Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without a spooky house or two. While many of our scariest movies and TV shows are shot on specially made film sets, some have focused the action on real-life homes. From the Byers’ clapboard house in Stranger Things with its iconic fairy light alphabet wall, to Harry Potter’s medieval childhood home in Deathly Hallows: Part 1, these actual dwellings are full of surprises that might make you jump! Click or scroll on for more if you dare...
Arguably the most iconic and most enduring scary movie of all time, Halloween shares its name with the spookiest holiday. It became one of the most profitable independent films of all time upon release in 1978, spawning a franchise of 13 movies and turning Jamie Lee Curtis into a star overnight. A new trilogy from the franchise revisits Curtis' character Laurie Strode, who is now a grandmother but still, understandably, dealing with her trauma.
Much of the action in the 1978 movie took place in this real-life South Pasadena home, which came up for sale in September 2023 for the scary price of $1.8 million (£1.5m). Fans of the film will recognise the infamous stoop where the 19-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis sat, holding a pumpkin. The four-bedroom, three-bathroom property is situated in a leafy area, described in the listing as “a walker’s paradise”. Given its history, however, perhaps you’d rather run?
The 5,258-square-foot property has been broken up into three units with the possibility of turning the garage into a fourth. All units share an on-site laundry room and the property has been in the same family for three generations. We’re sure you’ll hear director John Carpenter’s chilling score for the film echoing in your ears as you wander around the empty rooms.
The original film is set in Haddonfield, Illinois and features the masked psychopath Michael Myers, who stalks and terrorises three young babysitters on Halloween night. There are some chilling scenes, including one where Michael pins one of the young people to the wall with a kitchen knife. Hopefully it wasn’t the original retro kitchen we see here...
A cult classic since it hit Netflix back in 2016, Stranger Things follows a group of school friends who uncover details of secret government experiments and have to fight supernatural forces from mystical realm 'The Upside Down'. Many of the most iconic sets are actually real – including the first home that Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) shares with her sons Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Will (Noah Schnapp), whose abduction is at the core of the first season’s story.
The show is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, but the real-life Byers house can be found in Fayetteville, Georgia. The 1,846-square-foot clapboard bungalow, which was built in 1900, hit the market at $300,000 (£244k) in 2022 and is reported to have been snapped up for $400,000 (£325k) within a week of being listed. This savvy investor is said to be planning to transform it into a Stranger Things-themed Airbnb. We can't wait to stay.
The remote, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home sits on six acres of land against a heavily wooded backdrop at the end of a somewhat spooky winding driveway. According to The Evening Standard, the new owner plans to recreate the Byers' home, with different parts of the house resembling 'The Upside Down'. Plans also include transforming the outdoor areas into scenes from the show, for a truly immersive Stranger Things experience.
We’re sure the new owner has been having fun renovating and redecorating the former TV set, no doubt incorporating its iconic fairy light alphabet wall, though it doesn’t seem available to rent just yet. Maybe the owner is waiting for the fifth and final season of the drama, which is expected to land in 2024 and will feature all the core characters, plus actor Linda Hamilton, famed for her work in the Terminator film franchise.
The eight blockbuster instalments of the Harry Potter series have made it one of the greatest sagas of all time. The wizarding franchise has so far raked in $7.7 billion (£6.3b), according to Screen Rant, so wonder it is now being made into a television show for HBO. Thanks to a multimillion-dollar budget, each film featured spectacular film sets that brought the magical story to life. But while the Weasley family's tumbledown home was very much smoke and mirrors, some of the locations were real...
Fans will remember this iconic home from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the penultimate movie in the series. In the film, this historic pad doubled as Harry's childhood home, with the film-makers using the real-life medieval town of Lavenham in Suffolk for the wizarding town of Godric’s Hollow, where Harry was born and where his parents were killed at the hands of evil Lord Voldemort.
The historic timber-framed house dates back to the 14th century and is now one of the most photographed houses in England, thanks to its wizarding connection. It also happens to be one of the most historically significant medieval properties in Britain. Known locally as De Vere House, it once belonged to the aristocratic De Vere family, who lived here from the 14th to the 17th century. Though light-filled and chic, it appears almost untouched since their day.
In the film, the property appeared spookily abandoned but in reality, the De Vere House is chic and cosy, with spacious rooms and plenty of eye-catching period details. Grade I-listed, the home has six bedrooms, three reception rooms, and four bathrooms, while carved timber ceilings, wonky stone fireplaces, lead mullion windows and a medieval staircase add to its magic. In 2018, the period property sold for $1.2million (£980,000) and is now a luxury bed and breakfast.
As Halloween movies go, Hocus Pocus is up there with the best of them. The original movie came out in 1993 and follows three wicked but rather inept witches, played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, who are inadvertently brought back from the dead when teenager Max Dennison lights a magic 'black flame candle' on Halloween night. Nearly three decades after the first movie was released, Hocus Pocus 2 landed on Disney+ in September 2022 with an Airbnb promotion to die for.
To celebrate the release, the iconic Salem cottage from the first film was recreated in the woods of Danvers, Massachusetts, and was available for fans to rent. Complete with cobwebs and smoky cauldrons, the “old creaky cottage stands tall amidst the trees”, according to the Airbnb listing. Sadly this appears to have been a one-off, and bookings were limited, but fans must have had the spookiest time of their lives...
Guests were greeted by candlelight, broomsticks and apothecary bottles and encouraged to try their hand at enchantments from the ancient spell book or explore the “dark, rich history of Salem with visits to some of the town’s most haunted properties”. The 1993 movie stayed true to its story, with filming taking place at notable landmarks in Salem, while the sequel set up camp in Rhode Island.
While the listing referenced the Sanderson Sisters as hosts of the two-bedroom cottage for the one-off stay, guests were actually greeted by a socially distanced on-site concierge instead, as lockdown rules still applied. Designed with every devilish detail in mind, the impressive fairytale cottage was definitely the stuff of movie fan dreams. We just wish the property was still available to rent...
Freddy Krueger’s distinctive red and green striped jumper and brown Fedora hat have been a staple at Halloween parties since A Nightmare on Elm Street was released in 1984. There were nine movies in the slasher-horror franchise, which focused on the former killer Freddy, who returns to terrorise the teenage residents of Springwood, Ohio, in their dreams. Much of the fright-fest centres on the home of final girl Nancy Thompson, the façade of which belongs to a real-life family home in Los Angeles. The home last sold in January 2022 for almost $3 million (£2.4m).
In the years since it was first immortalised in the Wes Craven movie, the Dutch Colonial-style house has enjoyed a few facelifts; most notably the front door, which was an iconic red in the film, has been changed to a stately black. The house that Freddy Krueger haunted is actually on North Genesee Avenue, in the historic Spaulding Square neighbourhood of Los Angeles. A landmark for fans of the movie, it’s also a popular stop on Halloween night.
The interior of the three-bedroom, four-bathroom property, which featured in the first and second films in the franchise, is a lot more welcoming than you might expect. The 1941 property was remodelled in the mid-2000s by an English designer and previous owners include Hustlers director Lorene Scafaria, who put the house on the market in October 2022, accepting offers until midnight on Halloween! Nice touch.
Eagle-eyed readers might also recognise the property’s guest house, as it was used in Bo Burnham’s Netflix special Inside, which won him his first Emmy in 2021. Apparently, the comedian was dating Scafaria at the time, so it was rather convenient to use the property’s guest house in his award-winning production. The residence also includes this gorgeous pool surrounded by citrus trees, along with plenty of terraces and patios that make the most of the home’s gorgeous grounds.
A favourite on Halloween and one of the most memorable movies from the 90s, Edward Scissorhands is more likely to melt your heart than send a chill up your spine. Tim Burton’s modern-day fable follows an artificial man with scissors for hands (played by Johnny Depp) whose discovery panics the locals in a small, suburban town. Over time the residents realise that, despite his unusual appearance, Edward is actually a very sweet guy with lots to give – including free haircuts!
Much of the action in the film takes place in the home of Edward’s love interest, Kim Boggs (Winona Ryder), which is a real-life home on 1774 Tinsmith Circle in the peaceful town of Lutz in Florida. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom property was turned into a superfan shrine, by owners Joey Licalzi and his wife in 2020 after they bought the property for $224,000 (£182k). Two years later it was back on the market for nearly $700,000 (£569k).
But not before the couple had transformed the 1,432 square-foot, single-storey bungalow into a piece of cinematic history, overflowing with quirky artwork, topiary statues, cardboard cut-outs of Edward and even oversized scissors. The couple even operated a free museum inside the property dedicated to the movie and offered screenings and tours to dedicated fans.
The couple went to some lengths to replicate the rooms as they featured in the film, including the kitchen, where they added the wallpaper and countertops that will be recognisable to fans. Owner Joey Licalzi, who worked as a dishwasher on the film, was forced to slash the price of the property to just under $500,000 (£404k) when it failed to sell and eventually took it off the market. That’s a shame, but we suppose the wild and weird home is not to everyone’s taste.
Stephen King’s 1983 horror novel Pet Sematary was one of the author's most bleak stories, so much so in fact that the tale, which dismayed his friends and family, even reportedly terrified King himself. Recreated twice on screen, in 1989 and 2019, the chilling story is now a cult classic. Much of the 1989 film was filmed in King’s home state of Maine, with one particular scene shot at the historic Barncastle Hotel and Restaurant in Blue Hill.
According to the Ellsworth American, a cocktail party scene was filmed in Barncastle Hotel. The unique inn is listed on the 1980 National Register of Historic Places and is currently owned by sommelier Lizzie Szczepaniak and chef Owen Royce-Nagel, who moved there from Boston to start their new inn and restaurant in March 2023, reports Mainebiz.
Previous owner Isaac Robbins, who bought the property in 2007 and, with his wife Lori, spent 15 years working to transform the home into a hotel, restaurant and music venue, listed it earlier this year for $1.6 million (£1.3m). Built in 1884 by Boston architect and Blue Hill native George Clough, the 9,000-square-foot hotel is a mixture of old New England architecture and medieval-style arches and turrets.
As well as its chilling claim to fame via its cameo in Pet Sematary, the building also has an illustrious past. Once the home of a Spanish countess, it was also the year-round residence of President Garfield’s grandson and family in the 1960s. As a bed and breakfast in the 1980s, meanwhile, it hosted Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley after their wedding. It was even used at one point as a marriage counselling retreat.
Kathy Bates said her character in the FX TV production American Horror Story: Coven was “five times worse” than Annie Wilkes from her 1990 film Misery. While the story – involving a coven of witches in modern-day New Orleans fighting forces both internal and external forces – is fictional, Bates’ character, Delphine LaLaurie, is based on a real-life 19th-century socialite of the same name who was notorious for the torture and murder of enslaved people.
In the first episode of the show, the witches tour the former home-turned-museum of LaLaurie on Royal Street. It’s said to be one of the most haunted houses in America and is a major stop on any French Quarter ghost tour. According to legend, a fire broke out at the house in 1834, and when rescuers entered the home, they found the mutilated remains of slaves who were imprisoned in the attic, including one who had been chained to a kitchen stove.
Delphine fled the city that night, never to return (not physically, at least). But after the building became a school in the late 1800s, girls discovered mysterious bloody scratches on their arms. This is why the property, which boasts gorgeous balconies, is considered one of the most paranormally active houses in America. More recently it was the home of Nicolas Cage, who paid $3.4 million (£2.8m) for it in 2007, but had to sell it off in 2009 to pay back taxes.
The lavish furnishings and chandeliers of another New Orleans historic building, the Hermann-Grima House, stand in for the interiors of the LaLaurie mansion. The 19th-century Creole mansion and slave quarters are a fascinating place to visit and have been featured in other films and productions, including the 1999 film Double Jeopardy.
Based on the Jay Anson book of the same name, The Amityville Horror was a runaway success when it was released in 1979, grossing over $86 million (£70m) and leading to a string of sequels and spin-offs. Starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder, the film dramatises the real-life story of the Lutz family, who claimed to experience supernatural forces after moving into a house on Long Island where former resident Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr murdered his family in 1974.
The real scene of the crime was located at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, but when local authorities refused film-makers location permission, the crew relocated to this property in Toms River, New Jersey, which was altered to make it look like the Dutch colonial original on Long Island, complete with menacing eye windows on the third-floor attic. Set designers even erected a Gambrel roof on top of the existing roof for authenticity in the two sequels that were filmed here.
Spanning close to 4,000 feet, the waterfront property, which was built in 1920, gives scant indication of its sinister on-screen past. The four-bedroom, five-bathroom home has been renovated throughout and features a new kitchen, this elegant dining room, a bar area and a home cinema – ideal for catching up on the terrifying franchise!
The house has not suffered from its chilling connection. The property last sold in January 2023 for almost $1.5 million (£1.2m), according to Mansion Global, and former residents seem to have embraced its supernatural past. “Previous owners used to go really heavy with Halloween decorations to make it look like a haunted house,” said listing agent Jeffrey Childers of Childers Sotheby’s International Realty. “There used to be a line of cars going by to take a look.”
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Ennis House in Los Angeles is considered a famous landmark even without its link to the horror genre. Built in 1924, and one of just four of Wright’s textile block houses, it has made more than 80 onscreen appearances, appearing in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Blade Runner, among others. But it was the property’s feature in Vincent Price’s 1959 horror flick, The House on Haunted Hill, that brought it into ghoulish acclaim.
Only the Mayan Revival-style exterior features in the movie, which involves eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) challenging five guests to spend the night in his “haunted house”. Those who make it through to the morning (alive, that is) earn $10,000 (£8k), which would be around $186,000 (£150k) in today’s money. Not bad for a night of terror, or is it?
It’s easy to imagine Loren’s elegant guests seated in this cathedral-style dining room, with its vast Art Deco-style window and timber ceiling. The property’s first residents, retailers Charles and Mabel Ennis, commissioned America’s most cherished architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, in 1923 to design the house in a prime spot in Los Feliz, overlooking the Hollywood Hills. Completed in 1924, it was constructed with 27,000 interlocking concrete blocks, each cast by hand from gravel, granite and sand.
A piece of architectural history, the spacious home sold most recently in 2019 for $18 million (£14.6m), reports the Los Angeles Times. Not a bad profit for billionaire Ron Burkle, who made his fortune buying and selling supermarkets. The entrepreneur bought the residence for $4.5 million (£3.7m) in 2011, and oversaw an extensive refurbishment project which brought the house back to its former glory, seen here in the decorative gallery with its marble floors and block columns.
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