Matt Doeden - The Winchester Mystery House: A Chilling Interactive Adventure

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YOU are about to enter the Winchester Mystery House. The massive maze-like home was built over nearly four decades with one sole purpose to ward off evil spirits. And now you're inside. What will you find? Will you try to escape or delve deeper into the mansion? Will you uncover the mysteries of this haunted house? And if you do, will you make it out alive?

Follow the links at the bottom of each page. The choices YOU make will change the outcome of the story. After you read one path, go back and read the others for more haunted adventures! Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice to make a different decision.

Hey, Amir, thanks again for helping me get this job. I can't believe I actually get to work here. I've read all about this place.

Amir flashes you a grin. No problem.

Amir's dad owns a landscaping company. When Amir told you the company had landed a job in the gardens of the famous Winchester Mystery House, you knew that you wanted in. Youve always been fascinated by the .

Shrubs, fountains, and statues decorate the gardens of the Winchester Mystery House.

I never knew you were so excited about gardening, Amir says. We get a job at a haunted house and suddenly you can't wait to start pulling weeds. Now pay attention to what you're doing. Those rose bushes are more than a hundred years old. Watch out for the

Ouch! you shout as something sharp cuts at your finger.

thorns, finishes Amir.

Between the afternoon heat of the California sun and the sight of your own blood beading up on your finger, you start to feel a bit dizzy.

Whoa, you're looking a little pale there, Amir says, coming to your side and grabbing you by the arm. You feel your knees buckling, and darkness creeps in at the edges of your vision. Amir helps you to the ground, fanning you with his work gloves.

The white door seen on the second story of the Winchester Mystery House is the infamous Door to Nowhere.

You look like youre going to faint, Amir says. I think you need to cool off.

Amir glances over his shoulder. His father has taken the company van to check on another job. There's nowhere for you to get out of the heat, except inside the house.

Guess we dont have anywhere else to go, Amir says, gesturing.

We're not supposed to go inside, remember? you argue. The instructions were quite clear. The house is off limits.

Amir shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. I dont think it'll be a problem, he says. The house is closed today. No tours. Nobody will care if we go in to cool off for a few minutes.

Amir helps you to your feet and leads you in through a set of doors. The cool air and shade are an instant relief. Your lightheadedness is already going away.

Let's find someplace where we can wash out that scrape, Amir says.

The two of you head down a hallway. Only this is no ordinary hallway. It twists and turns for no apparent reason. You pass a strange stairway with tiny steps and a wall full of stained-glass windows designed to look like spider webs. It's fascinating. As the two of you explore deeper, you realize that your scrape isn't even bothering you anymore.

stained glass windows with spider web designs

You know, there are supposed to be miles of passageways in this place, you tell Amir. Some people think that all of the rooms havent even been found yet. Think about it rooms that nobody has seen in nearly a hundred years!

Yeah, Amir replies. And Dad says that the lady who had it built did it all to ward off evil spirits. She thought that turning her house into a maze would keep them from following her.

The two of you laugh. But as the laughter dies down, you can't help but feel a chill at the thought. The room feels instantly cold, as though you're standing directly under a vent. You look to Amir. He's shivering as well.

That's when you hear the footsteps behind you.

The footsteps are faint, but it sounds like they're approaching. You and Amir look at each other, eyes wide. Run! you whisper. You're not sure why, but you feel a very sudden, very desperate urge to get away.

Together you bound down the twisting hallway, almost crashing into the walls as you weave and duck through the maze-like . Finally, after countless turns, you both fall to the floor in a heap, gasping for breath. You listen for several silent moments. No footsteps. Nothing but the distant tick-tick-ticking of an unseen clock. The panic and dread you felt seem to melt away.

Now it all seems ridiculous. You can tell by the look on Amir's face that he feels the same. You both start to laugh.

Let's get out of here, Amir says.

But there's a problem. In your panic, you didn't pay much attention to where you were going. And now I think we're lost, you say with a groan.

The narrow switchback staircase in the Winchester Mystery House zigzags back and forth.

Shh! Amir whispers, waving a hand at you. Do you hear that?

You start to shake your head when there! You do hear it. It's a series of low, droning notes, a low, mournful melody. Music!

It's organ music, you whisper back. There's no mistaking it now. It's distant, more an echo than a song. But it is definitely organ music. And it's coming from deeper inside the house.

Hey! you shout. The word echoes through the empty hallway. Is somebody there? Hello?

No answer. Come on, you say, half-dragging Amir back in the direction of the footsteps. But as you move back through the hallway, you pause.

No, its coming from that way, Amir says, pointing down another hallway. Youre not so sure. You stand there, staring down both corridors. At one moment, the footsteps seem to be coming from the corridor that veers right. The next moment, they seem to be coming from your left. And occasionally, it almost sounds as if theyre behind you.

Its this way! Amir seems more certain than you are, so you follow his lead. The corridor, lined with lacquered wood panels, takes you deeper and deeper into the house.

The Winchester Mystery House is filled with long hallways and abnormal structures.

But just as you seem to be closing in on the source of the sound, the footsteps seem to be coming from another direction. Then another. And another.

What's going on here? Amir asks.