Something Ghostly This Way Comes: The Enfield Poltergeist

Factual America

In The Enfield Poltergeist, Jerry Rothwell uses over 250 hours of audio recordings made by paranormal investigator Maurice Grosse to revisit the case of 284 Green Street in Enfield, North London. There, for a period of eighteen months starting in August 1977, the Hodgson family witnessed furniture move of its own accord, objects get thrown across rooms, and heard disembodied voices speak.

Or did they?

Some investigators were convinced, others were not. In The Enfield Poltergeist, Jerry builds a replica of the Hodgson family’s house in order to recreate what – is alleged to have – happened, and he joins Matthew Sherwood to go behind-the-scenes of his film. They explore the mystery of poltergeists, disruptive activity that often centres on young people, the effect of the supposed hauntings on the Hodgson children, and how the Green Street case captured the imagination of the British press.

Jerry reflects on his own background and how it might have influenced his decision to make The Enfield Poltergeist. He and Matthew also discuss the high-level background of the British Society for Psychical Research, of which Maurice Grosse was a member.

Was 284 Green Street haunted? Is the question even relevant? Whatever your view, enter into the spirit of the season with The Enfield Poltergeist.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“I think what's interesting is... how and why do a people - a group of people in a house come to believe something. [This] for me says a lot about all kinds of things in our modern world... why do we believe what we believe?... the evidence for those things is as much in the stories we tell, and are told, as in, you know, the hard scientific phenomena.” – Jerry Rothwell