Either Make an Offer or Geeeeeettttt Ouuuuuuttt

October 16, 2007 11:25 AM

If a seller told me his house was haunted, would I be obligated to disclose this information? You think disclosure of ghosts is funny? The fact is, a Haunted House falls into the characteristic of "stigmatized" housing. Disclosure of this information, and the laws surrounding it, are typically up to the state. Some Agents have written columns on how to tame your ghosts so that the house sells. Of course, some ghosts can be very helpful and promote the property value for you. Would you live in a haunted house?

Federal Law has seven protected classes that limit the types and kinds of disclosure, like how you can't tell people your ghost has AIDS. Here in Wisconsin [pdf], we have 5 additional protected classes, and haunted houses are still a concern. Finally, Madison tacks on an additional 7 classes (I'm pretty sure the ghosts in question won't be able to disclose their SSN when asked, so they're obviously protected). Besides, Halloween cost Madison nearly 3/4ths of a million dollars last year.

If you're not into living with ghosts, be careful when you visit such a house: They may follow you home.

posted by thanotopsis (79 comments total)

Does “God” count as a ghost? I mean, there is the Holy Ghost wouldn't that be a good thing?
I s'pose if you're an athiest you might want to shoo the ghost out.
No, waitaminute...oh - realty, not reality. Got it.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:33 AM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

A few years ago, when my girlfriend and I were in a hurry to move, the manager of our apartment told us that we wouldn't incur any early departure fees if we could find someone to take over our lease. I made a quick post on Craigslist describing the apartment's many fine features, and as a joke included that my girlfriend and I had painstakingly rid the apartment of ghosts.

I got more people interested in the apartment because of the throwaway ghost line than I did for mentioning the hardwood floors, the proximity to good schools and nearby shopping combined.

Next time, I'm branching out. If ghost-ridding gets as many responses as it did, I figure that people will go absolutely wild for the Unicorn Glade out back.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:33 AM on October 16, 2007 [7 favorites]

Man that "tame your ghosts" page could have used a lot less Ghost Hunters and a lot more James Randi.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:33 AM on October 16, 2007

So, if I start a rumor a house is haunted I can buy it for less?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:34 AM on October 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

If a seller told me his house was haunted, would I be obligated to disclose this information?

No more so than if the seller told you that the Irish were digging through the floor to beat him with whips at night. In the absence of proof, it's fair to assume the claimant is crazy.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:34 AM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'd live in a supposedly haunted house unless the death that occurred there was so notorious that it would attract weirdo creepy sightseers.
posted by aerotive at 11:41 AM on October 16, 2007

There's a case I read in law school about haunted houses. I believe it was that a man claimed his house was haunted to tour groups and the media, and then when he went to sell his house he didn't reveal the information to the buyer. When he learned that the house was "haunted" the buyer requested rescission of the contract on the grounds of fraud. The Court found in favor of the buyer, and the opinion contained the great phrase "The House is haunted as a matter of law"
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:45 AM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

My mother in law looked at a house that had two separate murders happen in it about ten years apart. The real estate agent told her he was obliged to tell her, and he referred to it as a 'trauma house.'

She didn't buy it. But that wasn't the only reason.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 11:46 AM on October 16, 2007

If someone claims that you faild to disclose a haunting you can just threaten to put a voodoo curse on them.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:46 AM on October 16, 2007 [4 favorites]

Also, the thread title, eet ees shinee.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:53 AM on October 16, 2007

The majority of my house guests swear up and down my apartment is haunted. If a relative stays too long, I just bring this up and suddenly they're leaving, and for their next visit they've thoughtfully reserved a hotel room. "Having a ghost" can have it's benefits.
posted by sephira at 11:54 AM on October 16, 2007

And this, my friends, is why one should never live in a home with no windows... and no doors.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:57 AM on October 16, 2007

I don't believe in ghosts or other supernatural things, but, rationally or not, I probably wouldn't buy a place I knew had been the site of a bloody murder or stinky decomposition. I'd at least want the place stripped and redone, and I'd expect a good price in exchange for getting used to having the creeps about the place. I'm sure I'd get the willies making dinner in a kitchen that might have been spattered with blood during a deadly quarrel, I wouldn't quite be able to lie back and relax in a bath where a mother had drowned her toddlers, and, new bed or not, I wouldn't be able to sleep in a bedroom where someone's forgotten granny had greened for a month.

And I'd expect to be warned about these things before I bought the house rather than discover them from a chatty neighbor after I moved in.
posted by pracowity at 11:58 AM on October 16, 2007

Bulgaroktonos it's Stambovsky v. Ackley. Such a fun case :)
posted by Arbac at 11:59 AM on October 16, 2007

Also... 'cuz apparently the only way to get out would be to hang yourself by rafters. So... not a great investment, really.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:59 AM on October 16, 2007

Lights and electrical appliances that switch on and off by themselves eh . . . you may have a ghost. Then again you may want to have an electrician check out your faulty wiring before your haunted house burns to the ground.
posted by nola at 12:03 PM on October 16, 2007

Hmmm. I had a bath in a bath that someone had killed himself in. Felt kinda odd about it.

Apparently the guy was a gay Republican. His apartment was great - hardwood floors, big windows. If I had been in the market, and it was a little cheaper because of what had happened, I'd have seriously considered it.
posted by tiny crocodile at 12:06 PM on October 16, 2007

How the hell is this a matter of law tho? Tautology is valid in real estate sales? Take “ghost” out of the equation.
“Well, see, your house is worth less, because people think it’s worth less.”
“Why do they think that?”“Because they think it’s worth less, which is what’s making it worth even less.”
Y’know, if this kind of judgement came against me I’d sue the police for not keeping dangerous entities out of my home. I bet ghosts would cease to exist really quickly after that.
posted by Smedleyman at 12:07 PM on October 16, 2007

Rod: I'm a jealous jockey!

Todd: I'm a torso!
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 12:09 PM on October 16, 2007

My mother in law looked at a house that had two separate murders happen in it about ten years apart. The real estate agent told her he was obliged to tell her, and he referred to it as a 'trauma house.'

A good friend of mine bought a house where the previous owner had committed suicide in the house. The agent had to disclose this, and the house had been on the market for a very long time. He got it at a greatly reduced price from its expected market value.

They've been there for more than ten years now and have no ghost sightings to report.
posted by briank at 12:09 PM on October 16, 2007

I've read that in Japan its relatively common when selling a house to pay a Shinto priest to exorcise any ghosts and/or evil spirits. Can't say if that's true or not, my only real estate experience in Japan was to move into an apartment the university I was staying at provided, no exorcisms were involved to the best of my knowledge.

As an atheist/materialist, the whole haunting bit strikes me as pretty silly. However, as long as the "haunting" brings down the price of the house, I'd take it as a bonus.
posted by sotonohito at 12:11 PM on October 16, 2007

If someone said their house was haunted and had no "violent" ghosts, etc, I'd have no problem buying it/living there.

If it was a House of Leaves scenario - I'm running away really, really fast.
posted by mrbill at 12:17 PM on October 16, 2007

Also... 'cuz apparently the only way to get out would be to hang yourself by rafters. So... not a great investment, really.

Paul Frees: This chamber has NO WINDOWS, and NO DOORS!
Me: Dude, there's totally a door. I just came in here through one.
Paul Frees: Which leaves you with this chilling challenge... TO FIND A WAY OUT!
Me: Are you even listening to me?
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:25 PM on October 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

15 Haunted Houses from This Old House.
posted by Sailormom at 12:28 PM on October 16, 2007

Halloween cost Madison nearly 3/4ths of a million dollars last year.

The holiday used to cost Detroit a hell'uva lot more than that!
posted by ericb at 12:29 PM on October 16, 2007

There's a case I read in law school about haunted houses . . . The Court found in favor of the buyer, and the opinion contained the great phrase "The House is haunted as a matter of law"

The case was Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254 (NY App. Div. 1991).

How the hell is this a matter of law tho?

"having reported [the ghosts'] presence in both a national publication . . . and the local press . . . defendant is estopped to deny their existence and, as a matter of law, the house is haunted." The court noted that whether the house was truly haunted or not, the fact that the house had been widely reported as being haunted greatly affected its value.
posted by ND¢ at 12:31 PM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

If you have ghosts, then you have everything.
posted by sourwookie at 12:32 PM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

Apparently the guy was a gay Republican.

Are there any other kinds these days? Republicans, that is.

I keed, I keed.
posted by ericb at 12:34 PM on October 16, 2007

Since Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy have all visited my home, I'm gonna seek a premium when selling. Heck, I forgot. Casper the Friendly Ghost came for a visit once*. Cha-ching!

* - I swear. And it wasn't the mushrooms. I swear.
posted by ericb at 12:39 PM on October 16, 2007

Hey, if it's not the Holy Ghost, it's a Flaming Pope!

Pope John Paul II 'appears' in bonfire vision.

posted by ericb at 12:41 PM on October 16, 2007

Well, if you're living in a XXX Haunted House, I imagine the value of your house might go up.

Although it'd be expensive buying all that glow paint.
posted by papercake at 12:48 PM on October 16, 2007

Is that ectoplasm on your pants, or are you just happy to see me?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:01 PM on October 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

I once lived in an apartment where the previous tenant had moved out because their baby had died of SIDS. Very tragic.

But of course I freaked out my roommate by sometimes whispering, "Mommy, mommy? I can't see you, Mommy..."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:02 PM on October 16, 2007 [5 favorites]

I, for one, am supremely tired of our state governments enacting laws that give special rights to ghosts with AIDS. AIDS ghost haunting your house? Don't have to disclose it to buyers. AIDS ghost pulled over for speeding? Fine reduced by half. AIDS ghost has kidney failure? Straight to the top of the donee list. AIDS ghost is allowed to backdate options, buy beer when he is 18, and can use hearsay in a court of law. I am not against ghosts with AIDS having the same rights as the rest of us, but they do not deserve extra rights derived solely from their status as a protected class.
posted by Falconetti at 1:06 PM on October 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

That's horrible, Cool Papa Bell.

Favorited.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:08 PM on October 16, 2007

How the hell is this a matter of law tho?

Well, if I'm going to have trouble selling the place later because folk in town believe that invisible things are creeping about, I want to know beforehand. It's a fact about the market.

And beyond the supposed supernatural causes, I would also want to know exactly what it is that makes people suspect it's haunted. Is it just a story or are are there cold spots, creaking floors, slamming doors, flickering lights, disembodied voices, anything that could be signs of real problems (intruders, pests, drafts, bad wiring, bad plumbing, bad heating, structural problems, etc.)? If so, I should be told all about these "manifestations" before I sign anything, even if the part about it being ghosts is in scare (heh) quotes.
posted by pracowity at 1:28 PM on October 16, 2007

TThe case was Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254 (NY App. Div. 1991).

How the hell is this a matter of law tho?

I loathe that case, but just for the sake of completeness, ND¢ didn't mention the other legal justification for the decison:

Finally, if the language of the contract is to be construed as broadly as defendant urges to encompass the presence of poltergeists in the house, it cannot be said that she has delivered the premises 'vacant' in accordance with her obligation under the provisions of the contract rider.

Har, har, har.

Prime example of a judge being too cute for his own good. Every line in that case that isn't reciting straight caselaw either contains some horrible pun (per the wiki, "in his pursuit of a legal remedy for fraudulent misrepresentation against the seller, plaintiff hasn't a ghost of a chance"; "I am moved by the spirit of equity"; "the notion that a haunting is a condition which can and should be ascertained upon reasonable inspection of the premises is a hobgoblin which should be exorcised from the body of legal precedent"), or some synonym for "ghostly," or jokes about psychics accompanying the Terminix man to the home inspection... ugh.
posted by spiderwire at 1:33 PM on October 16, 2007

Test of the Stambovsky opinion. Note also the Hamlet quote and the Ghostbusters reference.
posted by spiderwire at 1:35 PM on October 16, 2007

*Text
posted by spiderwire at 1:35 PM on October 16, 2007

If it was a House of Leaves scenario - I'm running away really, really fast.

Screw that, you could make millions giving tours to Mark Z. Danielewski fans.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:38 PM on October 16, 2007

Spiderwire has it. It's haunted "as a matter of law" because that's a funny thing to put in a judgment. Also cos the owners, having broadcast the "fact" that it's haunted, can't change their tune when selling. But mainly the first reason.

Ah, judges with a sense of humour.... Denning LJ once started off a judgment about an horrific car crash with 'It was bluebell time in Kent...'
posted by tiny crocodile at 1:44 PM on October 16, 2007

Similar to what briank said, when we bought our house, they disclosed that a death had occurred in it. This was our good fortune, as this was before Hong Kong was annexed by China and a lot of Hong Kong money was getting pulled out of the country to buy homes in San Francisco. These people were apparently very superstitious - because a death had occurred, Hong Kong buyers weren't interested in the house, and we were able to purchase it.

Interesting sidenote - the disclosure had said that a resident died in the house after a long illness. We conjured up stories of long suffering cancer patients with hospice care at home. But shortly after we moved in, we were showing the place off to one of my daughter's friends' mom. As we told the story, it turned out that she knew the woman who died reasonably well, and that the woman had had serious traumatic mental health problems in addition to an unsupportive husband, and had, in fact, committed suicide. I didn't find out any more information about how and where, but I think of her kindly now and then. I hope her ghost approves of how we're treating her beloved house.
posted by jasper411 at 1:49 PM on October 16, 2007

From this link, I actually am really familiar with The Whaley House. I went in there many times as a kid, and I used to work with someone who had worked there as a guide during college. I remember being totally fascinated because he had sneakily spent the night in the house once so he could write a paper on it. I was such a skeptic, but he was convinced that it was haunted. I don't remember the specifics of what he told me, but I do recall him saying he kept hearing dog feet upstairs and that in the mornings at a particular time he could smell baking coming from the kitchen. I think stuff moved from bathroom to bathroom, too.
posted by miss lynnster at 1:53 PM on October 16, 2007

We moved to an area of Seattle where there are a lot of old, spooky houses. Our number one criteria for a home purchase was location, number two was "Does this house seem haunted?" Seriously, we ruled out at least 3 suitable houses because we determined that they were probably haunted. I mean, if I'm spending 500K, I'm not gonna even take a chance on some ghost telling me to get the hell out.

One of the houses is down the street from where we eventually moved. Some nice family eventually moved in, but I still look at them weird and wonder what kind of shit is oozing out of the walls late at night. Suckers.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:54 PM on October 16, 2007

But ghosts don't exist
posted by A189Nut at 2:01 PM on October 16, 2007

Friends of mine moved into a flat on the block that my in-laws have lived on for 20+ years.

And the first thing my in-laws said when I told them was "Oh, that was the house that man died in."

So, naturally, the first thing I tell my friends is "Yep, some old guy died here. Took around a week for people to realise he was dead. So they turned it into flats afterwards. Hey, is that an mysterious stain on your ceiling?"

Ah, the Call of Cthulhu games we held there...
posted by Katemonkey at 2:04 PM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hmmm. So if I murder some people gruesomely, not only will their house be on the market, but it'll be extra-cheap as well?

*eyes rich neighborhood, sharpens meat cleaver*
posted by hattifattener at 2:10 PM on October 16, 2007 [3 favorites]

But ghosts don't exist

Source?
posted by hellphish at 2:13 PM on October 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

*eyes rich neighborhood, sharpens meat cleaver*

Helter Skelter.
posted by ericb at 2:23 PM on October 16, 2007

Just call these guys.
posted by ericb at 2:26 PM on October 16, 2007

A few years back a guy in my town killed his wife and young children before committing suicide. I do not know how the family that bought that house manages to live there. It's not fear of ghosts, but because I don't know how you could tuck your kids in at night without thinking of the children who used to be tucked in there, too. I could not walk through that house without thinking, "This is where he killed the babies." I don't care how cheap the house is, I could never be happy there.
posted by jrossi4r at 2:49 PM on October 16, 2007

Smedleyman “Well, see, your house is worth less, because people think it’s worth less.” “Why do they think that?” “Because they think it’s worth less, which is what’s making it worth even less.”

Same works for "more", really.

About ghosts, examples exist of houses that have been found to be "haunted", sold to uninformed buyers, who have, without being told, independently found the house "haunted". This indicates to me that some kind of environmental effect is the real explanation: probably something electromagnetic or sonic that affects humans' (and pets') perception of fear, cold and presences. That effect, if proven to exist (even if its cause is not found), would definitely require disclosure.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 2:56 PM on October 16, 2007

Thanks for posting this thanotopsis .

I've actually been wondering about these disclosure laws for some time now; not that I'm ready to sell. I bought this house with contents after the prior owner committed suicide in it. Poor lady killed herself with a handgun. I don't know but I think that her husband had also died in the house some years earlier.

Living in the house with its history is not an issue with me but I've wondered whether I'm obligated to disclose the information about what's happened there in the past, just in case some future owner may learn about it from a neighbor and have some sort of problem with it.

For the first couple of years after we moved in we'd get mail from the NRA and other gun owner's groups addressed to the lady who committed suicide. The letters were generally solicitations for contributions to defeat gun control legislation.
posted by X4ster at 3:01 PM on October 16, 2007

ericb: "Since Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy have all visited my home, I'm gonna seek a premium when selling. Heck, I forgot. Casper the Friendly Ghost came for a visit once*. Cha-ching!

* - I swear. And it wasn't the mushrooms. I swear."

Sorry, but Casper is in our basement.

When we moved in, I found him just sitting in the rafters like that.

Therefore, you are lying. Unless this was more than 7 years ago.
posted by symbioid at 3:02 PM on October 16, 2007

I wouldn't mind a ghost or two around. I could use the company.

(I used to love The Ghost and Mrs. Muir when I was a love-sick, lonely adolescent; come to think of it, not much has changed.)
posted by pips at 3:28 PM on October 16, 2007

symbioid -- that looks to me to just be a manufactured plastic-molded small facsimile of Casper. Not the 'real thing.' Does he/did he ever 'speak to you?' Huh? Huh?
posted by ericb at 3:34 PM on October 16, 2007

Casper wouldn’t be able to talk. He’s the ghost of an aborted fetus. I mean just look at him.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:00 PM on October 16, 2007

You think disclosure of ghosts is funny?

Yah
posted by telstar at 4:01 PM on October 16, 2007

Hold on a moment - this post is eponysterical!

Almost, thanotopsis.
posted by tiny crocodile at 4:10 PM on October 16, 2007

We have no such laws to protect us in Australia - The Scandal of Stigma Homes. Not the ghost bit, but the death and murder part (but that's how you make a ghost isn't it?).
posted by tellurian at 4:22 PM on October 16, 2007

Almost, thanotopsis.

Hush, you.
posted by thanotopsis at 4:25 PM on October 16, 2007

I just assume that everywhere I go in life has probably had someone die near it, and that if there were such a thing as ghosts, they would be constant and ever-present as a result.

I still haven't seen one.

I don't believe in spirits, but if someone wants to sell me a house cheap because they do, I'll consider it a win.
posted by quin at 4:34 PM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

quin I once read a fantasy short story, can't remember the author or title, where that was the case. The rich could afford exorcists, but in the slums no one could afford to get rid of ghosts, so they just lived with it.
posted by sotonohito at 4:44 PM on October 16, 2007

"Would you live in a haunted house?"

Again?
posted by ZachsMind at 4:48 PM on October 16, 2007

ericb: No, but there was also a little note saying that some protector of dreams spirit was there or something. I'll have to snap a shot of that.


And protector of dreams is WAY fucking cooler than Casper. So you can have your *real* ghost. I got my ancient spirit of dreams.
posted by symbioid at 4:50 PM on October 16, 2007

The Lalaurie House is the most haunted house in New Orleans. The owner Delphine LaLaurie had a reputation for the heinous manner in which she tortured her slaves. After a fire in 1834 her secret was discovered. What they found would make their stomachs wrench.
posted by Sailormom at 5:28 PM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

The Lalaurie House is the most haunted house in New Orleans.

I wish I had not read that. That is some fucked up shit right there.
posted by tkchrist at 6:00 PM on October 16, 2007

If memory serves, prior to Katrina, much of New Orleans real estate boasted ghost activity. It was a major part of the tourist trade . One would think, depending on who your potential customer was, the idea of a house coming with its own ghost might increase the value of it. If you were wanting to entertain guests. Having a ghost is quite the conversation piece.

However today, I dunno if New Orleans still does any of the ghost tourist trap stuff. Admittedly, post-Katrina, there's probably a lot more ghosts wandering around, but some of those mansions may not be standing anymore. It would be a little tasteless to talk about death in that matter, with so much death having been prevalent so recently.

BTW I highly recommend the Saint Francisville Experiment. It's Blair Witch in an old Louisiana house. Deliciously terrible. It's best when drunk while with friends, or alone while on several pots of coffee. Not remotely scary, but if you like bad movies you'll love this.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:14 PM on October 16, 2007

The Lalaurie House is the most haunted house in New Orleans

I lived around the corner from that house, could never pass by without looking up towards the attic. A tingling sensation would run down my spine. I think that had to more with my vivid imagination than any ghost.

Man's suicide note leads to girlfriend's dismembered body nobody and I mean nobody will rent that apartment!

I just noticed the date, it's the one year anniversary....
posted by JujuB at 6:53 PM on October 16, 2007

Disclosure of pests that some people don't believe in? Not sure about that. I do know however that in the United States I am not required to disclose that a property is a crime scene, that someone has died there, or that someone with AIDS has lived there. Unless the law has changed since last Friday.

A lot of crazy stuff has to be disclosed, but Marge Simpson totally did not have to tell Ned Flanders he'd bought the "Murder House."
posted by ilsa at 9:57 PM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

No more so than if the seller told you that the Irish were digging through the floor to beat him with whips at night. In the absence of proof, it's fair to assume the claimant is crazy.

Dr Minor? Is that you?
posted by Sparx at 3:06 AM on October 17, 2007

I've never quite understood how anyone could be so blase about living in a house where something ghastly has occurred. I don't believe in ghosts, gods, or anything of the sort, but simply the knowledge of what has occurred, and my morbid perseverance on imagining the details of it, would keep my from ever feeling fully comfortable there. I don't want to lie awake at night and have my thoughts drift to the gore that was once spattered about the room I'm in or the traumatic final moments of the deceased.

I do tend to avoid other places where I've learned someone has died violently, though, especially if it's happened recently. Scenes of especially grisly or tragic car accidents, theatrical suicides, notorious killings, etc. I've often wondered if there's a name for this type of phobia, or if it's really that uncommon.
posted by decoherence at 7:49 AM on October 17, 2007

Jesus, Sailormom, I had never heard of that.
Uh... thanks?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:59 AM on October 17, 2007

I had just put in an offer on a house -- a day later my real estate agent called to tell me she'd just been told someone was killed in the house, the original agent hadn't disclosed it and if I no longer wanted to buy it, I didn't have to because of the law.

So, a little het up about the whole thing, as soon as my dad got home, I say "Hey, guess what I just found out about the house, Dad?"

Dad: "It's haunted?"

Me: "Ummm, what?" (Surprised at his matter of fact-ness)

Dad: "Yeah, at the bottom of the stairs."

Me: "WHAT?"

Turns out that when we did the walk-through (my dad's a carpenter, so he was checking everything out for me), he felt some major league cold spots in the house. As in "haunted cold spots," not bad HVAC.

I call my pal the realtor back and say "Where'd the murder happen?"

Yup. Shot and thrown down the basement stairs -- where the major cold spot was.

I didn't buy the house.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:24 AM on October 17, 2007

Of course the bottom of a basement stairwell is going to be the cold spot in 9 out of 10 houses (not bad HVAC, just thermodynamics).
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:34 AM on October 17, 2007 [2 favorites]

Sure, but it wasn't the only one. The spot where she'd been shot upstairs was funky, too.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:45 AM on October 17, 2007

No argument from this quarter, bgdotc. Places have "feels" to them, for sure. And the simple fact is that a place that doesn't feel right, isn't.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:55 AM on October 17, 2007

My dad's a major-league skeptic, too. He admitted after I yelled at him "YOU KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?" that if I wasn't feeling it, too, why freak me out?

(Thanks, Dad... wait for me to buy it, move in, and get thrown down the stairs in the middle of night by a pissed-off ghost instead).

That it just so happened to coincide with the exact spot she died, well... eesh. Gruesome story, too... mildly mentally challenged daughter ran off with boy, got pregnant, mom took the kid when it wasn't being properly cared for, daughter's boyfriend (husband?) shoots and kills the mom in anger... ick.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:44 PM on October 17, 2007

[believer mode=ono]
That's not how they operate, bitter-girl.

Hauntings don't take the current owner and throw them down the stairs. Hauntings use hitherto insufficiently measurable forces to repeat events that happened in the space, and occasionally these repeaters are so prevalent that they manifest in ways that a living inhabitant of the haunt can experience with their primitive senses.

A poltergeist would throw you down the stairs, but you'd see a lot of other phenomena before that happened, like blood on the walls for example, or smaller objects moving of their own accord, as the geist exercised its tenuous connection to the physical realm.
[/believer mode=off]

Not that I believe any of that crap.
posted by ZachsMind at 8:59 PM on October 19, 2007