The Ammons Haunting | The Terrifying Story Behind Indiana’s Demon House
Footsteps climbed the basement stairs after midnight. Black flies swarmed the porch in winter. Then a mother and grandmother said they found a twelve-year-old girl floating above her bed.
The Ammons haunting began in a small rental house in Gary, Indiana, and eventually drew in police officers, hospital staff, child welfare workers, and a Catholic priest. Their accounts helped turn an ordinary home into the infamous Demon House, inspiring a documentary and the horror film The Deliverance.
On this episode of You Two Scare Me, we explore the frightening reports—and conflicting explanations—behind the case.
Something Was Wrong on Carolina Street
In November 2011, Latoya Ammons, her mother Rosa Campbell, and Latoya’s three children moved into a rental house at 3860 Carolina Street.
Within weeks, the family reported large black flies gathering on the enclosed porch despite the December cold. They described footsteps coming from the basement, doors opening, and a shadowy man in the living room. Rosa said she discovered wet boot prints after investigating the figure.
Then, in March 2012, Latoya and Rosa reported seeing Latoya’s daughter levitating above a bed, unconscious. According to their account, people gathered around her and prayed until she descended. The girl reportedly remembered nothing afterward.
The family began seeking help from churches and mediums. According to Latoya and Rosa, two mediums told them the house contained more than 200 demons.
Moving wasn’t financially practical, so they tried prayer and a cleansing. Latoya said the house stayed quiet for three days before the disturbances returned.
The Hospital Incident
The story became even more unsettling after an April 2012 visit to the family’s doctor led to emergency treatment and an investigation by the Indiana Department of Child Services.
At the hospital, DCS case manager Valerie Washington and registered nurse Willie Lee Walker reported witnessing something extraordinary.
According to Washington’s report, Latoya’s nine-year-old son walked backward up a wall while holding his grandmother’s hand, flipped over her, and landed on his feet. Walker corroborated the account in interviews with The Indianapolis Star.
Both said they fled the room.
Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell later suggested the child could have performed a physical maneuver with his grandmother’s support. The witnesses described movement they believed went beyond that explanation.
The existence of their accounts makes this a particularly disturbing part of the case, although it does not establish a supernatural cause.
Police, a Priest, and Reports of Possession
Gary Police Captain Charles Austin initially doubted the family’s story. After visiting the house and interviewing witnesses, he said he became a believer.
Officers reported equipment problems, unusual photographs, and an unidentified sound on a recording. Police records also described an oily substance reappearing on bedroom blinds after officers wiped it away and restricted access to the room.
Father Michael Maginot visited the family and became convinced they were experiencing demonic activity. He later performed exorcism rites on Latoya, including three major rites in June 2012.
By then, the family had also endured a painful separation. DCS had taken custody of the children while professionals assessed their welfare.
Psychological evaluations raised concerns about suggestion and the influence of the adults’ supernatural beliefs on the children. Latoya and Rosa continued to maintain that the experiences were real.
Latoya regained custody in November 2012, and the child welfare case closed the following February.
Zak Bagans and the Fate of Demon House
The case attracted international attention after The Indianapolis Star published its investigation in January 2014, drawing on extensive records and interviews.
Ghost Adventures host Zak Bagans purchased the property and investigated it for his documentary Demon House, released in 2018. He described an evil presence and troubling experiences connected to the house. Skeptics challenged the film’s evidence and interpretations.
The house was demolished in January 2016. Bagans preserved the basement stairs and other materials, some of which became part of a Demon House exhibit at his Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.
The Ammons case also loosely inspired Lee Daniels’ 2024 film The Deliverance. The movie changes names and dramatizes events, so it offers a fictional adaptation rather than a factual reconstruction.
What Really Happened?
The Ammons haunting leaves us with sharply different accounts. Family members described terrifying experiences. A nurse, a caseworker, police officers, and a priest reported events that unsettled them. Psychologists and skeptical investigators offered explanations involving family influence, misunderstood behavior, and ordinary physical causes.
The house is gone, and those disagreements remain.
But one image is especially hard to shake: a grandmother holding her grandson’s hand in a hospital room while two witnesses said they watched him walk backward up a wall.
Listen to the Ammons haunting episode of You Two Scare Me for the full story behind Indiana’s Demon House.
Have a strange experience of your own? Send it to youtwoscaremepodcast@gmail.com for our Somebody Told Me segment.
If you like Haunted House Stories, check out our 2 part series on the haunting of 30 East Drive and the.
