Imagine buying a house.

You're starting a family.

You have a baby.

Your biggest concern should be diapers, sleepless nights and figuring out why babies cry at 3 a.m.

Not... why your baby refuses to sleep in one particular room.

In the early 1990s, Tony and Deborah Pickman moved into a house in Atchison, Kansas.

At first, the strange things were easy to ignore.

Lights flickered. Ceiling fan chains moved when nobody touched them. There were unexplained noises around the house.

Creepy? Sure.

Haunted? Not so much. Right?? 

Then their baby started waking up, constantly.

Whenever he slept alone in the nursery, he'd wake up crying.

But one night, Deborah's sister took him downstairs.

And suddenly?

He slept peacefully the entire night.

It seemed like the problem was… ✨the nursery✨

Then one night, Tony walked past the room.

The light was on. He opened the door.

Three of the baby's stuffed animals were sitting upright… in a circle (what in the seances)

Tony asked Deborah and her sister if either of them had arranged them.

Nope.

They put the toys back. Turned off the light. And headed downstairs.

Before they reached the bottom:

Click. 

The nursery light came back on.

They went upstairs. The toys were back on the floor.

Sitting.

In a circle.

Okay…

Absolutely not 😭😭😭

The family slept together that night.

Even their dog seemed disturbed by the room, standing in the doorway and barking at apparently nothing.

UM??? HELLO??? LEAVE???

Welcome to another episode of The Crime Times, your weekly dose of chilling crimes, bizarre mysteries, and stories that will make you question everything.

Keep your lights off, wear your detective hat and let’s get back to this week’s case.

Eventually, psychics were brought into the house.

And this is where things got even stranger.

They claimed there was a little girl in the house.

A child who wanted to be part of the family.

One explanation Deborah was given was that the spirit wanted to be nurtured.

And Deborah began feeling protective toward it (I already feel the aggression building in me.) 

She reportedly felt an urge to nurture whatever was there.

To care for it.

A lonely little girl (awwww)

A spirit that just wanted love and protection for their baby.

Cute, right?

A little ghost babysitter 🎀👻

How sweet of her 🥺🥺🥺

Tony wasn't convinced.

Because while Deborah was beginning to see something vulnerable...

Tony was beginning to feel something else.

Tony started hearing footsteps running up and down the stairs at night.

At first, he assumed it was one of their cats.

One night, he went to catch them.

Except… there were no cats.

Tony stood near the dark staircase.

Then he heard footsteps.

Running. Straight toward him.

He described an icy wind passing through his body (hahahahhahahahhaahhahahahhahahhaha. No sane person is spending another minute in that house. right????)

Then he heard something else.

Children laughing.

Nobody was there. 

And then Tony saw her.

A little girl.

Standing near the basement.

She wore an old-fashioned white dress.

Tony froze.

Then he noticed something that immediately sent him running.

He could partially see through her.

He dropped his glass.

And ran upstairs.

The little girl would eventually become known as Sally.

But according to Tony...

Sometimes Sally didn't look like a little girl at all.

The activity became more physical.

One day, Deborah came out of the shower and found Tony in pain.

He told her:

"She bit me."

There was a bite mark on his leg.

Then came scratches. Deep red marks. Some bleeding.

Some appearing alongside sudden, sharp pain.

And whatever was happening seemed increasingly focused on Tony.

He began seeing Deborah walking around the house.

Except...

Deborah wasn't there.

One time, Tony saw what looked exactly like his wife walking down the hallway.

Same face.

But she was wearing an old-fashioned maid's outfit.

He followed her. She entered a room. And disappeared.

Then Tony began hearing scratching inside the walls.

Sometimes, he said, it sounded like several people whispering.

And then came one of his most terrifying encounters.

Because apparently they still hadn’t left (side eye. Bombastic side eye.)

Tony was lying in bed when something like dust began drifting through the room.

The particles became darker. Larger.

Until they formed the shape of an older woman dressed entirely in black.

She floated toward him.

The drawers beside his bed began slamming open and shut.

His waterbed started violently shaking.

Tony couldn't scream.

The woman moved closer.

And reached toward his throat.

Then suddenly...

Tony saw what looked like a giant black bird.

And the woman disappeared.

But Sally was still there.

At least...

something pretending to be Sally.

Tony saw the little girl near his bed again.

She reached toward him. He resisted.

And then, according to Tony...

she growled.

Her appearance changed. She transformed into something on all fours. Hunched over.

With what he described as melted flesh.

And worms hanging from it.

Yeah.

At that point, we're not nurturing anybody.

We're packing boxes. 😭

Wait, you still here???? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? 😭😭😭

Tony later said the house was changing him.

He began experiencing violent thoughts about hurting Deborah.

He had nightmares about cutting her throat with a butcher knife.

The disturbing part?

When he left the house, the thoughts reportedly disappeared.

But when he returned… they came back.

Then one morning, Tony woke up overwhelmed by hateful thoughts.

He went into the kitchen.

Picked up a butcher knife.

Their pet cat was nearby.

And then...

he blacked out.

Later, Tony returned home and found the cat had been stabbed and pinned to the kitchen counter.

Tony had no memory of doing it.

But believed he must have. He sought psychological help. Nothing clinically obvious was found.

Yet Tony became terrified of what might happen if they stayed.

Still, they didn't leave immediately (Seee, there’s something very wrong with white people) 

Until Tony was reportedly thrown into the railing at the top of the stairs, breaking several rungs.

Then that was enough.

Within three weeks...

they moved out (sighs) 

There is a story connected to the house about a little girl named Sally.

According to the legend, Sally had undergone an operation in the same house and died on the operating table.

And supposedly… she never left.

Which would explain the little girl Tony claimed to see.

The child in the old-fashioned dress.

The spirit psychics said wanted to be nurtured.

The presence Deborah reportedly began feeling protective toward.

Except… There is no evidence confirming the story.

No proof that a little girl named Sally ever died there.

Which raises a horrifying question.

Who was Deborah trying to nurture?

A lonely child who died during surgery?

A spirit pretending to be one?

Or something that understood that appearing as a little girl was the fastest way to make someone lower their guard?

Because while Deborah was told the spirit wanted love...

Tony was being bitten. Scratched.

Seeing people who weren't there.

And eventually becoming afraid of his own thoughts.

So, detectives...

Was Sally ever really a little girl?

Or was "Sally" simply the face something else chose to wear?

👀

Hit reply and tell us what you think.

We're opening this investigation. 

— The Crime Times

(Your smartest friend who's dangerously obsessed with horror stories. 🧚🏻‍♀️)