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An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch
In the first decade of the 1800s, John Bell moved his growing family from North Carolina to the Red River community in Robertson County, Tennessee. Bell, who became an elder in the Red River Baptist Church, was well-liked and respected by his neighbors and prospered as a farmer. As Bell worked his farm, a unique phenomenon occurred. Beginning in 1817 and continuing until 1821, John Bell and his family were allegedly “haunted” by a devilish spirit called a “witch” known as “Kate.” The witch’s actions were observed by many in the community, including the clergy. The events subsided only after Bell’s death. Known as the “Red Book,” and including the eyewitness account of Richard Williams Bell, son of John Bell, Ingram’s account is the story of the Bell Witch.
189 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1894
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August 16, 2021
Hasło na okładce mówi o opętaniu tymczasem historia jest o nawiedzeniu... Druga książka wydawnictwa Replika jaką czytam i druga z bzdurą na okładce... Ciężko mi chyba teraz będzie sięgnąć po jakąkolwiek kolejną pozycję z tego wydawnictwa kiedy odnoszę wrażenie że wydawcy nawet nie traktują poważnie własnych publikacji... Drogie wydawnictwo Replika, co wy do cholery wyrabiacie???
Co do samej książki... Na 300 stron pierwsze 100 to zbędna ekspozycja a ostatnie 100 to właściwie powtarzanie treści ze środka. O wiele lepiej słuchało mi się 10-20 minutowych materiałów na youtube opisujących tą sprawę... Może jednak w przypadku książek tak starych dobrze by było wydać odświeżoną, przeredagowaną wersję...
Co do samej książki... Na 300 stron pierwsze 100 to zbędna ekspozycja a ostatnie 100 to właściwie powtarzanie treści ze środka. O wiele lepiej słuchało mi się 10-20 minutowych materiałów na youtube opisujących tą sprawę... Może jednak w przypadku książek tak starych dobrze by było wydać odświeżoną, przeredagowaną wersję...
May 28, 2025
Big if true.
August 16, 2020
“An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch” tells the allegedly true story of a poltergeist-like entity that haunted a family by the name of Bell in rural Tennessee in the early 1800s. I’d like to start by clarifying that I’m only aiming to rate the presentation of the story by the author, not the believability of the story itself, although I will comment on that as well.
“Kate the witch never slept, was never idle or confined to any place, but was here and there and everywhere, like the mist of night or the morning sunbeams, was everything and nothing, invisible yet present, spreading all over the neighborhood."
Overall Thoughts
I gave the book a good rating due to how much I was intrigued throughout, but there were certainly some things that the author did or included that made me question his trustworthiness and the reliability of the story. The author seemingly did a lot of research and was passionate about the tale; it is very exhaustive (some could rightly say often repetitive) or at least he made it seem that way.
It is difficult to discern how much was dramatized, and potentially made up, and how much was actually alleged truth. Mr. Ingram seems to have taken poetic license often, giving certain stories many pages full of dialogue that appeared as a fictionalized dramatization of real events (i.e. the story about Betsy Bell and her friends on page 97). This was a turn off for me, as it blurred the lines between what was to have been real, and what was dramatized. Some of the author’s poetic writing was eloquent in its descriptions, however.
“It is here that the wild wood songsters gather to chant their sweets lays, and the timid hare finds retreat and hiding from the prowling huntsman. Sweet solemnity hovers over the scene like the morning halo mantling the orb of light in gorgeous beauty.”
Some portions of the book felt like tangents as well, such as a large chapter where the author gave his argument that if you read the Bible literally, it does give evidence that spirits exist. This whole section was right in the middle of the book, as opposed to the end where it might have been more appropriate as the author wraps up his thoughts. He also goes off on historical rabbit trails at certain parts of the book which were at times interesting and revealing and other times felt more tangential.
One other thing I didn’t appreciate about the book is the extreme racist language the author uses in describing the slaves of the Bell farm. It was also offensive how he characterized their way of speaking by misspelling words intentionally, etc. There is a whole section of stories from the slaves on the Bell farm, but because of this way of characterizing how they spoke, it is hard to make out what was really being said, so there really was no benefit to the author’s choice there. He also characterized Kate as being extremely racist, which I’ll speak about later, so either the ghost really was for some reason a diehard racist, or the author interjected his own racism into the text.
Moving on, we later hear of John Bell’s death, where he was allegedly poisoned by the witch. This story isn’t found in any texts that mention the Bell Witch prior to Ingram’s book which made it a bit suspicious. It made me think, was there no criminal investigation into the matter of John Bell’s death? Everyone just accepted it was a ghost and moved on? Ingram also claims that Andrew Jackson visited the farm, but there’s no evidence of this either in his diaries or elsewhere. All of this leads to some suspicion about the credibility of his reporting of the story.
Richard Bell’s Diary
My favorite part of the book was the alleged diary of Richard Williams Bell who was alive and experienced the events at the Bell home as a child. There was something about his writings that made the whole thing feel more real. It started to get spooky then. Like others though, I was suspicious from the start that it was actually written by him. The author claims that Richard waited 30 years after the events to write down this work. We are then told that Richard gave the diary to his son Allen, who then gave it to the author.
But the suspicious part comes in that they decided to wait until after the deaths of anyone in the immediate Bell family to have it published. This makes it highly convenient for the author to say whatever he wants in the book, without having anyone challenge what he says. Moreover, as far as I can tell, the author never kept a physical copy of that diary for others to examine and to prove that it was real as described.
I also found it suspicious that you can’t really tell a difference in terms of how Richard spoke or his vernacular from that of the author. They are extremely similar. For example, just like the author, Richard constantly changes the term he uses to describe whatever the entity was i.e. “seer”, “warlock”, “mage”, “goblin”, etc. This made me question who was M.V. Ingram? Can we fully trust him? On top of the diary, did he ever provide the physical letters of others he spoke with who gave testimony? How do we know he printed their statements unedited, in full?
Random Thoughts on the Story Itself
Now that we’ve talked about the presentation of the book, here are some random thoughts on the story itself:
Good Qualities
The first thing I wanted to make note of was in being surprised to read that this entity had good qualities to its personality and actions, especially when it first emerged. After various strange creatures were seen around the farm, and strange noises were heard, the entity gradually began to speak audibly to those who were there to hear it. Once it gained the strength to do so, it began showing special affection for preachers, giving one the nickname “Old Sugar Mouth”, for example, because it loved how well he preached. In fact, the text states that the entity “...was a regular attendant at Mr. Johnson’s prayer meetings; calling the amens, thumping on the chairs, and uttering the exclamation ‘Lord Jesus.’” Such enthusiasm for the word of God isn’t normal for a haunting, in fact, typically a disdain for anything God related is the norm, making it one of the first peculiar things about the Bell Witch that we learn.
We also read about how the spirit took care of those it cared about, such as the mother of the family, Lucy Bell, whom the entity gave great affection. Once, when Mrs. Bell was sick, the entity said, “Luce, poor Luce, I am so sorry you are sick. Don’t you feel better, Luce? What can I do for you, Luce?” It would sing to her and was known to give her gifts of hazelnuts and grapes, even cracking the nuts for Lucy when she was too weak to do so.
In another instance, the entity was speaking with Mrs. Martha Bell, and it gave her a gift of stockings out of affection for her (these stockings were linked to a local woman - Kate Batts - who will feature prominently in the legend later). The book also states that “Kate evinced an exalted opinion and profound respect for an honest man.” There was something about “Kate” that, despite all the harm she would cause, also was soft and caring, and I was surprised by this.
Fall From Grace
Soon, however, Kate began to decline into quite the evil spirit. The author makes the assumption that this was due to the fact that Kate saw two reverends of different denominations preaching at the same time on the same day and that this irreconciliation between the different beliefs between the two denominations is what made Kate start to act evil. This felt like a bit of a stretch, with potentially the author subliminally slipping some of his own views into the story. Soon after this day, we read about how Kate began to come to the house “very drunk, cursing and fuming, filling the house with bad breath, spitting on the Negroes, overturning the chairs, stripping the cover from the beds, pinching and slapping the children…” And that was just the beginning.
The author describes the entity with a very human personality: it loves to trick people and make them do things for no good reason, just to laugh at how much time they wasted following whatever lie she made up just then. She appeared very sarcastic, talking back to those who tried to figure her out, and often beating them or humiliating them. She really got off on tormenting people. In one instance, she imitated the owner of some vicious dogs so that the dogs attacked some strangers who came on to the property to disprove her. There were many instances like this, especially in tormenting and torturing the family, and it was hard to try and reconcile what was described as the good parts about her personality and the bad.
Kate Being Racist
Kate, the entity described in the book, was extremely racist. It is difficult for me to even try and describe the hateful language and actions she used against the slaves of the Bell family. It was hard to reconcile for me that here is a spirit of some kind, who knows how old it is or where it comes from, and yet it shares the exact way of talking and thinking as the people immediately in that time and place? It took some of the credibility away from the story for me to see it being so plainly like everyone there at the time.
Kate & Betsy
The daughter of John Bell, Betsy Bell, features prominently in the story as the one most afflicted by the tortures of the spirit in the household perhaps aside from John Bell. Betsy is also the most accused of faking the whole thing. I just wanted to make one comment that I haven’t heard anyone else mention and that is that there were some sections that made it seem like Kate was almost in love with Betsy in some strange way?
It is, of course, famous that Kate tried to keep Betsy from marrying her boyfriend Joshua Gardner. No substantial reason is given for this. However, whenever Kate is quoted in talking to Betsy about this, she’s very sad about the whole thing:
“It was a sad melancholy voice, sighing in the distance and gradually approaching nearer with gentle pleadings in loud whispers, ‘Please Betsy Bell, don’t have Joshua Gardner. Please Betsy Bell, don’t marry Joshua Gardner.”
In another part of the book, a man is asking Kate why she hates Betsy. Kate replies “How do you know Jack, that I hate Betsy?” “Because you are always following her.” Kate says, “Well, is that any evidence that I hate her?” “But then you pull her hair, pinch her arms, stick pins in her.” “Well, don’t lovers play with each other that way sometimes?” I thought this exchange was very unusual and seemingly overlooked. It’s almost as if Kate somehow looks at the afflictions she brought on Betsy as in some way of lashing out that Betsy didn’t feel the same way as her? Possibly? Maybe?
There’s another instance where Kate knocks the comb out of Betsy’s hair so that her long hair comes fully down and Kate says, “Betsy, if Josh could see you now he would envy me” which is evidence that Kate thought she was beautiful.
Maybe I’m reaching here but I thought it was worth putting it out there.
Professor Richard Powell
One other part of the story that I don’t hear anyone discuss is Professor Richard Powell’s potential involvement in some way. First, he came off quite creepy as he was speaking to the girls he used to teach and especially to Betsy Bell. The author notes,
“[The Professor] was off; not, however, without paying Betsy Bell some special compliments, telling her that she had grown up to be more beautiful and charming than he had ever dreamed of when he used to pet her so much.”
Creepy much? The Professor then goes on to explicitly say he was in love with her when she was a child:
“That boy never could help loving you, and I never did blame him, as you were my little pet also, and I have waited almost as patiently as did Jacob for Rachel, hoping that you and Josh might forget that young school day love, but I have been disappointed, and now my request is to be at the wedding. I want to be present when you wed, my little pet.”
There’s another section where one of the slaves of the Bell farm named Zeke talks about the Professor being suspicious. On page 103, he describes a scene in which he saw the Professor “experimenting in the direction of the spirits” would hit a piece of flint with the back of his knife and would “catch their fire in his eyes”. He mentions putting a spell on her as well. Does Zeke suspect the Professor is somehow involved? Is it too much of a coincidence that Kate hates Betsy’s boyfriend and the Professor also doesn’t want them together as well? Just something that stuck out to me. He eventually does get what he wants and ends up marrying Betsy Bell, despite being “many years her senior”.
Possibly Being a Physical Yet Invisible Being
There are many instances in the book which almost point to this thing, if it was ever real at all, being a physical being, although invisible. In some instances, Kate will let people touch her physical hand, and others she won’t as she is worried they will be able to grab hold of her hand and “catch her”. Why would a spirit who wasn’t physical and was omnipotent be worried about that? At times, she is described as knocking on doors before entering, where people would see the door open and then close, although nothing came through it.
There’s another story of the entity pulling the covers off a guy who was sleeping and he kicks out with all his might: “He felt something weighty as his feet struck it, and heard it strike against the wall and fall to the floor.” One of Kate’s co-spirits or other personalities was an entity called “Jerusalem”. Once, Jerusalem is shot at, and later exclaims that the bullet broke its arm. There are many instances like this. Couple this with the fact that the entity had a seemingly deep knowledge of witchcraft (page 83), all the “evidence” that the local eccentric woman Kate Batts was involved somehow (including the entity saying she was Kate Batt’s witch), and the fact that the entity speaks and thinks just like a person of that time and place, it almost makes you wonder if it was a real phenomenon if it wasn’t someone in the area that somehow was able to physically, yet invisibly, be in that place, affecting those people whether that be with some sort of unknown technology or some real spiritual thing as opposed to some supernatural and separate entity.
Conclusion
Who knows what really happened there? I could truly go on and on about it, but I’ve already written so much. I’m interested in reading newer books that go more into the truth of what really happened. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in these phenomena, but I can't attest to how truthful the whole of it is.
“Kate the witch never slept, was never idle or confined to any place, but was here and there and everywhere, like the mist of night or the morning sunbeams, was everything and nothing, invisible yet present, spreading all over the neighborhood."
Overall Thoughts
I gave the book a good rating due to how much I was intrigued throughout, but there were certainly some things that the author did or included that made me question his trustworthiness and the reliability of the story. The author seemingly did a lot of research and was passionate about the tale; it is very exhaustive (some could rightly say often repetitive) or at least he made it seem that way.
It is difficult to discern how much was dramatized, and potentially made up, and how much was actually alleged truth. Mr. Ingram seems to have taken poetic license often, giving certain stories many pages full of dialogue that appeared as a fictionalized dramatization of real events (i.e. the story about Betsy Bell and her friends on page 97). This was a turn off for me, as it blurred the lines between what was to have been real, and what was dramatized. Some of the author’s poetic writing was eloquent in its descriptions, however.
“It is here that the wild wood songsters gather to chant their sweets lays, and the timid hare finds retreat and hiding from the prowling huntsman. Sweet solemnity hovers over the scene like the morning halo mantling the orb of light in gorgeous beauty.”
Some portions of the book felt like tangents as well, such as a large chapter where the author gave his argument that if you read the Bible literally, it does give evidence that spirits exist. This whole section was right in the middle of the book, as opposed to the end where it might have been more appropriate as the author wraps up his thoughts. He also goes off on historical rabbit trails at certain parts of the book which were at times interesting and revealing and other times felt more tangential.
One other thing I didn’t appreciate about the book is the extreme racist language the author uses in describing the slaves of the Bell farm. It was also offensive how he characterized their way of speaking by misspelling words intentionally, etc. There is a whole section of stories from the slaves on the Bell farm, but because of this way of characterizing how they spoke, it is hard to make out what was really being said, so there really was no benefit to the author’s choice there. He also characterized Kate as being extremely racist, which I’ll speak about later, so either the ghost really was for some reason a diehard racist, or the author interjected his own racism into the text.
Moving on, we later hear of John Bell’s death, where he was allegedly poisoned by the witch. This story isn’t found in any texts that mention the Bell Witch prior to Ingram’s book which made it a bit suspicious. It made me think, was there no criminal investigation into the matter of John Bell’s death? Everyone just accepted it was a ghost and moved on? Ingram also claims that Andrew Jackson visited the farm, but there’s no evidence of this either in his diaries or elsewhere. All of this leads to some suspicion about the credibility of his reporting of the story.
Richard Bell’s Diary
My favorite part of the book was the alleged diary of Richard Williams Bell who was alive and experienced the events at the Bell home as a child. There was something about his writings that made the whole thing feel more real. It started to get spooky then. Like others though, I was suspicious from the start that it was actually written by him. The author claims that Richard waited 30 years after the events to write down this work. We are then told that Richard gave the diary to his son Allen, who then gave it to the author.
But the suspicious part comes in that they decided to wait until after the deaths of anyone in the immediate Bell family to have it published. This makes it highly convenient for the author to say whatever he wants in the book, without having anyone challenge what he says. Moreover, as far as I can tell, the author never kept a physical copy of that diary for others to examine and to prove that it was real as described.
I also found it suspicious that you can’t really tell a difference in terms of how Richard spoke or his vernacular from that of the author. They are extremely similar. For example, just like the author, Richard constantly changes the term he uses to describe whatever the entity was i.e. “seer”, “warlock”, “mage”, “goblin”, etc. This made me question who was M.V. Ingram? Can we fully trust him? On top of the diary, did he ever provide the physical letters of others he spoke with who gave testimony? How do we know he printed their statements unedited, in full?
Random Thoughts on the Story Itself
Now that we’ve talked about the presentation of the book, here are some random thoughts on the story itself:
Good Qualities
The first thing I wanted to make note of was in being surprised to read that this entity had good qualities to its personality and actions, especially when it first emerged. After various strange creatures were seen around the farm, and strange noises were heard, the entity gradually began to speak audibly to those who were there to hear it. Once it gained the strength to do so, it began showing special affection for preachers, giving one the nickname “Old Sugar Mouth”, for example, because it loved how well he preached. In fact, the text states that the entity “...was a regular attendant at Mr. Johnson’s prayer meetings; calling the amens, thumping on the chairs, and uttering the exclamation ‘Lord Jesus.’” Such enthusiasm for the word of God isn’t normal for a haunting, in fact, typically a disdain for anything God related is the norm, making it one of the first peculiar things about the Bell Witch that we learn.
We also read about how the spirit took care of those it cared about, such as the mother of the family, Lucy Bell, whom the entity gave great affection. Once, when Mrs. Bell was sick, the entity said, “Luce, poor Luce, I am so sorry you are sick. Don’t you feel better, Luce? What can I do for you, Luce?” It would sing to her and was known to give her gifts of hazelnuts and grapes, even cracking the nuts for Lucy when she was too weak to do so.
In another instance, the entity was speaking with Mrs. Martha Bell, and it gave her a gift of stockings out of affection for her (these stockings were linked to a local woman - Kate Batts - who will feature prominently in the legend later). The book also states that “Kate evinced an exalted opinion and profound respect for an honest man.” There was something about “Kate” that, despite all the harm she would cause, also was soft and caring, and I was surprised by this.
Fall From Grace
Soon, however, Kate began to decline into quite the evil spirit. The author makes the assumption that this was due to the fact that Kate saw two reverends of different denominations preaching at the same time on the same day and that this irreconciliation between the different beliefs between the two denominations is what made Kate start to act evil. This felt like a bit of a stretch, with potentially the author subliminally slipping some of his own views into the story. Soon after this day, we read about how Kate began to come to the house “very drunk, cursing and fuming, filling the house with bad breath, spitting on the Negroes, overturning the chairs, stripping the cover from the beds, pinching and slapping the children…” And that was just the beginning.
The author describes the entity with a very human personality: it loves to trick people and make them do things for no good reason, just to laugh at how much time they wasted following whatever lie she made up just then. She appeared very sarcastic, talking back to those who tried to figure her out, and often beating them or humiliating them. She really got off on tormenting people. In one instance, she imitated the owner of some vicious dogs so that the dogs attacked some strangers who came on to the property to disprove her. There were many instances like this, especially in tormenting and torturing the family, and it was hard to try and reconcile what was described as the good parts about her personality and the bad.
Kate Being Racist
Kate, the entity described in the book, was extremely racist. It is difficult for me to even try and describe the hateful language and actions she used against the slaves of the Bell family. It was hard to reconcile for me that here is a spirit of some kind, who knows how old it is or where it comes from, and yet it shares the exact way of talking and thinking as the people immediately in that time and place? It took some of the credibility away from the story for me to see it being so plainly like everyone there at the time.
Kate & Betsy
The daughter of John Bell, Betsy Bell, features prominently in the story as the one most afflicted by the tortures of the spirit in the household perhaps aside from John Bell. Betsy is also the most accused of faking the whole thing. I just wanted to make one comment that I haven’t heard anyone else mention and that is that there were some sections that made it seem like Kate was almost in love with Betsy in some strange way?
It is, of course, famous that Kate tried to keep Betsy from marrying her boyfriend Joshua Gardner. No substantial reason is given for this. However, whenever Kate is quoted in talking to Betsy about this, she’s very sad about the whole thing:
“It was a sad melancholy voice, sighing in the distance and gradually approaching nearer with gentle pleadings in loud whispers, ‘Please Betsy Bell, don’t have Joshua Gardner. Please Betsy Bell, don’t marry Joshua Gardner.”
In another part of the book, a man is asking Kate why she hates Betsy. Kate replies “How do you know Jack, that I hate Betsy?” “Because you are always following her.” Kate says, “Well, is that any evidence that I hate her?” “But then you pull her hair, pinch her arms, stick pins in her.” “Well, don’t lovers play with each other that way sometimes?” I thought this exchange was very unusual and seemingly overlooked. It’s almost as if Kate somehow looks at the afflictions she brought on Betsy as in some way of lashing out that Betsy didn’t feel the same way as her? Possibly? Maybe?
There’s another instance where Kate knocks the comb out of Betsy’s hair so that her long hair comes fully down and Kate says, “Betsy, if Josh could see you now he would envy me” which is evidence that Kate thought she was beautiful.
Maybe I’m reaching here but I thought it was worth putting it out there.
Professor Richard Powell
One other part of the story that I don’t hear anyone discuss is Professor Richard Powell’s potential involvement in some way. First, he came off quite creepy as he was speaking to the girls he used to teach and especially to Betsy Bell. The author notes,
“[The Professor] was off; not, however, without paying Betsy Bell some special compliments, telling her that she had grown up to be more beautiful and charming than he had ever dreamed of when he used to pet her so much.”
Creepy much? The Professor then goes on to explicitly say he was in love with her when she was a child:
“That boy never could help loving you, and I never did blame him, as you were my little pet also, and I have waited almost as patiently as did Jacob for Rachel, hoping that you and Josh might forget that young school day love, but I have been disappointed, and now my request is to be at the wedding. I want to be present when you wed, my little pet.”
There’s another section where one of the slaves of the Bell farm named Zeke talks about the Professor being suspicious. On page 103, he describes a scene in which he saw the Professor “experimenting in the direction of the spirits” would hit a piece of flint with the back of his knife and would “catch their fire in his eyes”. He mentions putting a spell on her as well. Does Zeke suspect the Professor is somehow involved? Is it too much of a coincidence that Kate hates Betsy’s boyfriend and the Professor also doesn’t want them together as well? Just something that stuck out to me. He eventually does get what he wants and ends up marrying Betsy Bell, despite being “many years her senior”.
Possibly Being a Physical Yet Invisible Being
There are many instances in the book which almost point to this thing, if it was ever real at all, being a physical being, although invisible. In some instances, Kate will let people touch her physical hand, and others she won’t as she is worried they will be able to grab hold of her hand and “catch her”. Why would a spirit who wasn’t physical and was omnipotent be worried about that? At times, she is described as knocking on doors before entering, where people would see the door open and then close, although nothing came through it.
There’s another story of the entity pulling the covers off a guy who was sleeping and he kicks out with all his might: “He felt something weighty as his feet struck it, and heard it strike against the wall and fall to the floor.” One of Kate’s co-spirits or other personalities was an entity called “Jerusalem”. Once, Jerusalem is shot at, and later exclaims that the bullet broke its arm. There are many instances like this. Couple this with the fact that the entity had a seemingly deep knowledge of witchcraft (page 83), all the “evidence” that the local eccentric woman Kate Batts was involved somehow (including the entity saying she was Kate Batt’s witch), and the fact that the entity speaks and thinks just like a person of that time and place, it almost makes you wonder if it was a real phenomenon if it wasn’t someone in the area that somehow was able to physically, yet invisibly, be in that place, affecting those people whether that be with some sort of unknown technology or some real spiritual thing as opposed to some supernatural and separate entity.
Conclusion
Who knows what really happened there? I could truly go on and on about it, but I’ve already written so much. I’m interested in reading newer books that go more into the truth of what really happened. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in these phenomena, but I can't attest to how truthful the whole of it is.
Read
June 27, 2021Such a bizarre story!
November 10, 2012
Read this upon the recommendation of my grandmother as a child. It terrified me especially Richard William Bell's diary (eye witness account) included in the text. The introduction and subsequent chapters covering the family's background, the community and history of all involved was necessary to substantiate the premise that this was no attempt at creating a sensation: all were upstanding Christian citizenry who witnessed a phenomenon that created a sensation throughout the region. For example, an encounter by Andrew Jackson is not legend, but fact. I encourage all skeptics to visit Adams, TN and browse the museum and pay your respects at the Bell family cemetery. My grandmother knew Bell ancestors at the beginning of the 20th century who would not speak of the "family trouble."
September 6, 2020
I was so excited to read this books as I think witches, in the horror sense, not the fantasy/fairytale sense, are an untapped well of goodness. Having learned about the Bell With via podcasts and other sources, I thought this would be a great way to delve into the story, with a bit of fictional embellishment.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. This book reads like a poorly written textbook and often repeats itself. The author, who uses an odd attempt at “old English” to tell the tale, often spends more time describing the farmland than the actual occurrences. It’s evident that a lot of research went into writing this, but as they say, there can be too much of a good thing. Shame really.
If you’re looking for info on the Bell Witch, look elsewhere.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. This book reads like a poorly written textbook and often repeats itself. The author, who uses an odd attempt at “old English” to tell the tale, often spends more time describing the farmland than the actual occurrences. It’s evident that a lot of research went into writing this, but as they say, there can be too much of a good thing. Shame really.
If you’re looking for info on the Bell Witch, look elsewhere.
Read
April 11, 2010This is quite an interesting read from the standpoint of what constituted history writing in the late nineteenth century as well as what were accepted ways of talking about minorities. It's offisive to contemporary social mores, but at the same time, is quite fun for the way it takes the tales of the Bell 'witch' at face value. I will also state that I think one of the Bell sons was gay, as he had a male companion who "kept him company" his whole life. yea.
October 19, 2020
Interesting as a time capsule only (published originally in 1894) Only for those deeply interested in the Bell Witch legend. Obviously biased towards the Bells and potentially full of fabrications. The author goes to great pains to make certain individuals sound articulate and exceedingly intelligent and others barely intelligible. A lot here to turn off a modern reader, from antiquated language to negative portrayals of Black culture.
March 22, 2015
Still the hands-down best account of Tennessee's unofficial State Spook, the Bell Witch, told in a quaint 19th-century style. Although it's now recognized that Ingram basically invented much of the detail of the legend for this book, it's still a pleasure for fans of rural haint tales. The vernacular language lends an authenticity, and the Victorian illustrations are classic.
December 10, 2020
"IF" there is any truth to this story it was completely lost to the author's sensationalism of the account. For a story that contained the testimony of so many different people, no two people described the events differently going so far as to use identical terminology over and over again. My take on this story is that the only testimony recorded was that of M.V. Ingram himself.
September 22, 2020
Horrid. Not even interested for historical reasons. I refuse to read anything that is poorly written and devoid of creativity, emotion, and atmosphere. The instruction manual for my car was more fun to read and it at least was about my Soul.
August 22, 2022
Ok, let's start from the beginning: is this story truly authenticated? The book was published in 1894 for the first time, 73 years after the Bell Witch phenomenon occurred, so it's very difficult to believe what is real and what is fiction, however, if I take all the interviews and letters as true, then this story is completely different from everything I've ever heard regarding the supernatural.
It was very difficult for me to read this book and not come up with explanations, just to dismiss them a few pages afterwards. The things that stood out the most for me about the "witch", was the fact that, whatever it was, it had substance to it. It was remarked as opening and closing doors, as being felt in the famous hand shake, when it was rolled in the bed sheets, and then when it was kicked and was heard hitting the wall. Another thing that caught my attention the most was Esther's recognizing the old woman to be one of their neighbors, so I couldn't help thinking that she had seen her before without knowing she was seeing the "witch". Now the things it did towards Betsy and John were so weird to me. The "witch" did seem like some type of curse, but at the same time it didn't. The hatred it felt towards John left me so baffled that I can't help but think that it must know something about him that we didn't, while everything it did to Betsy I felt it was because it didn't want her to be with Joshua Gardner, it wanted to be with Richard Powell and didn'tlike that Betsy went against it's wishes. Maybe Richard Powell had something to do with the "witch" after all.
About the folklore in the end of the book, I found Miss Lewellen's story to be interesting however in a way it was quite unjust of her calling an entire community, not to mention people from all over the country to be "ignorant" and "superstitious", when so many of them looked for a logical explanation for all the things that were occurring with the Bell family. Her accounts and Mr. Ladd just shows us, how a story can evolve and change with time.
Now, the second version, the oral one from Mississippi, was very entertaining and my favorite between these. You could see it was a tale through and through, almost like a fairy tale in a way. I'm a romantic and even though this version was just as creepy as the one from Miss Lewellen's, it reminded me a little of The Ghost And Mrs. Muir, which was in my opinion very sweet in a weird way.
It was very difficult for me to read this book and not come up with explanations, just to dismiss them a few pages afterwards. The things that stood out the most for me about the "witch", was the fact that, whatever it was, it had substance to it. It was remarked as opening and closing doors, as being felt in the famous hand shake, when it was rolled in the bed sheets, and then when it was kicked and was heard hitting the wall. Another thing that caught my attention the most was Esther's recognizing the old woman to be one of their neighbors, so I couldn't help thinking that she had seen her before without knowing she was seeing the "witch". Now the things it did towards Betsy and John were so weird to me. The "witch" did seem like some type of curse, but at the same time it didn't. The hatred it felt towards John left me so baffled that I can't help but think that it must know something about him that we didn't, while everything it did to Betsy I felt it was because it didn't want her to be with Joshua Gardner, it wanted to be with Richard Powell and didn'tlike that Betsy went against it's wishes. Maybe Richard Powell had something to do with the "witch" after all.
About the folklore in the end of the book, I found Miss Lewellen's story to be interesting however in a way it was quite unjust of her calling an entire community, not to mention people from all over the country to be "ignorant" and "superstitious", when so many of them looked for a logical explanation for all the things that were occurring with the Bell family. Her accounts and Mr. Ladd just shows us, how a story can evolve and change with time.
Now, the second version, the oral one from Mississippi, was very entertaining and my favorite between these. You could see it was a tale through and through, almost like a fairy tale in a way. I'm a romantic and even though this version was just as creepy as the one from Miss Lewellen's, it reminded me a little of The Ghost And Mrs. Muir, which was in my opinion very sweet in a weird way.
April 26, 2021
Similar to Ed and Lorraine Warren's books, this is a "true" accounting of all the events that happened to the Bell family in regards to the Bell Witch haunting. There are some really creepy stories in here, and they were written in such a way that made them quite freaky!
The style is very much a documented accounting of the time and place, and from each person who has witnessed the bizarre occurrences, published after the death of all family members immediately involved. As this story dates back from 1817, you can imagine the language and accepted racial terms and notions were quite different. If you are bothered by racial slurs, this is not the book for you.
You could sense Ingram's drive to publish each and every minute detail available to him to prove credibility, impartiality, and authenticity. Because of this, at times the book became rather dull, those names no longer carry weight in this day and age.
Do I believe it? I don't think it's that black and white. It definitely got me thinking.
The style is very much a documented accounting of the time and place, and from each person who has witnessed the bizarre occurrences, published after the death of all family members immediately involved. As this story dates back from 1817, you can imagine the language and accepted racial terms and notions were quite different. If you are bothered by racial slurs, this is not the book for you.
You could sense Ingram's drive to publish each and every minute detail available to him to prove credibility, impartiality, and authenticity. Because of this, at times the book became rather dull, those names no longer carry weight in this day and age.
Do I believe it? I don't think it's that black and white. It definitely got me thinking.
January 27, 2024
This was just okay for me. I certainly can understand the attraction to the subject matter, but this take did not even come close to meeting my expectations. I wanted this to be spooky, like Howard's horror stories. Instead I got an entire chapter with quotes from the Bible and so much mixed up and time distorted story that I found myself board almost to the extreme.
However, the topic is still intriguing. When I consider it as a History book, instead of a work of fiction, which to be clear I do think it's fiction, then the formatting isn't as frustrating.
As a side note about the reader of the audio book: She does not know how to pronounce a lot of words. Some are easy to recognize and mentally replace, others, not so much. Ironically, she also can't pronounce demonic, just like the man that reads Howard's stories. And just like him, she mispronounced it the same way. De-mo-nee-ak.
Weird.
However, the topic is still intriguing. When I consider it as a History book, instead of a work of fiction, which to be clear I do think it's fiction, then the formatting isn't as frustrating.
As a side note about the reader of the audio book: She does not know how to pronounce a lot of words. Some are easy to recognize and mentally replace, others, not so much. Ironically, she also can't pronounce demonic, just like the man that reads Howard's stories. And just like him, she mispronounced it the same way. De-mo-nee-ak.
Weird.
April 24, 2022
If you are looking for a horror novel to dive into that will raise your heart beat, this is not it. It is very much a recollection of past events that, if true, are definitely something to think about. If you understand what you’re buying then you shouldn’t be disappointed. Unfortunately my view was slightly bias going into it given that I have heard from several people that it will scare you to death. Even if you whole heartedly believe every word of it I don’t believe that it will leave you shaking in your boots by any means. If you’re into the paranormal and can appreciate what it means to learn about a ghost story from the 1800’s then I think it’s worth a read. Plus at the moment you can grab the ebook from Amazon for less than a dollar.
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July 14, 2021Narracja tak bardzo się stara, żebym współczuła Bellom, a jedynie co czuję to "hehe, właściciele niewolników dostają po dupie, dobrze im tak".
Aczkolwiek czarownica też była niesamowicie rasistowska, więc historia bez pozytywnych postaci.
Aczkolwiek czarownica też była niesamowicie rasistowska, więc historia bez pozytywnych postaci.
Read
October 18, 2022This book reads like a doctorial dissertation. I honestly don't know why I continued it to the end. At the end, it gets highly repetitive and I did fall asleep on it several times! Never does come to any conclusion as to the "realness" of the Bell Witch.
December 13, 2022
Even omitting the historical innacuracies that could have been checked simply by contacting the Red River Baptist Church in Adam's, TN or any of the archivists keeping record of Andrew Jackson's life, this is obviously poor story telling and predominantly propaganda. Also a hefty CW for racism.
October 21, 2025
Bell Witch
I never heard or read about such a "busy" and annoying specter! I have a little bit of a hard time believing this was real. But history says it apparently happened, and I wasn't there, so who knows.
I never heard or read about such a "busy" and annoying specter! I have a little bit of a hard time believing this was real. But history says it apparently happened, and I wasn't there, so who knows.
January 8, 2021
A fun classic ghost story.
April 27, 2021
Rough to read due to the language but a fascinating story nonetheless.
May 4, 2021
Too difficult to read
May 12, 2021
I found his book hard to follow
August 5, 2021
A very intriguing read.
The book keeps you interested. It's very hard to put down. While reading you can't help but feel for all involved. I definitely recommend.
The book keeps you interested. It's very hard to put down. While reading you can't help but feel for all involved. I definitely recommend.
November 5, 2021
Fascinating.
October 23, 2022
Holy crap! Just finished reading this, had never heard of this family before and have got to say this had to be the scariest book I’ve read in a long time.
October 31, 2022
It was alright. The author went off on so many unnecessary tangents. This story is creepy if true, but its pretty far fetched.
March 31, 2024
It was informative but one of the hardest books I have ever read
January 8, 2025
This book was really tough to get through. The countless times the author told the same story over and over again was dreadfully repetitive.
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