Harold and Mable Pomeraning bought a house on Dice Road in Merrill, Michigan, for their growing family in 1975. The couple thought it was the perfect place for the family of four, they had two sons, and were ready to start a new life in their new home.
On July 15, 1974, the family moved into the house, the documentary Michigan Hell House says. From the beginning, something was off about the house. One of their first nights, the living room window was broken, the glass coming into the house. Harold went to investigate, fearing that someone was trying to break into their new house.
But he found that nothing was there. Not even a sign of what caused the glass to break.
That event led to more weird things happening in the house. There were loud sounds of banging, voices calling out for Harold and Mable, according to WFMK. The family decided that the only thing that they could do was call the police and have them look into it.
The case stumped investigators. Every day for months, officers would be called out to the house to look into some sound or unexplained fire. But they were never able to figure out what was going on. A theory began to form that the Pomeraning family might be involved in the weird stuff happening.
MLive reports that without them knowing, the family was put under surveillance. To the surprise of the officers, the events kept happening, and it appeared as though the family had nothing to do with it.
Investigators turned their attention to an unhappy neighbor.
A Mad Neighbor
The neighbor has remained unnamed as the popularity of this story has exploded. But many reports put her in the center of the story. There are claims that she was unhappy about the Pomeraning family moving into the house. Many look at the two young boys, Duane and Terry, as part of the reason that she was angry about the new neighbors. While well-behaved, they were still boys who liked to play sports and often wrestle with one another. And they could get quite loud.
WCSX says that many people believed that the neighbor in question was heavily involved in witchcraft. They believe that she was behind the occurrences. Others agree that she was behind the happenings, but don't think that she was using magic.
While her religious beliefs, like her name, remain unknown, the neighbor could have been making the noises to drive the family out of the home. She let it be known that the family was not welcome and left no doubts that she would not give them a cup of sugar if they needed it.
One researcher believes that she could have set a supernatural curse on them. Professor Jerry Solfvin told Haunted Jaunts: “My goodness, this case was exploding with phenomena.”
However, others suggest that it was more of a practical joke type of situation. If she were responsible, it would be possible for her to hire people to bang loudly and disappear when the cops came around, or plant a recording device to make it seem like someone was calling out Harold's name.
There could be a more scientific reason for what happened.
Concluding What Happened
With all the theories about the Dice Road house, some point out to another odd thing about the story. The Pomeraning family moved out in 1975 and a new family moved in. That family didn't deal with the same amount of terror as the previous owners.
Some people believe that proves that the neighbor was responsible for the weird happenings. Even the Michigan Hell House documentarians say that they believe the neighbor brought out evil beings to drive Harold and Mable from their home. During the course of the movie, they show what they believe is proof of paranormal activity.
Scientists say that there might be another reason. IFLScience reports that carbon monoxide poisoning can cause hallucinations and have other effects. They quote Albert Donnay in their findings, "carbon monoxide and other poisonings can cause hallucinations of hauntings, and that the theory would explain why Victorians – with their gasoline lamps and toxic wallpaper – experienced so many hauntings, and became fascinated by them..."
What about the fact that some people still believe that it was something supernatural? A deputy who was charged with investigating the house said there was no way, and offered a solution of his own. MLive has him quoted as saying: "We know something electrical is causing it. And we know there are no gas explosions. It's not witchcraft. But the owner is one scared guy."
Many Michiganders wonder if this mystery will ever be solved.
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