INTERVIEW: New Discovery special investigates ‘paranormal activity’ in the White House
Photo: Dave Schrader is a paranormal investigator known for Shock Docs and The Holzer Files. Photo courtesy of Discovery / Provided by press site with permission.
Perhaps the most famous residence in the world, the White House in Washington, D.C., is the subject of a new entry in Discovery’s Shock Docs series. Demon in the White House is now streaming on discovery+ and features the paranormal investigations of Dave Schrader, perhaps best known as a cast member of Travel Channel’s The Holzer Files.
The documentary looks at past presidents who occupied the White House and how they may have dabbled in the occult. In particular, they look at former commanders-in-chief and first ladies who were witness to séances and allegedly heard things that went bump in the night.
“Everybody always asks me what would be one of my bucket list locations to investigate, and the White House is definitely #1,” Schrader said in a recent phone interview. “Just steeped in the history and all of the unbelievable figures that have passed through those doors, the things that have been said, the things that have been done, I don’t know anybody that wouldn’t be fascinated by that. And then to realize that this house is haunted and that numerous people from different levels have seen this and have witnessed ghosts for themselves, that’s really the perfect storm for a paranormal experience.”
According to Schrader, there has been a lot of paranormal activity reported at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. One of the first examples involves President Franklin Pierce, First Lady Jane Pierce and the death of their 11-year-old son, Benjamin.
“They brought in séances in hopes to evoke some kind of response from the other side, and as time would go, Lady Jane Pierce began speaking to someone that no one else could see,” he said. “There was that door that opened, and it leaves the question, who stepped through? Was it truly the son, Benjamin, that had come back to his mother to aid her and comfort her, or was something much darker taking the guise of her son?”
The documentary also looks at the history of the Lincoln family who occupied the White House during a most tumultuous time in American history. They also lost a son, and Mary Todd Lincoln apparently tried her best to contact the spirit of her child. For believers, perhaps these stories will add further evidence to their paranormal mindset. For skeptics, the journey back in time is an interesting historical lesson, whether ghosts appear or not.
“There have been sightings of a young boy at the White House throughout the years, and when you’ve got two sets of parents grieving so desperately to make that contact, to reach to the other side, not knowing what it’s really like to open these portals and what may slip through, it can be very dangerous if it’s done in the hands of the wrong person,” Schrader said. “And there were a lot of charlatans, as they say, in those days, offering to open portals and communication and try to close that gap. But did they know what they were truly doing? By opening these doors up, could they control who really stepped in and what took over at that point?”
Schrader said he is interested in the White House’s long history of welcoming people through its doors, plus the deaths that have occurred within its walls. In his theorizing, which is likely not accepted by those who are skeptics, this could mean the residence is a paranormal investigator’s dream come true.
“History would tell us,” he said, “that if there’s been a lot of people that have come and gone through those doors and deaths within those doors that that could make a potential hot spot for the paranormal.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Shock Docs: Demon in the White House, featuring Dave Schrader, is now streaming on discovery+. Click here for more information.
