If you're a fan of horror films, the idea of real-life haunted houses featured in movies can send a chill down your spine. "The Haunting in Connecticut" recounts a family's terrifying experiences in a former funeral home turned residence, with reports of paranormal activity that mirror the film's eerie events.
"The Conjuring 2" draws from the infamous Enfield Poltergeist case, where a London family was plagued by disturbing occurrences attributed to supernatural forces. The actual house and its haunting history continue to captivate audiences with its chilling authenticity.
"Winchester," inspired by the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, portrays the sprawling mansion built by Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune. Its labyrinthine design and rumors of spectral inhabitants have made it a magnet for ghost hunters and thrill-seekers alike.
Each of these haunted houses, rooted in both cinematic storytelling and alleged real-life hauntings, offers a spine-tingling blend of horror and intrigue. Which of these houses do you find the scariest, or is there another haunted residence that sends shivers down your spine? Share your thoughts in the comments!
"The Conjuring 2" draws from the infamous Enfield Poltergeist case, where a London family was plagued by disturbing occurrences attributed to supernatural forces. The actual house and its haunting history continue to captivate audiences with its chilling authenticity.
"Winchester," inspired by the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, portrays the sprawling mansion built by Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune. Its labyrinthine design and rumors of spectral inhabitants have made it a magnet for ghost hunters and thrill-seekers alike.
Each of these haunted houses, rooted in both cinematic storytelling and alleged real-life hauntings, offers a spine-tingling blend of horror and intrigue. Which of these houses do you find the scariest, or is there another haunted residence that sends shivers down your spine? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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00:00Bill, you can't go in there!
00:02This is crazy!
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo!
00:05And today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Haunted Houses in Movies
00:09based on real-life houses.
00:11Six members of the family were found last night
00:14in bed, shot and killed.
00:18For this list, we'll be looking at houses from horror films
00:20reported to be actually haunted based on first-hand accounts.
00:23Even though some characters called them home,
00:25we'll be excluding hotels from this list.
00:27When was the overlooked, Bill?
00:29Construction started in 1907.
00:32It's finished in 1909.
00:34Since we'll be mentioning major plot points,
00:36a spoiler warning is now in effect.
00:39Which house do you find the scariest?
00:41Let us know in the comments.
00:43Number 10.
00:45The Snedeker House.
00:46The haunting in Connecticut.
00:48In 1986, the Snedeker family rented a home in Southington, Connecticut.
00:53And from the first night, Philip Snedeker knew there was something wrong.
00:56Are you alright?
00:59This case inspired several movies, documentaries, books and TV shows.
01:04But the most well-known is the haunting in Connecticut.
01:07Several details of the real case made it into the movie,
01:10including that it was a former funeral home
01:12and the family regularly encountered violent entities.
01:19Philip really was suffering from cancer
01:21and the family needed to move closer to his treatment clinic.
01:24The parts where the film veers off from the truth are the seances,
01:28the bodies in the walls and the fire at the end.
01:31Despite elements of sensationalism,
01:33we're convinced this house was all kinds of evil.
01:42Number 9.
01:43The Historic Frankfurt House.
01:45Girl on the third floor.
01:47In 2016, film producer Greg Newman purchased a house
01:50at 207 Center Road in Frankfurt, Illinois.
01:53Intending to rehab and resell.
02:00But as he learned more about its lore,
02:02he was inspired to make a movie instead.
02:04Built in the early 1900s,
02:06the house was rumored to have been a bordello
02:08where two girls tragically died.
02:10Wait.
02:11What?
02:12Oh, he didn't tell you?
02:14King Don is the proud owner of Portsmouth's former house of ill repute.
02:21Sarah allegedly died of yellow fever in 1909,
02:24while eight years prior, Sadie was murdered.
02:27Both girls died in the same third floor bedroom,
02:30where people have reportedly heard a young girl crying.
02:32Other ghostly encounters include a girl's giggling,
02:35singing and appearing in the windows.
02:41No!
02:44Though the real spirits don't seem to be as violent as the ones in the film,
02:48we still wouldn't take our chances.
02:50Number 8.
02:51The Borley Rectory.
02:53The Banishing.
02:54In the 1940s, psychic researcher Harry Price
02:57dubbed Borley Rectory as the most haunted house in England.
03:01The house in which you now live
03:03was built on its ruins.
03:05What are you talking about?
03:07He lived there for a year, documenting paranormal phenomena.
03:10Allegedly, the rectory had been haunted since it was built in 1862,
03:14spawning reports of ringing bells, footsteps and lights appearing in the windows.
03:19Probably mice.
03:20Or rats, no more than that.
03:26Are you talking about the voices?
03:30What did you hear?
03:31The ghostly nun and the carriage driven by the headless horsemen
03:34are the real showstoppers though.
03:36It was demolished in 1944,
03:38five years after it was badly damaged in a fire.
03:41The story is revived in The Banishing,
03:43which is loosely based on the Foyster family
03:46who moved into the rectory in October 1930.
03:49Though Marianne Foyster later admitted to fabricating the paranormal occurrences,
03:54and Price was accused of the same,
03:56this place still gives off spooky vibes.
03:59This house turns children against their parents,
04:02husbands against their wives.
04:05This evil lurks in the long shadow of shame.
04:09Number 7.
04:10The Lizzie Borden House.
04:11Lizzie.
04:12Lizzie Borden took an axe she gave her mother.
04:15Well, you know the rest.
04:17And you didn't see anyone else enter the house?
04:23No, I did not.
04:24Most are familiar with the infamous crime that spawned this factually inaccurate rhyme.
04:28But did you know that the house is supposedly haunted?
04:32The Lizzie Borden House is now a bed and breakfast
04:34that hosts tours and ghost investigations.
04:37You can see the rooms where Abby and Andrew Borden were brutally murdered
04:40on August 4, 1892,
04:42complete with crime scene photos.
04:44Bridget, come quick!
04:49Somebody's killed father!
04:50Actress Chloe Sevigny stayed at the house
04:53and was inspired to make a movie.
04:55Lizzie focuses on her possible relationship with their maid, Bridget.
04:59It may be a macabre romance,
05:01but Sevigny's performance as the titular accused murderer
05:04reminds us that the whole Borden story
05:07and the house still give us chills.
05:09Just promise me something.
05:16Don't write to me.
05:21And don't look for me.
05:22No.
05:23Number 6.
05:24The Carmichael Mansion.
05:26The Changeling.
05:27In 1969, composer Russell Hunter moved into the house
05:30at 1739 East 13th Avenue.
05:33I guess the house was meant to be lived in.
05:37Why hasn't it been lived in?
05:38The Henry Treat Rogers Mansion sat in Cheesman Park,
05:41which itself is said to be haunted
05:43since it was built on top of a cemetery.
05:46That's right, a cemetery.
05:48Hunter began hearing loud banging noises
05:50and the walls would shake violently.
05:58He found the journal of a 9-year-old boy
06:00and uncovered the dark history of its prior residence.
06:03If this sounds familiar,
06:04it's because Hunter's experiences
06:06inspired one of the scariest movies in horror history.
06:09Yes, that iconic scene with the red ball
06:12really happened to Hunter.
06:14Or at least, he says it did.
06:17The real mansion has since been torn down,
06:19but the Changeling remains a horror staple.
06:22No. 5.
06:23The Enfield House.
06:25The Conjuring 2.
06:27The sequel to the wildly successful The Conjuring
06:29details the Enfield Poltergeist,
06:31one of the scariest cases of poltergeist activity
06:34in the UK's history,
06:35and a case Lorraine White has called
06:37the most horrific of all time.
06:39In the film,
06:40the Enfield house is described as being
06:42one of the scariest cases of poltergeist activity
06:44in the UK's history,
06:45and a case Lorraine Warren admits
06:47is the most terrifying of her career.
06:49This is as close to hell as I ever want again.
06:51From 1977 to 1979,
06:54the Hodgson family was tormented
06:56by the ghost of Bill Wilkins,
06:58the former owner of the home at 284 Green Street.
07:01The family reported loud knocking,
07:03furniture moving on its own,
07:04objects flying all over the house,
07:06and the kids repeatedly pulled out of their beds.
07:13The film shows it all,
07:14but seeing Bill's ghost is definitely the scariest part.
07:17In real life,
07:18paranormal investigators reported being hit with toys.
07:21Yeah, the ghost is terrifying,
07:23but getting pelted with Legos is no joke.
07:26Oh, bloody hell.
07:27We've had all sorts of things stop working
07:29for no reason at all.
07:304.
07:31The Old Arnold Estate
07:33The Conjuring
07:34This iconic house inspired a franchise
07:36that now has its own cinematic universe.
07:39The Perron family moved into the Old Arnold Estate
07:42in the 1970s,
07:43a colonial farmhouse sitting on 200 acres.
07:46There's something horrible happening in my house.
07:48Could you come and take a look?
07:50Andrea, the oldest of the five Perron daughters,
07:52recounts their frightening experience
07:54in her book trilogy,
07:55House of Darkness, House of Light.
07:57She details how she and her family
07:59witnessed both harmless and sinister spirits
08:01for 10 years in a portal disguised as a farmhouse.
08:10In the film Bathsheba,
08:12a murderous witch from the 1800s
08:14is the most prominent entity in the home.
08:17Though in real life,
08:18her crimes and involvement with the occult
08:20are just speculations.
08:28The current owners say it's still haunted to this day.
08:313.
08:32The Villisca Axe Murder House
08:34The Axe Murders of Villisca
08:36Just after midnight on June 10, 1912,
08:39the Moore family and two overnight guests
08:41were murdered in the small town of Villisca, Iowa.
08:48Eight bodies were found in their beds.
08:51While the film shows flashes of the 1912 killing,
08:54the story itself is centered on teens
08:57out for a night of ghost hunting.
09:03In the film,
09:05Reverend George Kelly is depicted as the killer.
09:08In real life, Kelly was the main suspect
09:11and was tried twice in court,
09:13the first ending in a hung jury,
09:15the second in an acquittal.
09:16In his confession,
09:18Kelly stated that he woke up in the middle of the night
09:21hearing windmills in his head.
09:23And then he went for a walk
09:26and ended up here.
09:28It's been 109 years,
09:29and the murders remain unsolved.
09:31Given the home's gruesome history,
09:33we're not surprised a few ghosts are around.
09:362. The Winchester Mystery House
09:39Winchester
09:40In 1884, Sarah Winchester,
09:42widowed heiress to the Winchester fortune,
09:44began constructing one of the strangest houses in the world.
09:58Stairs leading to the ceiling,
09:59doors opening to nowhere,
10:01one giant puzzle.
10:03The San Jose mansion has 161 rooms,
10:0647 fireplaces,
10:07six kitchens,
10:08and three elevators.
10:10Construction continued until her death in 1922.
10:16While it's not confirmed
10:17that the real Sarah reported any ghost sightings,
10:20the film shows the many souls who died
10:22from Winchester rifles haunting the mansion.
10:32One version of the story says
10:34that the reason for the bizarre layout
10:36was to confuse the ghosts trying to attack her.
10:39Whatever the reason,
10:40it's a beautifully unusual house
10:42that may be home to a slew of angry ghosts.
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11:00Number 1.
11:01The Amityville House.
11:03The Amityville Horror, 1979
11:05and The Amityville Horror, 2005.
11:08When the Lutz family moved into this waterfront home
11:11at 112 Ocean Avenue in 1975,
11:14they had no idea what was in store.
11:30The year before,
11:31Ronald DeFeo Jr. went room to room
11:33shooting and killing his parents,
11:35two younger sisters,
11:36and two younger brothers while they slept.
11:46During the four weeks the Lutz resided in the home,
11:48they claimed the walls oozed green slime,
11:50their daughter befriended a demonic entity
11:52she called Jodi that looked like a red-eyed pig,
11:55George woke up every morning at 3.15 a.m.,
11:57the time the DeFeos were killed,
11:59and several other terrifying experiences.
12:05The movies may have amped up the story for the big screen,
12:08but according to the Lutzes,
12:10they had one hell of a time in that house.
12:12Do you agree with our picks?
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