Episode Summary: Two Girls One Ghost — Ep. 352: Tallman House | The Haunted Bunk Bed Case

Released: December 14, 2025
Hosts: Corinne Vien & Sabrina Deana-Roga
Theme: A deep dive into the infamous Tallman House haunting in Horicon, Wisconsin—the so-called "haunted bunk bed case."

Episode Overview

This episode explores one of America's best-documented object hauntings: the Tallman family’s terrifying ordeal after bringing a secondhand bunk bed into their seemingly normal midwestern home in the late 1980s. Corinne and Sabrina recount the bizarre chain of escalating paranormal phenomena that plagued the Tallmans, impacted neighbors, and culminated in a local frenzy—while also unpacking persistent mysteries and skepticism around the case.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Tallman Family’s “American Dream” [05:25–10:00]

• Alan and Debbie Tallman, a working-class couple, buy a home in tranquil Horicon, Wisconsin in April 1986 to raise their young son and daughter, with a third child on the way.
• Corinne describes the area as a "marsh-lined town filled with working class families" and typical of ‘80s small-town life.
• The house is new (built two years prior), with "no violent past, no prior reports of unusual activity" [06:45], suggesting nothing untoward was expected.
• Early months in the house are idyllic—until a fateful purchase.

2. The Arrival of the Bunk Bed & Early Activity [09:33–12:48]

• For their daughter's transition out of a crib, the Tallmans buy a secondhand bunk bed cheaply ("for $100, originally $400").
• Alan brings the bed to the basement to repaint and reinforce it. After one painting session, he finds his paintbrush mysteriously inside the paint can, handle-down—and the can’s lid off. He rationalizes it's exhaustion or forgetfulness.
• "You could write it off in so many ways," says Sabrina [12:50], establishing the Tallmans' tendency to seek rational explanations.

3. Immediate Haunting Upon Assembly [12:48–15:34]

• Once the bunk beds are moved into the daughter’s room, paranormal activity skyrockets.
• Night 1:
  • Daughter feels someone sit at the end of her bed.
  • Son sees his clock radio dials move by unseen hands.
  • Alan hears his name faintly whispered as he falls asleep—"Alan…" [14:41]
• Still, the parents try to explain away the incidents as nerves, new routines, and childhood imagination.

4. Escalation & Impossible Experiences [15:34–27:21]

• Physical and Environmental Manifestations:
  • Chilling cold spots, moving doors, shaking furniture, and poltergeist-like activity, especially around the bunk bed.
• Auditory Phenomena:
  • Family members—including the very young daughter—hear their names called by disembodied voices, often when alone.
• Sightings of the Apparition:
  • The daughter wakes to see "a woman with long dark hair" and "glowing red eyes… standing in fire outside my door" [21:57]. The parents explain it as nightmares.
  • Months later, the son independently reports seeing the same "woman in fire," confirming the child’s visions and making the phenomenon undeniable.
• Notable Quote:
  "This is the moment that they stopped ignoring it… All of these things that are happening, we can't ignore anymore." — Sabrina [23:04]

5. Desperation & Failed Interventions [25:23–34:13]

• The Tallmans seek spiritual help; a pastor proclaims the house to be "the work of the devil" [26:54] and blesses it—but the haunting worsens.
• "It ended up intensifying the haunting more than anything, which is so frustrating," Corinne laments [27:21], highlighting a familiar pattern.
• The grandmother and neighbors also witness supernatural events, including seeing the woman’s red eyes peering through windows.
• Alan attempts to protect his children by sleeping in their room nightly, but is terrorized by "a misty blob" that whispers, "You're dead" [33:38].

6. The Breaking Point: Fleeing the Home [34:13–36:39]

• After a terrifying ordeal witnessed by a skeptical family member, Debbie flees with her children and does not return.
• The family never lives in the home again, regardless of financial loss or uncertainty.

7. Aftermath & Media Frenzy [39:34–46:07]

• Rumors swirl throughout the town ("bleeding walls, a hole to hell, a ghost-powered snowblower" [39:34]), drawing thrill-seekers and resulting in police involvement.
• Police reportedly believe the Tallmans, and advise them to set the record straight via a single, sensitive news interview.
• The Tallmans ultimately destroy and discreetly bury the bunk beds in a landfill where “nobody will ever build” [43:06]. Afterward, the hauntings cease permanently for the family and for future residents of the house.

8. Legacy, Unsolved Mysteries, and Lingering Questions [44:14–49:41]

• The case was dramatized for an Unsolved Mysteries episode (Season 3, Episode 13)—filmed in the real house—but later removed from streaming due to probable family wishes/respect.
• The Tallmans have refused all other media offers, prioritizing privacy and healing.
• Listeners, hosts, and even local police have differing opinions on causality:
  • Was it the bunk bed, the family, or the house itself?
  • Reports suggest some minor activity (such as a moving chair) happened before the bunk bed arrived, adding to the conundrum.
• Notable Quote:
  "We don't know. But all we do know is that ever since moving and ever since destroying the bunk beds, the Tallman family has not experienced a haunting." — Sabrina [48:49]

9. Listener Story: “I Was a Creepy Kid” [52:03–57:42]

• Peyton writes in with tales of sleepwalking, creepy behavior as a child (including bunk bed moments!), and potential afterlife contact with both her deceased grandfathers.
• Hosts reflect on children's openness to the supernatural and the differences between creepy, possessed, and simply sensitive kids.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Maybe he like rushed upstairs because maybe, yes, maybe Debbie did call with some urgency. … He doesn't really think much of it. I wouldn't either. … You could write it off in so many different ways.”
  — Sabrina [12:46]

• “This is what you're told to do. … And then, like, that’s supposed to end things, or at least like, you hope heard it enough, you know? … But in so many of these cases, that actually makes things worse.”
  — Corinne [27:21]

• “You're dead.”
  — Paranormal entity to Alan [33:38]

• "They took [the bunk beds] out there and plowed them under and it's like undisclosed location. They don’t want anyone to have access to these."
  — Sabrina quoting Debbie [43:06]

• "Sometimes you're just a conduit for your relatives, and sometimes you buy haunted bunk beds, and there's no reason, no rhyme — just run."
  — Sabrina [58:18]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Segment Description | |---------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 05:25 | Setting: Tallman family background; house purchase | | 09:33 | Arrival of bunk bed; strange first incident (paintbrush in can) | | 12:48 | First night bunk bed assembled—the immediate escalation | | 14:41 | First whispered “Alan…” in the night | | 21:57 | Daughter’s sighting of “woman in fire”; parents' denial | | 23:04 | Son corroborates, case becomes irrefutable | | 25:23 | Poltergeist-like activity: shaking furniture, moved objects, cold spots | | 26:54 | Pastor’s failed intervention | | 33:38 | Apparition issues a death threat: “You’re dead” | | 34:13 | Family flees the house after a final, unreported encounter | | 39:34 | Town rumor mill erupts; media & police involvement | | 43:06 | Bunk beds destroyed and buried; hauntings cease | | 44:14 | “Unsolved Mysteries” segment and subsequent removal | | 48:49 | Discussion: beds vs. house vs. family—what caused the haunting? | | 52:03 | Listener story: “I Was a Creepy Kid” (Peyton’s paranormal childhood anecdotes) |

Tone & Style

The hosts balance heavily researched narration, empathy for the family, and contagious dark humor (e.g., “Tisdack for the demon,” “chicken butt” running joke, and camp/summer bunk bed horror digressions). Corinne and Sabrina’s conversational style both lightens the subject and underscores parental fear and the trauma of unexplainable hauntings.

Final Takeaways

• The Tallman House remains a touchstone case for haunted-object lore—and a rare instance where destroying the item appeared to end the haunting.
• The family’s privacy and lingering trauma are respected throughout, with Corinne and Sabrina frequently emphasizing the importance of “not giving more energy” to such cases unless chosen by the affected.
• The episode explores questions of skepticism, rumor, and how the line between folklore and lived supernatural trauma often blurs.

Recommended for listeners fascinated by haunted object lore, 1980s American ghost stories, and the social impact of infamous hauntings.

Key Quote:
"Sometimes you're just a conduit for your relatives, and sometimes you buy haunted bunk beds—there's no reason, no rhyme, just run."
— Sabrina [58:18]

Further Reading/Viewing:

• Segment (if available): Unsolved Mysteries, Season 3, Episode 13
• “Tallman House” newspaper accounts, Milwaukee Sentinel, Jan–Feb 1988