What is it about Victorian houses that make them look so haunted? Is it the long, dark hallways and creaking staircases, the labyrinthine rooms, the thick, heavy curtains, dark woods and stained glass, or all the ornate trim, perfect for a thousand spider webs?
According to The Washington Post, all of these attributes, plus the inextricable Victorian association with Spiritualism, the Victorian obsession with death and the afterlife, the literary tradition led by Charles Dickens of setting ghost stories inside ordinary Victorian homes (instead of castles) and ultimately Hollywood films like Psycho, that have forever linked the Victorian house with the macabre.
So in the spirit of October and all things spooky, I’ve searched our collection for the most haunted-looking images of Victorian houses from around Marin. Some still stand, others have been razed. Some are identified, others are not. Can’t you just hear the giggling children?
Source: Kurzius, Rachel: “Why Victorian Houses Look So Haunted.” The Washington Post,
26 October 2022.
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