Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene - American Horror Story and Philosophy

Table of Contents

I n each of the first six seasons of American Horror Story were presented with a haunted dwelling. The Murder House is inhabited by the ghosts of all who died there. The Asylum is haunted by Satan himself, as he possesses Sister Mary Eunice. The New Orleans of Coven is chock-a-block with the spirits of its past inhabitants, but perhaps most notably among them is the ghost of the evil Axeman who haunts Miss Robichauxs Academy. Elsa Marss Freak Show gets paid a visit from the legendary Edward Mordrake one Halloween. The Hotel Cortez, like the Murder House, is full of ghosts from its infamous past. And the woods of Roanoke are haunted by the ghosts of the lost colonys original settlers.

American Horror Story wouldnt be a truly American horror story if it didnt contain tales of hauntings. Americans love a good haunting story. Each year, countless scores of ghost and horror enthusiasts go on haunted tours (Ive been on several myself), and choose to stay in haunted hotels; there certainly is no shortage of purportedly haunted locations. Nearly every state in the Union has a famous haunted house or hotel or prison or hospital for the mentally ill, and reports of hauntings are a part of nearly every states history. Here are some of Americas most celebrated haunted locations.

Murder Houses

There are a number of quite famous haunted houses in the United States, but it seems appropriate to begin with the one that served as the inspiration for Season One of American Horror Story: the Los Feliz Murder House. This house is reportedly haunted by a physician who in 1959 killed his wife with a ball-peen hammer, attempted to kill his oldest daughter (she escaped to the neighbors house), and then took his own life. The house has been uninhabited for most of the last fifty-eight years, but was rented briefly for a period just after the murders. The tenants fled the house on the anniversary of the murder-suicide claiming that ghosts were after them.

Perhaps the most famous haunted house in America is the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. Construction began on the Winchester Mystery House in 1884 shortly after the death of William Wirt Winchester, of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. His widow, Sarah Winchester, was told by a psychic that members of her family had been killed by the ghosts of soldiers killed by Winchester rifles during the Civil War. She came to believe that she needed to continue building on the house to keep the evil spirits at bay. Consequently, construction on the house continued for the remainder of Sarahs life, which was thirty-eight years after construction began. As there were a number of sightings on the premises over the years, design details were included to fool the ghosts, including doors that opened into brick walls, stairs that went to the ceiling, Odd-sized stairways, and secret passages.

As anyone who has seen Beetlejuice can attest, not every haunting involves evil spirits. A prime example of this is the Pittick Mansion in Portland, Oregon. The Pitticks haunt the house by making it smell like roses (Georgiana Pitticks favorite flower) and moving pictures of Henry Pittick as a child from room to room. This one truly may be for the faint of heart.

The Villisca Axe Murder House is the site of an unsolved and most gruesome crime that occurred in Villisca, Iowa, in 1912. One fateful night an axe murderer entered the home of Josiah Moore and butchered Moore, his wife, their four children, and two other children who were visiting the house. The murderer was never identified nor apprehended. Many folks have reported seeing an axe-wielding ghost at the house over the years. As the crime and subsequent paranormal activity was well documented, over the years many tourists and fans of the paranormal have visited the house. One of the houses more well-known visitors was a paranormal activity investigator who in 2014 inexplicably was moved to stab himself in the chest.

Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is a perfect storm of ghost-inducing activity (what were these idiots thinking?). It is a plantation where slaves were killed on the premises, and it was built on an Indian burial ground. Its haunted by at least twelve spirits. Its most often-viewed ghost is a former slave girl named Chloe, who was murdered after having her ear lopped off. Many visitors have reported seeing her standing in windows.

Virginia Ferry Plantation House in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is not just haunted; its haunted by the zaniest collection of spirits ever. It haunted-houses eleven ghosts and infamous witch, Grace Sherwood. There are ghosts of shipwreck victims, an angry slave (be careful, hes vengeful), a sad lady, a lady who keeps falling down the stairs, a guy who likes to paint. And several others. Among its most famous visitors is none other than Satan himself, who left his cloven hoofmark behind on the night of Grace Sherwoods death. Rumor has it that he was reclaiming her. Many have reported seeing her there subsequently.

The Porter Huntintgon Phelps Museum in Hadley, Massachusetts, is another dwelling haunted by friendly former residents. People who have stayed there have reported experiencing Mrs. Porter tucking them in at night. There are also reports of door latches moving up and down, despite no one being near the door. One of the editors of this book lived there while she was in graduate school. She didnt see any ghosts, but did hear many weird sounds at night.

No list of American haunted locations would be complete without at least one entry from New Orleans, which gives Salem, Massachusetts, a run for its money for the title Americas Spookiest Town. New Orleans doesnt disappoint. It houses The Sultans Palace in the heart of the French Quarter. Plantation owner Jean Baptiste Le Prete owned the house in the mid-1800s. Since he was away at his plantation most of the year, he rented his house for a time to a young Turk who claimed to need the house for his brother, the Sultan. Upon moving in, the Turk brought in a harem of women and young men, and his many wives. He put guards on the gates and heavy drapes over the windows, so that no one could see what was going on inside. Folks passing by reported smelling opium and hearing orgies nearly round the clock. There were rumors swirling that the Turk kidnapped the Sultans harem and stolen his treasure. One night someone broke in and dismembered everyone in the house, except for the Turk who was beaten and buried alive. The ghost of the Turk haunts the Sultans Palace to this day. He reportedly burns incense and gropes women.

Having a ghost around definitely ups the spooky factor of a house, but some places just never seem spooky. Case in point: Hawaiis Iolani Palace. Iolani Palace was home to Hawaiis royal family throughout most of the nineteenth century. Its haunted by Queen Liliuokalani who was imprisoned there for eight months following the overthrowing of the Hawaiian Government. The queen mostly wanders the hallways playing Hawaiian music (probably Aloha Oe, as its Hawaiis most famous song, and she wrote it!). If shes going to manage to scare anybody, shes going to have to kick things up a notch, or two. Seriously, even Casper the Friendly Ghost has more game than Queen Liliuokalani.

Asylums

Any fan of horror will tell you that mental institutions are chock full of evil spirits. From former residents who are exacting revenge for the unspeakable cruelties that were inflicted on them to ghosts that just enjoy the response they get from patients who are predisposed to be afraid, they flock to asylums like zombies flock to shopping malls. Three of Americas most infamous asylums are the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, and the Athens Lunatic Asylum.

Formerly known as the Weston State Hospital, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, which is located in Weston, West Virgina, housed the mentally ill from the 1860s till the 1990s. It was designed to house 250 patients, but, at its peak housed 2,400. It is certainly one of the institutions that served as inspiration for Season Two of