Episode Recap: The Ranch

Cheri, her husband Todd and their daughters Brie and Andi were a nomadic family, always on the move due to the demands of Todd's construction job. They hoped that their new ranch in Abilene, Texas might be the place where they finally put down permanent roots … but what they got was a land of horrors!

There were red flags almost from the start, as a removed carpet revealed strange ritualistic symbols drawn on the hardwood floor. After that, the family dogs, Itchy and Bagel, found what looked like a human jaw bone in the yard. And when Todd's mother Gay moved in after she was diagnosed with lung cancer, she began talking to a presence she referred to as 'Mr. Warren.' Gay's conversations with Mr. Warren became more irritable and argumentative, as for some unknown reason her invisible friend was trying to get her to leave the house.

Gay passed away shortly after her family moved her into hospice care. However, her presence was definitely still felt in the house, as the following morning a cloud of grey smoke appeared above the breakfast table (Gay was a chain smoker until the end) … and the framed painting of an elk on the wall, a gift to the family from Gay, suddenly shattered and crashed to the floor.

There had been other disturbances in the house, such as the kitchen faucet and television both turning on of their own accord. But things got downright sinister when Andi discovered giant claw-like scratches on the walls of the garage … where Cheri was later locked in, unable to get anyone to hear her cries for help.

Oh, and then there was the wolf-like creature that appeared in the window one night while Cheri was painting, which Cheri later described as looking like a Native American tribesman in war paint and animal skins. That same night, Andi and Brie came home to find both Itchy and Bagel bleeding from severe wounds. What had attacked them?

Cheri went to the local library and did some research on their land. It turned out that the ranch was built at the location of the infamous 1871 Warren Wagon Trail Massacre, in which seven white settlers were brutally killed by local Native American tribesmen known for their practice of channeling the spirits of animals. Like wolves!

That same evening, Andi and Brie fled from the barn after seeing one of the Native American warriors. As they frantically drove through the woodlands, they were chased by several figures that seemingly came out of the mist. After their car swerved off the road and wouldn't start again, the girls were chased through the woods on foot. Were they trapped in a never-ending reenactment of the Warren Wagon Trail Massacre?

The family didn't wait to find out as they moved out of the ranch and never returned.