Haunted house

From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)

A haunted house is a building that supposedly is a centre for supernatural occurrences or paranormal phenomena. Ostensibly it may be populated by ghosts, ghouls, witches, poltergeists, or even demons. It commonly serves as a plot device in horror fiction or, more lately, paranormal-based fiction.

The actual structure can be anything from a decaying European feudal castle to a newly occupied suburban ranch house of fairly recent construction, though many authors and movie directors prefer that the architecture be from the 1900s or earlier. The key feature of a haunted house, however, is the presence of one or more ghosts, often due to a murder or other tragic death having occurred on the property, or to an owner of the house elsewhere, at some time in the past.

Legends about haunted houses have long appeared in literature. Roman-era authors Plautus, Pliny the Younger, and Lucian wrote stories about haunted houses, and more modern authors from Henry James to Stephen King have featured them in their writings. Haunted castles and mansions were common in gothic literature.

A popular dark ride at Disney theme parks, The Haunted Mansion, references much of the popular iconography of haunted houses.

In North America, an event open to the public which simulates the experience of visiting a house that is haunted is itself called a haunted house (see also haunted attraction). These events are commonly held in the autumn, most frequently weekends throughout the month of October, leading up to Halloween. Notwithstanding the name, such events are not necessarily held in houses due to building and zoning code restrictions, nor are the attractions themselves necessarily regarded to possess actual ghosts. Variants of these attractions include the haunted trail (see also spooky walk), where the public encounters themed characters or horrific scenes while following a trail through a wooded area or field. Or a haunted hayride which is a ride through the woods or a field populated by frightening theatrical presentations. The Hell house is a similar attraction put on by members of evangelical churches during the Halloween season. Disguised as commercial haunted houses, these Christian out reach programs depict the consequences of sin and the sufferings of those sinners damned in Hell, in an attempt to frighten patrons into receiving Christ as their savior.