Episode Recap: The Molech

Bob Cranmer left the Army with a compelling belief that he needed to move into full-time politics. He believed that his time working in military intelligence would help him craft his message in a way that would appeal to voters. It worked, as he was elected the first Republican Majority County Commissioner since the Roosevelt administration.

Bob had always loved a particular house in his hometown of Brentwood, Pennsylvania. He thought it looked like it should be the home of a statesman. When he got the call that the current owner was putting it on the market, the family paid a visit. Even though the house had a couple of eccentricities, the Cranmers fell even more in love with the place. Their son, Bobby, even picked out which bedroom he wanted before they'd even made an offer.

Bob made the owner what he thought was a lowball offer to buy the house, though the family that was living there agreed to it rather quickly. When Bob asked if there was anything wrong with the place, the then-owner told him no ... and made a point of mentioning that they had conducted Mass in the living room. As the then-owners were a traditional Irish family, Bob dismissed it as something that was normal for them.

As the Cranmers moved in, things slowly began to become unnerving. When Lesa, Bob's wife, ripped out the wallpaper in one room, she found large letters underneath stating that "This Is Our Home." Lesa dismissed it and continued her renovation. When she stepped in a strange, goopy puddle in the hallway that appeared to have no source, she just added it to the list of oddities. Another puddle in the bathroom got her attention as it had an old musty smell.

Bob had some curious things happen as well. On several nights, when he came home from work, he would reach into the front hall closet to hang up his jacket, only to see the chain for the light wrapped around the shade.

One day, Bobby had been home sick from school. As he attempted to rest in his bedroom, he began seeing things, including a strange man walking through the house. It disturbed him so much that when Lesa returned home later that day, she found Bobby hiding in his closet. His behavior was not normal, and he wanted nothing to do with anyone. Bob chalked it up to teenage rebellion.

On another day, Lesa was home working when she heard heavy footsteps cross the foyer and head up the wooden steps. When she checked, there was nothing there. As she walked up the stairs to search further, she noticed that Bobby's door was closed, though it had been open when he left for school. When she opened it, there was nothing there. However, as she closed it again and walked toward the steps, something opened it. As she looked at the open door, something hit Lesa from behind her ankles and knocked her feet out from under her, sending her hurtling down the stairs. She promptly moved Bobby into another bedroom and Bob and Lesa moved into Bobby's old room.

Shortly after Lesa moved into Bobby's old room, she started seeing changes in herself. She had no energy and grew increasingly unable to function. This was the point where the Cranmer's eldest daughter, Jessica, called and asked to move back in with them.

Even with Jessica back in the house, Lesa continued to be unable to do anything. Bob noticed the severe change in his wife's personality and grew more concerned. He began to search through the entire bedroom, hunting for a reason that might explain Lesa's state. He found a box full of unpaid bills, collection notices, and judgments against the family. When he tried to confront her about the box, Lesa immediately broke down and begged him to do something about whatever was in the house.

Bob was concerned for Lesa's mental state ... right up to the point where he could hear pounding on the wall and a loud bang from the basement. He went to investigate and was met with what he described as a noxious smell. He could also feel something that he described as ominous, but there was nothing there. Or was there? Bob saw a black shape move right in front of him, and he quickly realized that they were sharing the house with something else. In an attempt to protect the children from what was happening, Bob and Lesa decided not to tell them about it.

Bob and Lesa moved their bedroom into a different room of the house, and Lesa immediately began to feel better.

One night, as the Cranmers were sitting down to eat, Jessica allowed her young son, Collin, to go downstairs on his own. Collin got a few steps down when he saw the black shadow man, and screamed. Bob ran to him and held his grandson while the child shivered in fear. The Cranmers tracked down a rental place for Jessica and Collin, as Bob could not allow them to stay there. Bobby thought that moment was where his father was finally getting a grip on what was happening to the family.

Via the mayor of Pittsburgh, who happened to be a friend of Bob's, the Bishop was consulted on what the Cranmers were going through. A week later, Bob received a call from Father Ron Lengwin. Father Lengwin began giving Bob details about the inside of the house that Bob was certain he couldn't have known. When Bob asked Father Lengwin to come help them, Father Lengwin told him that his presence would do more harm than good. He told Bob that they were going to have to decide if they were going to leave the house or stay and fight. Bob and Lesa decided that they were going to fight for their home.

Bob hired a researcher to look into the history of the house and discovered that a pediatrician had specialized in delivering babies once owned the house ... which was of particular interest to Lesa, who had encountered a rancid smell not unlike birthing fluid in the basement. The researcher found out that this pediatrician had also performed illegal abortions in the very bedroom that had been so difficult for the family to sleep in.

Bob called Father Lengwin, who asked him if there was a space in the house that was not part of any room. Bob realized that he was asking about the closet with that troublesome light. On that information alone, Bob decided that he had to break into the back wall of that closet. When he did, he found two items: the skeleton of a bird, and a crumpled piece of paper.

Bob opened that paper and found a sketch that terrified him: a creature with the long horns and head of an ox, and a sacrificial font in front of it. Also written on the page was a verse about people offering their children for sacrifice, which Bob recognized as being connected to the Canaanites. He managed to connect the dots back to the Canaanite deity Molech, whose statue looked just like the creature on the page.

Bob realized that what the doctor had done was take the illegally aborted babies and burn them in the furnace downstairs in a manner that was not unlike the way the Canaanites sacrificed their children to Molech. Bob came away with the firm belief that the doctor had been a worshiper of the old god Molech.

One evening, Bobby screamed for his parents from upstairs. When Bob and Lesa came to him, Bobby pointed at the wall. Bob and Lesa were stunned, as it looked like blood was flowing down the wall. Lesa's ability to cope with whatever was happening quickly vanished.

Bob contacted Father Lengwin, who told him that it was time to call in the exorcist. Lesa wasn't entirely convinced that the elderly priest who showed up to perform the ritual was strong enough to battle the entity in their house, but she helped them get the altar together near the furnace in the basement. As the exorcist raised the mass and incantation, a loud banging began to come from the furnace door. Bob tried to approach, but it was too hot. The exorcist continued the ritual, with Bob joining him. It was a difficult battle, but eventually, there was calm.

When all was said and done, Bob was still curious as to how Father Lengwin had known so much about the house. He went to Pittsburgh to pay a visit to Father Lengwin's offices. There, Bob learned that Father Lengwin had a friend with mystic abilities who had been able to see the rooms of the house and gave him the details of what she saw.

While Father Lengwin was happy that the Cranmers had a sense of closure, he couldn't be entirely certain that the book was truly closed for them.