When you think of a haunted house, what comes to mind? If you are over the age of 30 I would
be willing to bet that you pictured an old Victorian Era Mansion. Hi everyone ken here,
welcome to "This House". Today we are exploring why Victorian era mansions
are associated with ghosts in this special Halloween episode. Grab a bag of candy and
smash that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting, or maybe spooky episode of "This House"
In countless horror movies and TV shows we have seen this theme played out time and time again:
A person visits an old house only to discover that it is haunted by ghosts
of generations past. But why don’t we usually see this plot playout in newer homes? Surely
terrible things have happened in homes that are less than 100 years old, right? To better
understand the answer to this question, lets go back in time to the Victorian Era.
In the 1800s the nouveau rich set out to flamboyantly display their wealth
by building massive houses in the Queen Anne and Second Empire styles,
many of them were architectural amalgamations with towers, mansard roofs, gothic windows,
and wrought iron fences. Critics at the time looked at these grand homes in the same way
we regard McMansions today, as being without taste nor architectural merit. But nevertheless,
these styles were so popular that they were built all across North America.
Many of these homes were built without the modern conveniences
we have today such electric wiring, air conditioning, and centralized air.
When the great depression hit, the once wealthy families could no longer afford the upkeep on
their grand homes, so many simply abandoned them. By the late 1930s, a new way of life saw indoor
plumbing and electric lightbulbs become the new normal for even the most humble of homes.
Instead of retrofitting old homes, it became fashionable to build more modern homes leading
into the mid century modern movement. Homes were now designed with sleek, clean lines and
open spaces illuminated by large windows. The opposite of the dark interiors covered by heavy
curtains which had been the style in the previous century. It was a new way of life altogether.
The media sensationalized this cultural transition in newspapers. In 1938,
The Adams Family Cartoon premiered in The New Yorker, featuring a strange, aristocratic family
living a frightening and bizarre lifestyle in their outdated Second Empire Style Mansion.
The cartoon was a hit, and culturally symbolized the changing times. The
public was now embracing this new way of life and rejecting the lifestyles of
their grand parents who grew up in what were now dilapidated and musty houses,
especially if they were in the rust belt where the once wealthy neighborhoods
were largely now considered the slums. As the next decades followed, Hollywood got
in on this trend, shaming the old architecture as something perverse and sinister. In 1942,
Cat People premiered featuring dark victorian interiors with a sense of mystery worked into
the details. In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock the premiered the classic horror movie, Psycho,
using the Bates Mansion as its backdrop. It had all the components of an outdated way of
life including a mansard roof concealing dark, cluttered interiors – everything about the house
was now considered creepy, even though it had been high fashion when it was first designed.
Following the release of this movie, the 1964 Adams Family TV show now started with a shot of
the exterior of 21 Chester Place in Los Angeles. An impeccably maintained Second Empire style
mansion that most would consider beautiful today, was then seen as the embodiment of the macabre.
This theme only continued to build momentum, until finally,
by the 1990s, Victorian Era architecture was now synonymous with the term haunted
after Hollywood had produced 1000’s of horror movies set inside of victorian era mansions.
This lead to a whole slew of television shows to follow in the next decade such as
MTV’s Fear and Ghost Hunters which primarily were filmed in homes from the victorian era.
But this theme started to become too played out. The newer generations had a disconnect
from the past and younger audiences just weren’t as interested in seeing Victorian
Era Homes in horror movies. Perhaps this was the same disconnect that had happened nearly
a century earlier as homes that were built in the 1980s and 1990s were now viewed as
outdated. We saw movies such as Paranormal Activity playing on this fear of 30 and 40
year old homes as our culture shifted to wireless technology and more modern ways
of living. Since the success of that movie, we have seen a plethora of Hollywood movies
set in backdrops from that time period. So are the victorian era houses haunted? Or is it just
a rejection of the past manifesting as fear? Let me know your thoughts down below in the comments.
If you have been watching this channel for a long time, you already know that I am a huge advocate
for historic preservation and find Victorian era architecture to be very fascinating and beautiful.
I hope you all have a safe and fun spooky weekend. Before you get all dressed up in your Halloween
costumes, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of "This
House". I would also like to take a moment to say a special thank you to our this house supporters
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