In 1987, Human Blood Began Oozing Out Of The Walls And Floors Of A Georgia Home

Minnie Winston was 77 years old in September 1987. She lived alone with her 79-year-old husband, William, and had acted as his caretaker since his healh had begun to decline. Minnie soaked herself in a bathtub on the evening of September 8 to relax, but she found nothing but a headache when she emerged.

Minnie stepped out of the bath and into something wet and sticky burbling up from between the tile. Blood soaked her feet and the floor. She rushed to call for her husband, who was asleep in their room, and it seemed that the bloody substance wasn't confined to the bathroom.

William joined his wife in the search for the source of the blood, finding instead more droplets and puddles. Their living room, kitchen, crawl space, one bedroom, a hallway, and the basement all had the same rust-colored liquid spattered in them from seemingly nowhere. The pair first thought perhaps a small wounded animal found its way into their house, but they did find any other evidence of this in their search. 

There was no source or reason for the liquid that Minnie described as "like a sprinkler," spraying up from the floors and all over her home. The dialysis machine that cleaned William's blood in lieu of functioning kidneys was even checked for a leak, but none was found.

After exhausting all of their own leads and theories about the liquid, the Winstons decided to call 911 for police assistance. The first emergency service to arrive at the house were EMTs, meticulously checking the elderly couple for missed wounds or cuts on their bodies. Next to arrive were the police and Brenda Dipple, a lab technician tasked with collecting the blood. 

The police asked whether there were other people in the home and found that Minnie and William were honest in their insistence that it was only the two of them. The couple had locked their doors at 9:30 that evening and then set their security alarm, preventing any intruders. It was around 11:30 that night when the first droplets of blood began to appear. Police had no idea how to help or what was happening, finding no homicide or crime of any kind.

Brenda Dipple collected samples from the home that she admitted gave her the creeps. Surprising everyone except for the Winstons themselves, lab testing showed that the liquid was indeed human blood. In fact, it was type O blood. Testing proved that Minnie was type A and her husband's precarious health meant his blood type was already known - also type A. 

Police informed the press they did not intend to investigate further if there was no evidence of a crime. The idea of a hoax was also posited, and the state crime lab concluded no murder had taken place in the home. The theories had dried up as quickly as the blood in the Winston home. The public's fascination with the phenomena, however, was anything but waning.

Curt Rowlett was a rocker and researcher of paranormal activities and became fascinated with the story unfolding at 1114 Fountain Drive. Unlike other reporters and curious parties, Curt waited six months to sit down with Minnie and attempt to find out what was really going on inside their home. According to his book Labyrinth 13: True Tales of the Occult, Crime & Conspiracy, he called up Mrs. Winston and asked her several questions.

According to Minnie, the Winstons had lived in the home for 22 years without any previous strange occurrences, and she now either believed or wanted others to believe the blood that appeared in her home was just rust and mud. Minnie claimed the hot water heater in her basement busted and the steam, mixed with rust and mud, shot through the ductwork to cover her home. This is, of course, refuted by the crime lab testing that identified the substance as type O human blood.

Curt concluded that Minnie did not want the substance that propelled her and her husband into the annals of paranormal lore to be blood, so she simply refused to believe it. After all, she wouldn't stay in a haunted house.

Unsurprisingly, the interview did nothing to conclude the cause of the event.

Police decided to investigate the previous occupants of the house on 1114 Fountain Drive, as they were absolutely stumped. Before the Winstons moved in, Albert Thompson and his wife were the residents. Albert was Black, just as the Winstons, and worked for the Federal Housing Authority. One day in 1950, Albert was T-boned by a white driver who suffered no injuries. Albert was treated and sent back to the house on Fountain Drive with internal bleeding. The man responsible for Albert's injuries was not charged with anything and was let off with just a warning.

Some believed the house bleeding was connected to Albert's fate, as the blood appeared to the Winstons when the anniversary of the car accident - and Albert's death on Halloween - were less than a month away. Others pointed to the death of another Black man at the hands of a police officer who shot at the wrong suspect, an event that transpired just days before the blood begean appearing in the Winston home.

Was the house on Fountain Drive a portal for the pain of these victims and the deep-rooted racism in the Atlanta area where they lived?