MONOLOGUE WRITTEN BY CLYDE LEWIS

I am beginning to believe that if you want to capture the true nature of Halloween, you just have to go to a library and blow the dust off of the superstitious books that were written hundreds of years ago.

Given that in my research I have stumbled upon an online library of occult books, it is fun to actually dig up the once forgotten writings of the sages and alchemists.

I recall that in a recent show I mentioned a paragraph I saw in one of the online resources I discovered. One wise sage had said that when the demon or the devil knocks thrice on the door where you live, you must address the creature of the abyss and identify it and kindly and send him on his way, because he will bargain and coerce you into giving up blood and soul.

After repeating the sages’ advice, I recalled that one night after a show, I arrived at my house and in my usual way, prepared for bed, went downstairs turned on the television and did some binge watching of some of my favorite TV shows.

The wind was blowing outside and there was a mist rain that was falling that made it a blanket night. I retired to my room at about two a.m. As I drifted off the sleep I heard three knocks at the door downstairs. I was startled and thought I was hearing things. Then it happened again – three distinct knocks.

I didn’t want to wake my wife or startle anyone so I threw on a robe and moved slowly down the stairs toward the door. I grabbed the knob, unlocked the door and slowly opened it.

No one was there.

I even stepped out into the cold in bare feet to survey the front yard and it was quiet albeit the wind blowing through the leaves on the trees.

I closed the door, and breathing a sigh of relief I got into bed and slept.

Many of my friends know that I have said that when there is a knock at the door it is never good news.

What I mean by that is things have changed and usually if you are planning on someone coming over at a certain time then you expect a knock. However, when an unexpected knock happens on your door step especially at night, I often worry that it is not a good sign.

Call me superstitious, but when I was a kid a knock at the door or a phone call after midnight always meant someone was either dead or in trouble.

There is an old superstition which states that when a person hears three knocks it means someone has died. In many paranormal stories we hear that when three knocks are heard at the door and no one is there, it means someone has died or is about to.

Since these knocks are normally heard before someone dies they are a classic omen or harbinger.

This belief is sometimes known as the “three knocks of death.”

The Irish and the Scots both have traditions that state three knocks on a door or three taps on a window especially when heard at regular intervals, lasting for two minutes, means death.

According to several Native American tribes, when the thumping of a stick 3 times on the ground is heard or the beating of a drum 3 times is heard it means someone will die.

This superstition also pops up in Arab and Jewish traditions.

In America, people have told tales for years that involve three knocks and death.

Sometimes relatives pass down family “stories” that involve a grandparent who heard three mysterious knocks only to receive word afterwards a beloved relative died, sometimes at exactly the time the knocks were heard.

These knocks are described as out of the ordinary. Those who have heard them state they were very loud, or that when they were heard they caused a feeling or sensation of fear or creepiness.

Most often these knocks or taps are heard on doors or windows. But other stories mention knocks on walls or even sounds that seem to come from inside the walls or from every corner of the room.

It is stated that the cause for these knocks is never found. For instance, if a door is opened no one is there. These stories often occur in winter and it is stated after the knocks are heard and the door is opened no footsteps are seen in the snow.

In an offshoot of this superstition some believe when three knocks are heard it means the devil or an evil spirit wants to come in.

Or, it could mean something else – something that would start what was once called the “Satanic Panic.”

What I am about to tell you is something that is rarely reported even by those who specialize in conspiracy theory, the occult and the paranormal.

It is believed that the three knock stories had spread throughout Europe and the United States. In Poland, Germany, Russia and Ukraine there was an addition to the three knock story and that was the “Black Volga” incidents. In the 1960s and 1970s word had spread in these regions that someone would knock three times on the door. When the person opened the door they would see parked at their house a Black Volga limousine that was allegedly used to abduct people, especially children. According to different versions, the driver was a man wearing black clothing and in the car with him were women who also wore black clothing.

In each account of the limousine’s appearance people would claim that the car was driven by either priests, nuns, Jews, vampires, Satanists or Satan himself. The car is described as having white wheel rims, and white curtains similar to what is seen in a hearse.

It was reported that the man and the women would arrive at a home and would take the children.

It was believed that the children were kidnapped to use their blood as a cure for rich Westerners or Arabs suffering from leukemia. There were also stories that agents from the KGB were in the vehicle stealing children for their internal organs The legend surfaced again in the late 1990’s, with a BMW or Mercedes car taking the Volgaundefineds place.

There were of course theories as to why people were experiencing these encounters, because the incidents were creating hysteria all over Russia and Europe.

There’s something particularly upsetting about urban legends involving children, especially when said legends involve children being abducted from their homes. Before we dismiss the Black Volga stories outright, the evolution of these accounts took yet another turn.

In the 1990s, British newspapers caught wind of a story that seemed to involve “phantom” social workers. These individuals, posing as social workers, would travel to family homes, officially to check on children. Then, they would take the children from the home for “evaluation.”

The earliest versions of phantom social worker stories typically involved several individuals, usually a couple of women accompanied by a man in a supervisory role. These individuals would call on homes with young children and perform an “inspection” of the home, and examine the children for signs of sexual abuse.

These phantom social workers also turned up in some parts of the United States.

A parent would hear a knock at the door, then go to answer it; theyundefinedd find a man or woman on their step who claimed to be a social worker. In several cases, these social workers had an overseer, typically a tall, imposing man.

The undefinedsocial workerundefined would demand access to the house, claiming to have received evidence that the children in the home had been abused. After briefly inspecting the children, the social worker would leave.

Parents who encountered these strange individuals would then contact their local authorities to ask about the visit. Theyundefinedd get a shocking response: There were no social workers in the area.

After all, in all of the bizarre incidents, the undefinedworkersundefined demanded access to children. Were they attempting to abuse or abduct the kids?

Public health officials said that this was a distinct possibility and warned parents to exercise caution.

When the social workers would visit, witnesses would say that they had some sort of peculiar look to them. The man that accompanied the women was an imposing figure. Some people even claimed that they were supernatural beings or even possibly connected to the Men in Black.

There were some reports that the phantom social workers would take children into areas away from parents inspect them and later return. Later, some parents believed that their children were replaced with doppelgangers or copies.

An investigative group was established called, Operation Childcare, in order to hunt down the phantom social workers.

Criminologists who worked with in Operation Childcare tried to develop a profile of potential suspects, and uncover possible motives, and the best they came up with was similar to child abduction cases in general: pedophiles, women who had lost children of their own, copycats, and self-appointed vigilantes who thought it was their task to save children from abuse — real or imagined.

Upon closer inspection, authorities learned that, in fact, no child had ever been successfully abducted; instead, they were “examined.”

Now, it appears that the phenomenon is happening again as phantom social workers are turning up all over the world. This time people are helping them, unaware of what they are capable of.

The basics of an encounter today remain the same as in the 90undefineds heyday of the phantom social workers. An unrecognized person calls on a family and says they he or she is from an official child welfare service and claims to be looking for signs of abuse or neglect. The caller is normally a woman, sometimes working with a male “colleagueundefined. She may have an odd appearance, such as wearing a wig or unusual clothing. There is an examination of the child or children and in some cases an attempt to take the child away. After the visit, the parent realizes they have been duped and that the authorities have no record of the caller. After an initial isolated case there may be a wave of similar reports. A couple of weeks later, cases dry up.

Back in the 90’s when reports for the phantom social workers first emerged, the extent of child abuse in society was gradually being recognized; but, at the same time, moral panics about such abuse were also leading to false allegations against parents, as in the Satanic Ritual Abuse scandal or Satanic Panic of the same era.

This, in turn, led to a mistrust of social workers, who had both ignored genuine cases and accused parents wrongfully. Perhaps this might have led some people to believe they had a duty to take matters into their own hands.

Similar circumstances might explain why phantom social workers are popping up again. There have been a number of high profile failures of social services.

In Norway social services are now kidnapping children from parents because there are rampant claims of inbreeding going on. Here in the United States with the newest sex scandal hunts, Ped-o-Gate and Pizza Gate and human trafficking amongst the elite, society is now alerted to both the possibility of child abuse and the inefficacy of authorities in dealing with it.

While most reports may be misunderstandings, the ones that arenundefinedt are for the most part terrifying.

We are now learning that these secret pedophile rings are not a myth and that ritual abuse, even bordering on the satanic is a reality as children are being lured into suicide pacts online and even secret meetings with predators.

While many skeptics would say that there was no evidence to support any claims of satanic influenced abuse, the control of information and the embellishment of accounts and numbers of Satanists participating led to the inside joke that zany Christians will be zany Christians and that instead of assuming that there is a pedophile Satanist under the bed, the FBI should investigate such allegations on a case-by-case basis.

In 1983, several children In Jordan, Minnesota, made allegations of satanic ritual abuse against their parents and an unrelated man. The man confessed and then identified a number of the children’s parents as perpetrators. Twenty-four adults were charged with child abuse though only three went to trial with two acquittals and one conviction. Despite strong medical findings of sexual assault, all other charges were dropped. The children made allegations concerning child pornography, child murder, and ritual sacrifice.

In England, they are still reeling from the recent revelations regarding children’s television presenter Jimmy Savile. Now deceased, Savile was a beloved icon in Britain, and a good friend of the royal family. Savile was born on Halloween in 1926 and died on October 29, 2011. Immediately after he died, police began to investigate over 300 allegations against him of child sexual abuse, spanning over six decades. The general consensus amongst the investigators has been that Savile was indeed one of Britain’s most prolific child abusers. His good friend, musician and comedian Rolf Harris, was convicted of similar allegations last year and sentenced to over five years in jail.

Although the allegations against Savile are generally believed, certain details of the claims, involving satanic rituals, have been dismissed by police investigators and received only scant attention from the media.

Two years ago, it was reported in the Township of Hampstead that young children have come forward and have given viral testimony about a group of literal “child eaters” that have infiltrated the schools and several other areas where children are seen.

Once again the children say that the “child eaters” are women dressed in black accompanied by men that look threatening.

One of the most frightening coincidences about these allegations is that Hampstead is the fictional location of Lucy Westenra’s tomb in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. Lucy lured children to Hampstead Heath at night to drink their blood. During the course of their investigation, Drs. Van Helsing and Seward dined at Jack Straw’s Castle and caught a cab near Spaniards Inn.

Is it all that coincidental – or is there something evil afoot?