Hey y’all! It’s me, Bridgette, and I’m back with a new post! Actually, this is a whole new series called The Otherworldly Archives! It’s basically me rambling on about ghosts, monsters, haunted places, and any other type of supernatural occurrences. This one is about my favorite ghost story ever! I read about this in 2nd grade( I was obsessed with ghosts and anything supernatural in 2nd grade, so much that I may or may not have scared all the girls in my class about a certain Japanese ghost, you’ll never know…) But anyway, this one is about The Bell Witch!
It starts in Red River, Tennessee( now Adams, TN). It’s 1817 and the Bell family John, his wife Lucy, and their nine children. They had been living in their house for thirteen years now, and John was walking through his cornfield(the exact date or month is unknown about it is presumed to be late summer or early fall) and suddenly he saw an odd sight. A strange creature black creature with the body of a dog but the head of a rabbit, was there in the cornfield, almost as if it had been waiting for him. He shot at it with his rifle, and it disappeared into thin air before the bullet hit it.
That was the first of many odd occurrences at the Bell family’s farm. The family starts hearing knocking on the outside walls of their house, then from the inside, loud thumps and creaking on the floor as if someone is standing there when no one is there. The entity starts getting more powerful and violent. A handful of times it focuses on John and Lucy’s daughter Betsy. It starts pulling the sheets off her bed, waking her up in the middle of the night, pulling her hair, slapping her and leaving bruises and welts. Soon it starts speaking in full sentences, reciting prayers, quoting scripture, and even mimicking and mocking family members and neighbors.
The next few years the Bell Witch gains notoriety, and locals come to witness the events. The entity starts identifying as ‘Kate’, allegedly the spirit of a neighbor named Kate Batts, who claimed that John cheated her in a land deal. It torments John Bell, vowing to kill him. The spirit also keeps harassing Betsy, especially when she becomes engaged to a local boy named Joshua Gardner. In contrast, the spirit is kind and respectful to Lucy, John’s wife.
On December 20th, 1820, John Bell died reportedly from poisoning. A strange vial of black liquid is found beside his bed, the family gives the last few drops of it to their farm cat- it dies almost immediately. The Witch claims she gave him the poison. She laughs at his funeral , clearly joyful that he is dead.
In the spring of 1821, Betsy broke ties with her fiance, Joshua, apparently under the entity’s pressure. The spirit says goodbye, promising to return in seven years. Allegedly, she did come back and talks to John Bell Jr. about philosophy, the afterlife, and politics. After a few weeks the spirit vanishes again.
Here are some other interesting facts! The main targets seem to be John Bell and his daughter, Betsy, but why? Well the answer is unclear, but some theories are that John had cheated Kate Batts in a land deal so she came back to haunt and kill him, or that John had done something else to upset her, when she was dead or alive. And for Betsy, maybe because of her romantic relationship with Joshua Gardner, the spirit had often opposed the idea of their marriage. Some think that the witch was trying to protect Betsy, and that Joshua was a bad man, but either way they still broke up. Though the witch seemed to protect Lucy Bell, offering her food and singing to her when she was sick. It’s said that Andrew Jackson, before presidency, had visited the Bell property. He allegedly experienced some terrifying events, quickly leaving and said, “ I’d rather fight the British than the Bell Witch!”
Honestly, who knows what the Bell witch was or maybe still is, but here are some theories. The Bell Witch is the spirit of Kate Batts: this is the most classic version of the story. Kate was a real woman who lived near the Bell family, some believed that she was a witch or hexed John Bell after a bad land deal. Another theory is that the witch was a poltergeist, they are known to be chaotic and focus on one or two people. Many say that Betsy’s emotional stress from her engagement or family drama manifested as a poltergeist. Mass hysteria is another theory that is passed around a lot with this story, especially from people with a more skeptical view. Some believe that the family’s experiences were caused by mental illness, suggestion, or even group hallucination. Some people think the Bell witch was a demon or devil. A newer, more modern theory is that she was a time traveler or interdimensional being. While this one’s more out there, some believe she could have been something like a watcher or something not from this world. Her knowledge of future events, appearing and vanishing, and teleportation-like abilities have made some speculate this.
In conclusion, The Bell Witch is a fascinating tale with many strange twists and theories. I have loved this story for years,and I hope y’all enjoy it too! Feel free to tell me your thoughts, theories, or spooky knowledge - I’d love to hear it! Hauntingly Yours, Bridgette/Belladonna