NETFLIX’S new horror movie has a bizarre true story behind it that even convinced police there were evil spirits in a creepy rental home.
One family’s experience at a “demon house” in Gary, Indiana, inspired the movie The Deliverance after three children were reportedly possessed in 2012.
A house in Gary, Indiana, convinced cops that it was possessed after they spotted a creepy figure in pictures[/caption]
Glenn Close and Andra Day star in a Netflix retelling of the terrifying story[/caption]
The horrors started when the family was met with swarming black flies when they moved into the home[/caption]
Clairvoyants told the family that the house was filled with over 200 demons[/caption]
In November 2011, Indiana mom LaToya Ammons moved with her mom and kids to a home in Gary, which is about 30 miles outside of Chicago, Illinois.
After less than a year in the house, Ammons filed reports claiming that all three of her children, ages 7, 9, and 12, were possessed by demons, according to The Indianapolis Star.
In horrifying accounts of their time in the house, witnesses said her kids walked up walls, levitated, and spoke in deep voices.
Lee Daniels’ retelling of the story in the new Netflix movie, a single mom played by Andra Day is looking for a fresh start in an Indiana home.
The family discovers “strange, demonic occurrences” that convince the community that the house is a “portal to hell,” according to the film’s page.
COP CONVINCED
In real life, the terrifying tale convinced Gary Police Captain Charles Austin that demons possessed the kids.
Austin, who worked with the Gary Police Department for 36 years, conducted multiple interviews and visits to the home before sharing his opinion on the case.
“I am a believer,” Austin said simply to The Star in 2014.
He told the outlet that at first, he thought Ammons’ family made up the story to make money – but was eventually persuaded that they were telling the truth by the terrifying events.
The family first noticed something wrong with the house when they were met with swarming black flies on the day in December that they moved in, according to The Star.
“We killed them and killed them and killed them, but they kept coming back,” Ammons’ mom, Rosa Campbell, told the outlet.
Ammons and Campbell then began to hear footsteps throughout the house in the middle of the night.
Campbell said she woke up in the middle of the night to find a shadowy man pacing in the living room – and then she found wet footprints where the figure had been moving.
KIDS’ BEHAVIORS
The kids started behaving strangely four months after the family first moved into the house.
What happened in the Ammons’ house
SOME of the strange incidents reported in the ‘demon house’ in Gary, Indiana, include:
- Black flies swarming the house
- Shadowy figure
- Wet footprint
- 12-year-old girl levitated
- Older son thrown across the room
- Younger son growled with eyes rolled back into his head
- Older son walked backwards up the wall
- Pictures by cops showing shadowy figures
- Audio recording by cops capturing a ‘hey’
In March 2012, Ammons reportedly found her 12-year-old daughter levitating above her bed, unconscious.
Campbell said that the girl woke up with no memory of the incident, but later reported that she was “thrown across the room and grabbed by dark shadows.”
After the levitation, the family reached out to a local church for help as well as clairvoyants, who told them that the house was infested with more than 200 demons.
Ammons and Campbell cleaned the house and anointed the doorsteps and children with oil – but the horrors continued.
CHILLING EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
State documents reviewed by the BBC reveal that medical experts saw the kids, who were unnamed in the papers, behaving strangely firsthand after the family doctor visited the house.
The boys reportedly cursed the doctor in deep, unnatural voices before a report from the Department of Child Services said the youngest boy was “lifted and thrown into the wall with nobody touching him.”
A member of the doctor’s team called 911, which brought police and ambulances to the house.
The kids were taken to the hospital, where multiple medical staff members saw another chilling scene for themselves.
The 7-year-old reportedly began growling and his eyes rolled back in his head as he said in a demonic voice, “it’s time to die,” and “I will kill you.”
When the youngest son was talking, the 9-year-old reportedly head-butted his grandma until she grabbed his hands and started praying.
“[He] had the weird grin on his face and began to walk backwards while the grandmother was holding his hand and he walked up the wall backwards while holding the grandmother’s hand and he never let go,” the report continued.
“He flipped over and landed on his feet in front of the grandmother and sat down in the chair.”
DCS INVESTIGATION
The DCS began to look into the family after the shocking episode at the hospital.
Officials became concerned that Ammons struggled with mental health issues and said that the kids might have been “performing for the mother and that she’s encouraging the behavior.”
DCS removed the three kids from the house and cops continued to investigate the house, which is when Austin became convinced of the demon activity due to recordings and pictures taken in the house.
One picture taken by cops on an iPhone revealed a creepy silhouette standing in the front of the house.
Officers also took an audio recording that seemed to include a voice saying, “hey,” according to police records.
The family then hired a priest to perform exorcisms and get rid of the demons. He performed three in total – two in English and one in Latin. One of the exorcisms was performed on Ammons.
Six months later, the paranormal activity stopped and the children came home. The family moved away for good.
Now, the story is being retold in The Deliverance on Netflix, starring Glenn Close and Andra Day. The movie premiered on August 16.
The family left the house after a priest performed three exorcisms to get rid of the demons[/caption]
