Zak Bagans, the popular paranormal investigator and host of ‘Ghost Adventures,’ has never been a stranger to spooky experiences and unexplained mysteries. But his time inside the Demon House takes the cake for the most eerie encounter he’s ever had.
The property in Gary, Indiana, no longer exists after he chose to demolish it. But this was not before he got a haunting reminder—a permanent condition on his brown eyes that still affects him today. Before the new Netflix movie, ‘The Deliverance’ (2024), Bagans’ deep dive into the house ended up as the documentary titled ‘Demon House’ (2018).
The Eyes of Evil: How the Demon House Altered Zak Bagans’ Vision
The story began in 2014 when Zak Bagans decided to buy the haunted house in Indiana after hearing all the wild stories about it from several credible witnesses, including law enforcement and medical professionals. Interestingly, he purchased it over the phone without ever setting foot inside. Zak simply could not resist the temptation to see for himself what the fuss was all about. People who were familiar with the place called it a “Portal to Hell,” and there was no chance Bagans would not be interested in exploring this paranormal place of residence headfirst.
Maybe it was not a wise decision, after all, because it did not take long for Bagans to feel something weird going on with his eyes. This happened right after stepping into the Demon House. Zak initially thought it was an ordinary discomfort, but it quickly escalated into something more sinister. As he continued the investigation, his vision got messed up—he was seeing double, and his eyes even crossed.
The house had a serious impact on Zak Bagans, hitting him hard both physically and mentally. He noticed a big drop in his energy levels and felt increasingly uneasy, which he blamed on the house’s malevolent presence.
The horror investigator was not overreacting, not in the slightest. Within a day of sealing himself in, he genuinely developed double vision, a condition known as diplopia, which persists to this day. Doctors were clueless in explaining what was wrong with him. They ran several tests, but no neurological condition could explain his symptoms. It was like the house left its mark on him, and no one knew why.
Bagans, ever the believer of the paranormal, made the obvious connection. He believed the dark forces in the Demon House had messed with him, with a physical mark, showing just how real those unseen forces were. His eyes, which he relied on for observing, became a channel for the house’s evil energy. The double vision and misaligned eyes were a constant, unsettling reminder of what he experienced inside, and they were unlikely to let him go anytime soon.
The host of ‘Ghost Adventures’ chose not to get surgery and decided he was fine to live with the eye condition. He instead opted to use prism glasses to help with his injury and vision. It’s worth pointing out that he wore glasses before in high school but switched to contacts early on. He might have started wearing glasses again after getting positive feedback.
One fan, however, was not entirely convinced about his issues with the eyesight, writing:
He has to wear prism glasses now because he was diagnosed with diplopia, or double vision. Supposedly, it happened after he filmed the Demon House documentary. You usually get it from nerve or muscle damage in the eye. I doubt it happened overnight as Zak says, unless there was some kind of mold or something he breathed in when he spent a lot of time in that house that caused nerve damage. Typically, people develop this condition over time. Personally, I think Zak always had a lazy eye, it’s just a lot more prominent now that he has to wear prism glasses because you can see it easier. He most likely would’ve needed these glasses at some point anyway.
Meanwhile, in interviews, Bagans has not held back on sharing his experiences calling the Demon House a “contagious disease” that nobody can escape once they step inside. While some crew members eventually got better, his eyes remained troubled, teaching him a harsh lesson on the dangers that apparently come with his job.
This was no ordinary house in the eyes of Zak Bagans. His decision to tear down the property was partly fueled by his wish to stop others from suffering similar fates. But even after destroying the house, its influence has not completely gone away, especially in his eyes. While this was indeed an awful experience for Bagans, he remains unfazed and refuses to back down from his paranormal investigation, albeit he now understands the severity of the risks involved.
The Aftermath: Zak Bagans’ Collection of Haunting Remnants
After demolishing the house, Bagans took several remnants to his Haunted Museum in Las Vegas. These included things like the basement staircase, a door, and even some dirt and artifacts that are believed to be linked to the house’s dark past.
Zak reckons the biggest appeal of the museum is the fact that people are consciously or unconsciously fascinated by the supernatural and the fear that comes with it. He believes people are usually drawn to things that challenge their limits, pushing boundaries to a new level. They want to stir up and provoke strong, intense emotions, and that’s precisely the biggest strength of his museum.
For Zak Bagans, the lingering effects have not gone away as he can still experience the vivid memories and sensations. The 47-year-old says he feels a strong psychological and sensory link to the house that is still sticking around. The house may be long gone, but its psychological or paranormal impact still shapes his life.
Whenever he looks back at his time with the house, Bagans acknowledges that this particular emotional attachment is one of the most complicated things he’s felt in his life. The pain was obviously too much to bear at times, and yet he admits to feeling a weird kind of nostalgia. He confesses to missing the intensity and excitement of his experiences there.
The new movie, ‘The Deliverance,’ inspired by the story of this haunted house, is currently streaming on Netflix.
