The Castle House is the 'most haunted house in the Midwest' — and a bed and breakfast. Get some creeps with your crêpes.
There are certain things that realtors dance around while they’re trying to sell a property. They may not tell you about the neighborhood’s crime statistics or the exact name of the person who outbid you on a property, but what if your home is known to house the souls of the damned?
The owners of the Haunted Castle House in Brumley, Mo., have made that scary detail work to their advantage. They’re currently running a bed and breakfast in what is known as the “most haunted house in the Midwest.”
How do you know for a fact that it’s haunted? Imagine the logistics of trying to run a haunted bed and breakfast without ghosts. The owners are just going to wake up at 3 a.m. every night to rattle chains so their Yelp reviews claim they felt genuine supernatural activity? I don’t think so.
The home was built in 1850 by Walter Dixon, M.D., after he was inspired by a home he saw in London. It features four bedrooms, two baths, and a 30-foot tower and staircase that was shipped from the United Kingdom. The walls are a sturdy, thick concrete (which is how every good haunted house should be built — thick concrete so the neighbors can’t hear your blood-curdling screams.)
For the past 100 years, it wouldn’t be unusual to hear disembodied screams or to spot a “woman in an antique party dress” at the top of the staircase or on the second floor, according to Dave Harkins, the director of the Ozarks Paranormal Society.
The “crying woman” or “screaming woman” is believed to be Dixon’s wife, Martha. The well-known socialite was preparing one of her elaborate parties when, just before the guests were due to arrive, the doctor found her lifeless body at the head of the stairs.
I’d be crying for eternity too if I spent all that time planning a huge party and then just died before I even had one gin and tonic.
As you’re walking the grounds of the beautiful property, you’ll be able to admire “20 known graves,” Harkins says. In 1862, Union troops were staying in the pasture around the house when the Confederate forces launched an ambush. After a truce was called, injured soldiers were taken inside the Castle House for treatment. In the 1960s, local children found a Confederate uniform in a bundle under the porch.
In 1912, the house was sold to another doctor, Myron D. Jones, and in 1918, the flu pandemic swept through the town. There were so many patients that tents had to be erected in the yard to house them. After Jones retired, the house was vacant for 50 years until 2013, when the current owners purchased the home.
Harkins and his team of paranormal investigators visited the house and documented a number of strange occurrences, some of which they reportedly captured, and you can even listen to them.
Facebook reviews for the B&B read: “There was a lot of energy in the house,” “I would always feel sick in [the hospital] room and as it got later into the night I became feverish,” and “LOVED the crepes for breakfast … best we have ever had.”
According to Realtor.com, the house can be yours for $119,900 — possibly a ghost discount?
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
