There is something really interesting, a draw to a house with an eerie backstory. A home with a past that sends shivers down your spine, where every creaking floorboard howls with untold stories. It’s a morbid curiosity that draws us to these haunted houses, like moths to a flame.
We’re about to take a dive into the chilling stories of nine seemingly ordinary homes that have a dark past. These aren’t your typical ghost stories. They are real-life happenings that will send shivers down your spine.
The Home of James “Buffalo Bill” Gumb
Does this charming five-bedroom house at 8 Circle Street look familiar? It’s the eerie set from the pulse-pounding thriller, Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs.
“It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again.” That’s right; this is where Buffalo Bill committed his heinous acts, lotioning and skinning his female victims, all while raising an alarming amount of large, ominous moths.
Jeffrey Dahmer’s Childhood Home
Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer, sex offender, and savage cannibal who terrorized the Midwest. He had to grow up somewhere and he did so at this house tucked away in the woods outside Akron, Ohio.
The unassuming property was home to his sad childhood memories, including the most disturbing of all: his first kill. At 18-years-old Dahmer murdered Steven Hicks with a barbell and discarded his remains in the backyard.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s Brentwood Condo
In a world where Ryan Murphy’s O.J. miniseries and ESPN’s documentary has inspired a renewed curiosity in the Brentwood neighborhood, the once quiet neighborhood is now dealing with a surge of curious onlookers all eager to catch a glimpse of the infamous house.
This is where Nicole Brown Simpson and lover Ronald Goldman tragically lost their lives. And is the starting ground of the very famous white Bronco freeway chase.
The Amityville Horror House
The Amityville House, in Amityville, New York, gained its notoriety about 50 years ago when the Lutz family claimed that the house was haunted after moving in. The claims could have been credible because previously, the house was the site of a gruesome mass murder where Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six family members.
Later, based on the Lutz family’s accounts, the novel “The Amityville Horror,” was published leading to multiple movies to be produced. The Amityville House remains an iconic haunted house to this day.
The Enigmatic Los Feliz Murder House
The infamous Spanish Colonial house at 2475 Glendower Place, also known as the Los Feliz Murder House, has stood vacant since a chilling night 65 years ago. Dr. Harold Perelson, a prominent cardiologist, murdered his wife and attempted to kill his children before he ultimately took his own life.
The house has remained frozen in time since that bloody night and has become a local legend. It is referred to as the “Murder House” to this day. Its eerie, untouched interior has led to much speculation about paranormal activity and over the years, the Los Feliz Murder House has become an enduring symbol of a tragic and mysterious past.
The Iconic Texas Chainsaw Massacre House
Located in rural Texas, this house became infamous and an iconic house in the horror genre inspiring the original “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” movie. The real-life property was actually home to Leatherface and his deranged family of cannibals from the movie.
Although it was just a movie, the house became a destination for horror movie enthusiasts over the years. Today it is known as Grand Central Cafe but its eerie past will always be that house from the movie, where Leatherface and his family lived.
The Mysteries of the Lemp Mansion
Built in the 1860s, this mansion was the home of the well-to-do Lemp family, known for their brewery. The Lemp family was no stranger to tragedy with a series of suicides and unfortunate events leading to the mansion’s reputation as one of Americas most haunted houses.
Nowadays the Lemp Mansion operates as a restaurant and inn where they offer tours that explore the house’s rich history and supposed paranormal activity.
The Beachcomber Home of Tragedy
Houston has its charms: tall trees, Southern hospitality, unassuming properties housing grisly pasts. For proof, look no further than the corner of Beachcomber Lane and Sea Lark Road on a quiet block in good ole Bayou City.
It was in this home that a woman diagnosed with postpartum psychosis killed her five children, ranging from 6 months to 7 years old. Her name? Andrea Yates. Her method? Drowning them one by one in the bathtub. Today, the home is occupied, in case you were wondering.
The Ramsey House
Not even a charming brick facade with a basketball court, large terrace, and a wet bar can camouflage this home’s ugly past. JonBenet Ramsey, a pint-sized beauty queen, was brutally murdered here over Christmas 1996.
The six-year-old’s body was found the following afternoon with a ransom note. Ramsey’s murder remains a mystery, as does ownership of the house, as it hops on and off the market with regularity.
