The Sallie House Haunting: A True Story

Good book keeps you on the edge of your seat!

Book Review: Tuesday, April 15, 2014The Sallie House Haunting: A True Story by Debra Pickman The town of Atchison, KS is the birthplace of Amelia Earhart. It also holds the reputation of America’s Most Haunted Town, if you can believe the stories told of the old houses alone the squares of streets. One house in particular, at 508 North 2nd Street has been written about, featured on TV shows, and has been a magnet for psychics of all kinds since the events of what came to be known as “The Heartland Ghost” from 1990 to 1994. This book has the strength of being written by Debra Pickman, who actually lived through these events with her husband Tony and their infant son. Strange noises and smells, full apparitions, and even bodily harm manifested itself in this little house. The ghost was said to be a little girl who said her name was “Sallie.” The TV Show “Sightings” did at least four shows on the house and its occupants. They captured actual film of scratches forming on Tony’s chest. A number of psychics were consulted, which included Barbara Conners and Peter James. Both psychics independently identified the little girl by name. But they also sensed a darker spirit was somewhere in the house, one that attacked Tony unmercifully, scratching, hitting, and throwing objects at him. The show was a bit of a media circus, with people divided over whether it was genuine, a put on by “Sightings”, or even faked by the Pickmans. The story has be portrayed as self-induced, faked for profit, and very few perhaps believe it really happened. This book is no second hand information. It comes from the notes of Debra Pickman, a frightened young woman who lived through the hell of a haunted house with her husband and son. She shares her fears, her thoughts, and her feelings quite well. The story is at last told by someone who was actually there, as opposed to rumor. A great four out of five book! Quoth the Raven…

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It allows you an inside look while being safely on the outside. From the onset of this young families experiences within the Sallie House I found myself chanting 'Get Out!' for nothing good can come of this place. Strange how the mind works and how excuses are born. One experiencing innocence and another experiencing wickedness. Although this family will be forever changed they have found freedom from evil for the time being.

I thought this was a good read overall. The basic haunting story is compelling, and the pictures were a wonderful addition. However, they took SO many pictures...why didn't they share more than a couple? Also, I agree with others about the terrible editing job. There were many glaring errors. I felt like I was reading a copy before the edit. The author repeats herself too often. And I *really* mean you have to be patient to get through her repetition. She goes on and on about the extraordinary measures they took to be sure NO other explanation, save the paranormal, could be identified. She paints herself, ad nauseum, as a skeptic. However as the book progresses, she admits to her hunger for paranormal experiences - how eager she was to see something, understand more, have more interactions. I don't believe her when she says she was a skeptic. I think this excited her immensely from the very beginning. I think her relationship with "Sallie" made her feel special and chosen. This is not a negative characteristic necessarily. But it is one she seems unable to admit to. The part of the book that stuck out to me the most was the unaddressed - how did she justify keeping her infant son in this home? He was targeted by this unseen "Sallie" in the beginning. She left him asleep in the room the entity spent the most time in. Did she really trust "Sallie" so much that she would put her son on the line? Ok...so maybe they didn't have a lot of money to just up and move. But when the entity starting catching things on FIRE, how did she not get her son out of that environment immediately?? It seems she stayed because she liked the bond with the "ghost girl" and it fed something inside her that longed for the paranormal. But if this entity is setting random fires, her son and husband and herself could have been killed as they slept! How irresponsible! It was a rental house. They could have left and stayed with family. Something! But you never stay in a home where an arsonist lurks! Does that really need to be said? I would still recommend this book. If you can get past the amateur writing, the story IS interesting. However, if the entire book had been written like the last few chapters, this book would have been a smash hit. As it is, she barely acknowledges the most chilling part of her story -- that Sallie is a made up character created by a demon. Demonic haunting is just skimmed over in this book until the very end. It should have been brought into possibility earlier as this was vital to the ultimate story.

Edge of your seat read. Would recommend .

Incredible story. Pickman is perceptive and honest about her experiences and her husband's very differing experiences. I'm so glad they got out before anything irreversible happened. I hope Taylor is doing well in adulthood despite what must have been a terrifying start for him. The story reads well. Very satisfying read.

I chose this book because I love a good haunting - I don’t mind whether it’s fiction or non fiction as long as it is riveting. When I started I had my doubts the introduction is dry and business like to the point of being dull and I was worried I was in for a disappointing read. Don’t worry, the body of the story is nothing like that it has suspense, pace, and chills galore. Would you trust an unknown spirit because it appeared to be a virtual orphan with a cutesy name or would you have hightailed it ASAP? Who or what is Sallie?

Debra Pickman a fait preuve d’une ouverture d’esprit fascinante. J’ai apprécié ce récit détaillé qui relate chaque événement paranormal avec soin et la patience et curiosité de Debra Pickman à l’égard de cette hantise, elle a mit de côté sa peur afin d’essayer de communiquer avec elle. L’Histoire de Tony est aussi très troublante. Il est rare de voir des livres qui relatent les évènements avec un tel souci f’honnêteté car l’auteur ne cherche pas à faire du sensationnel, mais à comprendre les évènements qui se sont déroulés dans sa maison et la nature de cette énergie paranormale. Je conseille fortement ce livre !

Takes a hell of a lot of guts to write her story and share with Us the journey into her life and the paranormal ! The very brave and remarkable lady Mrs.Pickman had the strength and tenacity to live with a ghost let alone try and treat it like it was her child, I applaud her. Awesome and Scary book and I believe very single word ! Thank You Mrs. Pickman for writing this book and sharing it, your a True Warrior !

I bought this book to read on my holidays. I became so engrossed with the story that I had actually completed it in 2 days (well, it was raining so no point site-seeing - lol) I liked the honest approach of the authors concerning 'Sallie', which was written in the first tense. There was no pretence that they knew what it was, only that they did not fear it rather embraced the idea of having a 'spirit child' amongst them. The writing style was clear and simple, refraining from flowering up the plot, or sensationalism. Yes, there were a few editorial blunders such as confusion over which year they were talking about that had me scratching my head a bit. But by no means was this book the worst I've ever read in the spelling or grammatical error department. Any errors certainly did not detract from the story. The story starts when the couple move into the house. Problems seemed to manifest itself with the birth of their son. Something in the house did not seem to like the idea of a baby around, and I don't believe it was `Sallie', rather it was more akin to another entity residing there, which was far more sinister. The idea of being able to communicate with `Sallie' - or even wanting to for that matter - was certainly unusual. One side of me embraced that idea but I did find myself worrying for Debra because, despite her curiosity, she really did not appear to have any clue on how to protect herself from psychic attack. That is when this kind of thing becomes a dangerous game. I would have liked to have seen more of the husbands experiences entwined within the story rather than just a short note at the end. It was curious why the author did not do that - baring in mind that whilst Debra was conversing with `Sallie' her husband was getting all kinds of demonic interaction from another entity. It is also a shame that there was never any real closure on this story. After a number of visits from paranormal investigators and the TV program, the family simply packed their bags and left, leaving the nastiness behind for someone else to deal with. Why the local priest was never called in, nor even considered as far as I can tell, was beyond me. The Shaman lady did her best but I'm not convinced she had much of a clue as to what she was dealing with either. On the whole this was a good book to read and I would recommend it based on its honesty, even if naivety as to the dangers of the spirit realms was prominent. Another good book about a true multiple haunting, which parallels this story on so many levels and is set in the same period as the Sallie House, is Book Of Trinity: True story - Poltergeist activity, possession and a failed exorcism in Slapton, Buckinghamshire UK

I found the book to be very long winded - I found myself flipping threw the pages. I also found it to be one sided.