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Disputed

The Great Amherst Mystery

WhereThis has no location, and never had one.
DoorSomeone Who Was There
Our judgementObscurity 1 of 6

Knocks, thunder-like bangs and flying bedclothes centred on Esther Cox, 18, and her family's house. Walter Hubbell's account dates the start to late August 1878.

Walter Hubbell's account, as Wikipedia summarises it, says the trouble began at the end of August 1878, around Esther Cox, then 18. There were knocks, bangs and rustling at night. Esther had fits in which her body swelled while she ran hot and cold, and then things in the house started to fly.

Andrew Lang retells the same run of nights. A green band-box rustled and then lifted about a foot off the ground, more than once. The next night Esther was ill and her family watched her swell. Bangs like thunder sounded in her room though the sky was clear. The day after, she could eat only some bread and butter and a big green pickle. Four nights later every bedcover on her bed and her sister's lifted off and came down in a far corner of the room.

CBC News reported in 2022 that the story is still well known in Amherst. Its report recalls banging from a house on Princess Street, buildings catching fire, and a threat to kill Esther scratched above her bed. The Town of Amherst, on its Esther Fest page, says the case is counted among the best-documented poltergeist cases.

From the primary source
"Next night, a green band-box began to make a rustling noise, and then rose a foot in the air, several times. On the following night Esther felt unwell, and "was a swelling wisibly before the werry eyes" of her alarmed family. Reports like thunder peeled through her chamber, under a serene sky. Next day Esther could only eat "a small piece of bread and butter, and a large green pickle". She recovered slightly, in spite of the pickle, but, four nights later, all her and her sister's bed-clothes flew off, and settled down in a remote corner."
Andrew Lang (1897), Project Gutenberg ebook #12621, The Book of Dreams and GhostsRead the source →
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Claimed sightingSomeone reported seeing it. The entry records the report and takes no side.
FolkloreA story carried by a community, with no single origin to point at.
Hoax, provenMade up to fool people, and exposed. The test is intent: the maker wanted it believed.
FictionMade openly as fiction. If people later believed it, the entry tells that story; the label stays.
DisputedSomething happened. What it was is still argued over by the people who've studied the record.
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