It’s officially spooky season, and as Halloween draws closer every day, fans of the darker side of life might be thinking about what life would be like in a real-life haunted house. In fact, 33% of people surveyed by Realtor.com responded that they would buy a house that had a reputation for haunting. Luckily for them, there are plenty of homes with dark pasts either recently or currently up for grabs on the market. TopTenRealEstateDeals.com put together a list of 10 of the most terrifying homes with horrifying histories for the bravest buyers — keep scrolling to see photos and read more about these properties’ pasts.
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ Home
The Silence of the Lambs fans will definitely recognize this Princess Anne home, located in Perryopolis, Pennsylvania. The stunning Victorian was home to serial killer Buffalo Bill in the Oscar-winning 1991 film, but in real life sits on almost two acres of land and features an in-ground pool and vintage caboose used as a pool house. Jodie Foster fans can pick up the home for the $298,500 asking price. Sister agents Eileen Allan and Shannon Assad of Berkshire Hathaway, The Preferred Realty in Wexford, Pennsylvania hold the listing.
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Lizzie Borden’s House
While it might not be the house in which Lizzie Borden is believed to have given her father and stepmother “40 whacks” with an ax in 1892, this Fall River, Massachusetts, house was home to the infamous woman following her acquittal in the murder case until her death in 1927. Measuring 3,935 square feet, the seven-bedroom, four-bath home is being sold fully furnished in period-appropriate furniture for the time in which Borden called the Queen Ann Victorian home for $890,000. It is listed by Suzanne St. John of Century 21 The Seyboth Team, Glocester, Rhode Island.
The Black Dahlia Murder House
The murder and dismemberment of Elizabeth Short remains one of Hollywood’s most disturbing unsolved mysteries of the last century. There’s been no closure in the brutal Black Dahlia murder, but there has long been speculation that Los Angeles doctor George Hodel was the person who killed Short, with her unusual mutilation pointing to someone with surgical skill. Hodel’s home, which was recently on the market for $4.7 million, was crafted by Lloyd Wright and renovated previously for $2 million to bring it back to its original glamour. You might be able to catch a peek of the home in episodes of Ghost Hunters and Paranormal America, as well as in the background for a number of movies.
The Gardette-LePretre Haunted Mansion
The Gardette-LePretre Mansion, known to New Orleans locals as the Sultan’s House, has been the talk of the town since it was built in the 1830s. As the story goes, as neighbors were walking by the home one morning, they saw blood trickling from under the door. When police eventually broke into the home, they found everyone within had been murdered with swords or axes, while the Sultan had been mutilated and buried alive in the backyard. While his brother, the real Sultan, was suspected as the murderer, seeking revenge for the theft of his fortune and wives, the story has taken on a life of its own over the years. Today, the French Quarter-style home — complete with nine bedrooms and 10 baths — sits just a block from Bourbon Street, and was most recently on the market for $2.65 million.
Colorado Ghost Town
A haunted house is one thing, but an entire ghost town? That’s the case when it comes to Uptop, Colorado, once a tourist destination for its railway, advertised as the “Railroad Above the Clouds.” Lumber companies moved into the town soon after, and the Chapel-by-the-Wayside was constructed in 1930 to serve the burgeoning community. While the town was a major destination for miners, railroad workers and lumberjacks over the years, when the new highway system was built bypassing the town in the 1960s, the town was completely abandoned. In 2014, the whole town was put on the market for $2 million, including the train depot, dance hall, saloon and chapel, and has been restored by two sisters out of Boston.
Arizona Boulder People
A dream home for mystery lovers sits in the Arizona desert, where an ancient pile of rocks has UFO enthusiasts convinced it is sending a message to another world. When a young couple moved into their home next to the pile of rocks, which experts have dated back as far as 1,000 years, they were shocked to see what happened to their home during the spring and fall equinoxes. A 6-in. wide beam of light that starts in the glass places between two boulders and works its way across the floor and up the wall to a 36-in. spiral petroglyph, which lights up when the sun hits its mark. While some people think the rock pile is sending a signal to outer space to guide alien ships, it’s clear that the people who first lived in the area put special significance on the spot. The Boulder House, which was most recently listed for sale at $4.2 million, sits on nine acres and has three bedrooms and two baths.
Haunted Magnolia Mansion
Looking for a ghoulish encounter with a friendly spirit? The Magnolia Mansion in New Orleans is a perfect place to meet a ghost with a sense of humor, where there are reports of ghostly children who tease guests by moving around thing during the night. There are also reports of a ghostly maid who will tuck you in at night, a child who walks the halls and a bearded man who spends his afterlife downstairs. At 13,300 square feet, the 13-bedroom Greek Revival mansion was most recently for sale at $3.2 million.
Thousand Islands Haunted Mansion
This haunted house needs a little TLC! The Thousand Islands Haunted Mansion was once one of the most stunning structures in all of New York when it was built in 1895 for the president of Remington Arms and Typewriter Company. Known also as the Carleton Manor, the dilapidated mansion now sits on almost seven acres surrounded by close to 1,000 ft. of waterfront. For just $495,000, any buyer looking for a few ghost housemates could restore a piece of history.
Amityville Horror House
The real Amityville Horror house has historically not been a happy home for its owners. In 1974, Ronald DeFeo got up in the middle of the night to murder his parents and four siblings with a rifle in their sleep, and just a year later, the Lutz family was forced to leave their new home due to horrifying paranormal activity in the New York house. The 5,000-square-foot house that has sparked a number of horror films has been extensively remodeled since then, and most recently sold in 2017 for just $605,000.
World’s Biggest Ghost House
The massive 110-room Lynnewood Hall in Pennsylvania is still home to the tragedies that struck the A.B. Widener family that built the manor. The beginning of the end of the largest remaining example of Neoclassical Revival architecture from the Gilded Age came with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Widener had invested in the White Star Line alongside J.P. Morgan, but was consumed with grief when his son and grandson were killed in the sinking of its flagship on its maiden voyage. Three years after the tragedy, Widener died in his grand mansion, where he is said to remain as a ghost alongside his late son and grandson. Lynnewood Hall was listed at $20 million in 2014 and dropped to $16.5 million in 2015, but remains on the market to this day.
