Houses are always haunted. When alive, we haunt them and when dead, our ghosts haunt them. First our laughter haunts the walls, then our moans. First, our joy takes over the ceilings and then, our pain. We are always there haunting them. Look at the some of the most famous haunted houses in the world and you will know what I am saying. If I stop blaming the mankind for the plight of these poor houses then I have just one sentence to describe these, ‘The art work of mystery at play in its best form’. Intriguing and tempting enough for me to sell my soul to the devil to haunt hem all over again, but I don’t know about you. Would you stay?
1) 112 ‘The Amityville Horror’ Ocean Avenue House
This could be the most famous horror house in the world, as the famous movie The Amityville Horror is based on this very house. The story of the house begins with Ronald DeFeo, Jr. fatally shooting six members of his family at the house. The guy is still in a jail in New York. However, the family that occupied the house in December 1975, one year after the incident fled the house claiming to have been tortured by foul smells, faces at the windows, screams, moving objects, and all manner of bizarre phenomena.
2) A house listed for sale with a ghost nicknamed Tom
There are some weird people in the world, but we can’t help it, sanity and insanity comes hand in hand, in this case at least. In 2000 Mr. Ronson and his wife of South Wales put up their house for a sale, but with a condition that the ghost will stay in the house. Apparently, the husband and the wife had grown so fond of the ghost that they had nicknamed him Tom. Cute isn’t it?
3) Sydney’s Gothic Mansion came with a ghost of a lady in white
When put up for sale in 2009, the Abbey in Annandale was expected to fetch $10 million in its sale. This 50 room Gothic mansion with original Victorian features was listed for sale with the resident ghost of a lady in white. The other odd things in this house were: Doors open and windows close on their own, visitors see dark shadowy figures, and the Lady in White roams the halls.
4) Nicolas Cage’s Most Haunted house of New Orleans
What was Nicolas Cage thinking when he bought the house, I am sure it must be so painful to shell out millions for a home that ghosts inhabit. The LaLaurie Mansion was put up for sale in 2009 at an auction in the later part of the year. Originally built for French royalty, this mansion’s ghost stories start in the 1830s with the LaLaurie family and their sadistic slave abuse.
5) Haunted House in Ghost Town where a ghost whispered
This haunted adobe house in Cuchillo, New Mexico was put up for sale and even bought on e bay in October 2009. Josh Bond owned the home in the middle of the ghost town, Cuchillo. He put it up for sale when paranormal investigators confirmed that the house was haunted. He had apparently seen an old lady cooking in the kitchen, and heard firewood being piled into the pot-bellied stove. The scariest thing that had happened with him he heard someone whispering in his ear.
6) The Haunted Pickfair Estate for $60 million
Apparently it is still up for sale for $60 million. This house was originally built for Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, the silent movie stars in Beverly Hills. They built a mansion in a place where originally stood a hunting cabin. The couple divorced in 1936, but Pickford remained in the home, becoming more and more reclusive until her death in 1979. When Israeli businessman Meshulam Riklis and his wife purchased the home in 1988, they rebuilt the entire house, as it was infested with termites. Even though the original house is gone, it is said that Pickford’s ghost is seen waiting to reconcile with Fairbanks, who has also been spotted on the property.
7) Pickens County Courthouse
The Pickens County Courthouse in Carrollton, Alabama is a courthouse in west Alabama famous for a ghostly image that can be seen in one of its windows. The image is said to be the face of Henry Wells, who, as legend has it, was falsely accused of burning down the town’s previous courthouse, and lynched on a stormy night in 1878.
8) Borley Reactory
This was described to be the most haunted house in Britain in 1937 by paranormal investigator Harry Price. The house only gained the haunted reputation when many occupants reported of some unsettling paranormal phenomenon. Borley Rectory was a Victorian era mansion located in the village of Borley, Essex, England. It was constructed in 1863, on the site of a previous rectory, and destroyed by fire in 1939.
9) Whaley ‘the gallows’ House
Thomas Whaley and his family once occupied this House in Old Town, San Diego. Now a museum, this house has gained an infamous reputation of being haunted. “According to the Travel Channel’s America’s Most Haunted, out of all the haunted houses in the United States, the Whaley House is the number one most haunted. The Whaley house was haunted even before the house was built”. The first ever ghost that was reported to be here was of James “Yankee Jim” Robinson who was hanged in 1852 on the property, as it was used as a gallows before the land was purchased.
10) Raynham Hall
This country house in Norfolk, England provides the most famous ghost photo of all time, Brown Lady descending the staircase. For 300 years this house has been the seat of the Townshend family.
11) Howsham Hall, the cursed house
This house in Yorkshire is supposed to be haunted by a curse and was also listed for sale in 2009 under the price tag of £6m. The most interesting fact here is that the house was put up for sale only for four times in its four hundred year history. According to the so called curse of Kirkham ‘All male heirs of the estate will perish’ and ‘true happiness will never come to that family or its successors’. More about the curse here.
12) The Haunted Mangolia Mansion
This house was built in 1857 by Alexander Harris for his bride, who died of yellow fever the same year. In New Orleans, this house was put up for sale in 2009. “According to the Encyclopedia of Haunted Places, one ghost wasn’t too keen on Vest’s renovations. The crew saw an unexplained oily substance on the wall and floors. When Vest explained she was making the mansion better, the spirit stopped. Then, a few weeks later, a 300-pound door slammed to the floor unexpectedly. The dining room and downstairs are said to have the most active spirits, though guests have also reported paranormal activity in upstairs bedrooms. Among the characters are a “ghost maid” who tucks people into bed and a little girl walking around the halls.”
