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Is the Changeling House Haunted?

In 1968, musical composer Russell Hunter was just looking to get away from it all. Tired of the hustle and bustle of New York City, he decided to seek time away to the Cheesman Park area of Denver, Colorado. Hoping that the change from crowded skyscrapers to the beauty of the Rocky Mountains would inspire his musical writings further, he was all enthused about his new move. What was meant to be a time of serene inspiration, instead turned into a stay of pure paranormal terror.

The house in question was rented by Hunter for a measly two hundred dollars a month, which was a steal for 1968 considering that the home was well over two thousand square feet and sat quietly in a welcoming neighborhood. However, Hunter soon found out that the rent for the home was so affordable because nobody else was willing to put up with all the baggage that came with it.

The Haunting of the Changeling House

Not long after arriving and moving in, Hunter was finding himself subject to very early morning wake-up calls of the unexplained variety. Extremely loud and forceful bangs punctured the early morning silences he had while trying to sleep. The wrappings were so loud and strong in their intensity that he claimed if one put their hand to the wall you could feel it actually vibrate. Surprised and looking for answers, he would go about the house to find doors opening and shutting at random as well as the kitchen being thrown around into disarray. Even during waking hours, an unknown thud sound would tumble down the main staircase.

Unexperienced in the paranormal, Hunter did the only thing he could and began searching through the house as thoroughly as possible to reveal what might be causing the frequent disturbances. In his quest for answers he found of all things, a hidden staircase in one of the house closets. Eager at pursuing his newest discovery, he found that the staircase took him straight up to the third floor of the home and into the attic where he made yet another shocking discovery. He found an old, rusted-out trunk that contained a set of antiquated school books and a journal. When reading through the journal, he discovered that the writer was a young boy, who was disabled and unable to leave the home and he wrote constantly about his love for his favorite toy, which was a red rubber bouncing ball. Hunter now realized that the source of the commotion that was keeping him up was that of a young ghost.

Troubled more than ever, Hunter then reached out to psychics who helped conduct a seance in which the young boy’s ghost made contact. He communicated that his body was buried under the house and that his parents had put him there when he died so as to make sure their fortune was not to be willed to other family members who would squander it. To ensure this further, his parents adopted another boy who resembled him and thus the moniker of “The Changeling House” was born.

Sure enough, the child’s bones were found under the house by Hunter. However, the activity in the home became quite violent as windows and mirrors would explode at random whenever Hunter walked by them, scarring his body with bits of broken glass. The banging and constant wrappings also increased in both frequency and intensity.

Russell Hunter only lasted a few months longer before he simply couldn’t take it anymore, and moved across the city into a newer home. However, the child’s ghost seemed to follow him and he was subjected to the all too familiar sounds of torment. Reaching out to a local Episcopal minister, Hunter had both himself and his new home blessed and that ended any further paranormal activity.

In the years to follow, much research on the home was conducted by both freelance journalists and paranormal enthusiasts. It was found that construction on the home was made in 1893 after the land had been home to an actual cemetery for close to thirty years. Since a short sale was conducted, not all the bodies were dug up and moved when construction began. The house was indeed built on top of a cemetery and this is a possible explanation for all the paranormal activity there.

The Changeling House Moves To Hollywood

As the years passed, a popular horror film chronicled the haunting there, and the 1980 film The Changeling, starring Academy Award Winner George C. Scott opened to rave reviews. More importantly, the home was actually demolished after the land was once again sold out, this time to a high rise apartment complex company. In one last show of strength, Russell Hunter actually attended the demolishing of the home and not to be outdone, so did the boy’s ghost. In one final and grim twist of fate, as the home was being torn down, one of the home’s windows mysteriously popped from the home’s frame and crashed into the head of the bulldozer operator. He was killed instantly.