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THE WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE |
LOCATION------525 S. Winchester Boulevard, San Jose, California 95129. The house is open to the public for guided tours; call (408)247-2101.
NUMBER OF GHOSTLY RESIDENTS------Innumerable
IDENTITIES OF GHOSTLY RESIDENTS------Sarah Winchester and everyone ever killed by a winchester firearm.
TYPE OF ACTIVITY------Ghost lights, phantoms, strange noises such as unexplained organ music, and eerie auras.
DEMEANOR OF GHOSTLY RESIDENTS------Impossible to determine. The sheer number of ghosts and the fact that most come and go frequently makes it impractical to predict the personalities or actions of the spirits.
STORY------The Winchester Mystery House in California is unique among haunted houses because it seems to be open to a great many ghosts who can visit the home freely whenever thet wish. These spirits do not actaully reside within the building, as is the case with many other haunted abodes. Rather, they come and go as they please.
The Winchester House was built by Sarah Pardee Winchester, who formerly lived in Connecticut with her husband, Oliver Winchester, founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. When Oliver and the couple's only daughter died within months of one another, Sarah was grief-stricken. Seeking to speak with her loved ones one last time, she meet with a Boston sensitive named Adam Coons, who summoned Oliver's spirit. According to Coons, Oliver was tormented in death by the spirits of those slain by she weapons. In order to appease those ghosts, Oliver begged Sarah to build a home for these phantoms.
Driven by the message, Sarah relocated to San Jose, California, whereshe purchased a forty-acre farm. Over the next thirty-eight years, she continually expanded the original property, ultimately building a house that contained no fewer than seven hundred rooms, nine hundred fifty doors, forty staircases, ten thousand windows, and forty-seven fireplaces. The house was also a warren of secret passages and hidden hallways.
While she lived in the house, Sarah invited a host of spirits to share the home with her. Most nights, she held banquets for up to twelve phantoms. She also forbade mortal to interfere with the spirits and allowed only Harry Houdini, who was known for his love of ghosts, into the building. Unfortunately, the home also attracted several evil spirits who tormented Sarah. She was forced to sleep in a different room each night to confuse these malicious ghost. To further confound the phantoms, she built dead-end hallways, empty rooms, and stairs that led nowhere.
Sarah finally died in 1922, leaving her niece the estate and the responsibility of caring for the house's many ghostly visitors. Less than a year later, Sarah's niece opened the house for public tours. which have continued into this present.
Today, the ghosts still visit the Winchester Mystery House. Ghost lights, unexplained noises, and the voices of phantoms are often reported. Numerous psychics have used this site to contact a wide variety of ghosts as well. Most important, many visitors have glimpsed a silent, gray-haired phantom on the grounds, who may be the spirit of Sarah Winchester. If this is so, Sarah may be the house's only "full-time" spectral resident. Even visitors who do not actually encounter ghostly phenomena report that the house possesses a strong and chilling area.
The guided tour is the best (and only) method for ghost hunters to explore this particular house. While it is true that many of the rooms are boarded up and the tour only covers small portions of the estate, a substantial number of ghost encounters have occurred within the area set aside for the tour. In addition, the house maintains a detailed file recording of each and every strange happening at the Mystery House.
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| Alias | Date | Reply |
| PrincessJen |
10/18/2004 10:31:00 AM |
This story faniciates me..its so intereting..thank you for sharing! :) |
| Snipit |
10/18/2004 10:38:00 AM |
Went to see the house finally a couple of years ago. It is really a strange place. Was there during the day, I'd love to take a night tour around Halloween. Scary. |
| SpaceCHicken |
10/18/2004 11:12:00 AM |
I love this story! Did you know that this haunted house was the inspiration for Stephen King's ABC Feature, Rose Red? :) I hope I get to see it one day :) |
| Americangirl |
10/18/2004 11:20:00 AM |
I was there quite a few years ago, and that is one strange house! I took the tour, and I swear there was someone following us up the stairs to her bedroom. Creepy! Be Good... |
| *Boogerlicious* |
10/18/2004 5:05:00 PM |
Everytime a story about this is on tv I watch it. It's really fascinating to me...I'd love to go there someday and get lost in the house... |
| Chella |
10/27/2004 10:38:00 AM |
thanks for sharing this story. |
| bored kitty |
2/12/2005 12:27:00 AM |
i love that place...it looks xactly as it did the minute she died, right down to the boiler-room ashes, & even if you're a diehard ghostfiend, there is still something creepy in seeing the crescentshaped hedge pointing to the room she died in. i'd go back in a hot second. cheers, |
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