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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

A REAL Poltergeist Story from Texas

The house, according to Google Streetview, May 2011

803 Poppet's Way, Crosby, Texas:  This address, located within the Newport subdivision outside Houston, is a real life Poltergeist story:

The upscale neighborhood first began acquiring modern residents in the 1980s. Ben and Jean Williams were the first to begin reporting problems...mundane things at first like toilets flushing and lights flickering. They also had a tree in their yard covered with strange markings, and rectangular sinkholes began appearing in their backyard.

In 1983, neighbors Sam and Judy Haney began putting in a swimming pool in their backyard and unearthed two coffins containing the bodies of a man and a woman. After some research, the neighbors got in contact with an elderly man named Jasper Norton, who was formerly employed as a gravedigger. He told them the area was once the site of the Black Hope Cemetery and that as many as 60 people, many former slaves, were buried there. The two bodies uncovered in the Haney yard belonged to Betty and Charlie Thomas, former slaves who were buried in the 1930s.

The land the subdivision sits on had remained in the custody of one family from a time prior to the Civil War, to up until when the property was sold in the 1970s to real estate developers. This family owned and operated a plantation, and after the Civil War, continued to employ many freed blacks as farm hands.

It is argued that the former owners of the property did not disclose the inclusion of a small portion of the land that was deeded for use as a Potter's Cemetery, however, it is claimed that the buyer was quite aware of its presence. Eyewitness testimony states that developers bulldozed several wooden crosses and a picket fence during the early stages of development.

In any event, Ben and Jean were the first to build a home on what was the cemetery in 1980, followed soon after by the Haney's. Out of respect for the dead, the Haney's made the tough decision to rebury the Thomas' in the yard, but shortly afterward, the Haney's started reporting hauntings in their home...disembodied voices, etc. Other neighbors were also experiencing activity and began moving out, but the Williams' and the Haney's decided to stay.

Unfortunately, the Williams' began to experience more and more problems. Their grand- daughter became ill, and the sinkholes began opening up. Ben even reported seeing an apparition hovering over his sleeping wife. The Haney's were also still experiencing problems and unexplained illnesses decided to file a lawsuit against the neighborhood's developer. The jury found in favor of the Haney's but the judge overruled the decision. The Haney's, now broke, filed for bankruptcy and fled the home.

The Williams' decided to try their hand at a lawsuit, but decided to gather more evidence first. In their quest, they found an older resident who told them that the strange markings on the tree in their yard actually marked the spot where two young girls were buried. Jean started digging but when exhaustion took over, her 30 year old daughter Tina began. After no more than 30 minutes, Tina suffered a major heart attack and died two days later. The Williams simply abandoned the house after that, seven years after they had first built it, and fled to Montana. The later went on to help co-author the book based on their experiences, the Black Hope Horror.

No current residents are experiencing problems in the neighborhood as reported by a local investigation team who has investigated and researched the area.

(Above photo property of THIS excellent site on the Black Hope Horror. Please visit for more information and more photos.)

UPDATE 2012:  I'm pretty sure the first time I heard of Poppet's Way was on one of my favorite TV shows as a kid...Unsolved Mysteries.  The segment featuring this real-life Poltergeist story can be found on YouTube!  The Black Hope Horror segment appears first in the episode.


25 comments:

  1. I know no one is saying anything but still why so many foreclosures still in The Newport subdivision

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  2. I've lived in Newport my entire life and have yet to have any experience with ghosts. Resident since 1979. I think the foreclosure would be because folks can't afford their houses.

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    1. I think you have a very valid point, lol.

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    2. Just because you don't have any encounters the ones that say they have too assume they just can't afford their homes
      Wow!

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    3. its only in section 10 so if u don't live in that section that's why i grew up there and know personal people who were there then etc .

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  3. I just moved to Newport and the history is part of the attraction for me. I have had no experiences but there is a strange emblem that looks like a face on one of the trees. I think it deserves respect.

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  4. Hello dear…
    Thanks for sharing your real life experiance. your thoughts are very posivative and amazing. My New Article: about pop-up Ads

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  5. Hello yes the hauntings are real My family lived in the area for 5 years yes it was very real!!

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  6. Just bought a home in Newport on April 10th, 2wks in and we are having issues. My kids scream and run away from 1 corner of the living room. There not jumpy kids so when they took off like they did it was odd, more odd the curtain on the window in that spot was blowing without a breeze or reason. The upstairs play room has a fake tree, my brother and oldest daughter was playing when the oldest started freaking out. She was facing the tree and his back was to it, well when she panicked he turned around. He stated a man with a hat was sitting under the tree, it stood up and was getting taller and taller, he had no face but you can see the eye sockets. They ran from the room and didn't go back, my brother is 10. The most unexplained thing happened in our backyard. We was playing kickball, with a highly visible rubber ball,the ball was mid flight almost to go over the fence then poof gone. Like gone, gone we searched the yard noyhimg, we searched the outside of the fence nothing, we searched the neighbors yard nothing. The damn ball vanished mid flight right in front of our eyes. It was like there was a portal or door and we kicked the ball into another world.

    We are blessing the home and hopefully we wont have no more issues.

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  7. It's real I lived in lake shadows next to new port in the 80s early 90s and had strange things happen around our house

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  8. We just moved on mallett st in may of this year and my wife and kids seen a 3rd face when they took pictures on snapchat...once at the house and once at the elementary school on the 1st day of school...

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    1. I’m wondering if this is the same house that I briefly lived in when I helped my (now) ex-boyfriend move out and relocate to the Baytown/Highlands area(????) We broke up after he nearly killed me by strangulation in February 2021- one year to the day since my father and stepmother died in an unspeakable manner on February 18, 2020. My ex-husband was found with no pulse after a few skank girls came to his house to “party;” his lips turned blue and he dropped to the ground and went into cardiac arrest. One of them called 911 before they all fled and left him there where they found and revived him; he was then put in a medically induced coma for 2 months before he was stabilized enough to have it lifted. He then went through successful physical therapy but his personality is 100% totally radically different and it’s almost as if it’s not even him inhabiting his own skin- best I can put it. He’s had to move in to his mother’s home and no longer works- all he does is eat and sleep- his toenails were curling before he finally allowed his mother to cut them and his hair and beard became so overgrown and matted that he required a special prescription shampoo to kill the crud. He resembled a mountain man after being clean shaven- even his head shaved bald or nearly bald- all of his adult life…until now. I finally convinced him to let me cut it but it’s still stinky and nasty and the entire thing is so so sad…. Finally-My ex-boyfriend’s estranged wife recently died on -December 28, 2022- purportedly an accidental overdose… hmm. The few days I lived in that house, I always felt an eerie presence and I all but refused to go into the back corner, where the guest bathroom, 2nd and 3rd bedrooms were located because it felt so foreboding. I was never so glad to leave a place behind me…but now am really curious if I ever did (?)

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    2. Sorry.^^ I forgot to explicitly state it but yes- the house was on Mallett St.in the Newport subdivision. My ex failed to mention any of the poltergeist stuff-AT ALL- until about a month later. A big thank you goes out to him, for sure!

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  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  10. I live on Jib Ct. 4/6 of my neighbors have moved out since we moved in, Nov 2018. I saw a shadow of a child once but it was crouched down as if it was hiding from me and quickly disappeared. My dogs will not go in the "back room" of my house. My husband and I also feel a negative energy in there. The spirit hasn't bothered us or our belongings but you can feel it's presence. At first when I would notice it, it would go away quickly as if it was scared. Once my son was born, I started to feel that it was getting more comfortable with me. I can feel it watching me and lingering more lately. We will be leaving Newport in 2021.

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  11. Currently live in Newport, over by Poppets Way. We personally haven’t experienced any paranormal activities here. Though, someone we know whose house backs up to Poppets, has said they’ve had strange things happen. Said they could hear a phone ringing inside the wall. Now, my friend lives on the other side of Newport (North Diamondhead side) and has known there were ghost in her home, but they were harmless. That is, until recently. Things were going missing. Men’s clothing appearing in her daughters room. Crucifixes being moved/hidden. Handprints appearing on the walls. And recently she inquired about what to do, because the ghost was starting to grow strong enough to touch her. I believe she contacted a priest to come bless the house.

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    1. Oh my gosh that sounds exactly like our experiences where my daughter and our family lives since October! We live in the subdivision next to golf course .. especially with a phone ringing, the child, someone knocking, holes in back yard and so much more. . On New Year's my son in law and I shared a mushroom infused chocolate bar and both saw an elderly black man with a old a hat that looked like he was from the 1950's or so... We don't feel anything negative anymore but when she first moved there it was pretty " creepy!" Our electricity is constantly cutting off with no explanation, the weird thing about that is that we have no problem when it storms!

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  12. Currently live in Newport, over by Poppets Way. We personally haven’t experienced any paranormal activities here. Though, someone we know whose house backs up to Poppets, has said they’ve had strange things happen. Said they could hear a phone ringing inside the wall. Now, my friend lives on the other side of Newport (North Diamondhead side) and has known there were ghost in her home, but they were harmless. That is, until recently. Things were going missing. Men’s clothing appearing in her daughters room. Crucifixes being moved/hidden. Handprints appearing on the walls. And recently she inquired about what to do, because the ghost was starting to grow strong enough to touch her. I believe she contacted a priest to come bless the house.

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  13. I've lived in Newport Court new subdivision for four yrs now. And two yrs ago I started to see a black shadow in my house it would be hanging in a corner of the ceiling.It is mostly in my bedroom and the worst thing that has happened is my daughter and I were sitting in the living room watching TV it was about two am and my kitchen table chairs just all popped out mind you my chairs are heavy chairs and it scared the crap out of us.

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  14. I am a producer now casting families for a documentary about black hope cemetery. If any of you have experienced paranormal activity near the area or Newport region please email me at brittany@momentumcontent.tv

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  15. We found a house in Newport we are considering renting and after all this I'm nervous to go through with it. Anybody know of any paranormal activities on Aweigh Drive?

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  16. My brother and his family lived at 803 Poppets Way for several years and never experienced any paranormal activity during their time there.

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  17. I am just learning of these events now, even though my parents built their dream retirement home in Newport in 1978. In 1981 I returned to Houston and, being a gonzo bicyclist at the time, often visited my folks to help around the place and use their place as a base my rides. For the period of time in question I would fairly regularly blast down Poppets Way on my way down to some great trails along the San Jacinto river. Poppets way was a new section of the development and I can remember new houses coming in. Never, ever heard a single hint of these events until now, 40 years on. Totally amazing to have been right there and also be so totally unaware of the haps.

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  18. I was live moose Dr crosse by that area..me and my family we alwas c a little kid..first is scare but after u know hem..u don't scar any more..is a little kid that goust is not black is white whit out 👀

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