The account says Hannah, then in service, turned away a travelling fortune teller at her door and called her an imposter. The woman predicted she would marry within three months and described the husband. Hannah afterwards found something like a newt attached to her clothing and was so distressed she left her place. She married Thomas Hall, a blacksmith matching the description, inside the time named.
Then the disturbances began: scratching, moaning and shrill whistles, and later a ring taken from Hannah's finger, a medicine bottle destroyed and abusive language heard. The couple moved to Hook Norton, but it is said to have followed them, even on the road. By late December 1838 Thomas reported eight weeks without proper sleep. They later settled in Enstone, where the noises were said to interrupt his work.
Various people tried to stop or test it. Some men of scientific leaning reportedly hired a ventriloquist to see whether the sounds could be faked. The Reverend Edgar Hewlett claimed in 1854 to have exorcised it, giving little detail. Most of the evidence is anonymous letters to the Oxford University and City Herald, and contemporary sceptics called it a gross and shameless imposture. Dark Oxfordshire suggests Hannah may have faked incidents and gained from visitors' donations. That is not proven either way, so this is tagged contested.
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