In the Market for a Haunted House?

“The Conjuring” house in Burrillville, Rhode Island was supposed to go to auction on Halloween. The mortgage on the three bedroom, two bath house that inspired the movie “The Conjuring” was recently bought by an unknown investor. While it could still go to auction, It could also be pricey. It sold in 2022 for $1.5 million. So, who would want to buy a haunted house? Apparently, over a third of Americans.

There are several criteria for home searching, location, square footage, age, style, number of bedrooms and bathrooms. The list goes on and on, but haunted? According to a new Realtor.com® survey, for many people haunted is no problem. The survey reveals 33% of people in the United States don’t consider potential hauntings to be a deterrent in purchasing. Turns out they’re more concerned with price than ghosts. Maybe this is because most of us have accepted we share our earthly existence with those from the beyond. The survey goes on to share a few other spooky statistics:

People who believe in hauntings- 86%

People who have lived with hauntings- 12%

People who have heard unexplained sounds like music or footsteps- 67%

People who have seen ghosts- 61%

People who have seen objects move without human intervention- 58%

People who have experienced unexplained electrical events- 48%

S.K. Pierce Mansion in Garner, Massachusetts Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

In September a locally known haunted house in Garner, Massachusetts sold for $1 Million. The S.K. Pierce Mansion is a paranormal hotspot complete with ghosts and even portals. The new owners purchased the home with the intent of keeping the home open to the public for viewings, tours and paranormal investigations. 

The idea of buying a haunted house is prevalent enough that there is even a website dedicated to helping you find your very own spooky abode. While the listings don’t give haunting details, the homes found on spookyhousesforsale.com certainly look like great places to find a lingering ghost. The site includes homes in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland and the Netherlands. 

If you are thinking about buying a haunted home or already have, make sure you have a copy of the guidebook, How to Research a Haunted House .Margie Kay and I wrote this book to take you through the step by step research and haunting identification process. Margie Kay also includes how to deal with the different types of entities that could be inhabiting your space. 

Happy Haunting,

Violet Wisdom