Ep. 66 - Columbine Part 2: The Library | Inside the Deadliest Room at Columbine High School

In Part Two of our Columbine series, we step inside the library at Columbine High School, the deadliest location during the April 20, 1999 attack.

As students hid beneath tables and computer desks, librarian Patti Nielson remained on the phone with 911 while chaos unfolded around her. We examine the events inside the library, the stories of the victims and survivors, the heroism of teacher Dave Sanders, and the terrifying moments that forever changed American history.

This episode contains discussions of mass violence, murder, trauma, suicide, and graphic emotional content involving minors. Listener discretion is advised.

In our next and final installment, we'll explore the aftermath of Columbine, the survivors, the media frenzy, the myths and misconceptions surrounding the case, and the lasting impact of April 20, 1999.

Echoes From the Veil

Have a paranormal encounter, true crime experience, near-death experience, stalking encounter, or unexplained story?

Send your story to:

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Your story may be featured in a future installment of Echoes From the Veil.

Monthly Listener Giveaways

Our monthly listener giveaways begin this month and include:

🔮 Tarot Cards
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Follow us on social media for details and future giveaway announcements.

Audio Used

• Columbine-related 911 dispatch audio
• Patti Nielson 911 call excerpts
• Historical news audio used for commentary and educational purposes
• Original music and sound design by Dave Daddario
• Additional editing, production, and sound design by Veil of Echoes

Music & Sound Design

Original music, theme music, trailer music, and sound design by Dave Daddario.

🎵 YouTube: youtube.com/@davedaddario

Sources

•  Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Columbine Report 
•  Columbine by Dave Cullen 
•  FBI Columbine Documents 
•  Columbine Review Commission Materials 
•  Survivor Testimony and Witness Statements 
•  CNN Archive Coverage 
•  History Channel Archives 
•  Denver Post Columbine Coverage 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Beneath the ordinary world lies a veil, and behind it the voices of the lost still whisper.

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We are your guides into the shadows, where true crime meets the paranormal.

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From chilling crimes to haunted histories, we uncover the stories that refuse to rest.

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This is the other echoes.

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Beneath the library tables, students press themselves flat against the carpet, trying not to breathe too loudly. Dust clings to their sleeves. Broken pencils and abandoned backpacks are scattered across the floor beside them. And somewhere nearby, someone is silently crying into their ears. And then footsteps move between the bunch. Nobody breathes. Then someone kneels beside them. April twentieth, nineteen ninety-nine. Eleven twenty-nine a.m. Eric Harris and Dylan Clybold enter the library at Columbine High School.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

This is episode sixty-six of Columbine Part 2. The library.

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Welcome back to Veil of Echoes, a cinematic immersive experience where true crime and the unexplained collide.

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Every story we tell leaves something behind.

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A question. A warning sign. A moment that continues to echo long after it's over.

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We're your host, I'm Lindsay.

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I'm Zach.

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And I'm Bria. Before we begin, we want to give a quick disclaimer that this episode contains discussions of mass violence, murder, trauma, suicide, and graphic emotional content involving minors. Listener discretion is strongly advised.

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As always, our goal with this series is not to sensationalize what happened, but to tell these stories with humanity, context, and respect for the victims and survivors.

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And before we continue, we also wanted to thank you guys for the incredible support Bale of Echoes has received recently.

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At the end of the month, we'll officially begin our monthly listener giveaways.

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Including tarot cards, crystals, wax sealed letters, candles, and other artifacts inspired by the world of Bale of Echoes.

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The kind of things that feel like they belong beside a flickering candle during a midnight seance.

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We're also still deciding on an official name for our listeners.

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So if you have any ideas, send them to us through our social media or email.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Yeah, we have um one week left, and then we're gonna put some polls up on our socials. And some idea so far is Veil Walkers, and then Alex mentioned Veil Voyagers, and then there's Echo Keepers, and then there's Or just put a poll up and you guys decide. There's a list, so it's exciting. And we're also preparing to launch a brand new listener series called Echoes from the Veil.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Real stories sent in directly by you guys.

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Paranormal encounters, unexplained experiences, near death moments, true crime encounters, being stalked, strange figures in the woods, the stories that never fully left you.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

So if you have a story you've never been able to explain, send it to us through our socials or email us directly at Veil of Echoes Podcast at gmail.com. And we're planning to launch this series probably in June, so later next month.

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Get on it, people, get on it! Have a good day, everyone.

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And with that, let's return to the Columbine Library.

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I don't really want to, but here we are. By the time Eric Harris and Dylan Claibold reached the second floor of Columbine High School, the school was already collapsing into confusion. Outside, students printed across the parking lot covered in blood and dust. Some screamed for friends who never came out behind them, and others stood frozen in shock, unable to fully process what they had just witnessed.

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At 1124 a.m., Deputy Neil Gardner exchanged gunfire with Eric Harris near the west entrance of the school. Students nearby ran for cover as bullets struck parked cars and shattered windows. Inside the building, the sounds echoed through the hallway like explosions.

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But while chaos unfolded outside, teacher Dave Sanders was doing everything he could to save students inside. Witnesses later described Sanders running through the cafeteria and hallways, dragging students towards exits, shouting for them to run.

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Alongside two custodians, Sanders helped evacuate more than a hundred students out of the cafeteria and away from danger. But he didn't stop there. Again and again he ran back into the building trying to help more students escape.

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Eventually, Sanders reached the hallway near the library. He motioned for students inside to stay down and remain hidden. Then he turned the corner.

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Eric Harris and Dylan Clybel were walking directly toward him.

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Sanders turned and ran. Harris fired behind him, striking Sanders in the back and neck. He collapsed in the hallway as students nearby scattered in terror.

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Even after being critically wounded, Sanders struggled towards a nearby science classroom. Teachers and students pulled him inside as gunfire continued echoing through the school.

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Inside the classroom, students tried desperately to keep him alive, using shirts to slow down the bleeding, showing him family photos from his wallet to keep him conscious.

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That's so s that's depressing, wow.

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Speaking to him while they waited for help that never seemed to come.

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And while Dave Sanders fought to stay alive only feet away from terrified students upstairs, the library was filling with silence.

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Some believed the sounds outside were construction noises. Others thought it might be a senior prank. But librarian Patty Nielsen knew something was terribly wrong.

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At 1125 a.m., Patty called 911 from inside the library. Throughout the call, gunshots can be heard echoing through the building. Screaming, breaking glass, panic spreading room by room.

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Beneath the tables, students clutched each other's hands. Some silently prayed. Some whispered goodbye messages into cell phones.

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And then at approximately eleven twenty nine AM, the library doors opened. Eric and Dylan entered the Columbine Library. Inside were more than fifty students, along with teachers and library staff, hiding beneath tables and computer desks. In less than eight minutes, ten people inside that room would be dead.

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Witnesses later recalled the two entering the library almost casually, laughing, talking to each other, carrying weapons through rows of terrified students hiding beneath tables. I hate that.

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Almost immediately, Harris fired his shotgun toward a desk near the entrance. Wood splintered into the air as students duck lower beneath tables and computer stations.

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Near the north row of computers sat sixteen-year-old Kyle Vallasquez. Kyle had special needs, and during the chaos unfolding around him, he remained seated at his computer station instead of hiding beneath a table.

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Dylan raised his shotgun and fired. Kyle became the first person killed inside the library. Oh piece That's fucking ignorant.

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The two then moved deeper into the room, setting down ammunition bags beside the computer rows, and reloading their weapons. Around them, students pressed themselves tighter against the carpet, hoping not to be noticed.

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At different points, witnesses recalled the shooters shouting things throughout the library, taunting students, laughing after firing shots. And at one point one of them yelled, Anybody with a white hat or sports emblem on, it is dead.

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White baseball caps had become associated with Columbine athletes. Beneath the tables, some students quietly removed their hats, hiding them underneath their shirts or behind their backs.

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The gunmen then fired toward the library windows, facing outside police officers. Glass shattered outward as deputies returned fire from outside the school.

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Then the shooters turned back toward the students hiding inside the library, and table by table the room descended the further into terror. After firing toward the windows and computer desks, Eric and Dylan began moving table by table through the library. For the students hiding underneath them, there was nowhere left to run.

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Near one of the tables, Patrick Ireland, Daniel Steapleton, and Mackay Hall hid together beneath the wood surface above them. Dylan fired towards the table, injuring all three students.

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Nearby, fourteen year old Stephen Curnow hid beneath a computer desk. Harris dropped to one knee and beneath the desk, Stephen was struck in the neck.

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Just feet away, seventeen year old Casey Rugzaker was hit by another blast that tore through her shoulder and neck. As she gasped in pain beneath the table, witnesses later recalled Harris telling her, quit your bitchy. Stupid fuck. I hate this guy.

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Then Harris approached another table. Underneath it had two students Cassie Bernal and Emily Want. Harris slapped the top of the table twice.

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Peekaboo.

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Moments later, Harris fired beneath the table, killing Cassie Burnall.

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Nearby sat Bree Pascal, exposed beside a table because there was no room left underneath it. Harris approached her and asked if she wanted to die. Bree pleaded for her life. Witnesses later recalled Harris laughing, before saying, Everyone's gonna die.

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Across the library, Isaiah Scholes, Matthew Ketcher, and Craig Scott hid beneath another table together. Craig was the younger brother of Rachel Scott, who had already been killed outside the school earlier that morning.

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Witnesses later described Dylan spotting Isaiah Scholes beneath the table, making racist remarks and attempting to pull him out from underneath it.

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Harris and Keybold then fired beneath the table, killing Isaiah and Matthew. Craig survived by laying motionless beneath the bodies of his friends, pretending to be dead.

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Throughout the library, students could hear prayers, crying, whispered goodbyes, and over everything else, the fire alarms continued screaming overhead.

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By now, the library no longer felt like a room. Survivors later described it as chaos layered over silence, gunfire, crying, prayers whispered underneath tables. In between it all, moments of terrifying stillness.

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As Harris and Clebold moved deeper through the library, more students were struck beneath the tables. Mark Kinjan was shot in the head and shoulder. Nearby, Lisa Cruiz, Lauren Townsend, and Valen Schern were all hit by the same blast.

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Moments later, Dylan approached the table again and fired several more shots. Lauren Townsend was killed beneath the table.

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Valen Schnur survived her injuries, but witnesses recalled her crying out repeatedly, Oh my God, oh my god.

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According to survivor testimony, Clebold turned towards her and asked, Do you believe in God?

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Valine answered Yes.

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Dylan then asked her, why? Before eventually walking away from the table.

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In the years after Columbine, confusion surrounding survivor accounts and early media reports caused many people to associate that exchange with Cassie Burnell instead. But later testimony pointed towards Valen Schneer as the student involved in the conversation.

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And that's where the fly leaf song came from.

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Elsewhere in the library, Harris approached another table where Nicole Nolan and John Tomlin were hiding. Nicole was injured. As Tomlin attempted to move out from beneath the table, Claybold shot him repeatedly.

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Sixteen-year-old Kelly Fleming hid alone without a table to shelter beneath. Harris fired toward her, killing her where she laid on the library floor.

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Survivors later described pretending to be dead beneath the bodies of classmates and friends, afraid even breathing too loudly would draw attention.

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Some students closed their eyes and prayed. Others listened to footsteps moving table by table, waiting for them to stop beside their own.

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And somehow the fire alarm still hadn't stopped. By 1134 AM, the library had become a room filled with smoke, shattered glass, and silence broken only by alarms and scattered gunfire. Students lie motionless beneath tables, many unsure who around them was still alive.

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Near the center of the library, Eric pointed his rifle beneath another table towards sixteen-year-old Daniel Mauser. Witnesses later describe Mauser attempting to push a chair towards Harris in desperation.

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Harris fired again at close range, killing Daniel beneath the table.

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Nearby, Jennifer Doyle and Austin Eubanks were critically injured beneath another table after Harris fired several shots underneath it. Austin would survive the massacre, but years later struggled deeply with trauma and addiction connected to that day.

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At approximately 11 35 a.m., 17-year-old Corey D. Pooter was fatally shot. He would become the final person killed inside the library.

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In just under eight minutes, 10 people inside the library had been murdered, and 12 others wounded.

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And then, almost as suddenly as it began, the gunfire stopped.

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Witnesses later recalled hearing Eric and Dylan speaking casually near the library counter, as if the horror surrounding them wasn't real.

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At one point, they approached student Evan Todd near the library counter. Clayboat questioned whether Todd was a jock because he was wearing a white hat. Todd pled with them, telling them he had never had problems with either one of them.

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Eventually, Dylan told him, We're gonna let you live.

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Before leaving, Cleobold slammed a chair into the library counter above where Patty Nielsen was still hiding underneath.

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Then, at approximately 11 36 AM, Eric and Dylan walked out of the library.

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But inside the room they left behind, survivors still didn't know if they were coming back.

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Injured students remained trapped beneath tables. Some survivors were too terrified to move. Others began crawling towards the emergency exit, stepping through broken glass and blood-covered carpet trying to escape the library alive.

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And outside, the rest of the world was only beginning to understand what was happening inside Columbine High School. So what part of the library sequence unsettled you guys the most while researching this? Peekaboo.

SPEAKER_04 20:53

Probably.

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I hate these guys.

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Like, what do you what you slap the table, peekaboo, shoot, shoot. Like, why why the fuck the theatrics, like, why are you even doing this in the first place? Just to satisfy your own sick need.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Yeah, and then and then that poor Kyle kid in the He had sp he couldn't get underneath. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 21:13

I I don't know, like it's worse and worse. I don't even think he knew what was going on. Like he still sat there while it was all going down.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Well I know, but he could like even if he tried, I think. He couldn't. Yeah, that's what's going on.

SPEAKER_04 21:22

That's why I didn't know if he was like in a wheelchair if he was just disabled.

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I don't know. Either way, it's fucked up.

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It is.

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And how they were just laughing and having casual conversations.

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Like Oh, everyone's gonna die.

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What the hell?

unknown 21:39

I don't know.

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It's all fucked up. And that poor teacher, Dave Sanders. I don't know, it's on this. He was a hero. Oh, definitely.

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And that is the end of part two. And honestly, if you stayed with us through this series so far, thank you.

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Columbai is one of the heaviest cases. We've covered on Veil of Echoes. And we really appreciate you guys trusting us with stories like this.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

Yeah, I'm glad that whole lot I don't know, it was all awful, but I'm glad we, uh past that part. In our next and final part of this series, we'll explore the aftermath of Columbine, the survivors, the victims, and the final moments inside the school, and how April 20th, 1999 permanently changed America forever.

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We'll also dive into the media frenzy that followed, the myths and misconceptions surrounding the case, and the trauma that still echoes through Columbine more than two decades later.

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And if you've been enjoying Veil of Echoes, please make sure to follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you stream your podcast. And please, please, please leave us a rating a review because it generally helps us more than you know.

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Next time we leave the halls of Columbine behind and step inside a small house in Pennsylvania where a family claimed something inside the walls hated them.

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Footsteps in empty rooms, shadows standing at the end of beds, scratches appearing across skin in the middle of the night, and voices whispering from inside the darkness.

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The Smurl family said whatever lived inside that house didn't just haunt them, it tormented them.

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Even paranormal investigators who entered the home would later admit something about the house felt wrong.

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The Smirl haunting. Until next time, keep your ears open.

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And the veil closed.