The Great Amherst Mystery
In a small house in Nova Scotia, loud raps, bangs and voices seemed to follow one young woman, while objects flew across the rooms.
What was reported
In 1878, strange things began in a crowded cottage in Amherst, where 19-year-old Esther Cox lived with her sister's family. There were loud knocks and bangs in the walls, bedclothes pulled away, small fires that started by themselves, and objects that moved, all seeming to centre on Esther.
Crowds gathered outside, and a doctor who attended said he saw it for himself. A travelling actor, Walter Hubbell, stayed in the house and wrote a best-selling book about it, The Great Amherst Mystery.
Explanations offered
Sceptical investigators, then and later, thought much of it was done by Esther herself, perhaps under great distress, and that Hubbell, who toured with the story, exaggerated it. Believers count it among the classic poltergeist cases.
- When
- 1878–1879
- Where
- Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Witnesses
- The family, neighbours, and crowds who came to see
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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