What happens when darkness doesn’t just haunt a house… it claims a family?

Black flies swarmed the porch in freezing winter. Footsteps climbed empty stairs at midnight. Children levitated, walked backward up walls in front of horrified witnesses, spoke in guttural voices no child should have, and convulsed with unnatural strength. A 9-year-old boy described his own murder to an unseen entity. Objects moved on their own. Shadows watched. And Latoya herself felt something ancient and malevolent coil inside her—weakness, shaking, heat from within—while the house slammed doors and dripped impossible oil in response.

Police investigated. DCS took emergency custody. A priest performed multiple exorcisms—three major rites authorized by the Diocese of Gary, including one in Latin—while estimating over 200 demons tormented the family. Officers guarded the rituals. Equipment failed. Photos captured silhouettes that weren’t there. Even skeptics became believers.

This is the true story behind the “Demon House” that Zak Bagans bought, filmed, and demolished for his 2018 documentary—the chilling real events that inspired Netflix’s The Deliverance and countless true horror discussions.

From black mold theories to full demonic infestation, we dive deep into the documented terror: witness statements, police reports, priest accounts, and the family’s fight to reclaim their lives. Listener discretion advised, this episode contains disturbing accounts of possession, child trauma, exorcisms, and unexplainable phenomena that may unsettle even the bravest souls.

If you love true crime with a paranormal twist, real exorcism stories, haunted house investigations, demonic possession cases, or the scariest true horror from Gary Indiana, this episode of Chasing the Dark will keep you up long after it ends.

Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode as we chase the shadows others fear to face. Follow @ChasingtheDark21 on social media for updates, behind-the-scenes, and community chills.

Sweet dreams… or whatever’s left of them.

Sources (for credibility & SEO backlinks in show notes):

• Primary: “The Exorcisms of Latoya Ammons” by Marisa Kwiatkowski, Indianapolis Star (IndyStar), January 25, 2014 (updated/republished 2023–2025) – the original investigative article that went viral and sparked the case’s fame.

• Additional: Wikipedia “Ammons haunting case” (cross-referenced with primary sources); All That’s Interesting overview; US Ghost Adventures summary; IndyStar follow-ups on Zak Bagans’ Demon House (2018 documentary); Netflix The Deliverance inspiration

On Christmas Eve 2008, a quiet suburban home in Covina, California, filled with laughter, tamales, and generations of the Ortega family, became the scene of one of the most shocking mass murders in American history.

March 10, 1963.

An onion field on the edge of Bakersfield becomes the final stop for a young LAPD officer whose only crime was believing in mercy.

In this episode of Chasing the Dark, we walk into the quiet rows where dawn arrived too late. We trace the hours after a routine traffic stop spiraled into terror, betrayal, and irreversible loss. Two men run. One officer falls. And the earth bears witness.

This is not a story told through headlines or courtroom transcripts alone. It’s a descent into fear, moral fracture, and the unbearable weight of survival. A meditation on duty, cowardice, and what it means to live when your partner does not.

The onion field remembers.

And so do we.

🎧 Listener discretion advised.