Remember the last time a few of your friends decided that the best way to spend the evening was to watch a horror flick, usually involving (surprise surprise!) a haunted house and the ghosts that inhabit it?
You tag along, grudgingly, and decide that there can’t really be anything bad about the idea. Right? That is until one of your friends decides to share the fact that the haunted house in the movie actually exists…and the movie you’re watching takes a sudden, disturbing turn.
Countless books and movies tell stories of the supernatural; they might frighten us sometimes, but there is always the relief that they’re fiction. Or are they?
Most stories are inspired by true events, and here we bring you those creepy inspirations and the stories behind them.
1. Tiedemann House
Tiedemann House, also known as The Franklin Castle, is the most haunted house in Cleveland, Ohio. This house was bombarded with several tragedies and mishaps; it was as if it were cursed.
It was first owned by Hannes Tiedemann, a German immigrant, who was the first to suffer from the house’s curse. Tiedemann’s death spiral started shortly after he moved into the house; it began with the death of his daughter, followed by his mother, three more children of his at infancy, his wife, his niece, his maid, and finally his own life.
People were suspicious as to why death surrounded Tiedemann’s family, and it definitely raised some eyebrows.
After several years, a group of Nazis owned the house until 1955. There are stories that a mad doctor was living with them, who performed morbid experiments on people, including children and the disabled. Others say that there was a mass shooting of Nazis in the basement.
In 1970, the house was purchased again, and the owner found a closet filled with skeletal remains of babies. These could be either Tiedemann’s dead children, or remains of what the mad doctor had mutilated.
Residents of the house kept changing, but the reports haven’t. People kept hearing weeping babies in the dead of night; others heard footsteps, and strange noises. Some reported that they have encountered Nazi ghosts, and others said that they saw a woman standing in front of a window.
When a Catholic priest was asked to perform an exorcism on the house, the priest refused to perform it for unknown reasons, but said he felt a bad presence in the house. The Franklin castle was burned down in 1999, was rebuilt again in 2004, and was put up for sale.
The fire may have burnt down the house, but it didn’t burn away the weeping babies and its angry spirits.
2. The Whaley House
In 1857, Thomas Whaley constructed his house on top of a land which was originally haunted by the victims of several executions. The last execution was of the infamous thief, Yankee Jim Robinson.
A series of unfortunate horror events began to unfold itself shortly after the Whaley family moved into the house. The bad presence that haunted the house took baby Thomas’s life as its first victim, followed by a fire that began in their house, destroying everything including their store.
The family had stories of their own to tell about the ghost that haunted them. Thomas Whaley was the first to report a heavy disembodied thudding on the second floor. Thomas’s wife, Anna, also felt a constant presence and she believed that it was the cause of the family’s downfall.
The Whaleys had to move out of the house, but came back again shortly. Anna died in the house, followed by her daughter, Violet, who took her own life in the house after suffering from a bad marriage. The rest of the Whaley family lived and died in the house.
There are theories that suggest that the spirit of Yankee Jim Robinson was haunting the Whaley family and lead to their demise. Today the Whaley house is a tourist attraction, known as The Whaley House Museum. Visitors often encounter the spirit of Yankee Jim Robinson, hear eerie noises and footsteps, and see footprints around the house. Others believe that they hear baby Thomas giggling, and sometimes weeping. There are reports of cold spots around Violet’s room, and sometimes visitors see her there.
The Whaley house site describes what usually happens in the house; it says that chairs move on their own, the piano plays by itself, and aromas spread throughout the rooms. The family’s pets have been seen around, a ghost of a dog and a cat. Visitors often see Thomas Whaley himself, dressed in a coat, and standing on the top of the stairs, saying that the spirit oozes out a fragrance of French perfume. Others have seen Thomas’s wife, dressed in a bright green gown, and about to sip on her tea.
Visitors feel such profound pain in Violet’s room, and sometimes feel a pressure on their body when they’re about to go to the second floor. It is believed that it’s Anna Whaley who’s responsible for that pressure, and became known as the “ninth step”. Psychics, who visit the house claim that the courtroom is especially active. Paranormal investigators assure us that the two rows of chairs in the back of the room are a spiritual vortex, and people usually feel uneasy when they sit on one of the chairs.
Taking all the reports into account, visiting the Whaley House is definitely to be done with caution.
3. The Amityville House
We all know about the infamous Amityville House, but not everyone is familiar with the original story. On November 13, 1975, the first radio broadcast announced the murder of six family members, shot to death while sleeping, by son and brother, Ronald DeFeo Jr. The reason for the murder remains unknown, since Ronald’s many confessions were always altered, and inconsistent. His stories went from being under the influence of drugs, alcohol, to being demonically possessed.
In his testimony, Ronald said that a black hooded female figure woke him up, gave him the rifle, and that’s when he killed the family. Ronald’s lawyer was trying to prove that Ronald might be insane. However, the judge found Ronald guilty, and aware of his actions.
One thing remains unclear, though. How can Ronald shoot the family without using a silencer at 3:15 am in a quiet neighborhood without anyone waking up or hearing it? Perhaps a supernatural force helped?
Ronald was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences.
A year later the Lutz family moved in; they were very optimistic until they fled from the house after 28 days. George Lutz said in one of the documentaries that he would wake up constantly at 3:15 am everyday, feeling uneasy and almost always cold. He added that his personal hygiene had changed, and he’d snap at his family, which was out of character.
Their daughter Missy told her parents that she had a friend named Jodi, who’d always represent itself as a pig. Whatever Jodi was, it told Missy that she’d keep her in the house forever. On the last night, George’s two sons and wife levitated from their beds by a supernatural force, and that’s when they had left the house.
Daniel, one of the sons, described how he was possessed by a demon, and how his mother screamed as if he was the worst thing she’d ever seen. Daniel adds, that the demon told him, “It is you.” These words stuck with Daniel every day for a decade, and he went to a Catholic Church every day for cleansing.
The current resident of the house doesn’t believe in any of the stories, and nothing supernatural has happened to him…yet.
Fact or Fiction
It is one thing to watch a horror movie and another to live it. Each person who was involved in these supernatural events had been scarred for eternity. Whether it be by losing family members by unexplained, recurring deaths, haunted by an angry spirit that caused disturbance in the family to the extent of suicide, or driven by an evil spirit to mass-murder.
These people were never the same again. The spirits that haunted each of these families are still out there, possessing the same area. So be careful when visiting these places…because you can never be sure what might end up happening to you.