10 Real-life Haunted Houses and the Stories Behind Them

Your house is haunted if you can see apparitions, can hear weird sounds, smell foul odor, and if the objects move around on their own.

A little more than one-third of Americans believe in ghosts, perhaps the most surprising fact is that 23 percent of the adults claim to have personally seen or felt a ghost. Every Halloween, thousands of people visit commercial haunted houses, in which costumed people portray dead spirits.

People enjoy the adrenaline rush when monsters pop out at them, but they know it's not for real. We all enjoy paranormal movies such as A Haunting in Connecticut, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Conjuring, among others. The common plot of such movies is any paranormal activity that starts from the home.

That means, a ghost of a negative or positive energy is already residing inside the house. Although scary movies are produced to provide a sense of thrill to the viewers, real haunted homes are a completely different story.

Throughout the world, there are plenty of houses of different styles and built in different time periods. They have been occupied by various people from all walks of life such as farmers, wealthy businessmen, and high-society families. Though these houses have a few differences, they have one common attribute: they are possessed.

Agreed there are plethora of paranormal experts who purposely stay in haunted hotels and homes to hunt for ghosts. But what if ghosts found their way into your home? Here are ten places that have definitely filled that bill, showing symptoms of otherworldly existence to becoming the world's most famous haunted houses.

It's construction was completed in the 1800, later to be burned by the British in 1812. It was immediately reconstructed, this construction went through numerous physical changes over the past two decades. For many years, people working and vising the White House have seen apparitions. In fact, the President and his family have also witnessed the same.

John Adams was the first President who stayed in the White House, and according to many sources he never left the place. Abigail, his wife has been seen carrying linens in the East room. Apart from John Adams, numerous sightings of Abraham Lincoln sitting on his bed, tying his shoes, and lying in bed have been reported.

They say looks are deceptive. Well, when you talk about this particular home, indeed they are. When you look at a beautiful house from outside, you don't know it is haunted by a deadly demon. A demon that will suck the life out of you.

The previous owner of the house claims that the moment he stepped inside he knew that the house was haunted. They could see black, foggy cold, sometimes rotting stench, and many times residents were scratched, bitten, and attacked by the entity. Rosary beads and crucifixes were fidgeted with.

One of the most controversial and famous haunted houses in Amityville, New York. In the early hours of November 13, 1974 Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his family members with a rifle as they slept. He shot his father, mother, and four siblings. A year after the mass killing, the Lutz family shifted in the house and experienced severe paranormal activities.

They were so frightened that they barely stayed in that place for less than a month. The events which they experienced were cold spots, slamming doors, moving objects, and foul odor. The worst was when their children started sleeping in the same positions in which the DeFeo had been killed, on their stomachs face down.

Their youngest daughter had an imaginary friend which was perceived to be a demonic entity. Even paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren had never experienced such strong entities.

Titanic's saga never died and one such person who still haunts her house is Molly Brown survivor of the Titanic sinking. Located in Denver, Colorado Molly Brown house was once upon a time her and her husband's humble abode. Now the house has been turned into a museum.

Though the museum's collections are remarkable, the presence of ghosts draws an attention. People claim to have seen both Molly and her husband in house, they can even smell J.J.'s pipe and cigar. They had a child who seemed to die very young, in his room the blinds of window raise and lower on their own. One can even see Molly's mother and former servant.

It was bought by Marie Delphine Lalaurie with her third husband Dr. Louis Lalaurie in 1831. This elegant New Orleans mansion was once a height of luxury and refinement back then. However, the place hid dark secrets in its slave quarter and attic space. Delphine Lalaurie had a sadistic way of torturing and murdering her slaves in private.

In 1834, a slave who was chained near the stove purposely caused fire to commit suicide or to call for help. And for the first time the conditions in which these slaves were kept were revealed. Neighbors were enraged and caused a mob on the mansion, nearly destroying it. Delphine fled to France and died about 10 years later.

But one can still experience paranormal activity going on in the mansion till this day. Screams and cries can be heard, sometimes apparitions of chained slaves are also visible. Some visitors have been attacked by the spirit of Madame Lalaurie.

You might recognize this one, because there was a very famous movie made about this particular house. You all must have seen The Conjuring that movie gave everybody a good scare, if the movie was so scary, imagine how living in that house would be!

The Perrons shifted in this beautiful home with their five daughters, but the moment they stepped in the house, they made new spirit friends. Initially, it was not that bad, they got used to the fact that good spirits were around. The owner left them with a warning to always leave the lights on at night.

One spirit who considered herself the mistress of the house was Bathsheba, in fact she hated the fact that Mrs. Perrons was living in the house and considered her a competition. She tried many tactics to scare her, so that she would leave the house. The family experienced a lot of bad things until their life returned to normal.

Late night in the year 1912, an anonymous assailant murdered 8 people in this house. This is located in Villisca, Iowa. Though the murder was really famous, till date nobody is sure who the murderer really was. Either because of the nature of their death or their unresolved nature, this house definitely has become a humble abode of many supernatural beings.

Apparitions, disembodied footsteps, and voices are very common in this house. People have reported hearing and seeing children. EVP has also caught children laughing one moment and then crying, while other times some children ask others to hide.

Next time you visit any castle make sure to check their windows, maybe you will see some ghost standing there and looking at you. This castle was constructed in 1865 for Tiedemann family. This mansion is one of the spookiest places in Ohio and people who have visited this site have witnessed an eerie woman in black looking out the window.

Also, one can hear children crying and things such as doors flying off hinges and lights being switched on and off. It is believed that four of the Tiedemann children passed away in this home and the owner Mr. Hannes was rumored to murder his 13-year old niece in a secret passage. He even killed his mistress in the tower so maybe that eerie lady is here.

It is hard to throw a resident out, in this case it is impossible to get rid of a ghost owner. In 1892, this house served as a school, later a funeral home, and now it's a historic Inn. Before all of this transformation, Kehoe family used to reside here. But they are still living there and even after their deaths, they go about their normal routine.

Sometimes they interact with the staff and guests too, how creepy! Mrs. Kehoe has often been reported sitting on a desk or sitting on the bed of sleeping guests. Their two children who were killed in an accident can often be seen running and one can hear their footsteps while they run across the upper floors.

This quaint brick home in Virginia Beach, Virginia once belonged to Adam Thoroughgood, who was a famous tobacco farmer and a businessman. This house has never been quiet, with paranormal activity going about everyday. One can always see two common spirits, one of a woman and the other of a man both dressed in the 18th century style.

The man has been observed passing from room to room, while the woman is seen carrying candles throughout the house.

Haunted homes does not necessarily mean that they are malevolent in nature. Many haunted houses are nothing but eternal homes for their previous owners.

Some are friendly or oblivious to human presence. But negative imagery of a haunted home exists for a reason, especially if suicide or murder took place in such homes. Due to this, ghosts tend to hold hostility towards anything and anybody around them.

They can manifest their hostility in disturbing ways like violence towards the present occupants of the house. The aforementioned haunted houses and their stories portray a diverse range of hauntings that will surely make you sit up and rethink on your views about the paranormal world.