Thank you for coming.

- How you doing? - Good.

I'm gonna have to mic you guys up here.

What's the story behind this home?

The house was built in 1845.

It was a general store, and then they lived over here.

So it seems like around here, that probably would be

The only store for miles and miles.

For miles.

When the postman would come by to the store

To drop off the mail,

There was farmers that would frequent the store,

And he'd leave their mail here.

And then the postmaster general said,

"hey, we can't continue delivering mail here

Because it's not considered a town,

So you're gonna have to claim this as a town."

And the owner of that store

Was really close to his mother-in-law.

Her name was iva,

So he decided to name the town iva.

- So that's how it began? - Yes.

So this was the first structure

That started the town of iva?

Yeah, literally, the town of iva.

And now this is all just part of merrill?

This place was a big deal. It was a big deal.

I mean, it was everything. It was a post office.

It was a general store.

Yeah. It was a hangout.

There's so many people that drive by here

And just reminisce.

Nobody ever wants to come in, though.

We always tell them, "come on in,"

But they never want to come in.

I think that the house is haunted.

I just don't know.

I knew it needed a lot of work,

So we started the renovation in 2006.

I'd start working, and as I got going into, like,

Cutting a board or something, the saw would stop,

And the lights would go out.

I looked through the corner of my eye,

Could see a figure standing on the steps.

I guess we can get right down to it.

You want to take me to some of the hot spots

Where you're experiencing the most activity?

Sure. Yeah. I'll show this to you.

There was an instance when I was washing dishes.

You know, I'm just looking away, and all of a sudden,

I just feel this cold, and it was a hand.

It wasn't just a little thing.

It was just... it was like a hand.

My hairs were just standing up, and it, you know, it just, like,

Looked like, "wow," and I was thinking,

"somebody is here."

After my encounter,

My son, josh, had a terrible experience.

I was about 17 at the time.

I came into the kitchen for just a little snack

Before I go to bed,

And I just went to walk out of here.

It's like I just couldn't go into the living room

To go past to go up to my bedroom.

It's like there was some sort of presence that I just...

I felt very uneasy

To step any farther out of the kitchen.

But as I'm looking out here, it's like this room

Seemed to fill with, like, burling black smoke.

In fact, I stood back here, and I actually...

I slept on this counter here,

This really thin, little place.

You slept on this counter?

I took everything off, and I slept.

I just couldn't go any farther out of this kitchen.

It was a little embarrassing at the time.

You know, I think I'm being a man.

You know, I'm calling for my parents and...

- They were upstairs? - Yeah.

But I couldn't get my voice out for them to hear me enough,

And so I just decided this would be my night right here,

And I'll explain it in the morning.

- It's a lot to absorb. - Yeah.

Yeah, it is. - It's hard to...

You know, when you're not there for your kid,

Thinking he sat down here all night scared to death.

Scared to death. Sleeping on a counter.

You know, you've got your wife

And your, you know, your child there.

You're supposed to be the husband,

The father, the protector of the family,

And when you no longer can feel like you

Can protect them anymore,

You know, it's a hard thing to deal with

Because you don't want to ever admit that you're scared.

So, aidabelle, could you try to explain your experiences

In this house?

It was the night when the man walked into my room.

I couldn't sleep that night.

I heard footsteps coming.

When I realized it wasn't my grandma or my grandpa,

Then I was scared.

I wanted to pretend that I was sleeping,

So I went right under my covers,

And I thought that it would never go away.

And then I just felt coldness in front of my face.

Right when I opened my eyes, its face was in my face,

So I shut them right back.

I'm waking her up,

And she's telling me all this,

And, to me, it sounded like it was

A bad nightmare or something, and...

I felt pain, like, burns in the back of my head.

And then he noticed it.

There was three scratch marks on my neck.

I'm in merrill, michigan,

Investigating a 200-year-old general store.

The midcalf family restored the building,

But now they're saying that a strange force

Is threatening their dream home

And even their granddaughter, aidabelle.

There was three scratch marks on my neck.

I asked her, "did you scratch yourself

In your sleep or something?"

And she said, "no, I wouldn't...

It's not that kind of a scratch."

She had burns on the back of her head and on her neck.

It was like human finger marks,