Buzz
Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House depicts the eerie events experienced by several individuals within one of the most haunted houses in America. Recently, the novel was adapted into a popular Netflix series, with reports of viewers fainting in fear while watching.
While the terror that Jackson's characters endured is purely fictional, the following families encountered events that were very real and terrifying for them. These families were forced to leave their homes, creating a legacy of unshakable fear.
10. The Smurl Family
When Janet and Jack Smurl moved into their new home on Chase Street in West Pittson, Pennsylvania, they knew the house was in need of some repairs. It required a fresh coat of paint and a few fixes, but what they didn't anticipate was that the renovations would be the least of their concerns.
Over the span of 13 years, the Smurl family was haunted by the ghosts that plagued the house. Janet even claimed that a demon molested her in her sleep, while Jack reported being sexually attacked by an unseen entity while watching a baseball game. They also witnessed their dog being violently thrown against a wall.
Demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren identified four spirits haunting the home: a harmless elderly woman, a vicious young girl, a man who had passed away there, and a demon that controlled the other three. In 1987, the Smurl family could no longer endure the supernatural onslaught and fled their home, determined never to return.
9. The Perron Family
The real-life haunting that terrorized the Perron family became the inspiration for the 2013 horror movie The Conjuring. In 1970, Carolyn and Roger Perron, together with their five young children, moved into a farmhouse in Rhode Island known as the Old Arnold Estate, which had been built in 1736. The previous resident gave them a chilling warning: 'For the sake of your family, leave the lights on at night!'
The disturbances started almost immediately. One night, Carolyn was startled awake by the ghost of a gray-haired woman named Bathsheba, whose head hung loosely. The ghost warned the family to leave. The children also formed a bond with the spirit of a young boy they called 'Manny,' who would watch them from the windows as they played outside. Then, there were the malicious spirits that threw them out of bed, pulled at their legs, and filled the house with the foul stench of rotting flesh every morning at 5:15 AM.
To this day, the Perron family struggles to speak about their experiences. Andrea Perron, now an adult, recalled, 'Let’s just say there was a very bad male spirit in the home—with five little girls.'
8. The Enfield Poltergeist
Between 1977 and 1979, one ghost story captured the attention of the world: the Enfield Poltergeist. In the small suburban neighborhood of Green Street in Enfield, England, stood a quiet family home. Inside, single mother Peggy Hodgson and her two daughters were tormented by a violent poltergeist.
Thirteen-year-old Margaret and eleven-year-old Janet reported terrifying events—sinister voices, loud banging sounds, and chairs being overturned. Janet also became possessed, speaking in a deep, demonic voice identified as 72-year-old Bill Wilkins, who had passed away in the house.
Press photographer Graham Morris, who was sent to cover the story, recalled, 'I thought it was just a regular assignment until I stepped inside the house.' Morris famously captured a photograph of young Janet seemingly levitating out of her bed, her face contorted in terror.
7. The Lemp Family Curse
Built in 1868, the Lemp Mansion in Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri, once featured a cave where the Lemp family brewed their own beer. The tragic story of the Lemp family began in 1901 when William J. Lemp was devastated by the death of his fourth son, Frederick, due to ill health. Three years later, in 1904, William took his own life with a gunshot, and his son, William J. 'Billy' Lemp, Jr., took over the family business.
In 1920, Elsa Lemp Wright, the youngest Lemp child, tragically shot herself after her divorce. With Prohibition taking its toll, the family brewery was sold at auction, and Billy Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps, ending his own life in 1922. In 1949, Charles Lemp, the third son, shot himself in the head after first killing the family dog. The only surviving son, Edwin Lemp, passed away from natural causes, leaving behind a dying wish for every family heirloom to be destroyed.
It's no surprise that the Lemp Mansion, now a restaurant and inn, is believed to be haunted. One chilling legend suggests that there was a deformed Lemp son born who was hidden away in the attic—his vengeful spirit is said to haunt and torment the mansion.
6. The Snedeker Family
The Snedeker House inspired the book and horror film The Haunting in Connecticut due to its terrifying history. In 1986, the Snedeker family—Allen and Carmen, their three sons and daughter, along with two nieces—moved into a house on Meriden Avenue, Southington, Connecticut. While exploring their new home, Carmen discovered mortician’s tools in the basement and soon learned that the property had once been a funeral home.
It wasn’t long before the eldest son began having disturbing visions of evil spirits, and both parents reported being sexually attacked by demons. Demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren confirmed that the Snedeker house was infested with malevolent spirits. After the family moved out, there have been no further reports of paranormal activity, leading many to believe that the evil presence was specifically drawn to the family rather than being tied to the house itself.
5. The McPike Mansion
Alton, in Madison County, Illinois, is known as one of the most haunted towns in the United States, filled with numerous ghost stories. Among all the haunted locations, one building stands out: the McPike Mansion. Businessman Henry McPike constructed the 16-bedroom mansion on Alby Street for his family in 1869.
In the early 1900s, the mansion was sold to Paul Laichinger, who began renting out rooms to boarders. However, those who stayed there soon reported hearing strange sounds, such as children talking and laughing together, even though no children were present on the property.
After Laichinger passed away in 1945, the mansion remained empty until 1994, when Sharyn and George Luedke bought the property to restore it. Sharyn soon began to notice the ghostly figure of a man staring at her from the window as she worked in the garden. Other strange occurrences included orbs appearing in photos and heavy metal doors opening by themselves. Ghost hunters later confirmed that the wine cellar was the most paranormally active area in the house.
4. The Sprague Mansion
In the mid-1800s, Lucy Chase Sprague lost her fortune and passed away penniless at the Sprague Mansion on Cranston Street in Cranston, Rhode Island. The mansion has carried a dark legacy ever since. In 1967, Robert and Viola Lynch moved into the 28-bedroom mansion, which boasted its very own eerie Doll Room.
In the late 1960s, night watchman Bob Lynch Jr. and some of his friends experienced strange occurrences when the blankets were violently pulled off their beds. Using a homemade Ouija board, they contacted a spirit that spelled out a chilling message: 'Tell my story!' Another ghost known to haunt the mansion is Amasa Sprague, whose bludgeoned body was found near the property in 1843.
After the Lynch family moved out, paranormal investigators who visited the mansion captured footage of the dolls’ eyes moving in the Doll Room. The wine cellar has also been the site of numerous paranormal phenomena, including orbs and mysterious lights.
3. The Winchester Mystery House
Located at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, California, the Winchester House was originally built in 1884. After the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester, and inheriting a $1,000-a-day fortune (at a time when the average daily wage was $1.50), Sarah Winchester consulted a spiritualist to help cope with her grief. Sarah had also tragically lost her only child when she was only six weeks old.
The spiritualist told Sarah she was cursed and instructed her to 'build a home for [herself] and for the spirits.' The spirits, it was said, were the souls of those killed by Winchester rifles. Sarah sold her home in New Haven, Connecticut, and began construction on the Winchester House. The spiritualist warned, 'If you continue building, you will live. Stop and you will die.'
For 38 years, Sarah continued to build without stopping. The mansion eventually grew to include 160 rooms, 47 fireplaces, trapdoors, secret passages, and staircases that led to nowhere. This maze-like home continues to draw paranormal experts from around the globe.
2. The Lutz Family
On November 13, 1974, at 112 Ocean Drive in Amityville, Long Island, Ronald 'Butch' DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents, two brothers, and two sisters with a .35-caliber rifle while they slept peacefully in their beds. Butch later claimed that he was tormented by voices that commanded him to kill his family.
A year after, George and Kathleen Lutz moved into the Amityville house with their three children, taking advantage of the low price for the five-bedroom property. George began waking up at 3:15 AM daily, exactly when Butch was said to have committed the murders. The family also reported seeing a pig-like creature with glowing red eyes peering through the windows, and the children were seen levitating from their beds.
Both George and Kathleen passed lie detector tests concerning their experiences in the house, and eventually, they fled the property. 112 Ocean Drive remains one of the most haunted houses in the United States.
1. The Danny LaPlante Killings
In January 1987, teenagers Annie and Jessica Andrews began hearing loud knocks coming from the walls of their bedroom. They discovered blood-red writing scrawled on the walls: 'I’m back. Find me if you can.' The girls, who had recently lost their mother, believed the message was from a spirit trying to make contact. When their father found a young boy standing in the house, wearing his late wife’s dress and holding a hatchet, he chased him out. Police later discovered a crawl space in the house and identified the 'ghost' as 17-year-old Daniel LaPlante.
After serving a brief sentence in a juvenile detention center, LaPlante was released and set his sights on another family. On December 1, 1987, he brutally attacked 33-year-old Priscilla Gustafson, shooting her before drowning her two children, seven-year-old Abigail and five-year-old William, in their home in Townsend, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. For these horrific crimes, he was sentenced to life in prison.
