Jon Solo Sebastian 12/02/2024:

Have you ever seen an animal that has the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit? Me neither. Let’s travel back to the Red River Settlement in Robertson County, Tennessee where John Bell allegedly spotted one. Thirteen years after moving his family to the Red River Settlement, strange occurrences began on the homestead, which has since become one of America’s most haunted locations. The Bell family’s land and home was a hotbed for scary and murderous paranormal activity.

It’s 1817 and John Bell is doing a walkthrough of his corn field. He hears a rustling and a snarl coming from up ahead. After being initially startled, he raises his firearm and points it toward the direction of the sound. Looking down the barrel, he sees something that can’t possibly be real. Without taking his eyes off the creature, and keeping his rifle steady, he blinks his eyes several times to make sure he’s seeing what he thinks he’s seeing. Sure enough, it’s still there and it still looks like nothing heard of on this world. A creature with a rabbit head and the body of a dog stands staring at him ready to pounce. It’s breathing heavily as if John is the first food it has encountered in weeks. Without hesitation, John fires at it several times. It runs off, but he’s positive he hit it.

Whatever the beast was, it’s gone, and left no trace of blood to confirm whether he hit it with any of his shots. John went back to his daily routine. He had no idea this was the beginning of paranormal events that would cause fear, chaos, and torment in his home until the day of his last breath. This rabbit-dog beast in the corn fields is marked as the initial encounter, or attack by the Bell Witch. Things only get worse from here.

The Bell Witch Awakens

The Bell Witch wastes no time once she gets started. First was the rabbit-dog, the next attack comes later that same night. It’s unclear whether this occurred before or during bed time at the Bell homestead, but the family began hearing loud knocking noises from outside the house and from within. They hear growling or gnawing (different sources say both), and sounds of chains dragging across the floor. The growling and dragging of chains gives off serious Hellhound vibes; especially after John encountered that rabbit headed dog-like beast in the corn field.

Side Note: In my Hellhound piece I wrote late last year (2023), I had a similar situation within a dream of mine. I heard the chilling sounds of a growling beast, I wound up in an older house built in the 1800’s, I battled it out with a Hellhound, and my name is also Jon; kind of a strange similarity. I didn’t know the story of the Bell Witch when I wrote that piece, and while it’s different, it’s similar enough to be worth mentioning.

Back to the Bell Witch—sometime in the next few days, John’s daughter Betsy saw a girl hanging from a tree. She ran to tell her parents she saw a young girl in a dress hanging by her neck from one of the oak trees nearby. They went out to check on the hanging girl, but nothing was there. These first few encounters were certainly scary, but they were sightings and jump scare situations. The next encounters got creepier, and physical.

In my research, I’ve learned the majority of the attacks were aimed at John Bell and his daughter Betsy. The rest of the family had encounters, but those two were the main targets. I was unable to determine or connect any dots as to why, though. As time went on, they began hearing sounds of chanting whispers, knocking on doors, and scratching sounds throughout the night. They always frantically searched the house but never found the source of the noise. When they’d finally fall asleep, their blankets were pulled off of them. The physical abuse began shortly after. The witch would pull Betsy’s hair and slap her ruthlessly to the point where she’d have bruises and handprints on her face and body.

Things got so bad that John could no longer keep it a secret, so he told his neighbor and good friend James Johnston about it. James was skeptical, but he and his wife decided to spend the night with the Bell family to see for themselves. Everything was fine until the Johnston’s were in bed. That’s when “they were subjected to the same terrifying disturbances that the Bells had been experiencing. After their bedcovers were yanked off and James was slapped, he sprang out of bed, exclaiming, ‘In the name of the Lord, who are you and what do you want!’ The entity did not respond; the rest of the night was peaceful.”  The next day, James told the Bells what happened to him and said he believed this was the work of an evil spirit like the kind from the bible.

My question: Why didn’t the Bell family move the heck out of there? They continued to take the abuse, and it eventually killed John Bell. “This Bell Witch, as it became known, vowed to kill John Bell, and subsequently took credit for his death three years later on December 20, 1820, when a vial was found next to his deathbed with a strange liquid inside. John Bell’s death was attributed to the Bell Witch making Tennessee the only state to recognize a person’s death to the supernatural.”

The witch proudly took credit for John’s death, but she wasn’t done tormenting the family. She later harassed Betsy and her fiancé to the point where they broke off their engagement. Afterwards, the witch taunted Lucy, John’s widow, by telling her she’d return in seven years. She returned multiple times vowing to return again after so many years. It’s unknown if she still torments the desendants of John Bell, but for the hatred this entity carries with it, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s still going after them.

Is Kate Batts the Bell Witch?

According to some sources, Kate Batts, is the culprit behind the Bell Witch. There is no clear evidence based on this other than she was mocked by the folks at Red River. There is another folktale stating John Bell and Kate Batts had an affair before the Bell family moved from North Carolina to Tennessee. The claim is that he called off their affair, and she threatened to tell everyone including his family. John allegedly tied her up and let her die to keep the affair a secret. This sounds like the plotline of many poltergeist and witch stories, so take this with a grain of salt.

Andrew Jackson

Did Andrew Jackson encounter the Bell Witch before he became the seventh President of the United States? There isn’t any rock hard evidence of this happening, but I feel like it’s worth mentioning because you have a soldier and eventual president possibly facing up against the witch. Allegedly, when General Jackson received word of the Bell witch, he ventured out to the Bell homestead to investigate what was really going on there. As they neared the family’s land, their wagon’s wheels got stuck in the mud. They proclaimed that had to be the work of the witch attempting to stop the soldiers from getting any closer. They were able to get unstuck and pressed on. That night, they set up camp in the Bell’s yard. The story goes on to claim similar hauntings happened to his men that happened to the Bell family. Jackson apparently had seen enough that night and they left the next day stating he’d rather take his chances against the British than to tussle with the Bell Witch.

What really happened to the Bell Family? While it’s hard to find evidence of an evil spirit, what else could cause such horror? Was it Kate Batts? Was she practicing dark magic and took her anger out on the Bell family? Was she really left for dead by John Bell? Was it an ancient spirit that lived on that land long before the Bells arrived? I think we may need to pass on Scully and Mulder this time around, and hit up the Scooby gang along with Sam and Dean Winchester; and maybe even contact Buffy and Giles to get to the bottom of this one. What do you think caused her to single out the Bell family?