The Addams Family lived in a cobweb-ridden Victorian near a cemetery. In Amityville Horror, the possessed residence becomes a character in the film with the semblance of a face to intimidate and reinforce its nefarious intentions. Alfred Hitchcock turned a Victorian style home into the Bates Motel in the 1960 thriller Psycho. Several movies, television shows and theme parks have featured spooky Victorian homes.

Victorian homes were built on raised foundations with wood flooring that often creaks and moans throughout the house - was that sound from the living or the … “not” living? Those brave enough to enter may be greeted with high ceilings that add to the perception of vulnerability. Typically, these homes are vertically proportioned and when combined with steep roofs, towers and turrets, create a feeling of foreboding and oppression from which it may feel difficult to escape. The architectural style most often associated with haunted houses is Victorian. Dickey implies that any discomforting vibe can, subconsciously, create the suspicion of a haunting presence.Ĭertain architectural styles can add to a home’s haunt-ability. a “McMansion”) it tends to become an unsettling aggregation of forms that devour the primary mass and render it as a mere filler piece connecting all the inconsistent and inharmonious supporting elements resulting in disturbing architecture. Properly-scaled homes typically have a “primary mass” with “secondary masses” supporting it. In a recent article in Builder Magazine, Colin Dickey postulates that the size of a home can impact its haunt-factor. Today, however, we are flipping the script! With Halloween just a few days away, we are exploring the opposite what makes a house downright evil, or dare we say … HAUNTED? At WHA we spend most of our day contemplating how to make houses and neighborhoods better.

Haunted House by Rick Wood