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Heol Fanog, as seen on The Witch Farm Podcast, was one of the most terrifying paranormal cases ever, writes RICK HALE
“Most haunted” are two words that cause the anger of many people in the paranormal community to bubble to the surface.
No, I’m not talking about the TV show of the same name, although that in itself brings up enough bad thoughts. But I digress.
I’m referring to the idea that you can somehow measure paranormal activity and pit places against each other in a kind of spectral battle for dominance. It seems a bit stupid when you think about it. Right?
And yet there are terrifying stories of haunted places that stand head and shoulders above the rest.
Stories about innocent people forced to endure unthinkable events that belong only in our darkest nightmares
Heol Fanog, an isolated farm nestled in the breathtaking Brecon Beacons of Wales, is one such place.
And without Danny Robins and his brilliant podcast, The Witch Farm, the seven years of terror one family endured in this old farmhouse might have been lost to history.
The family moves to Heol Fanog
Everyone wants a new start, but few actually find it. Starting over should be filled with endless possibilities and a bright future.
That’s what the Rich family thought when they discovered the old stone house virtually out in the middle of nowhere, in the shadows of the Brecon Beacons.
The horror began in 1989, when Bill Rich, a struggling but talented artist from London, moved to Heol Fanog with his pregnant wife Liz and his teenage son.
The horror begins
When it comes to stories about true events, the activity usually follows a pattern.
Small things, almost imperceptible, happen until the activity turns into unimaginable horror. Not so with what the Rich family experienced. The ghosts haunting their new home were eager to get to work right away.
A sense of presence is often reported at many haunted places. And Heol Fanog had just that.
The whole family felt as if something was watching them from deep in the shadows. Maybe glaring would be the right word, as if whatever was watching them didn’t want the family living there.
Of course, Bill and Liz dismissed it as new house jitters, something we can all relate to. But then things just got weirder. And even malicious.
Bizarre activity
If you ask a ghost hunter what their most common problem is, he or she may answer that the battery is dead.
It’s almost as if spirits feed on energy and use it to manifest in a spectral form.
One day Bill opened the mail and discovered something that made his blood boil. The electricity bill for the house was more than seven times what it should have been.
Bill immediately contacted the power company, who in turn sent a technician to the house.
Even the technician found the amount of power the house was using mysterious. He further suggested that something strange was going on in the house. Unfortunately, the Rich family was on the hook for the bill. If they didn’t pay, the power was cut off.
Footsteps and horrible smells
From then on, activity in the remote farm took a dark turn.
Loud, thunderous footsteps could be heard throughout the house, regardless of the time of day.
And cold spots, followed by horrible smells of sulfur and the sickeningly sweet smell of overpowering incense, could be smelled throughout the house.
It was not unusual for the family to walk into a room and be enveloped in a fragrant assault on the senses.
All this may seem like par for the course in a terrifying situation, but the situation was about to get even more extreme. Even deadly.
The entity becomes violent
Of all the nightmarish activities Bill and Liz faced in the house, two episodes really stand out, proving that what was plaguing their house wasn’t games.
Not long after their daughter was born, Liz did a task every mother does: put the baby down for a nap.
As she sang her newborn to sleep, the otherwise peaceful and sweet scene was broken when the bedroom door slammed shut, waking the baby and terrifying Liz.
When her scream reached Bill’s ears, he came running to see what was scaring his wife.
The frightened husband rushed in and asked what had happened. A shocked Liz exclaimed as something slammed the bedroom door.
You may be thinking, like Bill, that maybe a gust of wind blew through the house and the door slammed shut.
That’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, except according to Liz the door was already closed.
Much of the chase seemed to focus on Liz, leading some to believe that perhaps a poltergeist was involved and that Liz was unknowingly the focus.
However, as far as poltergeists go, they rarely try to kill the one radiating that energy. Liz Rich was in exactly that danger.
One night, while trying to take a peaceful, much-needed break from the anxiety, Liz was physically attacked in the bath.
Rough hands grabbed the woman and pushed her into the water, attempting to drown her.
This is obviously scary, but things were about to get much worse.
A shocking revelation
When Bill and Liz moved to Heol Fanog, they came into contact with their only neighbor.
A grumpy old man who wasn’t exactly happy that a man from London was moving in next door
Although the neighbor did not change his tone, it became a little more bearable as the days passed.
One day Bill asked the man if he had ever heard anything strange about the old house he and his family lived in. And what he had to say was shocking.
Remember that scene in the classic horror film Poltergeist (1982) where the dead bodies came up in the pool? Yes, it was something like that.
Bill discovered that his house had been built with the headstones from a desecrated cemetery.
Perhaps this act of disrespect was the cause of Heol Fanog’s vicious pursuit. So far the ghosts had not shown themselves, but that would change.
The old woman
It is theorized that children are much more sensitive to the presence of ghosts. This seemed to be the case for the Riches’ children.
The image of a stern-looking older woman regularly appeared in the shadowy corners of their playroom.
When the children finally approached their parents about the strange visitor, the children honestly thought she was a real person who belonged there. They never wondered whether or not she was a ghost.
The dark figure
A second commonly sighted apparition in Heol Fanog was a shadowy figure.
This shadow person was seen walking through the house and appeared at the foot of their bed, looking down at them.
Whoever or whatever this entity was gave a feeling of absolute dread and dread.
One night, while the couple was sleeping, they were awakened by the unmistakable sound of the door opening.
As they peered into the darkness, they could make out a skeletal hand holding the door open.
As the hand closed the door, Bill turned on the lights and their eyes were met with unimaginable horror.
A figure, dressed in a dark black robe with a hood, loomed over their bed, looking down at them. It only disappeared after they both let out blood-curdling screams.
Bad behavior
As the chase continued, Bill began to exhibit behavior that was completely against his character.
Bill’s work as an artist began to falter and his talent seemed to dry up.
Finding himself no longer able to work, Bill became interested in the occult and dark side of life.
According to Liz, he spent hours alone in his studio, diligently studying the arcane books he collected.
And with Bill’s new interests came violent mood swings. One moment Bill would just be silent. And the next moment he became furious. Even the slightest infraction would set the man off.
Liz, fearing for her life and the lives of her children, eventually came to the conclusion that a spiritual problem required spiritual healing. It was time to call in an exorcist.
More shocking revelations
In seeking help, Liz contacted a number of mediums, spiritualists and clergy.
When they visited, they discovered an unnerving history unfolding on the property.
According to them, the cause of the chase came from three sources.
One of these was the desecrated gravestones, which they were already aware of.
Secondly, a brutal murder took place on the property in 1848. A young farmhand was killed by a friend who hit him on the head with an ax and buried him on the property.
The third dark news was by far the most disturbing.
Apparently satanic rituals, including animal sacrifice, were performed on the property. And it seems this still happened, as many of the Riches’ animals died mysterious deaths.
What should have been a little slice of heaven had become hell for the wealthy family. A hell that resulted not only in a broken family, but also in shattered dreams.
The Witch Farm
In 2022, Danny Robins, host of the wildly popular BBC podcasts The Battersea Poltergeist and Uncanny, took over the nightmarish story of Liz Rich and her time in Heol Fanog.
The radio drama “The Witch Farm“, which starred the voice talents of Joseph Fiennes and Alexandra Roach, dared to describe in detail events that plagued Heol Fanog.
And to put an end to the human pain and fear in what has become known as ‘Wales’ Amityville’, Danny managed to secure the participation of the woman who lived through the ordeal herself, Liz Rich.
If you haven’t listened to “The Witch Farm” yet, do yourself a favor and give it a listen. You can really hear the pain and sadness in her voice. Not to mention the fear.
In the interview, Liz complained that she wished she could have lived a normal life. I will never understand what she went through.
Tell us your thoughts about Heol Fanog in the comments below!
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