Top 10 Real Life Haunted Houses that Inspired Movies and Haunted Tv Shows
“The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.” This quote by Alberto Giacometti explains aptly how sometimes some of the most masterful artworks have been inspired by reality. This also holds true to some of the macabre incidents that happened in various houses across the world inspiring leading Hollywood directors to weave out cinematic masterpieces from them. Thus solidify the legacy of those horror stories forevermore.
Let’s find out the stories behind these hauntingly still houses that continue to invite paranormal lovers from all over the world to pay them a visit.
The pleasantly old fashioned Amityville house located on 112 ocean avenue, Long Island, New York became the amalgamation of the infestation of a demonic entity. The entity terrorised the newly moved Lutz family who endured varied haunted events that led to the mass massacre of their entire family.
The charming home shed its calm facade and turned into a grisly crime scene. Ronald Defeo Jr. trudged through the halls of his home and brutally shot all of his family members with a rifle in their sleep.
Defeo Jr. later confessed to the crime saying that the reason why he brutally slaughtered his entire family was because of the voices in his head ordering him to do so. This has caused a range of paranormal investigations to occur in the said house. Families also have moved in and moved out in a hurry because of unexplained incidents. Leading to it being adapted to the bigger screen twice, once in 1979, named Amityville Horror and The Amityville Horror in 2005.
The Winchester Mystery mansion in San Jose, California is a sprawling mansion constructed in 1884-1922. The infamous mansion remains an architectural mystery with winding stairs leading to nowhere, rooms built in criss-cross manners and doors leading to a drop towards the leading streets.
It's still one of the most distinct homes that remains today even after a hundred years of its construction. Psychics suggest that the heiress Sarah Winchester who inherited the fortune made from the Winchester rifles that aided in the world wars led her to be haunted by vengeful spirits.
She soon became the sole inheritor of all the fortune. After the tragic untimely death of all her family members. Thus was suggested to continue building the home to confuse the spirits haunting her because of the death and destruction caused by the Winchester Rifles.
The construction continued till her death and then was turned into a paranormal hotspots attracting visitors worldwide. It also inspired the movie Winchester in 2018 which narrated the story of strength,misery and horror Sarah Winchester had to endure in her lifetime.
The villisca axe murder house
The small town home of the Moore family in Villisca, Iowa witnessed the brutal murder of the family and its guests by an unknown murder became the talk of the once small, peaceful town. The now named Villisca axe murder house witnessed the horrible butchering of eight peacefully sleeping humans in a small town dream house.
On June 10,1912, the entire Moore family and two guests of the Stillinger sisters were found brutally murdered with an axe in their sleep. The small town was shaken by the terrifying incident as it used to be the perfect epitome of a small, quiet, peaceful and friendly town.
Thus the horror-inducing murders led to people believing it to be haunted by the restless spirits of the family members and the stillinger girls. Leading to the movie named the axe murders of villisca 2016 reiterating the story of the infamous house and the murders that still remains unsolved to this day.
The old Arnold estate
The old farmhouse situated in Round Top road, Harrisville, Rhode Island, USA stands as the proof of hauntings faced by the Perron family when moved into the peaceful and still farmhouse in the winter of 1970.
The seemingly serene house soon showed its true colours to the Perron family. The oldest daughter of the family Andrea narrates the various haunting and spirits their family went through in her trilogy named House of darkness, House of light. The daughter names the countless spirits that haunted the family including spirits who were harmless and some sinister ones as well.
This trilogy and the involvement of the topmost paranormal investigators late ED and Lorraine Warren and their case files regarding this sinister home inspired one of greatest horror movie franchises of The conjuring universe. Yes you’ve read that right this is the infamous conjuring house and the movie of 2013.
The Enfield house
The Enfield house was situated at 284 Green street, Brimsdown, Enfield London in 1977-79. This house marks one of the most popular cases of poltergeist haunting the sisters Janet and Margret Hodgson. The case of possession of the young girl Janet by a demon caused ripples through the entirety of london. Finally leading to the involvement of the popular paranormal Investigators, the late ED and Lorraine Warren.
The series of debilitating hauntings inspired the 2nd Conjuring movie of 2016 which documents the haunting days and nights of the Hodgson sisters and their family.
The infamous Lizzie Borden house, situated in 230 second street, Fall River, MA, United states narrates the story of one of the most infamous unsolved murder mystery that occurred on august 4, 1892.
Many consider the infamous house to be one of the most haunted houses of America. This house has witnessed the murderer of the couple Andrew and Abby Borden who were struck to death with a hatchet. Andrew’s daughter Lizzie became the prime suspect along with their maid who became a nationwide sensation and the trial being a hot topic in the country.
After this tragic incident this place was claimed to be haunted by the souls of the victims. Though Lizzie was acquitted of the crime she still continued to come under the suspicion of people. Now turned into a bed and breakfast the home attracts the various paranormal believers from across the nation and the world. These horrific incidents inspired the 2018 movie named Lizzie after the daughter of the murdered victims.
The Ed and Lorraine Warren occult museum
The Warrens occult museum situated in Monroe, Connecticut across the yard of the former home of the power couple of the paranormal world, the late Ed and Lorraine Warren. This shed, a part of their home, provides the different horror artefacts the couple collected in their numerous cases over the years.
Providing the haunted artefacts a safe place and the rest of the world protection from their darkness and destruction. The occult museum stores varied tokens that have the capacity to shake the world, like the legendary Annabelle doll, yes that scary raggedy ann doll, a satanic idol, a human skull etc.
Thus this occult Museum inspired the movie Annabelle comes home where the viewers can take in the various artefacts collected and kept locked in the museum by the effort of late Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Historic Frankfort House
The Victorian styled home named Frankfort house in Chicago's southwest suburbs houses the spirits of sisters Sarah and Sadie who died in the same third floor of the home in the 1900s. This house has captured the two restless spirits who roam through the house and mean no harm to any spectators.
This haunted house inspired the movie Girl on the third floor of 2019 by Travis Stevens and the incidents from the movie were inspired by the spooky incidents that occurred in the haunted house with slight alterations for the big screen adaptation.
The Carmichael Mansion
The Carmichael Mansion located on East 13th Avenue, cheeseman Park, Denver, Colorado inspired the movie The changeling: 1980 after the story provider Russell Hunter experienced various haunting incidents that led him to write the story of the movie. Hunter said that the home was producing various loud banging sounds in the mornings that would stop right as he stepped on the wooden floor. The faucets of the home turned on by itself and paintings were thrashing on the floor.
Soon Russell discovered a concealed staircase that revealed to him the journal of a nine year old school boy and his misery ridden story of disability and alienation. Days after the diary was discovered, Hunter watched a red ball, one of the boy's favourite toys, roll down the stairs by itself. Thus this haunted mansion of Carmichael inspired the horror story of The changeling:1980.
The Borley Rectory
The Borley Rectory, named as one of the most haunted houses of England built in 1862 located in a small community of Essex. This house was where the Nun engaging in a forbidden love affair with a monk was bricked into the wall as punishment and the monk was executed.
The paranormal affair started after the family of a reverend moved into the Borley Rectory house in 1927. The family had to endure various supernatural attacks like weird and loud footsteps, ghastly lights and the phantom of a man driving a horse drawn carriage.
Thus these series of incidents led to the development of the movie named the Banishing that narrated the haunting incidents after the reverend's family moves into the infamous home of the Borley Rectory.
Conclusion
Thus we’ve seen the various stories that lit the fire of inspiration across the decades for various directors and storytellers who managed to bring them to life using their imagination and experience of either staying or researching about the said haunted houses. Making it possible for the supernatural lovers to engage with the movies and turn them into billion dollar sensations across the world.
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