This is the firsthand account of what Tony and Debra Pickman and their newborn son Taylor experienced in the now notorious Sallie House, from the day they moved into the turn-of-the-century haunted house until they finally fled in terror. The story of the Sallie House and the fire-starting ghost girl who haunted it has sparked endless rumors and theories of murder, cover-ups, racism, and abuse. But the Pickmans know the real story because they lived it―and barely made it out alive.
Now, for the first time, Tony and Debra reveal untold stories from their ordeal. They describe Sallie’s seemingly protective fascination with their baby and tell what it was like to live with menacing entities that scratched, bit, and terrorized their family. Along with historical research, the Pickmans share personal photographs and journal entries from their time spent living in the nightmare house that still haunts them today.
Paranormal Book Review Blog: The Sallie House Haunting
This had to be the most brutal book I have read in a long time. Not because it was scary, no, far from that! But, because never did I want to finish a book so damn fast! I know I could’ve stopped reading, but I promised myself that I would never leave anything half done and promised, no, made an oath, that I would see things through to their conclusion. I am one to keep my promises but believe me when I say I wanted to break this one more than one time throughout my reading of this book. I heard so much about The Sallie House Haunting over the years, but I never got around to reading this book by Debra Pickman. In retrospect, I consider my past self, lucky. Now, I can only go back a few weeks and warn my present self not to pick this book up!
From what I’ve gathered over the years was that the events that occurred at the Sallie House were terrifying and I waited and waited… and waited for something (anything!) scary to happen in this book. For the most part, the book consists of nothing but speculation for a large chunk of the book as the Pickmans try to understand what’s happening in their home. With regards to what’s happening: things are inexplicably re-arranged, lights go on and off, teddy bears “move,” toys turn on without explanation and, this is my favorite, a ceiling fan pull chain that swirls signifies Sallie’s presence! And of course, there was no wind, all windows closed, nothing could have caused this pull chain to sway to and fro. As far as the story of Sallie, Pickman was told of a previous tenant whose child had an “imaginary” friend named Sallie, and, thus, our friendly neighborhood ghost was born.
Just like that! Once this knowledge comes to be, the Pickmans opt to do the only sane thing to do and “adopt” said ghost and start to talk to Sallie as if she is part of the family, even reprimanding her like you would your own child. Frankly, it was laughable. But, fear not, as there was photographic proof of Sallie’s existence in the form of Polaroids where there was an out-of-focus white fuzz (looked like an out-of-focus camera strap). But how do we know this is Sallie? Because a psychic says so. She also divulges that there is another ghost in the house – a woman spirit who is the real source of malevolence in the house. But fear not for Sallie is here to save the day! If it weren’t for Sallie, their newborn son, Taylor, was in danger of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ) or some other demise if Sallie was not around to intervene somehow. How, you ask? By waking the newborn from his sleep. Again, speculation because newborns waking up in the middle of the night is unfathomable. Still, Sallie would light candles and then be scorned by her adopted mother, Pickman, and sent to her room for nearly burning down the house, no kidding.
There is even a whole chapter dedicated to a clown toy that the baby boy once loved but is now terrified of because Sallie must have done something with the clown to terrify the boy. The chapter goes on and on about how the author is furious at Sallie for probably scaring the boy with the clown. Her assumptions lead to her being angry at the child spirit, mind you, she does not have any proof of any ghost on page 183. The first mention of a demonic presence in the house is on page 189 when the author hears a screeching noise coming from an audio device attached to the baby’s crib. Yes, because this constitutes a demonic presence as does a malfunctioning phone.
The most interesting part of the whole book is when the TV show Sightings takes an interest in the case and makes a few visits to document the activity. It is at this point where the “evil” trumps up the activity by scratching Tony Pickman, and… that’s pretty much it. All this, at the end of the book! I am a fan of true ghost stories, and I was looking forward to digging into this one, but I wasted precious time reading this. Again, there is nothing scary about this book, and I would not recommend this book to my worst enemy. Hard pass!