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The Disturbing True Story of the Amherst Incident

The Tape Library

511,668 views

In 1878, a quiet home in Amherst, Nova Scotia became the centre of one of the most terrifying and controversial hauntings ever recorded. Known as the Great Amherst Mystery, this chilling case follows the ordeal of Esther Cox — a young woman whose life became a nightmare of unexplained noises, flying objects, mysterious fires, and violent poltergeist activity that seemed to follow her wherever she went.

Witnessed by doctors, neighbours, and even recorded in the book The Great Amherst Mystery by Walter Hubbell, the case quickly became one of the most famous paranormal stories in history. But was this truly a haunting… or something far stranger?

In this episode, we explore the full timeline of events, the people involved, the controversy surrounding the investigation, and the unsettling theory that poltergeist activity may not be caused by spirits at all — but by the hidden power of the human mind.

Welcome to one of the darkest paranormal cases ever documented.

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Archive of the Paranormal, the strange and the unexplained.

Additional footage and audio from Evanto, Artgrid, Epidemic Sounds, Singularity and Pexels. Music includes Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio and the youtube audio library.

Additional music by @repulsive1908

All other footage used under fair use.

Chapters
00:00 The Great Amherst Mystery
03:44 Something in the Dark
11:24 The Doctor
20:45 Fire
26:46 A Violent Follower
29:37 The Actor
39:30 A Fiery End
42:16 What Really Happened?
53:51 Wrapping Up

20 Comments

@TheTapeLibrary Creator 5 months ago Pinned

So, what do you think? A case of trauma? A hoax? Or did something much more strange take place?

@fish_whiskers 5 months ago

I'm really happy the community had Esther's back, even when they were afraid of her

@DragoEpyon 5 months ago

So, the actor, who was so outraged that his friend was getting taken advantage of, decided to take advantage of this girl? Classy.

@davesonofdave8612 5 months ago

She takes TWO knives to the back in one setting and still keeps trucking? Imagine how tough Esther is when she's NOT being haunted!

@pablopicaso9170 5 months ago

The RSPK theory actually makes this even sadder… like her trauma literally manifesting physically is terrifying

@AleeyaIsEpic 5 months ago

If the story about her being taken advantage of by her boyfriend is true, it makes the story sadder. The catalyzing event was her being taken advantage of then repeatedly taken advantage of by people studying her and putting her on display.

@BeABetterPersonToday 5 months ago

I wish we had control over how we wanted to use our “hype” feature points. I’d give them all to The Tape Library. The world needs to know how amazing he is.

@sadgrrlcalli231 5 months ago

The people who treated Esther like a party trick gave me the ick. Even though the retelling framed her responses to this as mildly positive, I can't help but be skeptical of Hubbell's account considering he wanted to take her on tour. 😮‍💨 On a side note, kudos to the townsfolk for having Esther's back; despite all she was going through and how her situation was affecting the town, the community mostly stood by her.

@emmastrand1931 5 months ago

Ester being sent away to live on a farm for a while more than once immediately makes me think she was sent away to hide the fact she was pregnant and returned once the babies were born.

@SkyandMoon909 5 months ago

I'm a Nova Scotian watching this from the Dominican Republic LOL

@grahamwride1240 5 months ago

The tale of Ester Cox actually has its origins in Moncton, New Brunswick. The strange goings on involving Ester Cox started in a house on Wesley Street in Moncton's east end. The disturbances escalated upon her moving to Amherst, Nova Scotia.

@DoYouDareListen 5 months ago

This gave me chills… not gonna lie. The scariest part isn’t the ghost, it’s how real it feels. Anyone else feel like something’s watching after hearing this? 👀

@thedormmouse 5 months ago

A case I've actually never heard of. Glad I'm relatively early!!!

@subplot 5 months ago

There's another, somewhat similar Nova Scotian case from a few decades later, the Mary-Ellen spook farm. It's a bit harder to find information on, but well worth it. For anyone who's interested, "Fire Spook" by Monica Graham (2013, Nimbus Publishing) is a great read.

@SaraEhleben 5 months ago

What a strange and spooky happening! Poor Esther really drew the short straw on life experiences. I hope the report that found her living free of whatever this was with a family of her own was true. She deserved some peace! ✌🕊

@FernBlackwood1995 5 months ago

Ah yes. Another horrifying ghost story from my home province.

@muddy__buddy100 5 months ago

I've been sick as a dog, what a treat to listen to while I can't work! Thank you Tape Library!!!!

@NoOneIsActuallyBased 5 months ago

Is it refreshing to hear a story from times ago where the toensfolk weren't cruel, callous and ignorant. I was dreading the moment where we are informed they shunned her or even worse (you know what that would be)

@lissanne56 5 months ago

Thank you for always keeping an open mind about the cases you report in these episodes. That is the main reason I watch and re-watch all of your content. Even now, no one can really explain what a poltergeist is or isn't. Are there spirits moving about, waiting to mess-up people's lives? Right now no one can answer that with real honest facts. But I know that telling someone they aren't telling the truth is so very wrong. All we can do is try to see out of their eyes and mind. If thay have seen a UFO, who could say "no you didn't". That's just cruel.