Alyssa Ridenour
reporter@greenepublishing.com
The large white house stands tall at the intersection of SW Shelby Ave. and SW Bunker St. The pillars on the front porch add character to the home and the windows, like eyes giving a vision into the home's soul-- an insight into a history that dates back to the early 1800's. Bob and Karen Wieland recalled their accounts with unexplained activity in the house, beginning back in the early 1980's when they first moved in with their infant child.
Karen Wieland had repurposed one of the bedrooms into a nursery for their daughter, Melanie. As the baby slept and Mrs. Wieland went about her usual activities, she heard something alarming on the baby monitor. It was the sound of a woman singing a lullaby. She went into the nursery to check on the baby, only to find that no one was there. Assuming it was merely radio interference from a local station, she brushed it off and set her worries aside.
As time went on, more strange happenings continued to occur in the home. Mr. Wieland would go to check on their second child, Wilhelm, in his crib at night. They typically left the rails on the crib down, since the baby was still too young to roll over or get out. However, night after night, Mr. Wieland continued to find that the rails had been put back up. He decided to address his wife about it and ask her to stop putting the rails up on the baby's crib. As he approached her to discuss the matter, she turned to him and said, "Honey, I really wish you'd stop putting the rails up on the crib." To which he replied, "It's not me."
The couple explained that they were not worried because they felt that the spirit had good intentions and was simply watching over the home. Activity really picked up after a tornado struck Madison in 1988. Mr. and Mrs. Wieland explained one of their most memorable experiences. Mrs. Wieland had always told her husband that she had been seeing a child standing at the foot of their bed during the wee hours of the night. He brushed it off time and time again. Then one night, he awoke between the hours of 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., likely due to a presence in the room. As he opened his eyes, he immediately found himself looking at the silhouette of a child at the foot of their bed. He blinked and just like that, the child was gone.
At one point, they had Mr. Wieland's mother over. She slept in the guest room but awoke in the night and came to get Mr. Wieland about something going on in the room she was staying in. She told him, "There's people coming out of the walls. They are smartly dressed and look like they are partying. I'm just trying to sleep. Can you tell them to keep it down?" Mr. Wieland turned to her with a chuckle and said, "I don't know what you're on, but tell me where to get it."
The Wielands only had one bad experience in the home that came after Mr. Wieland had just a little too much scotch. In his stupor, he went to his daughter's room that a team of paranormal investigators deemed to be the location of a spiritual portal. More specifically, the portal was located in the fireplace, hidden behind the headboard of her bed. He began attempting to speak to his mother, who at this point in time, had passed away. However, his efforts led to no avail, and he ultimately ended up leaving the room. Later that night, their daughter, Melanie, went to bed in the room. As dusk fell, something awful emerged from the portal. She was so petrified by what she saw that she pulled the covers over her head and hid there until morning, until her mother woke up. She described what she saw, saying, "It was big, frightening and ugly. I didn't know what to do, so I hid under the covers." She was too afraid to try to run out of the room.
Another incident occurred when their oldest daughter, Danielle, was asleep in her room. She woke up in the night to find a man and a woman kissing her on the cheek and telling her not to worry, and that they were there to take care of her. She told her parents, and without saying anything to Danielle, they began to flip through old family photos until Danielle pointed and said, "There! Those were the people in my room!" Mr. and Mrs. Wieland realized that the people she claimed to have seen were her aunt and uncle who had passed.
The house also has other miscellaneous abnormalities and unexplained activities occurring as well. This includes doors and cabinets opening and closing, voices, apparitions and even footsteps.
The Wielands are handing out candy to all trick-or-treaters brave enough to approach their home this Halloween. You can find them at 219 SW Bunker St., near the downtown area in Madison.