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Home is Where the HAUNT Is. Hollywood’s Scare Affair with the Haunted House

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Callaghan

Hollywood’s Scare Affair with the Haunted House By Callaghan

Every community has one, or so the rumors say. Surely you’ve heard tell of your own hometown’s version. You know the “condemned convalescent home” or the “slice ‘n dice bed ‘n breakfast”, or even the “vexed axe lady”. Whatever it was.

It didn’t take Hollywood long to realize that the INT. HAUNTED HOUSE – NIGHT was a setting that audiences would keep coming back to. And they would not have to spend the night inside (as their neighborhood chums as doubled-dared them to back home.) No sir, here in the theatre’s dark spooky auditorium, those brave souls would only have to spend an hour and a half, maybe two…

From The Cat and the Canary to What Lies Beneath – from Old Dark House to Session 9…

How do you know which phantasm flat you’ll want to visit? Which spectral suburbs are not to be missed? Welcome to Callaghan Haunted Tours. If you’ll look out the window to your left, you’ll see…

The Essential Ten
Haunted House Films

(& Their Respective Hauntees)

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The Shining

#1 The Shining (1980)
The Overlook Hotel does act as a temporary residence…Which is good enough for me, but not so much for the Family Torrence.

Haunted By:

-Lloyd the Bartender
-The Grady Family
-Bathtub Broad (shivers)
-Bear Suit Guy (shivers harder)

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Poltergeist

#2 Poltergeist (1982)

“They’re here,” said Carol Anne way back in 1982…and “they” subsequently never left our collective consciousness.

Haunted By:

-The “T.V. People”
-Evil Clown Toy
-One Crazy Tree (that used to scare me shitless)

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The Haunting

#3 The Haunting (1963)
Director Robert Wise showed the Haunted House fable in all its chilling glory…Quite the departure from his films “The Sound of Music” and “West Side Story”.

Haunted By:

-The Hill House Posse

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The Changeling

#4 The Changeling (1980)
One of the scariest films ever, I kid you not…Carried on the acting shoulders of one George C. Scott.

Haunted By:

-Girly girl

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Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, !

#5 Beetlejuice (1988)
One of Tim Burton’s most bizarrely bad ass creations, Beetlejuice has the unusual power to scare the laugh out of you.

Haunted By:

-I can’t say (seeing as that would be three times)
-Adam
-Barbara

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The Legend of Hell House

#6 The Legend of Hell House (1973)
Considered the “Mount Everest” of haunted houses, Hell House is well worth the climb.

Haunted By:

-My Man Belasco
-A Surprise Guest

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The Others

#7 The Others (2001)
Proof positive that lackluster remakes are not the way to go if you want to tell a good Haunted House story today.

Haunted By:

-A Great Big Spoiler Alert

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The Innocents

#8 The Innocents (1961)

A How-To for crafting good, rounded gothic ghost tales on-screen is this.

Haunted By:

-Miss Jessel
-Peter Quint
-Eerie Atmospheric Filmmaking

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Burnt Offerings

#9 Burnt Offerings (1976)

Who woulda thunk that a Bette Davis, Oliver Reed and Burgess Meredith flick could be so disturbing?

Haunted By:

-One Bitch of a House

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House on Haunted Hill

#10 House on Haunted Hill (1959)

With this being a Haunted list, I was enticed…to include the irreplaceable Vincent Price.

Haunted By:

-B Movie Goodness
-Things That Go Awesome in the Night

Happy Halloween From Cineobscure!!

Cheers,

Callaghan