Unlucky Houses

[rashore]

Quote

The papers of the past were early adopters of the “If it bleeds, it leads” principle. The more sanguinary the story, the  higher the toll of victims, and the more grue and gore the better. Bonus points for dismemberment.

There was a particular subcategory of this genre that told of cursed/unlucky/troubled/hoodoo houses where everybody died or was catastrophically injured. Given my reprehensible penchant for viewing deaths in a Fortean vein as entertainment, I find these fascinating. The Winchester Mystery House, so much in the news these days, had nothing on these troubled houses.

This piece gives the background, with examples:

http://hauntedohiobooks.com/news/unlucky-houses/

 

[Piney]

A lot of business owners use to talk about "unlucky locations" to my grandmother and uncle. 

[rashore]

1 hour ago, Piney said:

A lot of business owners use to talk about "unlucky locations" to my grandmother and uncle. 

Do tell?

[Piney]

@rashore

Some business'es will just sit empty until a non-local "buys it and tries it". If it didn't succeed I would hear them talk about it being a "cursed location". My Grandmother and uncle had 5 florist/ antique shops stretched all over South Jersey and one in "Old City" Philadelphia. I heard the conversation at every location.

[rashore]

Heh, I know what you are talking about. We had a couple places in one of my hometowns like that. Sit empty forever, get opened, and fail real quick. A couple places that have seen a LOT of flipover considering their prime locations that are probably considered cursed.

One of the stories in the OP was from that hometown, and now I'm wondering where that house might have been, lol. Kind of makes me want to go lore-tripping about it, fun times.

[Piney]

12 minutes ago, rashore said:

One of the stories in the OP was from that hometown, and now I'm wondering where that house might have been, lol. Kind of makes me want to go lore-tripping about it, fun times.

You would love Roo and my adventures when the grandchildren are here. I know the location of every site and cellar hole in the Pine Barrens. We do our "Saturday Explorations".

[Kenemet]

I've seen places that... for lack of a better explanation... seem to have 'bad feng shui.'

I don't believe in feng shui, for the record, but there are some locations that seem to be well situated for business and do get leased - but businesses never seem to thrive there whereas businesses on the opposite corner or opposite side of the street do well.

I think in the case of "bad luck houses" it would be interesting to look at the actual lease and purchase records for the property as well as newspaper stories and see if there really is any truth in them.  In the old days, they would publish items about accidents (and people breaking their legs, etc) in the local newspaper.  My guess is that you will find the history of these places a lot less dramatic than the books would have you believe.