In the summer of 1977, single mother Margaret Hodgson called the police to her council estate apartment in Enfield, London to report that she and her two daughters, Janet and Peggy, had seen furniture move in the apartment and were hearing strange noises coming from within the walls. That simple albeit unusual call set in motion a chain of events that would thrust the unassuming Hodgson family into the center of a debate about the existence of the supernatural and forever associate them with one of England’s most notorious paranormal cases, the Enfield poltergeist.

Over the course of roughly eighteen months, the family claimed they were subjected to a variety of supernatural harassment that ranged from moving furniture and knocking in the walls to disembodied voices and even involuntary levitation. Soon after the report was made to the police, the story attracted a variety of news outlets and paranormal investigators, all determined to either prove the case a genuine poltergeist or a hoax perpetrated by two adolescent attention-seeking girls.

Nearly fifty years later, the case remains controversial among skeptics and believers, all of whom want to know what exactly did happen in the Hodgson's apartment and who—or what—is to blame for the disturbances.

Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance!

References

Amin, Meghna. 2022. "Man behind photos of the Enfield poltergeist ‘still can’t believe’ what he saw." The Metro, October 28.

Brimmer, Ryan. 1978. "Ghost Story." Daily Mirror, March 30: 20.

Cambridge Evening News. 1978. "Pitfalls facing psychic investigator." Cambridge Evening News, March 31: 18.

Couttie, Bob. 1988. Forbidden Knowledge: The Paranormal Paradox. Cambridge, UK: Lutterworth.

French, Chris. 2016. Five reasons why London’s most famous poltergeist case is a hoax. June 17. Accessed October 7, 2023. https://www.timeout.com/london/blog/five-reasons-why-londons-most-famous-poltergeist-case-is-a-hoax-061616.

Grosse, Maurice. 1977. "Poltergeist in Enfield." The Observer, November 20: 16.

Hyde, Deborah. 2015. "The Enfield 'poltergeist:' a sceptic speaks." The Guardian, May 1.

Nickell, Joe. 2012. "Enfield Poltergeist." Skeptical Inquirer 36 (4): 12-14.

Playfair, Guy Lyon. 1980. This House is Haunted. New York, NY: Stein and Day.

Happy Friday, weirdos! We are SO EXCITED to spend our FIRST MONTHLY BONUS EPISODE digging into the shocking Netflix Documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish! MAJOR spoilers ahead, so if you haven't watched it yet, press 'pause' and get thee to Netflix IMMEDIATELY!

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Looking for the article we mentioned? Find it on THECUT Here! Who Was Cyberbullying Kendra Licari's Teen Daughter?

Just after 8:00 pm on the evening of February 19, 1994, thirty-one-year-old Gloria Ramirez was admitted to Riverside General Hospital with what Emergency Room staff believed were symptoms of a heart attack. When Ramirez failed to respond to the medications and emergency treatments, medical staff began preparations for defibrillation; however, when they removed the woman’s shirt, they were surprised to find her skin covered in an oily sheen and her body seemed to be emitting an odd fruity odor. Stranger still, when a nurse took a blood sample from the woman’s arm, the blood smelled of ammonia and appeared to have slightly yellow particles floating in it. The nurse turned to leave the room, intending to take the sample for immediate analysis, but she didn’t even make it to the door before she lost consciousness and was caught by a coworker before her limp body hit the floor. Less than an hour after she was admitted to the Riverside General Emergency Room, Gloria Ramirez was pronounced dead, but her story was far from over.

Within hours of Ramirez’s visit to the ER, medical personnel who attended her that evening became sick with symptoms typically associated with insecticide poisoning (tremors, apnea, burning skin), and several required hospitalization. In the days and weeks that followed, the doctors and nurses who’d come into direct contact with Ramirez continued to experience bizarre symptoms that seemed to defy logical explanation and left everyone wondering, how had a seemingly ordinary woman’s body been transformed into Trojan horse of toxicity most associated with chemical warfare?

Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance!

References

Ayers, B. Drummon. 1994. "Elaborate precautions taken for autopsy in mystery fumes case." New York Times, February 25: A17.

Ayers, B. Drummond. 1994. "After airtight autopsy, mystery lingers in case of hospital fumes." New York Times, February 26: 10.

Boodman, Sandra G. 1994. "Was it a case of mass hysteria or poisoning by toxic chemical?" Washington Post, September 13.

Gorman, Tom. 1994. "Victims of fumes still ill, and still seeking answers." Los Angeles Times, April 14: 1.

King, Peter H. 1994. "Another funeral of note." Los Angeles Times, April 27: 3.

Kolata, Gina. 1994. "Fumes at hospital baffle officials." New York Times, February 22: A12.

New York Times. 1994. "Doctor faults state report on faintings." New York Times, September 4.

—. 1994. "Doctor files lawsuit over mystery fumes in emergency room." New York Times, August 10: A14.

—. 1994. "Kidney failure killed woman in fumes case." New York Times, May 1.

Stone, Richard. 1995. "Analysis of a Toxic Death." Discover Magazine, April 1.