Life After Paranormals: Season 4, Episode 4

Lisa Peil talks about the terrifying events of "Suzy Doll."

When you were sharing the room with your sister and Suzy Doll, when did you first have an inkling that something was wrong?
The first time was when we woke up in the morning and we saw all the chairs and the living room rearranged. Nobody did that. It was this unexplainable thing. I remember being very confused, and very scared. I can't really explain it, because it all felt so unbelivable. What was hard was that we were accused a lot. My parents didn't know what was happening and so they would ask us about it and say "You girls stop doing this." And none of us were. But then how would any of us know that? I thought my sister was doing all this stuff, and she thought I was. And so there's all this confusion around. And that uncertainty was very scary, having all this happen and not knowing what was actually going on. 

Your parents talk about trying to keep a lot of this from you. How much of the paranormal and odd goings-on were you aware of? 
We were very aware. We would see a lot. Even before any of this was happening, before it really took off, I went in the house one day to get my roller skates. The house was sort of this L-shape, and I came around a corner and there was this linen closet. And all of a sudden, this ghostly figure walked out. He was an old man with this long, wrinkled, worn robe. I can see it to this day; it sends chills through me. I told my mom, and she said, "Go outside and play." But this was before anything really took off, so of course she would. But then, there were so many things happening to be aware of. My sister would be growling, and we didn't have any animals in the house. I would hear kids playing out the window in the middle of the night. We would just hear and see these things in the middle of the night and then in the morning, my sister and I would compare notes. So we knew something was going on, but we didn't really know what. 

When Heather said "Bad things are going to happen in this house" without her lips moving, how did you explain it in your head? 
I couldn't believe it. I thought she was doing it in some way she'd figured out; like she had a special talent. It didn’t seem like her lips were moving, so I was actually scared of her. Which was overwhelming. We didn't talk about it at the time. We all just looked at each other and kept eating. I mean, we were all in shock. I don't know what my parents talked about then, and I can't imagine, but we were all very overwhelmed and it was such a frightening time. This was just too much. 

Suzy Doll was made by your Aunt Robin. Has anyone ever asked her about the doll and what was her response?
No. She still, to this day, makes things for people. We don't want to ask, "What material did you use?" We don't know if it really had to do with the doll. And we don't really want to ask. And to be clear, it was more that whatever it was that was in the house was manipulating the doll. We don't know how that thing came into the house, whatever it was, but it really took a liking to putting the doll in these gross positions. You know, you'd walk into one room and it'd be in one place. And then you'd leave and come back and it'd be in this sick position, legs spread or something. The doll looked like Raggedy Ann but with dark hair. It was meant to look like our little sister. So, to have this big doll, you know, it was the size of a six-year-old, in all these positions and moving around the house — it was pretty disturbing. 

Do you ever wonder where Suzy Doll ended up? 
My mom took care of that. I don't know what she did, if she burned it or whatever, but she did something. I've never wanted to ask her.

Have you experienced any paranormal activity since? 
Yes! But definitely not evil. In the house I live in now, we caught a woman on camera. When my daughter was three years old, she would talk about this woman she would talk to. An older woman named Helen, and I thought, "You know, okay ...," but I still wondered about it. And then one day, we got some pictures back and there was a figure in there of this older woman, who was sort of hunched over. And when we talked to the upstairs neighbor, it turned out that the grandmother of the former tenants had a problem with her back. What's interesting is that the presence was peaceful. This isn't an evil presence. We have everything blessed: our rosary beads, our crucifix. I think there's surely other paranormal stuff out there that I've witnessed, but they've been peaceful. No other problems. 

Did the experience change how you feel about the world and what might be unseen and going on around us? 
Absolutely. Even 30 years ago, you didn't hear anything about this, now there is so much information being shared and there are are all these people on TV sharing these stories, I think it's really coming into the light. I think these are going to get worse and worse because the other world is out there and they want us to know that there's a good place you can go and there's a bad place. I think having all these stories shared are important because that message is getting heard. My life totally changed after this. I really believe in prayer. It's miraculous. It's the most important thing. I believe that these things are happening - it's the most amazing thing ever.