They Bought a $100 Bunk Bed. Six Months Later They Buried It

The clock radio in their son’s bedroom kept changing stations by itself. At first, Allen and Deborah Tallman thought it was ordinary radio interference. But when Deborah went to investigate, she saw something she couldn’t explain.

The tuning knob was moving on its own, and the station indicator was sliding back and forth across the dial.

This was happening in Horicon, Wisconsin, where the Tallmans lived with their three children. They had moved into their three-bedroom house in November 1986, and there was nothing especially unusual about the place. It was only a few years old, in a fairly new neighborhood.

In 1987, they bought a used set of bunk beds for their two young daughters. They paid about $100 for them, unaware that the furniture would soon become the center of a terrifying experience.

The Children Started Seeing Things

The radio wasn’t the only strange thing happening. Deborah reported hearing unexplained noises, and once watched her son’s suitcase slide out from under his bed before moving back again. A babysitter also claimed she had seen a kitchen chair rocking by itself.

At first, the parents wondered whether their children were imagining some of the stranger incidents. But by December 1987, their son and one of their daughters were describing frightening experiences of their own.

Their two-year-old daughter repeatedly woke up screaming about fire appearing on her bedroom door. She also described strange hissing noises that seemed to come from somewhere nearby.

Their son said he had seen an ugly old woman with long black hair standing near his bedroom door. According to his account, she appeared to be surrounded by a fiery glow, and he could hear footsteps moving across the carpet.

The children were describing these experiences separately, which made their parents increasingly worried. Meanwhile, the noises and moving objects continued.

Allen Challenged Whatever Was in the House

Around Christmas 1987, Allen had become furious about what his family was going through. He believed something was deliberately frightening his children, and he decided to confront it.

He walked through the house shouting for whatever was responsible to leave his family alone and come after him instead. According to Allen, he didn’t have to wait long for a response.

Shortly afterward, he was returning home when he heard a loud howling noise, even though there was no wind. A voice suddenly told him to come closer. Allen searched around the property, thinking somebody might be playing a trick on him, but he couldn’t find anyone.

As he approached the house, he noticed an orange-red glow coming from the garage. Flames appeared to be pouring from the overhead door, and two eyes were staring out through its windows.

Allen thought his garage was burning. But when he looked again, the flames and the eyes were gone. There was no fire and no damage.

Whatever was happening, Allen believed it had now turned its attention toward him.

Something Rose Out of the Bedroom Floor

In early January 1988, Allen was sitting in his younger daughter’s bedroom, waiting for her to fall asleep. He suddenly heard a strange noise that reminded him of a vacuum cleaner.

According to his account, a cloudy shape began rising out of the floor. As he watched, two green eyes appeared inside it, followed by flames and a voice.

The voice told him, “You’re dead.” The figure disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Allen later told reporters about the encounter, which became one of the most frightening parts of the family’s story.

Desperate for help, the Tallmans turned to their pastor. He visited the house, offered communion, blessed the rooms and gave them recordings of religious music to play. But the family said the frightening incidents continued, and they finally decided they couldn’t stay any longer.

The House Became a Local Attraction

By late January, the Tallmans had fled with their three children. News of the haunting spread quickly through Horicon, attracting crowds of curious people who wanted to see the house for themselves.

So many people began showing up that police eventually barricaded the street. Strangers drove through the neighborhood, and rumors about the family spread around town.

Horicon Police Chief Douglas Glamann visited the house with other officers and a pastor. They searched for recording equipment, projectors or anything else that might explain what the family had experienced, but found nothing unusual.

Glamann told reporters that he believed the family had been through something genuinely frightening. He also didn’t think they were trying to make money from their story.

Deborah was upset by all the attention. She couldn’t understand why people were treating the situation as entertainment when her family had been frightened enough to leave their home.

The Tallmans spent more than two weeks living in a motel before moving into a house provided rent-free by someone from their church. They were looking for somewhere permanent to live, but they still owned the house they had abandoned.

They Gave Up the House

The Tallmans had bought their home using a low-interest loan through the Farmers Home Administration. In February 1988, they arranged for the government agency to take the property back and sell it.

George Berger, the agency’s state rural housing chief, confirmed that the family would give up ownership and lose the money they had already put into the house. Deborah estimated their loss at approximately $3,000.

The property was worth around $50,400, a substantial amount for the young family. But Allen and Deborah had reached the point where getting away was more important than recovering their money. There was still one thing they wanted to get rid of: the bunk beds.

The Tallmans believed the trouble had started after they brought the secondhand furniture home. They didn’t want the beds sold or given to another family, so they arranged to have them taken to a landfill.

Deborah confirmed what happened to United Press International in February 1988. The beds had been hauled away and buried underground, in a place where she said nobody would ever build.

What Happened After the Family Left

By June 1988, the Tallmans had moved to nearby Beaver Dam. Their former house had been sold to Richard and Dawn Rudey, who moved in with their two children.

Police Chief Glamann considered the investigation closed, and the crowds that had gathered around the property were gone. The Tallmans were trying to settle into their new surroundings after months of frightening experiences.

The new owners declined to talk publicly about the house.

Deborah, meanwhile, admitted she still couldn’t sit alone at home at night without being afraid of the dark.