Walter Hubbell & The Great Amherst Mystery

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

ABC#067, part 1

Walter Hubbell was a Philadelphia-born actor who would probably be forgotten today were it not for the Great Amherst Mystery, a book he wrote about Esther Cox, a young woman seemingly possessed by evil spirits which started after she suffered a failed sexual assault at gunpoint by a young man she trusted. Esther's nightmarish experiences affected not only her, but the people with whom she lived: she was even temporarily jailed as an arsonist when a neighbor's barn burned to the ground.

Walter Hubbell learned about Esther when his traveling troop ventured into the Maritimes. He thought that he could debunk the stories. Instead, he became a convert and wrote about it. Years later, much of what he wrote was debunked by a psychic skeptic. The whole story is mesmerizing.