Just looking at a haunted house is enough to give you the heebie-jeebies! I’m not talking the haunted houses that only come around this time of year where people are paid to jump out and scare you. I am talking about the notoriously haunted homes where ghost hunters go to prove there is a supernatural presence there.
-
Peyton Randolph House- Williamsburg, Virginia
I have had the “pleasure” of seeing this house up close and personal. I was in Virginia a few years back with my best friend and we, for some reason, thought it was such a brilliant idea to go on a ghost tour. One story that stuck with me all these years is the story of the shrew with the wringing hands, and I guarantee it will give you the chills too.
One night a guest came to stay at the Peyton Randolph House and she was put in a red oak-paneled room. Early in the morning, the guest heard someone screaming her name. When she opened her eyes she was greeted by a woman, who she believed to be her hostess, but this woman was in 18th century garb. When moonlight came in through the window, it passed right through the woman standing at the end of the bed. The guest was so rattled and could not see the apparition very clearly but she believes the woman was wringing her hands as if she was worried or upset about something.
As terrifying as the story of the woman in the oak-paneled room is there have also been a lot of tragedies at the Peyton Randolph house. A boy fell to his death from a tree in the yard, another child died a slow death from tuberculosis in the house, and a man committed suicide in the drawing room. There have been reports of heavy boots walking across the floor when the house is empty, and some reports say they have even heard spurs. Some people report hearing glass shatter, as if a mirror falling from a wall, but when they search the house, nothing is broken.
Even just standing in front of this house is enough to creep you out.
2. Amityville Horror House – Amityville, New York
After all what kind of Long Islander would I be if I did not have this house on the list! This is another house that has definitely earned its right to be on this list. While I have not had the opportunity to see this house in person (and I am not sure I want to), just the pictures and the stories alone are enough to keep people like me away. There has been an incredible amount supernatural activity in this house claimed by the Lutz Family. The stepfather of the family had history of dabbling in the paranormal and would wake up at 3:15am every morning, which was the time that former resident Ron DeFeo killed his family in that same house. The Lutz family also reported a strange smell, green slime oozing out of the keyholes and walls, as well as experience cold spots in the house.
Other paranormal activity that has happened in this house includes, an invisible spirit knocking a knife down in the kitchen, a pig-like creature with red eyes staring at Mr. Lutz and his son through a window and Mr. Lutz waking up to see his wife levitating above their bed.
3. Winchester Mystery Home -San Jose, California
This home is one that I have always been interested in. A tremendous amount of money went into building a 7 story mansion. This house that has doors that lead to nowhere, stairs that lead to nothing and doors that open up to brick walls. This house claimed many lives over the years, including the life of Sarah Winchester. Sarah Winchester was wife to William Winchester who in his life was President of Winchester Repeating Arms Company. After the death of her husband, Sarah Winchester inherited $20.5 million. It is said that she saw a medium in Boston that said she would leave her home and move west. There the medium said, she will build and keep building a house for all the spirits of those who have fallen victim to Winchester rifles. Sarah purchased an unfinished farm house and hired workers to work day and night on the now 7 story mansion. There was no architect in the building of this house and everything was done in haphazard kind of fashion. There are about 161 rooms, including 40 bedrooms, 2 ballrooms (one completed and one unfinished), 47 fireplaces, over 10,000 panes of glass, 17 chimneys (with evidence of two more), two basements and three elevators. With all of this space can it be true that the spirits of all the victims of Winchester rifles really be in this house? Why not go and find out!
I don’t know about you but I will not be making any (more) trips to these houses anytime soon! There are definitely some spooky, supernatural stuff going on in these homes!