The first story is from Belmez, in Spain. In August 1971, Maria Pereira was cleaning the kitchen floor of her home, when she gave a sudden shriek of horror-for there, on the floor looking up at her, was a face! Maria tried to scrub out the image, but it wouldn`t go.In fact the longer she left it, the clearer the face became.

Finally, Maria's husband Juan dug up the slab and cemented over the hole in the floor. But a few days later, eyes, then a nose and, before long, the face of an old man could be seen staring out of the cement. Since then several more faces have appeared on the floor. The slab with the face on it has been given to local authorities to investigate.

Mystery Bones In February 1972, human bones had been found under the floor of the house in Belmez, Southern Spain, where the faces appeared. It turns out that the house was built on the ground of a medieval cemetery and these are the burial remains. Are the faces those of tortured souls trying to come back and tell us something? If so, why do they only appear in Maria Pereira's house? Other houses are also built on this consecrated ground. A woman, claiming to be a medium, says the faces may be of a family who were entombed in a cave nearby. Who can tell?

Summary of the Investigator's Report. The investigator made tests on the slab and could not discover how the images were made. The material of the face is exactly the same as that of the stone. No paint or other substance can be detected. This does not seem to be the work of a human hand. He organised a team to investigate any fakery. The kitchen was completely sealed off with plastic sheeting and cameras set up. Although in the end, there was not enough light to take photos, it wasn't possible for anyone to enter the room and draw on the floor. He set up microphones and a tape recorder in the house and the results were baffling. Recordings of small children crying and a woman screaming were obtained. There were also voices of a man and woman quarrelling. Despite exhaustive tests, he cannot explain the appearence of the faces or the noises in the kitchen.

Tenneressee, USA. 1817. John Bell and his wife Luce owned a large cotton plantation in the American South. The couple had nine children, amoung them a daughter called Betsy. The family were Christians, who went to church regularly. But for four years, they were tormented by a violent ghost known as the Bell Witch.

The family's ordeal began in 1817. First they noticed tapping noises outside their house. Then they heard more sinister sounds inside, including people apparently choking. After a year, the ghost began to attack its victims, dragging the children out of bed and pulling their hair. The Bells asked a neighbour, James Johnson, to exorcise the spirit. After the ceremony, peace returned. But then the ghost began to whistle, whisper and scream abuse. It warned Betsy against her engagment to local man Joshua Gardner, until she returned his ring. But it directed its most savage behaviour against her father, John.

In January 1821, local farmer John Bell died in his bed on 20th December last, following a four-year reign of terror by an invisible spirit calling itself 'the Witch'.

On the eve of this mysterious death, John's eldest son went into his father's room and found him in a coma. Rushing to the cupboard for medicine, he found not the usual bottol but a flask of murky liquid. It is claimed that the Witch cried: "I've got him this time. he will never get up from bed again."

The murky medicine was tested on the family cat, which died. At John Bell's funeral the ghoulish spirit was heard singing a rude song.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
Many 19th-century ghost-hunters visited the Bell family, but none were able to prove that the hauntings were a hoax. One doctor suggested that Betsy was the true source of the ghost's voice. So when the spirit was speaking, he held his hands over the girl's mouth. But he could detect absolutely no movement.

In 1951 - 130 years after the murder - the psychologist Nandor Fodor investigated 'the Witch' once more. He suggested that Betsy had developed a split personality: part of her wanted to please her father, while the other part wanted to rebel. As she did not feel able to express her rebellious feelings, she spoke with the voice of 'the Witch' instead. But Fodor pointed out that he could not prove his theory. So the real truth about the Bell Witch will forever remain a mystery.