Haunted house

American haunted house stereotype

Linares Palace, one of the "loving houses" in Madrid

A haunted house or enchanted house (known in English as haunted house) are, in culture popular, houses where alleged paranormal phenomena occur, usually associated with legends about ghosts, crimes, etc.

This type of belief receives its greatest impulse from the romanticism of the 19th century and the first steps of parapsychology, reinforced in the 20th century thanks especially to the cinema. In North America they usually correspond to recent homes, while in Europe older buildings are also added, especially palaces or castles.

Description

According to popular legends, a haunted house may be inhabited by ghosts, poltergeists, spirits, or other entities. According to popular culture and pseudosciences such as parapsychology, these presences sometimes haunt the physical world after a tragic event has occurred. on the property, such as a murder, accidental death, or suicide. Occasionally they can be products of possessions, curses or rituals.

Places with the presence of souls in pain or spirits number in the thousands in different cultures. From the 19th century, with the rise of romanticism, the recovery of medieval architecture, literature, etc. the stories of ghosts and mysterious beings reappear with force. The information society makes a particularly traumatic event recorded in a house known in other places, and the possible immaterial consequences of that event as well, feeding popular legends, folklore or urban legends. Today, in all countries there are houses about which legends of ghosts are told, having been "investigated" in some cases by groups of stoerism fans or specialized media.

In the United States, it is common for houses from the 19th or early 20th century, as well as hotels in large cities. In Europe, in addition to this type of construction, it is common to hear legends about wandering beings in old castles and palaces, especially in old cities like Edinburgh or London, whose climate and environment favor these stories.

Examples of famous houses are Winchester Mansion in California, Drumbeg Manor in Donegal (Ireland), Borley Presbytery (England), Kompong Som House in Cambodia, and the very famous Amityville horror house, linked to a murder.

Fiction

Haunted houses are common elements in literary or film fiction of horror and paranormal fiction. However, many authors and film directors prefer architecture from the early 20th century or earlier, particularly dark Victorian-era mansions. Numerous and well-known horror films and series base part of their story on a house where paranormal events occur, such as The Others, The Conjuring, Poltergeist, The Orphanage, The Shining or The Haunting of Bly Manor.