The House of Lost Souls
October 31, 2019 6:10 AM Subscribe
When a down-and-out doctor finds his rundown mansion is haunted, he pulls the quintessentially American move: opening the house to the public for a fee. Everything goes wrong from there.
In the two decades since an out of town investor had purchased the dilapidated mansion, the agency had only managed to rent it out to a single family. The family did not stay long, even though the sprawling estate cost less per month than most of the compact ranch houses that peppered the rest of the town on quarter acre lots. It stood atop a slope overlooking the road at the base of a hill that faded into looming pines and old maple trees. A shallow angled roof crowned the second story, supporting a tall, white cupola. A trio of high windows glared down beyond the grounds at the road, the railroad tracks, the river. A shaded porch competed with the wild vines snaking around its front columns.
In the two decades since an out of town investor had purchased the dilapidated mansion, the agency had only managed to rent it out to a single family. The family did not stay long, even though the sprawling estate cost less per month than most of the compact ranch houses that peppered the rest of the town on quarter acre lots. It stood atop a slope overlooking the road at the base of a hill that faded into looming pines and old maple trees. A shallow angled roof crowned the second story, supporting a tall, white cupola. A trio of high windows glared down beyond the grounds at the road, the railroad tracks, the river. A shaded porch competed with the wild vines snaking around its front columns.
im extremely spooped
posted by poffin boffin at 6:25 AM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 6:25 AM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
A doctor, yes, but a doctor of chiropractic medicine
Sick burn.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:37 AM on October 31, 2019 [19 favorites]
Sick burn.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:37 AM on October 31, 2019 [19 favorites]
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😲
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posted by Foci for Analysis at 8:48 AM on October 31, 2019 [12 favorites]
👨⚕️ 🧹😓
💥🌫️⛤
😨
💸😩
🤔
🏚️🚗👨👩👧👧👨👨👧👩👩👧👧👨👩👧👦👨👨👦👨👦👦
🤑🥳🥂
👻🕯️⚰️ 😈💀🤕🕴😨⛤🔥😲 🌫️
👨👩👧👧💨👨👨👧💨👩👩👧👧💨👨👩👧👦💨👨👨👦💨👨👦👦💨
👨⚕️🤪
👨⚖️🏛️👮✋
👨⚕️😢🛣️
🏚️🔥👨🚒
😲
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posted by Foci for Analysis at 8:48 AM on October 31, 2019 [12 favorites]
What's weird is the only confirmation I can find on this is a post on the county's Facebook page. It's kinda rare to find a 'true' haunted house story that's not covered in a zillion ghost hunter podcasts.
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:34 PM on October 31, 2019
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:34 PM on October 31, 2019
Just that one comment, that the last remaining child Jack had all the fireplaces removed from the home, makes me wonder if someone took this idea and turned it into the movie "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", which scared me as a kid, lol.
posted by annieb at 1:34 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by annieb at 1:34 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Fascinating read and well written.
Similar to annieb, I wonder if 'Evil Dead' cribbed the tape recorder from Laughlin's notes/ tour guide recording?
posted by porpoise at 2:19 PM on October 31, 2019
Similar to annieb, I wonder if 'Evil Dead' cribbed the tape recorder from Laughlin's notes/ tour guide recording?
posted by porpoise at 2:19 PM on October 31, 2019
A doctor, yes, but a doctor of chiropractic medicine
Sick burn.
I thought he was described as a disgraced chiropractor?
posted by porpoise at 2:26 PM on October 31, 2019
Sick burn.
I thought he was described as a disgraced chiropractor?
posted by porpoise at 2:26 PM on October 31, 2019
Yeah, when 90% of the internet is reglurge of someone else's glurge, I find it mightily odd that I can't find any parallel references to this narrative. Interesting story all the same.
posted by hearthpig at 7:54 AM on November 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by hearthpig at 7:54 AM on November 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by kinnakeet at 6:21 AM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]