Ghost Writer

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Ray - John Huckert and John Makowski were grappling with a sense of unease, an unshakable feeling of being watched that was hard to ignore. The shuffling in the attic could be explained as rodents or raccoons, the ghostly apparitions in the yard—a trick of the light through the trees. But the noises became harder to dismiss once they received photographic evidence that they were not alone. It started as light trails and amorphous white shapes on Polaroid photographs but evolved into much more.

John Huckert - And then at some point when you looked at it, it, it's like, when you start looking kind of in the negative space… it started looking like a word, and then so then everybody's like looking at it. All of a sudden we realized it said “yes” and then it was like opening the floodgates at that point 

Ray -  The photos ranged from abstract ghostly lights to clear words and sentences suspended midair, which weren't visible at the time. It has been nearly three decades since this story became known to the world, and yet all who were present stay firm in their conviction about this strange phenomenon.

[Intro music]

Ray - Situated in the quiet Los Angeles neighborhood of Mount Washington, John Matowski, screenwriter, cinematographer, and manager of fine art gallery DRKRM, first moved into an unassuming home in 1985. The house was built sixty years earlier, and had witnessed the ebb and flow of life for decades prior. It sat atop a hill, shrouded by foliage, shading the house and walkways, setting the stage that an unseen force could lurk just around the corner. John Huckert described the property:

John - It's off the main road. It's like you have to walk a path up to the house, so you can’t actually really see it from the road. It's kind of creepy if it's night because it's a very thin narrow path and as you get up to the house, it's just sort of a cabin, more of a cabin than a house, and and it's dark… I don't know, it's comfortable once you get to know it

John Matkowski first started renting the home with one roommate. Early upon moving in, Matkowski’s first roommate reported hearing odd noises, such as footsteps on the roof at night. Matkowski tried his best to ignore the feeling that there was a presence in the house, not wanting to give credibility to the idea that his house could be haunted. But it was as if the house itself was awakening, its dormant energy stirred by the newest inhabitants. 

The unsettling atmosphere led Matkowski's roommate to leave, creating an opportunity for John Huckert, a fellow filmmaker and friend, to move in. Huckert recounted his first time meeting Matkowski:

John - I first met John back in 1986. I was living in an apartment in Hollywood. My next-door neighbor said, I have a friend named John and he also makes movies, and he was over one night. So we talked, I showed him one of my films and he absolutely hated it. I saw one of his films and I thought it, you know, was overhyped and under-produced. But we just got along really well, and then in 1989, 90, 1990, I believe, I was really poor and I lost my apartment. So I was going to be living that on my car and he said I got a room here, come stay here and then I never left. It's been 33 years. 

Ray - Unaware of the journey that lay ahead, the two friends would soon find themselves entangled in a web of supernatural occurrences that would challenge everything they knew about the physical world. 

John -
When I first came over, right away, I felt like, like a heaviness. I'm not sure how to describe it, but there's like a heaviness in the air, and I said, "Is this house haunted?" He goes, "No, no. But!" And then he starts telling me these stories. When people have been over there, even his mom or his brother, and different experiences they've had—hearing people walking on the ceiling or on the roof or whatever. You know, I tend to think, "Oh, that's probably raccoons," or you tend to come up with logical explanations, but there was a really weird sense of something there.

I would see a number of people that I thought were real, and there's a woman in a very old dress, and I was here walking out by the down by the street, and then I'd see her walking across the porch. And the first few times, I'm thinking, "Why aren't the dogs barking?" Usually, you know, the dogs are early warning signs. The dogs aren't responding at all. And when you see them, literally out the window, you see them going along, and then you go, you run out to, "Can I help you?" or whatever, and there's no one there, and you know, there's no way they can get away.

Ray - One day in 1992 Huckert was alone in the house and couldn’t shake the feeling that there was someone, or something, there with him. Out of nowhere, the bathroom door slowly creaked open.

John - So, I took a picture; there was nothing on the picture, and I felt kind of silly at that point. Like, okay, well, didn't get anything. I sat back down, and the bathroom door opened again. Now, the bathroom door… You can look at the floor to this day, and it has scrapes on it. You have to lift it up and open it. It's basically a bunch of boards nailed together, like in an old cabin, which is what it is. So, it's not like a door with a doorknob. It scraped open, and there's a little teeny slide thing inside to lock it. When the bathroom door opened again, I remember thinking that this was a sign. That I was to take another picture, and I got up to take another picture, and I was actually shaking, and I was shaking so much. I took a picture of the top of the TV set; I got so nervous about it. And then I took a picture of the hallway with the bathroom, and that's when the very first image came up, and I remember thinking as I was watching it develop... And I remember thinking, on one hand, it was kind of terrifying. On another hand, it was really comical.

Ray - Captured on the polaroid was an image that defied all logic. The image showed what appeared to be a quintessential ghost, like you would see in a children’s book. A white ethereal figure with large circular eyes and a gaping mouth. There was no denying the odd feelings anymore. 

John - Yeah. It's like boo, I'm a ghost and I remember thinking, - but first when it comes up… It's like, kind of scary. It's like, well, what is that

Ray - At first John tried to rationalize the photo. His father had gifted him the Polaroid camera, could his father have manipulated the device to pull an elaborate prank? That seemed unlikely, for Huckert captured sequential photos that showed a ghostly presence, unseen to the naked eye, moving throughout the home.

John -  Then I took another picture, and it was different and had like a weird light and everything. So I said, "Okay, I'm just gonna wait till Makowski gets home." He gets home, I show them the couple of pictures, and he's like, "Oh, these are so cool. How did you do this?" I said, "Well, I just took a picture of here," and he goes, "Well, let's you know, take a picture now." So I went over and stood in the area, and he took a picture of me, and more came up. I can't remember how many pictures were left in the camera, but we took the rest of them, and maybe five of them had either light on them or that one shape, the one scary shape, and the rest had, like, light forms on them, which we would later be told was ectoplasmic energy or something.

So, back then, film was expensive. So, about two weeks later, went out and bought another pack of film. I said, "We should just wait till we send something to, we feel something," and then I don't remember specifics. I think it was during the daytime, but I just remember sensing something again and snapping some pictures, and then some things showing up, and then we start getting more and more film, and over the next like three months, three and a half months, something like that, we took a bunch of pictures.

Ray - Wanting to share this experience with others, but fearing possible accusations of forgery, they decided to invite their friends over to experience the phenomenon first hand.

John - So, we invite a few friends over, and we said, "We just want to share this with you because it's kind of strange. And we are the only ones who know about it. So we thought we'd show it to you," so we show them the pictures, and they’re like, "Oh, this is so cool. How did you do this?" We're like, "Well, we're not really sure. We just take pictures of the house, and they show up," and then one of my friends said, "Is he here now?" And then another friend said, "Well, let's see," and they picked up the camera and they snapped a picture. We were waiting, watching it develop, and then some of the light things started showing up, and then at some point, when you looked at it, it, it's like, when you start looking kind of in the negative space, it started looking like a word, and then so then everybody's like looking at it. All of a sudden, we realized it said “yes,” and at that point, I was like, "Wait a second?" And then, "What did you ask?" "We asked if you were here," and then it was like opening the floodgates at that point. Someone said, "Well, someone ask a question," they grab the camera, it's like, "Well, what's your name?" And that's when it said "Wright." And he said, "Are you, I think somebody said, 'Are you a good ghost or bad ghost?'" or something to that effect, and it said "friend," and then it's like, "Oh my God, this thing is talking to us." And that was that changed everything because it's one thing to think of ghosts as an imprint on the landscape. It's another to think of them as communicating with you.

Ray - Now they had a name for the spirit, 'Wright', which was etched on the photographs in the now familiar eerie handwriting.

Over time Wright honed its communication skills, each Polaroid photo revealing more refined handwriting. Some messages appeared in Latin such as the words "inter alia, corpus delecti" which appeared in response to the question "Did you die in this house?" The English translation is "among other things, a murder victim."  

Another photograph that left a strong impact on the men bore the English words, "Invoke muse." The Muses in Greek mythology are nine goddesses who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces. They have been a symbol of knowledge, creativity, and artistic inspiration throughout history.

At that time, both men were struggling with writer's block, feeling a stagnation in their creative pursuits. They interpreted this ethereal message as a direct call to action, an encouraging nudge from the supernatural realm to rekindle their creative energies.

Wright seemed intent on not just making its presence known, but also serving as a source of inspiration. It added an unusual twist to the tale, transforming the encounters into a source of artistic motivation, pushing Huckert and Matkowsky to 'invoke the muse' and overcome their creative blocks. Both men still follow creative pursuits to this day. Matkwoski would even go on to host an exhibition at his gallery showcasing their collection of photographs which he titled Seeing Things: Ghost Polaroids. 

“These startling photographs challenge perceptions of reality and art,” the exhibition description read,” Is the image of the room with the ghostly writing the way we see ghosts, or is it the way ghosts see us? Who is seeing things, after all? Come explore these strangely surreal photographs and decide for yourself.”

Curious about the origins of the name Wright, Matowski decided to delve into the property's history. Searching through documents at City Hall, he discovered that a person with the last name "Wright" had indeed been connected to the land.

John -  We went to the Hall of Records, which was an experience in of itself because it's like, in this basement area and it's dark, and there's these long, long rows of, like, giant books of things. And we did find four different people named Wright that were associated with Southern California. And we found one guy back in the 1800s who owned this whole mountain area, who was named Wright, but we've never found anything beyond that.

Ray - With a collection of over 100 Polaroid’s revealing ghostly figures and eerie messages, they decided it was time to seek more concrete answers to what it was they shared their home with. They contacted the T.V show Sightings, hoping for an explanation to the bewildering phenomenon.

Sightings - Tonight, a Sightings exclusive. Never have I come across anything like this before. A viewer captures error eerie images  and bizarre messages on polaroid film.

Ray - Sightings gained prominence in the 1990s, focused on exploring unexplained mysteries of the world. The show delved into paranormal phenomena, UFO sightings, and other intriguing mysteries.

With a team of researchers, investigators, and specialists in various fields, Sightings provided a platform for those who had experienced the inexplicable, allowing them to share their encounters and seek answers.

John - So, the reason we agreed to do "Sightings" was, one, it was just kind of fun that suddenly, you know, there was a way to get a lot of film. So, they brought in this giant box of film, and every box is like marked and numbered, and they had like two people on it at all times. And, you know, they'd, whoever would load the camera, everything was on film. They’d watch every little bit, you know, to make sure that, you know, no one's sneaking stuff in there or whatever. For some reason, it's only worked on this Spectra camera. It doesn't work on other Polaroids, but they came over, and every time they came over, they’d get communication then.

Ray - Amazingly, the film crew captured the same phenomenon on their factory sealed polaroid photographs. If you watch the Sightings segment you can see the photos developing live on camera and in front of the astonished crew.

Sightings: What does it say? Genius Loci. Who asked the question? John asked it, and the other John took it. The question for this picture was, are you here for John or the House. And the answer came out in Latin, and we looked it up. And the answer is fairly intriguing. The exact translation is “the guardian spirit of a man or a place.”

Ray - The photos were even analyzed by Polaroid representative Howard Wurtzel who had no explanation for how the photos came to be.

Howard Wurtzel - We have never encountered it and we have been selling film for now for 50 years to billions of customers, especially film that was even higher sensitivity than the current color film. It could be what they are saying it is, it’s a possibility that somehow it is a field they are capturing. Physically I don’t how know they could do it”

Ray - The Sightings team also enlisted the help of the famed psychic Peter James, who would go on to become good friends with Huckert and Matkwoski.  

John - The best thing about "Sightings" is they introduced us to Peter James. The way they work with Peter—he did quite a few of their shows, and they don't tell him where he's going. They put him in a car, and he shows up, and they don't give him anything. We had done some research on the house already. He comes into the house, and he said he right away said how skeptical he was about it. He's never heard of something showing up on pictures. He goes, "But let me tell you, I'm picking up Amelia, I'm picking up Gilbert, I'm picking up, I think, Stefan or something like that," and he had a number of people, and we had looked up the records back in like 1918. There were some sisters that lived there, and one of them was named Amelia, and I think maybe the '40s or something, there was someone named Gilbert, like, all the names he was saying were people who had lived at the house.

Now, of course, a skeptic would say, "Well, obviously, they told him the address and told him what was going on, and he went and looked it up and found all this information that we spent three weeks doing. He did overnight, but he didn't." He didn't know anything about it. Then, when he started experiencing the photographs, he was very baffled by it. But we ended up becoming friends with Peter, and he would come over all the time, and he became very good at communicating with Wright. And we have, you know, over 10 people or something, and we get is we have people bring film. Actually, that was the best thing because if everybody brought a roll, we had enough to have an event with, and then Peter would come over, and he basically talk, you know, "I have love and light for you," and he'd say things that would feel awkward for me to say, but he somehow in his spiritualism, it worked for him.

I could not walk around talking like that because people would think I was nuts. I would think I was nuts, but anyway, and he would start asking questions and then getting responses, and other people would ask questions and get responses, and it would almost be like a dialogue, but a slow-motion dialogue because sometimes you ask a question, and then you get light forms, and then someone else asked a question, and there'd be more light forms, and a third person asking a question, and writing would come up, but would have answered the first person's question.

Ray - Barry Conrad, a filmmaker and author with a keen interest in the paranormal, was lucky enough to be invited to a halloween party at John’s house.

Barry - I was invited to a Halloween party, and that was on, I think, October 30th, 1993, and he was there, and he invited me over. He said he could bring a friend. And so, I was over there filming Peter James, and Peter James, as you know, was, I think, one of the premier, very talented men in the field of psychic research.

Ray - During that Party, Barry recorded Peter James conducting a psychic reading.

Peter James -  In scouting throughout the entire house, I felt something strongest at first back in the bedroom area back here. And I feel someone did, in fact, die back there, and then I came out here and felt it getting stronger. And I was especially drawn to this specific area, and when I stood here, I felt something coming up out of the floor. And I felt it was coming up out to the ceiling and felt it coming through my legs at the same time. And I felt a definite temperature change, of a definite 10 to 15 degrees cooler right here. And I feel in this exact spot, if it is possible to dig beneath here, I feel there is a sub-foundation here over this house. I think someone is buried right about here. I would wager all of my psychic ability that this is the dimensional entrance right here; this is the vortex right here.

John - We did have over a soil expert who checked the area around, and he said, "Well, this is, I think he said, limestone." He said, "This is the kind of thing that, if there is a body buried under the house, it will have completely dissolved by now and absorbed into the ground."

Ray - The party wore on into the night.

Barry - There was a woman—I can't remember her name—but she started taking Polaroid pictures of a gentleman who was dressed like a knight or something, you know, had a sword, you know, like a cape on or something like a medieval knight. And they developed the picture, and I had my camera there, and I filmed the pictures being developed.  And we watched as this image developed, and it was the same kind of thing that wasn't a message. I didn't see a message on any of these; there were two or three pictures she took, and they were these little, I don't know what you call them, like particulate, wispy, kind of corpuscular-shaped, white, misty little things.

Barry Conrad Halloween Footage - I don’t know whose camera it was; someone handed me that camera and said, "Here, take my photo." So, I just aimed, readjusted the aim, and shot. So, I assumed I was documenting his Halloween costume. I’m truly honored. I’ve seen these photos, but I’ve never been there when they have been taken.

Barry - And but if you look in the background, I think was in the background that one shot, you could see this face appear like it's looking over his shoulder. It was really, really. Ali startling. So that was my one experience with being at the house. And it was exciting.

As far as the authenticity of the case, I am totally convinced because John Huckert and John Makowski are very credible people, and the fact that other people have brought their own cameras, the fact that they brought their own cameras and other people have been getting the same kinds of images, I think supports the fact that this is truly a case of spirit infestation of some kind. But again, it was a very credible case, you know, I'm 100% proof positive that this is an absolutely real phenomenon. There's no doubt in my mind.

Ray - 'Wright' has had a profound impact on everyone who was lucky enough to experience its cryptic messages. Regrettably, the ghostly handwriting appeared exclusively on a specific type of Polaroid film, “Spectra.” 

Some claim the Spectra film holds the answer for how the pictures were created. Ben Fratenelli, filmmaker and polaroid expert who runs a popular YouTube channel focused on instant film called “In An Instant” pointed out some of the unique features of the Spectra camera. 

Ben - The Spectra was a more advanced camera system; it had a double exposure mode inside the camera already, and it also had, because of its medical uses, a lot of close-up adapters and microscopic tools. So, I think it's definitely possible that they took an exposure on every frame using, like, a microscope adapter or a close-up adapter and basically just exposed the text first and then just loaded the pack back in, in the dark, and shot them, just a picture, and then the text would come over the frame. So, I feel like that's the most logical explanation for it because it's the most practical and easy way to do it.

Ray - This doesn’t fully explain why the film Sightings brought produced ghostly images, and John continues to witness unexplained activity within the house to this day.

John - Yeah, the communication's different. Now, one thing Peter informed us of, which we kind of knew, but he put it into words, is that we have sort of like a Grand Central Station for spirits, and they come in by the bathroom. And they go out sort of in this kitchen area by where the fireplace is, and they just, and they move across the house all the time, and he says, you have something. Like, I think he said, seven full-time ghosts. We have captured quite a few things. On other cameras, we have never captured writing. A lot of the stuff that we've got, we've never shown; you can do all kinds of things, and even though we don't, there's nothing about it that says we didn't, you know what I mean? We're not out to prove to anybody what's going on here. What we're doing is that we're enjoying what's going on here, and it communicates still, and it helps us, and guides us. And God, sometimes when things are looking the worst, you find out that things aren't as bad. I mean, it's profoundly changed everybody who lives here or who's connected to here.

Ray - During a 2014 news segment produced for ABC7 by Jeff Macintyre of Content Media Group, a clear humanoid shadow figure was captured on a photo during the filming.

Content Media Group - For the first time ever, in a group picture that night, if you look closely, they believe they captured one. And amongst our group is another figure, but it's not a person, it's a shadow of a person, but there's no one there. And it's standing right next to Huckert. Even the hardened skeptics present that night were perplexed. I was like, 'Come on, how can people be falling for this? It is a simple parlor trick. It’s gotta be explainable.' And you know what, I don’t have an explanation for this. I didn’t freak out; I think I just didn’t finally have something to say or some way to discount it. It was very surreal to be present to see it.

Ray - This unseen presence, manifesting itself in the heart of Southern California, seemed to tap into a collective, creative undercurrent. More than a mere specter, 'Wright' became a catalyst, stirring up dialogue, fostering inspiration, and engendering fresh perspectives.

It reminds us of that otherworldly message left on the Polaroid: 'Invoke muse.' In many ways, 'Wright' became a muse for many spawning T.V. programs, books, art,  exhibits, and even… podcasts. These fascinating encounters with 'Wright' offer us more than a captivating supernatural narrative; they challenge us to appreciate the transient nature of life, to recognize the value of the present moment, and perhaps, in our own ways, to 'invoke the muse'. 

John - I mean everybody takes away something different from the house. I do know I was reading this thing recently about death and how we need to think about death every day. And the reason is is because if you don't you constantly put it off till tomorrow which in turn you put up your life till tomorrow and you do things that you don't necessarily want to do or you do things. You just want to do thing you want to do. Well let’s say you look at someone who has a terminal illness.

And, you know, they have three years left. And that means you have three thanksgivings left with that person. Does that change your perspective when you spend this free Thanksgiving with them? Or will you go? Well, next year, I'll go next year, I'll go the fourth year, they're gone. So if you appreciate your life then it helps you focus. Not on your death. I mean, that sounds really negative - but the fact is death makes our lives very meaningful. And if you get over your fear of death, if life does go on, then it's all a Continuum. It's all part of the cosmic dance. It's all wonderful. And I think we get more out of life here. Like, like I'm getting old but God, I have so many things I want to do. And so many projects that I have lined up that I'm just so excited about. And people keep saying, you're still beating that dead horse.

I'm like, yeah, because I love the dead horse. I love the things I'm doing. I love the creativity and and I will continue doing till like, I hope I drop dead on my last day of shooting some film or something. You know what I mean? Like I just, I love Of being creative When were born a lot of kids cry and we're in this warm environment and we're all, you know, comfortable and then suddenly were in the cold and it's scary and everything, but ultimately as adults we look at that as Beauty, so maybe death is the same type of transition