Can a House be Evil?
by A Victorian mansion has been the scene for various murders and suicides. Is the house itself evil or just the place where evil things happen?
Image by thetorpedodog via Flickr
If you’re looking for an answer to the question of whether or not a house can be evil, a good place to start would be inside the city limits a large, Midwestern city. Cincinnati, Ohio is the home of a huge Victorian mansion which was built in 1850 and has been occupied most of the time over the following years. Dutch families were the founders of Cincinnati and it was one of those Dutch families that built this infamous home. The mansion was built originally as a private residence and in the early years it remained so. More recently it has been home to a school and now, subdivided, stands as an apartment building and home to many.
The first unusual incident occurred in 1880. A young man, distraught over lost love, hung himself in an upstairs room of the mansion. Soon after, the family of the young man left the house and it remained vacant for several years following the suicide. In 1900 the mansion became the Ealy school for girls. Legend states that a young girl hung herself in an upstairs room. No reason for this dreadful act was ever found. Around that same time the body of the daughter of a local doctor was discovered on the main stairway of the house. She had been murdered. No one was charged in that murder and it remains unsolved to this day.
After World War II the Victorian mansion was subdivided into apartments. Following the completion of the apartments, the Stenton family moved into one of the downstairs units. Two weeks after they moved in and exactly at 2:10A.M., they heard a heavy thump hit the floor of the apartment above them. The incident repeated itself, always at 2:10A.M. The upstairs apartment was empty and no reasonable explanation was found for the noise. With further investigation the family discovered that the young man, back in 1880, had hung himself in that upstairs room at precisely 2:10A.M.
Through the years other tenants have had their own supernatural experiences. Several occupants have reported hearing footsteps behind them only to turn quickly and discover they are alone. On several occasions disembodied voices have been heard in the halls and various thumps and scrapes have been reported. One tenant owned a dog which refused to enter certain rooms. Instead of entering the dog would stand at the doorway and bark incessantly.
Many questions surround this ancient building today. One of those questions is does it remain haunted. That question is answered with a resounding yes. Apartment residents still hear and experience unexplained happenings to his day. Again the question of whether a house can be evil or not is also asked but it only seems to reveal more questions. With this story in mind you be the judge. Is the house evil or just the scene for evil happenings. Does the house itself require blood or is the house a victim, merely a nonentity where evil things have happened?
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Post CommentJamie Myles
On July 15, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Very interesting. We have a place here in the Seattle area that was featured as a haunted house on a tv special. I forget the name of the program but it was quite surprising to find out how may house like this are in the U.S.
Deep Blue
On July 15, 2009 at 1:55 pm
House could store memories. Think of it as a memory stick, in a memory stick you could read data and with the right software read it. What they call haunted house are actually places with strong memories and in times playback itself to cause fear.
sandie
On July 15, 2009 at 3:52 pm
if someone kills themselves they remain trapped in that place they killed themselves, or who was murdered there.I think the evil that stays there, probably processes people to do things they wouldnt normally do, my opinion.
Tanya Wallace
On July 15, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Excellent article Doug,well written and informative!I love stories like this.I think that if eveil acts were committed in the house, then the house itself would hold the evil or spirits that committed them.Thanks for sharing.Tanya
Karen Gross
On July 15, 2009 at 9:23 pm
From a Christian perspective – yes, houses can be occupied by evil spirits invited there either knowingly or unknowingly by previous occupants. I know of several instances where children have displayed unusual behavior in a new home, which was resolved after getting friends from the church to come and pray in each room of the house.
I don’t believe that every weird or unusual occurance is caused by evil spirits, but I do believe that some are. I do know for sure that prayer is never wasted.
eminemgrl123
On July 16, 2009 at 9:59 am
It’s scary to think about, definitely. My mom trains horses for a living so I grew up going to a big old barn every day for years, and in certain rooms there you could feel this presence, like people were there only it was empty. I sometimes saw people and then described them to my mom later at which point she denied ever having seen or met them (meaning they should not have been at the barn). Also, some of the riding students would feel tapping on their shoulders in the tackroom, and turn around and nothing would be there. I think if there were spirits there they were friendly though, because the horses were never afraid and nothing horrible like a murder or deadly accident ever happened while we were there (and it could have, easily, with horses). Maybe they were there to protect us!
Jackie118
On August 28, 2009 at 8:56 am
I was always dubious about ‘hauntings’ but bearing in mind my great auntie who was a real down to earth lady and called a spade a spade told me many years ago that she’d witnessed something strange in the early 20th century in a local lane (now called White Woman Lane and supposedly haunted by a woman in white). In later years I also had a couple of strange experiences when walking into walk. Thought it was just coincidence but, having analysed it a little more deeply I wonder whether I’d had some sort of spiritual encounter. Following my encounters, my mother then told me about a strange experience her friend’s husband had had – again, real down to earth sort of a guy! It seems to me that there’s far more to the spirit world than meets the eye. I’m almost certain now that there are spirits out there but somehow can’t believe that places are just plain evil … but at the end of the day, nobody (living) will probably never know. Brilliant article and one that certainly gets you thinking!!!