The Case of the Screaming Skull

This casefile was compiled by Alva Keel through witness interviews and observations conducted by SQ.

      Ms. Santos and I were contacted by a Dr. Joshua Locken in New York City to see to a problem he was having with a human skull. He had procured the skull from the teaching ward of the hospital at which he worked to use as a decoration for his desk; he kept pencils and pens in it. Within a week of placing the item on the corner of this piece of furniture, the skull began to scream. The screams sounded female, and definitely appeared to emanate from the skull. The jaw did not move to articulate these cries. The screams simply came from the mouth area; if one moved the skull around the room, the sounds would follow it.
      Screaming skulls are not a well known paranormal phenomena. However, this sort of thing has happened before. We advised Dr. Locken to find out as much as he could about the woman to which the skull had belonged from hospital records so we would have this information to which to refer when we arrived. Ms. Santos and I traveled to the doctor's office at the point that the screaming had become constant and unbearable to take - we could hear the wails and screams out in the parking lot. The skull could not be satiated; no amount of pleading would persuade it to stop.
      We entered the office and could not even introduce ourselves because Dr. Locken could not hear us over the screaming of the skull. Patients and nurses alike fled the office with their hands over their ears. The doctor understood who Ms. Santos and I were, though, and so led us into his office where the skull was. I asked him if he was attached to it, to which he replied no, just do whatever was necessary to cease its cries. In reply, I told the skull that if it did not stop screaming immediately, I was going to smash it. The skull continued wailing. Having no other choice, I picked up a brass flag stand from the corner of the office, put the skull on the floor, and proceeded to smash it to pieces. As I did, the skull cried out in pain, screaming that "it hurts" and begging me to stop.
      The wailing ceased when the skull lay in shards on the floor. Ms. Santos and I studied the history of the patient from which the bones came; she had been a woman in her 40's who had spent several weeks in the hospital before her death with a very painful condition. She had donated her body to science. The cadaver seemed to be holding the emotions connected to the physical pain she had been through. I suggested that the doctor collect all of her remains and have them cremated. Fire is a cleanser often used in magick ritual; a formal cremation and ceremonial farewell should release the woman's spirit from the pain that had caused her skull to scream. The woman had no next of kin, so we helped Dr. Locken perform this ceremony over the cremated remains. He was more than happy to do this because he believed if he did not, the woman would haunt his office, continuing her anguished screaming. Since our ceremony, he has reported no further paranormal activity.
      This case is closed.

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