cover image The Black Hope Horror: The True Story of a Haunting

The Black Hope Horror: The True Story of a Haunting

Ben Williams. William Morrow & Company, $19 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-688-05176-1

In 1980 the Williamses, middle-aged parents of three married daughters, bought a lot and built a house in the Newport subdivision of Houston. Soon after they moved in, odd things began to happen, involving not only Ben and Jean Williams but most of those close to them. Besides what could be called poltergeist activity (e.g., the repeated flushing of a toilet), there emerged more serious troubles. Every time they came to visit, the Williams daughters and their husbands, presumably happily married, would quarrel; all three marriages ended in divorce. Five family members died. The Williams' pets behaved strangely, and the family weathered virtual plagues of ants and snakes. Their neighbors, without exception, encountered similar freak events. When it was discovered that their homes were built over a cemetery, some members of the community sued the developer and lost, but the case was recently reopened. For their part, Ben and Jean Williams stayed until 1987, then moved to Montana. Writing here with freelancer Shoemaker, they recreate a bizarre tale that only credulous readers will respond to. Photos not seen by PW. (June)