True Poltergeist Story - The Bothell Hell House by Keith Linder

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‘The Bothell House : Poltergeist of Washington State’ by K. Linder

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• ‘The Bothell House : Poltergeist of Washington State’ by K. Linder

9

Aug, 2018

 Ashley Knibb The Book Review

‘The Bothell House : Poltergeist of Washington State’ by K. Linder

A little about the author…

Keith Linder is not only the author of ‘The Bothell House’, but he lived through the dramatic events that took place at what should have been his dream home. A place he rented from the landlord with his girlfriend Tina and moved into during May 2012. It was back then when the strange events began to unfold starting with what Keith and Tina believed to be the sound of a child coughing.

I have to be honest in the fact that I don’t fully recall the first moment that Keith and I began to discuss the activity at his now former home over social media, which quickly lead to Keith sending me a copy of his book to read and review for this very website. What struck me straight away was the fact that at that point we both had an interest in and worked in the IT industry. We equally had an interest in the paranormal, mine a life long exploration, but Keith’s was one that had evolved from his own experiences in Bothell. This helped me to understand Keith a little from our communications and as I read his book. The reason being is that I often try my best to understand what an individual experiencing paranormal activity may be going through and of course why they reacted the way they did. Much of what Keith done seemed quite normal and logical to me, perhaps even approaches I too would have taken should I have found myself in those horrific situations.

It’s my assumption from a few conversations with Keith and indeed from the contents of his book, that Keith is certainly a man of faith. He certainly makes several comments on his upbringing and current belief in relation to his faith. This is equally highlighted by the fact that one avenue Keith and Tina pursue in order to help with their probable poltergeist infestation, is through the local church. He also proceeded to follow the advice of many others too though, including family members and of course the paranormal community too. At least the part of the paranormal community willing to listen to their plight.

Keith and Tina may be best remembered for the episode of Ghost Adventures they appeared in called; ‘Demons in Seattle’. During the episode the Ghost Adventures team descended upon their home in order to investigate their poltergeist claims which had been highlighted by a local News team from Seattle KOMO CBS, with its reporter Elisa Jaffe. I say best remembered simply because the Ghost Adventures show is likely to have provided the greatest reach for the story. A reach which would be not only national in the US, but international as the show now plays out in numerous other countries including here in the UK. As the show has obtained a huge fan base following, this would mean for both Keith and Tina that their story would be told to a great many people worldwide. However with huge media coverage comes potential issues of negativity and poor assessment of the case at hand.

TV shows such as Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters and the UK show Most Haunted each work on a shooting schedule in order to capture the footage they require to put together a show. A show which has a running format in order to deliver viewing figures to keep the show renewed. As anyone that investigates the paranormal knows you can have investigations that can be extremely active, which in reality probably means you’ve had a percentage of activity in relation to no activity. This is generally the case. However you also have some very quiet investigations, where literally nothing of note occurs. Absence of activity during one visit certainly doesn’t mean that a location is not active. This is often where I believe the comprehension of ghost hunting is blurred with investigation. Something which remains an ongoing debate within the community.

It was the very same paranormal community though that equally decided to trial Keith and Tina by Social Media once the Ghost Adventures episode had aired, which is very disappointing to hear. Granted I am not talking about the whole community, but a large number decided to fire out negative tweets aimed directly at both Keith and Tina due to the Ghost Adventures findings. A large group concluded that Keith and Tina were making up their ordeal and out to hoax the famous Ghost Adventures team. Something they concluded from an episode based on a what the book describes as a relatively short investigation.

I am no expert in poltergeist cases and would never claim to be one, but from what I have read on the subject in order to truly investigate such cases you must practically commit to living the experience. This was something that Grosse and Lyon Playfair done when they investigated the Enfield Poltergeist for the SPR. However those which spent less time at the Enfield residents took the opinion that the teenage girls were faking incidents for the benefit of the media. Sound familiar. So, in order to comprehend the true events of a poltergeist case, we should be looking to invest our time in order to experience the events within the dwelling. At least in order to comprehend what actually might be occurring to the individuals and in order to separate the paranormal from the normal. Which would include gather a great amount of data on the subject case too.

This brings me firmly back to Keith and how he approach his own poltergeist experience. The community and indeed family members advised him that he would need to capture some evidence. By evidence they meant video, audio and photographic clues to the probable paranormal activity. As readers of my blogs know, I’m not a massive fan of calling video, audio and photographs evidence of the paranormal as I find them to be often unquantifiable. They are excellent clues that begin to point us in the right direction and certainly in many cases very interesting. However I think we should be moving away from calling them ‘evidence’, but that’s a personal preference really. Keith, as I would have, took their comments on board and done what any techy would, he brought some tech! In this case it was numerous CCTV cameras that could be monitored remotely and alert him to various changes even whilst he was at work. It was through this system and later versions that Keith has managed to gather a huge amount of data in order to state that something is going on.

So, Keith is a man of faith, but equally he comprehends the need to gather good data on a subject. Something that he does in his day job, but equally brought to the poltergeist infestation within his home. Just like he would in work, he evolved that approach as the poltergeist continued to not only tear apart his home, but also his relationship with Tina.

On to The Bothell House…

As I have already mentioned the book itself is about Keith and Tina’s poltergeist ordeal within what should have been their dream home in Bothell. Ultimately though the journey becomes Keith’s as the events that continue to occur in their home and the reaction of the paranormal community through social media after the airing of the Ghost Adventures episode becomes too much for Tina. In all honesty I can totally sympathise with Tina’s decision to walk away from it all and surprised they lasted together in the house as long as they did. It’s equally astonishing that Keith decided to remain long after Tina left, through what appears to be a moral decision not to allow the next occupants to experience the same as them.

https://ashleyknibb.com/2018/08/09/the-bothell-house-poltergeist-of-washington-state-by-keith-linder/