We’re far away from Halloween, but if you actually own a haunted house, the holiday is pretty much celebrated all year long. We decided to track down some of the most expensive real life haunted houses, and tell their scary tales as well. Sometimes the most frightening thing about them is their price tag, as you’re often paying double market value for a bit of spooky infamy. Check out the list below.
[Photo via Justin Sullivan /Getty]
10. Poveglia (Price Unknown)
This post was actually inspired by the fact that one of the most haunted places in the world, Poveglia, recently went on sale. Called “the island of madness,” Poveglia served as a checkpoint going into Venice. When a ton of plague victims arrived in 1793, they were held on the island and sealed off from the outside world. Many died there, and the reputation for Poveglia being haunted was born. One American TV personality even claimed to be possessed briefly when he went there. The island is owned by the Italian government who is now ready to offer a 99-year lease for anyone bold enough to take it. No price yet, but ready your wallets for a piece of haunted history.
[Photo via Immobiliare]
9. Franklin Castle ($260,000)
This is certainly the cheapest haunted house you’ll find on this list, but it’s iconic all the same. The Cleveland home was once inhabited by a rich grocer turned banker, but over the next three decades many unexplained deaths occurred within, earning it infamy within the haunted house community. It’s currently trying to be turned into a bed and breakfast. We’ll see how much the ghosts like that.
[Photo via Save Cleveland]
8. Lizzie Borden’s House ($500,000)
Lizzie Borden was a notorious probable axe murderer who was eventually acquitted in a famous 1892 trial. Though she was released, speculation about the crime lingers to this day, and many are sure she was responsible. The house where she lived out the rest of her days is in Fall River, Massachusetts. So far, no one has been murdered by her ghost, but anything’s possible.
[Photo via ABC6]
7. Kimbell Castle ($879,000)
This one is in New Hampshire, and was built when the owner was inspired by a castle he saw in Germany. The actual haunting doesn’t seem to be anything too severe, as it’s mostly the sounds of doors opening and closing, and reports of horse noises near empty stables. Actually, ghost horses? That sounds terrifying. The castle was even featured on Ghost Hunters at one point.
[Photo via WMUR]
6. Amityville House ($1.15M)
This is probably one of the most iconic homes on the list, and it’s the subject of countless horror movies over the years. The real life story is grisly, however, as in 1974 Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed six members of his family. Later, when the house was moved into, residents fled just a month later after hearing voices, music and smelling horrible things. The house’s price is mostly due to its fame. Other similarly sized houses in the area go for about $600,000, but you’re paying nearly double that to be potentially murdered by ghosts, I guess.
[Photo via Getty Images]
5. The Surgeon’s House ($1.2M)
If you want your ghosts to have a medical education, perhaps you’d like to invest in Arizona’s famed Surgeon House. It’s now a bed and breakfast (what is with these ghost houses being turned into bed and breakfasts?), but guests have reported seeing ghosts of nurses and doctors roaming the halls. No word on if its the staff playing pranks to drive up business.
[Photo via Surgeonshouse.com]
4. The Lalaurie House ($2.3M)
TV fans might recognize this one as the inspiration for a house in American Horror Story. In the 1800s, the house was owned by a wealthy couple who treated their slaves horribly. Like, a hundred times more horribly than most southern slave owners, and that’s saying something. It was eventually discovered that many slaves in the house had been murdered in horrifying ways, and there are reports of ghosts still roaming around there. That did NOT stop actor Nicolas Cage from buying the valuable property however in 2007.
[Photo via Nooks, Towers and Turrets]
3. Ennis House ($4.5M)
Alright so this house isn’t really haunted (I mean, are any of these?) but it was the location where many terrifying movies were filmed from The Day of the Locust to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to House on Haunted Hill to Nosferatu. The house was famously designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, making it incredibly valuable, no matter if any movie ghosts are present or not.
[Photo via Mike Dillon]
2. The Schweppe Estate ($12M)
In Lake Forrest, Illinois, the sprawling estate once hosted a crown prince and princesses of Sweden. Both Charles and Laura Schweppe died inside the mansion, and reportedly still look out a specific window in the house. The servants are said to prepare meals for the long-dead masters, which seems like a perfectly good waste of human food.
[Photo via Pricey Pads]
1. The White House ($110M)
Yes, that White House. There are many, many legends about the ghosts of former presidents roaming the White House, from Abe Lincoln to John Adams to Thomas Jefferson. There are even some rumors of British soldiers patrolling the halls, presumably still annoyed by the whole American Revolution thing. No word on if there’s a ghost of Bill Clinton who plays his saxophone every night while the President is trying to sleep. Wait, it might actually be Bill Clinton, considering he’s still alive.
[Photo via Alex Wong / Getty]
