An evil gnome like creature terrorizes a farmhouse in Porterville

Looks innocent doesn't he? 

I love strange creature stories and am always lamenting the fact that the Central Valley is lacking in them (unless you want to count the numerous sighting of dogs with mange being reported as Chupacabras). So imagine my surprise (and a bit of shock) when I came across a story of a supposedly evil gnome that was terrorizing a farm house near Porterville.

The first incident occurred when a woman by the name of Tammy moved herself and her three children into a small farmhouse on the Tule River near Porterville. Soon after moving in Tammy started feeling like something was watching them and had an uneasy feeling ever time she walked by the old barn. For some reason most of the animals on the farm seemed to avoid the rickety old building and soon she noticed that the number of her ducks and chickens had started to dwindle, but couldn't figure out why. She was soon going to have an idea why.

One night Tammy and her son were coming back from grocery shopping when, as she parked the car and got out, noticed movement to her right. Thinking nothing of it she picked up a grocery bag and noticed it again, this time accompanied by what she described as a "very freaky, very evil sounding chuckle". Looking in the direction of the noise Tammy noticed about 50 yards from her a small humanoid looking figure. Or as she described it, a gnome.

The figure was about two to three feet in height, wore black baggy pants and a gold colored shirt. The face was partially covered by a long salt and pepper beard and on top of the head was a long, red pointed hat. The nose was large and bulbous and the eyes were rather deep set. As the figure grinned at them, Tammy noticed that the grin was almost from ear to ear and the teeth looked to be an ugly brown color and appeared to be either pointed or jagged.

Horrified, Tammy dropped the groceries and grabbed her son and ran off towards the house with the cackling little man right on her heels. Tammy was able to get inside the house and was in the midst of telling her two daughters what she saw, when she saw movement outside the kitchen window. Upon investigating she saw the top of the figure's red pointed hat moving back and forth underneath the window. Finally after what must have seemed like an eternity, the figure disappeared and Tammy was able to get the groceries from the car. This was the only time she actually saw the figure, but until she moved out she would always hear creepy chuckling coming from the old barn, as if it was taunting her or something.

You would think that this would be an isolated occurrence, but it seems the gnome wasn't satisfied with just terrorizing Tammy and her family.

In March of 2010 a family moved in to the same house on the Tule River. According to the wife, Charlie, it was perfect for what their family needed. Her husband took a particular liking to a pond on the property and decorated it with fairy, gnome, and toadstool yard ornaments and stocked it with Japanese koi fish. Not surprisingly, Charlie and her family also had an eerie feeling about the old barn on the property and tried to stay away from it as much as possible.

One night, at around 3:00 am, Charlie and her husband were woken by what can only be described as a "raspy, gurgling singing". Charlie and her husband looked out their bedroom window and what they saw defied what they considered their reality. Standing by the pond and holding one of the garden gnomes was a creature that came out of a Grimm's fairy tale, as Charlie described it. The creature was two to three feet tall, wearing maroon pants and a baggy yellow shirt with a brown vest over it and a dark waistcoat. It had a large gray beard and was wearing a reddish brown pointed hat. Charlie went on to say the most horrible part of the creature were its eyes and teeth. When it grinned it's teeth appeared to be jagged and pointed and the eyes were small and beady and had a dark mean look to them.

Apparently the creature saw the couple looking at him (it?) and reached into the pond and grabbed a koi and dropped it into its mouth and swallowed it. Furious, Charlie's husband pushed open the window and yelled at the creature to leave the yard or he'd call the police. The gnome grinned and laughed as he gave them the finger and disappeared. The police were called, being notified that an "intruder" was on the property, but when they got there an hour later the only evidence that was found was small footprints, about the size of a child's, around the pond.

This wasn't the only time the gnome would visit the pond. Night after night it would be seen holding a yard ornament and eating a fish. The family eventually wised up and moved the ornaments and put the fish into a tank inside the house. Apparently this didn't go over well with the gnome. Upon the usual time of its appearance of 3:00 am, when the gnome saw that the yard ornaments and fish had been removed it went into a crazed frenzy and began yelling and screaming in some language that nobody could understand. But they understood it was pissed. It began to run around the house screaming in whatever language was native to it. The family felt safe until Charlie realized the dog door in the kitchen was unlocked and feared the creature would try to enter the house through that. She was able to lock and then ran upstairs to close the rest of the windows. The last they heard of the creature was a very loud screeching, cackling sound that was heard underneath one of the living room windows. Charlie's husband went to investigate and saw the top of the creature's hat underneath the window.

Given all that had gone on the family decided to get out of the house and Porterville in general. One has to ask, was this the same creature that Tammy saw a few years prior? I first heard of both Tammy and Charlie's story on MysteriousUniverse.org and it seems the author of the article was able to put the two women in contact with each other. After exchanging info and indeed confirming that both had lived on the same property, they agreed to meet and revisit the property where their terrifying encounters had occurred. Upon arrival, they noticed the barn structure that had given both of them an eerie feeling had been torn down but the property still had that dark feel to it. Before they left they decide to knock on the front door of the house to see if anyone was home. A woman answered but was not happy to see them and told them to leave the premises after being asked about the barn or if she had experienced anything weird.

This story intrigues me to say the least. First you have two witnesses describing a similar looking creature that they saw years apart from one another.  Then you have a creature that is known only in folklore but is usually of a pleasant nature, not the mean asshole that was seen by the two women (for some reason I find it hilarious that he flipped off Charlie and her husband). So what did these two women see? I'm going on a different theory here and I know I'll probably get more grief than I usually do, but I think what Tammy and Charlie saw was one of the fairy folk. Namely a redcap.

Redcaps come from English folklore and were said to be a type of malevolent murderous fairy that mostly inhabited ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland. They would murder any traveler who was foolish enough to stray into their homes. Redcaps got their names from the practice of dying their hats with the blood of their victims. They were described as having the appearance of an old man with red eyes and large teeth.

So how in the hell did a mean little creature straight out of English folklore get all the way to Central California? Remember the United States used to be a British Colony and the early colonist brought over their beliefs from their home land. What if somehow the things they believed in became real? Tibetan Buddhism has a concept called a Tulpa, or a thought form. Basically the idea behind it is that if something is concentrated on enough it is somehow brought into existence.

What if some of the early settlers that came here still held a belief that redcaps were real? So real that they took form and had a life of their own? And over the many years the now very real redcap wandered the country and somehow wound up in California. How else do you explain what was seen? If it was just one person that saw the creature the idea of a hoax of prank could be brought into consideration. But the fact that two people saw the same thing years apart has me wondering what the hell is on the outskirts of Porterville.

Now obviously this is merely conjecture and nothing more. It can't be real; it's just some creature out of a fairy tale right? Tell that to both Tammy and Charlie. Whatever they saw was real to them and it scared the hell out of them. And I have a feeling it's still there, waiting to terrorize someone else.



Since I found this story on another site I feel I have to link back to the original MysteriousUniverse article. You can find it here.

Also it seems the show Monsters and Mysteries on the Destination America network did a story on the creature. You can find the episdode on YouTube but you have to pay $1.99 to see it. I see the show on all the time and imagine they probably run repeats of this episode.

The Barn Theater in Porterville said to be haunted

The Barn Theater in Portervile, CA

Image courtesy of the Porterville Ghost Society

About 16 miles east of Tulare is the small town of Porterville. Located on the Tule River at the base of the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada and was founded sometime in the 1820's. The town has a long history with a rich culture and tradition. One of those traditions is The Barn Theater. And if story is to be believed, it's said to be haunted.

The Barn Theater was founded in 1948 by Peter Tewksbury, who would later find work in Hollywood, and was originally in a barn that belonged to a Annie Smith who supported the local arts. Sometime in 1952 a new addition was added onto the barn and it's what currently is there today. The theater has had many an actor come through it's door over the years (including Ann B. Davis who played Alice on the Brady Bunch). But it seems that not all have left as several strange occurrences have been reported throughout the years.

People have reported feeling an audience in the room even though the theater was empty. According to the Porterville Ghost Society, others have reported hearing clapping and laughter as well as seeing shadowy figures.

Like many a haunted theater, it seems that some of its patrons linger on after passing from this life. Could the allure of the stage and still draw them there? Or was this where they were most happy and for whatever reason choose to remain here instead of moving on to the next plane of existence? It's hard to say really, but there is definitely a presence there that has been felt over the years.

Source: Porterville Ghost Society - The Barn Theater Investigation.

Porterville Memorial Auditorium rumored to be haunted

The Porterville Memorial Auditorium is said to be haunted by

the ghost of a little girl.

Photo courtesy of Reverbnation.com.

In the small town of Porterville, on the campus of the local high school, lies the Porterville Memorial Auditorium. Inside the building is the Frank "Buck" Shaffer Theatre, named after the school's long time band director, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a little girl.

No one knows who she is, but it's said that she was playing up on the balcony one day when she tripped and fell over the railing and died. Now it's said that if anyone is near the railing that she will appear and play tricks on them to get them to fall over the edge and die just as she did.

Inside the Frank "Buck" Shaffer Theatre. You can see the balcony

where it's said the little girl fell from to her death.

Photo courtesy of Reverbnation.com.

Another story says that backstage in the left wing near where several portraits are hung up on the wall, that their eyes would follow you as you walked by them. Whether this is some sort of paranormal activity or an optical illusion isn't know but still interesting none-the-less.

Are the stories of the little girl on the balcony true? It seems that almost every theater has its own ghost, like it is a prerequisite or something. It is interesting to note though that if you look at an index of haunted places throughout the county, theaters seem to be at the top of the list (bars and taverns run a close second). Why is this? Some paranormal researchers theorize that ghosts somehow feed off of people's emotions. What better place to experience the gambit of emotions; from happiness, sadness, and anger, than a theater? But perhaps the little girl is a vengeful spirit, upset over her untimely fate and tries to lure others to suffer the same fate as her.

Porterville house was site of poltergeist activity during the 1980's

For several weeks in 1984, a residence in the small town of Porterville (situated in Tulare County) was privy to poltergeist activity. The occurrences in the single story house, built in 1979, started when the resident couple's granddaughter came for a visit.

Most of the activity occurred in the hall and a bedroom closet the daughter was staying in. Tapping noises were heard coming from inside the walls as well as strange voices. The incidences continued for several days without any explanation.

Finally a group of paranormal investigators were called in to determine what was going on. They were able to conclude that the poltergeist activity was the result of the spirit of the granddaughter's twin sister, who had died at the age of five from virulent cancer.

After the granddaughter left the residence, the activity stopped and there hasn't been anything reported since. No one knows why this one visit sparked the activity in this small house in Porterville.

Recent Central Valley UFO Sightings

From as far south as Porterville to north of Madera, strange things are in the skies. All sightings were reported to the National UFO Reporting Center and are linked back to their original entry.


Occurred : 1/21/2009 19:00
Location: Fresno, CA
Shape: Rectangle
Duration:3 minutes

4 unknown flying crafts were following our car and another one hovered over our neighborhood when we got home.

My husband and I for the last 2 1/2 months have been seeing strange hovering objects in the sky beginning Nov. 3rd 2008. The last sighting was last night around 6:45 pm. We were driving west on McKinley ave in Fresno CA on our way to a meeting. We noticed 4 hovering objects at a stand still on each side of our car about 3 miles up in the sky when we were at a red light. Once our car started moving they moved along side us, every time we stopped they stopped. They all looked alike and did not look like helicopters and not planes. Later on in the evening on the way back home we spotted another craft similar to the ones earlier just hovering at a stand still above the houses in our neighborhood. the object even brightened its lights from red to super bright white. it was still for about 3 minutes then slowly started to move to the right, then left then it either vanished or we just did not catch it take off. This is not the first time we have seen these objects in the sky. we seen larger ones the size of two commercial planes before. We just find it strange that the sightings have not stopped. Our children, my parents friends and my mother in law have all witnessed them. For some strange reason these objects have not gone away and seem to be growing by the numbers each day and showing themselves pretty boldly. If anyone has seen them also please post a report, we hope we are not just going crazy over here by ourselves.


Occurred : 1/23/2009 22:35
Location: Fresno, CA
Shape: Triangle
Duration:3 minutes

Red glowing lights form triangle

I work Security at night, and I was just leaving some ones house that was a loud party call. My partner called me, he is about a mile away locking up a pool and dock area, he tells me to look up in the sky, I do, and there is a big triangle,( the point is at the rear, ) with red glowing lights at each point. Now when I say lights, I don't mean like car or plane or copter lights. They looked like a glow from a fire or if a trash can was turned upside down and a huge road flare was put inside of it. I didn't see anything else to describe, no hull, nothing else.

It was very cloudy that night due to an earlier rain, the clouds were low, and it moved right in them. It also moved very slow. As it moved further away from me, the back light trailed back and the front left light trailed to the left. And that is the last I seen of it. It was also big, hard to tell exactly, best guess, about 60 to 75 feet.

It was some what close, about 100 to 150 yards in front of me, and about 3 light poles up, I am not great at guessing feet when it comes to altitude. There was no sound that I could hear.

Juan, my partner said he seen some of the hull, and saw the lights crossing. I will try to get him to fill a report out.


Occurred : 2/2/2009 20:45
Location: Dinuba, CA
Shape: Triangle
Duration:2 to 3 minutes

Four red light in shape of a triangle gliding over the city of Dinuba CA.

February 02, 2009

Between 8 and 9 o’clock, I stepped outside, like I normally do around this time to smoke a cigarette before heading to sleep. I like gazing up at the stars while I’m smoking and that night I heard like a humming sound, I looked around and then proceeded to look up at the sky. From the corner of my eye (towards my right) I noticed something coming in fast.

As I turned to see what I had seen, the object slowed down and glided across Dinuba, CA. I would guess about 1 ½ from where I was standing and about ½ mile up in the sky. I know that this was not a plane because I have seen planes go across the sky and this did not move like an aircraft. It had four red lights and it was in shape of a triangle. Three lights coming down one side and one on the other side.

I ran inside the house and got my mom to go outside. My mom also seen what I had seen and she was just saying, "What the heck is that?" It glided for about five minutes and then it just speeded off. Before speeding off, the lights turned from red to a yellowish orange color and then it speeded off.


Occurred : 2/3/2009 04:30
Location: Madera, CA
Shape: Sphere

I saw 2 unknown objects with bright lights

I was driving on the freeway when my uncle saw something in the sky and kept pointing to it and couldn't see it at first till i got closer then i saw 2 bright lights in broad daylight just slowly moving kind circular motion then as i got closer one disappeared and I passed underneath it and i saw a black object that appeared to be an unknown object just sitting their floating it wasn't round it wasn't a helicopter or a plane it something different more like a triangle. I reported that sighting to the police department.


Occurred : 2/13/2009 18:30
Location: Fresno, CA
Shape: Circle
Duration:2-3 seconds

Glowing bluish- green ball of light flying west to east at rapid rate of speed

I was driving due east on a dark street when a bluish-green ball of light flew directly over my car from behind me (west) at a very high rate of speed. It was a little smaller than the diameter of a traffic light across 4 lanes of road and had no tail or other lights, just a glowing ball of unearthly light. The sky above me was clear but it's direction was toward the Sierra Nevada mountains which were shrouded in clouds. I couldn't tell if it simply disappeared or was obscured by the distant clouds. Nor could a tell if it was small and close or large and at high enough an altitude to fly into the clouds. No sound was heard.


Occurred : 2/16/2009 19:30
Location: Visalia, CA
Shape: Light
Duration:30-45 minutes

It was about 7:30pm we looked into the sky (Southeast) and there was a very large bright off white light with a green tint around it. It stayed in the same spot just moving back and forth for about 30-45 minutes, then just disappeared. Kind of hovering back and forth. We kept looking at it and took some pictures, but the movie pictures just looks like a white speck moving back and forth. The movies look nothing like just looking at it with the naked eye. We thought it was a bright star, but it had green around it and it hovered back and forth. We also thought at first it was a helicopter, but it never moved. We never took our eyes off of the object, then it just disappeared. No movement at all.


Occurred : 2/24/2009 16:10
Location: Dinuba, CA
Shape: Sphere
Duration:10 minutes

Sphere-like aircraft flying in circle eight pattern at a flying height of a commercial airline.

This day I noticed, what I thought was a flock of birds circling, a group of sphere-like flying objects several feet in the air. Approximate height in the atmosphere is around the level a long distance commercial flight would fly. I thought at the beginning it was a flock of birds, but they were hard to make out and appeared to be 1/3 of the size of a commercial plane flying by seconds after they disappeared. 10-12 spheres flew in a circle 8 pattern in two separate locations in the air and flew at a rather high speed considering the height in the air. They flew in two separate locations for approx. 10 minutes. They disappeared as soon as two commercial airlines flew into view from the south and east. It truly an amazing sight to see with our two 2 year olds and 5 year old as we viewed the sky from the front yard of our house.


Occurred : 3/7/2009 22:15
Location: Porterville, CA
Shape: Fireball
Duration:3 hours

Huge craft moving at incredible speed after hovering for about 3 hours

At around 7:30 PM on March 7, 2009, my boyfriend and I observed what we thought was a very bright star in the western sky. It was much closer then any other stars and it was relatively large but it was not moving, just hovering there, so we ruled out and airplane or helicopter. At around 10:15 PM I had to drive my brother and sister to their grandmother’s house for the night. The kids went outside first while I grabbed my things. One of them screamed so I ran out to see what was wrong. They immediately pointed to the object which we earlier thought was a very bright star or planet, but this time it was bright red, still sitting in the very same spot it was just 3 hours before. By this time my boyfriend and my other brother had also emerged from the house. After observing it for about five minutes the big bright red ball shot across the sky at an amazing speed and covered a distance in one second that would take any airplane a good 5-10 seconds to cover. Then it slowly faded out and was gone.


Occurred : 3/13/2009 19:35
Location: Murrieta, CA
Shape: Circle
Duration:1 min.

A small, flaming- looking object that moved strangely.

Circular flaming object. Seemed like 60 ft. in the air, moving slowly then it took off quickly. We continued to see it for about a 1/2 mile and the flame would get bright and then alternate to a dim flame. Another bystander was watching it while standing outside of a storefront.

The Zalud House

The Zalud House - Porterville, CA

I don't know too much behind the paranormal history of the Zalud House as I just heard about it recently. I do know there is a group that is planning on giving haunted tours of the house, with all proceeds going to the house which is now a museum. They are still working out the details, but as soon as I hear about them I'll post them in an update.

The Zalud House, which is located in Porterville, was built for John and Mary Jane Zalud in 1891 and through out it's history it was only occupied by the family. The house is listed on both the National Historcial Registry of Old Houses and the National Register of Historic Places.

The house has remained unchanged over the years. The garden, which has not changed since the 1930's, and the mansard style roof is still the same over a century later. Interior-wise, it is one of the few museums in the country to still have it's original furnishings though they are changed seasonally.

As for paranormal activity, there have been reports of people feeling that they were being watched by some unseen presence, footsteps heard in several words, as well as whispering voices. Given the fact that the house still has it's orginal furnishings, I wouldn't be suprised if some of the Zalud family members were still there along with their possessions.