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On this month's Mobidly Fascinating Page:

Willows Weep--is it a myth or a true haunted house? You decide.

IN THE ARCHIVES:

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Utrecht Hospital

5173 N Elm Tree Road, Cayuga (Eugene) Indiana

See the video about Willows Weep narrated by William Shatner HERE

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Some say it was built in the shape of an upside down cross (above)

tree

The willow tree that gave the house its name, planted in 1967

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Parlor

chair

There is disagreement whether this chair is original to the house

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Panoramic View

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The women of the original Sykes family

The Willows Weep House: Is it haunted?

The Willows Weep House at 5173 N Elm Tree Road, Cayuga (Eugene) Indiana, has a reputation as being one of the most haunted houses in the United States. True, there have been many deaths there, but this house was built in 1890, so old houses do sometimes see deaths within their walls. The home has seen seven deaths including three suicides over the decades it stood. The original owner was John Henry Sykes (1854-1922) who died in the home's bathtub.

William Shatner describes Willows Weep as one of the most haunted locations in North America. Featured on the series "The UnXplained," the show tells about the transfer of ownership of this house of horrors from previous owner Brenda Johnson to Dave Spinks. Dave Spinks is a paranormal investigator who wrote a book about the home HERE.

On the TV show narrated by Shatner, Ms. Johnson describes experiencing paranormal activity in the home when she began to renovate it. She said she experienced depression and anxiety when inside. She said when her son attempted to repair the ceilling, boards flew off by themselves, striking her and her son. She said the home actively interfered with any improvements. After violent attacks and mysterious accidents, she abandoned the home and has allowed paranormal researchers to investigate it in order to find out why this phenomena occured. In 2019, Brenda sold the home to Dave Spinks.

True, there are oddities in the home. For an example, you cannot get to the attic room from inside. You have to get a ladder and enter through an outside window. That is just one of the quirks of Willows Weep. Brenda Johnson is convinced the house is haunted and has even claimed to see actual ghosts.

Adam Baird and Haley Navarr lived in Willows Weep before Ms. Johnson. Adam and Haley’s mother, Cheryl Skinner suffered a heart attack while living there in 2001. Several years later their stepfather, Curt Skinner, committed suicide in the home. But Adam insists his family does not haunt the house and wants investigators to leave his mother and stepfather alone. He says that although his mother did have a heart attack in the house at the young age of 42, her actual death happened at a hospital. Some speculate that Cheryl Skinner may have seen something in the house that caused the heart attack.

"We have children and we don't want our children growing up seeing this house as portraying their grandmother this way of being haunted," Adam said.

Adam and Haley say to them, this isn't just some people in a ghost story, this is their loved ones.

The current owner, Dave Spinks, said there is no disrespect intended to the people who have died in the house, but he will continue to investigate Willows Weep and allow other paranormal specialists to do so as well. He says it is not just the Skinners that haunt the house, but there are many more.

“A man emailed me and said his grandmother used to live in the house back in the ’50s and she experienced paranormal phenomena back then…dishes she would set on the table the night before…when she got up the next morning they would be all over the floor just like a tornado went through there and she would often witness a rocking chair in the house rocking on its own numerous times over the years,” Spinks told us. “There is more than one ghost in this house.”

5173 N Elm Tree Rd, Cayuga, IN is a single family home that contains 1,427 sq ft and was built in 1890. It contains 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.

Original residents

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Dave Spinks, current owner of Willows Weep

dave