Haunted Houses By Patricia D. Netzley: Summary

Many legends of hauntings in Mankato, Minnesota have been told time after time. Though many people tell these stories, it is unknown to whether or not they are true. In this research paper, I will discuss several different legends that have been told throughout time in Mankato. The legends I will further examine are: the legend of Sibley Park, the Memorial Library on campus, the Carnegie Art Center, and the Witch’s Grave. Being that I am from Mankato, Minnesota, I thought it would be very interesting to research more about these legends and the experiences had in these places. Though I, myself, have not experienced anything completely unusual in these places, many people in the town have another experience. Memorates, or accounts of first hand

Day after day, we would pass the mansion building on our way to and from school. Branches of vines and clusters of moss crawled up the sides of the building. I could see the paint, tearing off the walls. People for years have said the mansion building is haunted, but I don’t believe it. They say people have been possessed and killed there. Olivia, of course, believes every detail anyone tells him. To teach him a lesson, we decided to plan to spend the night in the mansion building this Saturday.

The Haunting of Hill House is a book about four people that all have backgrounds of experiencing supernatural events. Because of this, they were all chosen to explore the supernatural happenings occurring at Hill House. The house was originally built by a man named Hugh Crain. It had been a place of mysterious events and also the deaths of those who lived there. Dr. Montague, a supernatural investigator, then carefully selected three people with paranormal backgrounds, and invited them to explore the occurrences at the house. Luke, the future heir of the house, Theodora, a careless artist, and Eleanor Vance are invited to the house. Eleanor Vance is the main character and narrator of the story. She lived alone,

A child’s ghost haunts several rooms on the second floor of one of the buildings. It tugs on peoples’ clothing and its spectral laughter is heard. A woman’s ghost has tapped people on the shoulder and touched them. Books fall from shelves by themselves. Crystals hanging from a set of candlesticks move back and forth when there is no breeze to account for this.

Located on the grounds of Roanoke College’s campus is the reportedly haunted house known as Monterey. This house was built in 1853 by the Huff family, over time passed through many different owners, and in 2002 was officially bought by Roanoke College. Throughout the history of the house several of the occupants are known to have died within the premises of the property, thus contributing to it’s reputation of being haunted. In our investigation of the Monterey house we spent two nights in the house gathering various types of data to aid us in our attempt to discover what theory of haunting is consistent with the experiences within the house.

Fischer describes how in the house, “debauchery became the norm” (20), and so did, “brutality and carnage” (20). Debauchery, brutality, and carnage are not usually what most people will associate with being normal. Fischer then describes how later on the residents “[delved] into mutilation, murder, necrophilia, [and] cannibalism” (21). This description just adds to the fact that the things that went on in this house are from being normal. The history Matheson created for the house makes it cross the boundaries most people have and that is not including the fact that the house is now also a home to evil spirits. Some might even feel that the history behind the house is more haunting than the house itself. Matheson does this in order to show that a haunting does not only result from ghosts and spirits, but can come from almost anything. Even just a brief history of something that happened years ago can cause more fear than being inside a haunted

Many individuals ponder whether paranormal activity in fact does exist, or whether it is just a hallucination of the mind. Although, this may be a controversial topic, countless individuals can swear that they have witnessed a spirit with their own eyes, as others couldn’t disagree more. In the book, The Hauntings of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown, the author uses personal encounters of witnesses to justify the presence of a spirit in a historical location. The tales the author includes pertains to people from all different classes and statuses such as, slaves, soldiers, lost-lovers, and even the prosperous individuals of Virginia. Meanwhile, the author also provides historical information, by stating the establishment of towns and informing the reader about the effects of wars, such as the Revolutionary and Civil War.

Creepily it is also said to be haunted by a phantom who roams the halls looking for people to scare. There was also wagons that carried prisoners and if someone died they would just dump their body on the ground in the cemetery. This had created most of the ghost. and this Also it is most likely what explains the dead people laying on the ground during the night and then vanish. Before, most of the ghost appearances started there because a rain collapse and a lot of the caskets had came out of the ground. They put the caskets back to their resting places but some say that the ghost are permanently disturbed. Their begins the hauntings of the

Third, by looking at the narrative as a Gothic Horror Story, the final theme that isolation produces irrational fear which can drive one insane is seen in the narrative. The use of historical and cultural poetics lens the narrative can further be looked at support the theme. For example, the Narrator has an odd feeling about the house. The narrative states,” A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity… That spoils my ghostliness, I am afraid, but I don’t care-- there is something strange about the house-- I can feel it” (1,2). The house has a ancient haunted feeling to it which drives the Narrator insane trying to figure out what is off about it.

The story “The Haunting of Hill House” written by Shirley Jackson and “Rose Red” by Steaven King have many similar things that happen. In both the movie and book it talks about a group of people that are psychic that visit a haunted house that has had so many things happen inside. They believe the house is alive and they go inside to see it for themselves. Both houses had a family Crains and the Rimbauers that have died in the house or on the way to the house.

The spooky outdoor setting is made to prepare the reader for the appearance of a cozy indoors, whereas the landlady’s scary features on the inside are covered up by her warm but deceitful personality. She tricks unsuspecting young men with her generous and very motherly personality.

The Winchester house is one of the oddest and one of most haunted houses in the world. It is located in northern California. It cost over $20,000,000 to make. The owner, Mrs. Winchester, was rich because her family made the Winchester repeating rifle known as “The gun that won the west”. The house has 160 rooms and there are spirits in each room. The builders had to keep remaking rooms that if Mrs. Winchester kept them all she would have 600 rooms. So when they were done with the house, which took over 30 years to make, there were stairs that led to the ceiling and doors that led to walls.

Countless works of literature have sentimentalized the house as a space of sanctuary; however, in time the house came to incorporate the mysterious also, as haunted houses allowed the supernatural to dwell alongside the living. Fictional narratives have long since utilized the house as a venue for character and situation to develop, dispersing opportunities for authors to bring symbolism and metaphor to their works. Julio Cortázar drew upon the house setting in his short stories “Bestiary” and “House Taken Over”, not just as a venue for his tales to play out, but as places that echoed the themes, character, and structure for the unusual could enter and abide. Cortázar’s treatment of the bizarre as a part of the natural family life of the house,

There were many things about the house that I absolutely hated. First, the roses painted on the ceiling that my sister and I shared. At night, in the dark the flowers glowed looking like tiny eyes always watching us. We wanted to paint over the flowers, get rid of them, but we didn’t live there all that long so we never got the chance. The last thing about the house that we hated was that behind the house there was an old radio tower. My siblings and I thought that the radio building was haunted by a ghost, or some sort of evil witch. Once we walked up the hill that was home to the tower, as we neared the top the metal door on the building swung open. We were so scared, we ran down the hill to our house. We told our parents what happened but they didn't believe us. The next day we went back to the tower and the door was closed again, after that we never went up to the tower again. We were terrified and believed that it was haunted and afraid that the ghost who lived there would attack us.