Paranormal State: My Journey into the Unknown Read Online Free PDF Page B

his refusal to sleep in his own bed, put an even greater strain on things. There was clearly a lot going on emotionally.
    While I spoke with Shelly, Adam spent time with Matthew, trying to establish a relaxed, friendly atmosphere in which it would be easier for him to open up. You can see right away in the episode that Matthew wasn’t a typical kid. He was often quiet and withdrawn.
    As I mentioned, it’s important to look at nonparanormal explanations first. Here, while it doesn’t appear in the episode, a number of psychological checks were performed on Matthew. Though he had some speech problems, his doctors did not feel he was autistic or developmentally challenged. We were also comfortable there wasn’t any question of physical or verbal abuse.
    At the same time he seemed very shut down. I don’t believe his parents directly told him his sister was dying or about their marital problems, but kids can sense what’s going on in a household, and those factors may have contributed to his seeming withdrawal. It’s sad to see that in any kid, but particularly with Matthew. My own childhood experiences also made me feel close to him. He had a very active mind, but it was occupied by dark concerns.
    When he talked about the spirits, he said, “Those black ones are the problem. Somehow I know they’re danger.”
    He described them as smoky shapes without full human form. “Mists” was the best he could come up with. He didn’t know why they were around, but definitely thought they were after him, telling him, as I mentioned, to “stab Mommy” or “jump off the roof.”
    That kind of malevolence is sometimes demonic, but not all of his experiences were threatening. One spirit he saw, Timmy, not only had a human shape, but Matthew wasn’t particularly afraid of him. Their conversations were, I guess, what you’d call a little more “normal.”
    One of the things that drew me to the case was the possibility of explaining the haunting historically. Shelly suggested to us that Timmy might be the spirit of Timothy Shirey, a former resident of the house. Research, both about the location of the activity and its past occupants, is always important. Here we were able to piece together Timothy’s story in a way that strikingly fit in with Matthew’s experiences.
    A local newspaper article described Timothy Shirey as schizophrenic. Unable to live independently, he was cared for by adoptive parents. Shelly believed some of his friends were still in the area, and we were able to track a few down, including Mike and Lori Dopik.
    The Dopiks described Timothy as withdrawn and childlike, making him, in a way, like Matthew. Another friend described how Timothy would come over to hang out, but would often just get up and leave without saying good-bye. He disappeared for days or even weeks at a time.
    In his midthirties, Timothy’s life changed drastically. One of his adoptive parents passed away and the surviving parent was moved to an assisted-care facility. The Shireys’ eldest biological son decided to sell the house. Faced with fending for himself for the first time in his life, Timothy disappeared. According to a neighbor interviewed in the episode, when Timothy left, the only thing he took with him was a .22 caliber rifle.
    Two months later, when Bryan and Shelly bought the house, Timothy hadn’t been found. They remodeled so that Rachel could get around more easily in her wheelchair, and moved in, not knowing about Timothy. Matthew began seeing spirits a few months after moving in, and may have seen Timmy while he was still considered missing.
    There was a big patch of overgrown land in the neighborhood. Six months later, workers began clearing it. People started walking their dogs and wandering around there. That’s when a neighbor found Timothy’s body, dead from a .22 caliber bullet wound.
    Some of the locals we spoke with felt Timothy was murdered, but I tend to discount those stories. In many of the cases I’ve