Have a Seat!

31 days of Halloween. Day #23

Weirdest Haunted items of the week: Chairs (abbreviated)

We all have our favorite spots, our seats, a chair that means a lot to us, sometimes I know I get miffed when the dog sits in my spot, but I don’t think I have ever had as much attachment as Mr Busby. Thomas Busby of Thirsk, North Yorkshire was not a nice man. He had a brooding presence and was known to speak and act in demeaning ways. He wasn’t powerful, he was intimidating and frankly a tad quick to anger. He hated to be looked at or worse laughter in his presence would bring him to the brink. However, one thing was his last straw.

In 1702, he came one day to discover his father-in-law, Daniel Auty sitting in his favorite chair; this sparked an argument resulting in Auty threatening to take back his daughter, before Busby violently threw him out of the house.

That night, Busby went up to Auty’s home, bludgeoned him to death with a hammer, and hid the body in the woods. The body, of course, was found; Busby was tried and convicted; It’s said that on the way to the gallows, Busby requested a drink of ale at his favorite pub before his sentence was enacted. As he finished, he said, “May sudden death come to anyone who dares sit in my chair.”

He was subsequently hanged, tarred, and left in a gibbet by the side of the road opposite the coaching inn, afterward renamed the Busby Stoop Inn in Sandhutton. He was left on display and his legend was solidified. At the crossroads of the roundabout, it is said that if you stop your car , roll down your windows and let out a full belly laugh Thomas Busby's ghost will be seen in the rear view mirror chasing you with a hammer. The Newest owners of the Pub/Inn renamed it, held a cleansing ritual and haven't had too many occurrences.

The “ cursed” chair currently occupies a spot in the Thirsk Museum. Terrible fates have befallen many who have sat in it, from brain tumors to car crashes; accordingly, the decision was made in 1972 to hang it from the ceiling, preventing anyone from sitting in it ever again. A wise move, I feel.

But wait…there's more? Yes. How about the Devil's Chair.

Part 2

Dubbed the Devil's Rocking Chair, it is of unknown origin but was passed on to the Glatzel family in the early 1950s. It was simply a piece of household furniture until one summer when it became the center of a tragedy that struck the family.

The horror began in July 1980 when David Glatzel, a young man of 8 yrs old, seemingly became possessed by a dark and twisted demon. Perhaps the devil?

He would wake up screaming and claiming that he had seen a “man with big black eyes, a thin face with animal features, jagged teeth, pointed ears, horns, and hooves.”

He became withdrawn. Cold. A Shell of who he used to be Debbie, the eldest sister, asked her soon to be husband , Arne Johnson, if he would stay with her family for a while and see whether it would help David out of this odd cycle of depression and behavior. David continuously reported more horrible nightmares about the disfigured and terrifying demon man, who swore he was there to take his soul. Bruises, Scratches, and Sores started to appear on the boy, and all the injuries seemed to happen while he was asleep and unaware. The only things that was always the same was the nightmares

The Beast started to appear in the day, While David was awake. He was seeing him in the chair. Growling and snarking the same things David had said over and over again.

He was always seen sitting in the family’s rocking chair.

David (and later, THE Lorraine Warren) was the only one who ever saw the Beast in the chair, but family members often saw it rocking back and forth, seemingly under its own power. The chair would move and sway. Would send shocks thru people who would come near it, many said they would feel beckoned by the chair to sit in it.

The story takes a weird turn. There was a notable exorcism surrounding the chair. Ed and Lorraine Warren repeatedly had a priest come in and attempt to deal with the entity that had taken over the boy and the chair. The process continued for several days, concluding when, according to those present, a demon fled the child's body and took up residence within Johnson (the fiance)

Oddly enough it was also Johnson that removed the chair from the house by pleading with the family and the Warrens. To save the child from further harm.

Several months later, Johnson killed his landlord during a party. His defense lawyer argued in court that he was possessed, but the judge ruled that such a defense could never be proven and was therefore infeasible in a court of law

The Chair lived in the Warrens Museum for several years after this until Zak Bagans purchased it and well…that's a whole other ghost adventure.

Have a seat, I insist!