The Sallie House Haunting: A True Story

Bought used and could not tell. I thought it was a mistake and they sent a new one. But the book is great. She makes you feel you're in the room as you read it. It's not truly scary but no book has really scared me. Takes a lot to scare me. I had never heard if Hallie House and glad I read this. I have googled this house and watched other things on it. A must read for all true paranormal out there.

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.

Mrs. Pickman is surely no Joan Dideon when it comes to writing, but her prose is serviceable. As an atheist, I don’t automatically believe paranormal claims, but I don’t dismiss them either. My understanding of physics and neuroscience lead me towards critical thinking in regards to this kind of phenomena. What Deb describes in this book is spooky for sure, and that’s good enough for me. I wasn’t enlightened, but I was sure as all heck interested.

Book Review: Tuesday, April 15, 2014The Sallie House Haunting: A True Story by Debra PickmanThe 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…

Since the start I knew it was demonic & I believe its better if u guys knew that before starting the book as it was interesting to see how manipulative demons are & how they made the author feel like they were an innocent little girl!!! I could almost see them in the corner laughing at her while she got gifts & cared for Sallie. We also didn’t really need to know every little activity the ghosts did, it made the book long & boring. If u got bored, just skip to the end & read the husband point of view & it will all make sense. Demons have a ton of patience & they work really slow but incredibly powerful! Be careful guys!

An amazing story.....Really keeps you interested in the story. Love the wait it was told..it answered any questions about an event in the book at the time, many times even before the event itself....great format..It has that ring of truth we all recognize but isn't always in the books /movies involving the paranormal..Would certainly recommend it..

The only thing disturbing about this story is the blatent disregard for the safety of the author's family and pets.

I bought this title having seen an account of the couple's experiences on the tv series 'Paranormal Witness'. I was impressed by their sincerity, and intrigued enough to want to know more.Having read the book, I'm still impressed by the reported phenomena, but some aspects of this account beggar belief.In particular, Debra's attitude to so many of the occurrences in her home- and her attitude to her husband, who was seemingly being systematically tortured before her eyes, whilst she built her relationship with the ghost, 'Sallie'.Usually, it's the sceptical husband who dismisses and ignores the concerns of his wife in these situations- but Debra is already a believer, and one who takes a staggeringly laid back attitude to objects- and spouses- being set fire to with giddy abandon by an unseen force, amongst other tricks. And all this with a very young baby in the house.The writing style is fairly unemotional and unsensationalist, which was a relief, but hard to square with Debra's willingness to put the whole story in the media on numerous occasions, despite her husband's discomfort.Yes, this book has some genuinely frightening parts, but for myself, the growing frustration i felt on behalf of this family's helpless members- the baby, the unfortunate cat, and seemingly the husband Tony- eclipsed the fear.

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 UKBook Of Trinity: True story - Poltergeist activity, possession and a failed exorcism in Slapton, Buckinghamshire UK

This is probably one of the best books I've ever read about a true haunting, it hooked me from the start and just got better and better as the story progressed. I don't want to go into the whys and wherefores of this book because I think it would give too much away. The 'product description' gives you enough information to help you decide whether or not to give it a try. All I will add is, if you have an interest in the paranormal, this book is a must for you. It has certainly left me a few things to think about.Happy Reading.

This book was absolutely fantastic, it gripped me right from the start and didn't let go.It was a fascinating insight into the lives of debra and tony pickman who went through a hellish nightmare while living in the sallie house, especially tony who was constantly attacked by the evil spirit/demon that was in the house.Debras' experiences at first seemed quite innocent making contact with the spirit of the little girl sallie it was like she adopted this little child spirit into her family even reading to sallie, giving her toys and things to play with and even giving her christmas presents.However their later experiences questions whether this little child spirit ever existed or was it a demon masquerading as this child in order to gain the pickmans' trust.I personally want to believe that sallie this little innocent child did exist and had this trusting and loving relationship with the pickmans' especially debra. However the later events that happened and events that have happened since the pickmans lefted the sallie house can only logically lead to one conclusion that this was a demonic entity all along.If you are a fan of the paranormal and true hauntings then this book is an absolute must.

Really enjoyed this book. Listening to Debra detailed story and how she manage to get through that ordeal!Would definitely recommend to friends and family