Current:Home > MyWhat's the 'Scariest House in America'? HGTV aims to find out -VitalWealth Strategies
What's the 'Scariest House in America'? HGTV aims to find out
View
Date:2025-04-12 11:23:58
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – There's a house in the woods that some people find downright scary.
The spirit that haunts the place, locking people in a bathroom, would be enough to send some people running. But add in a vertigo-inducing three-story interior with balconies and a catwalk and plenty of places where one misstep would send you plummeting to your doom, and some might argue this home should win some kind of a prize.
Well, that's what led its owner to enter the house into HGTV's "Scariest House in America." The house is one of a dozen competing nationwide for a $150,000 home makeover on the show, premiering Friday (9 EDT/PDT) as a spinoiff of the network's "Ugliest House in America." Except that, timed for Halloween, the entrants will be judged on criteria including "scary appearance," "bad function" and "fear factor."
A real estate agent might simply call the house a 1,300-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom three-story with an elevator. But "Scariest" series host, actor and comedian Retta simply calls it a "frightening fixer-upper."
Among the quirks that got the home on HGTV's 'Scariest House in America'
- The walls are far from perfectly vertical, leaning inward or outward at considerably more than 90 degrees.
- An "energy" – some would use the word "ghost" – of a previous owner has locked people in a bathroom.
- The massive – roughly two feet thick – front door opens into a pit
- And, about that elevator: it only goes from the second to the third floor and it fits only one person at a time.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
The house that wins the contest, which will be announced on the Oct. 25 finale, will get a surprise makeover by interior designer Alison Victoria. Other serious competition includes:
- A former jail that makes unexplained clanking sounds.
- A house with wild bats flying around inside, occasionally brushing against people as they sleep.
- An 18th-century farmhouse whose kitchen is a 35-foot open well with who knows what at the bottom.
- A house with a ghost that bumps into people.
- A place with doors that lock and unlock and open and close by themselves.
- A house where screams and cries and quiet whispers are heard.
- The hideout of a former gangster with ghosts that have scared off the current owner's family.
- A house where a woman changing bedsheets was sat on by a ghost that wouldn't let her up.
- A place with freakishly high ceilings, as high as 20 feet on one floor.
At least, thankfully, the Rhode Island house won't compete against The Conjuring House, in Burrillville, R.I., which some would consider the scariest house in the world.
veryGood! (59249)
Related
- Jay Kanter, veteran Hollywood producer and Marlon Brando agent, dies at 97: Reports
- Golden Bachelor's Theresa Nist Shares Source of Joy Amid Gerry Turner Divorce
- Grand jury indicts man for murder in shooting death of Texas girl during ATM robbery
- Inside Coachella 2024's biggest moments
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Billionaire Texas oilman inks deal with Venezuela’s state-run oil giant as U.S. sanctions loom
- Youngkin will visit Europe for his third international trade mission as Virginia governor
- Prosecutors argue Trump willfully and flagrantly violated gag order, seek penalty
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- What is the Meta AI tool? Can you turn it off? New feature rolls out on Facebook, Instagram
Ranking
- Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
- Courteney Cox Reveals Johnny McDaid Once Broke Up With Her One Minute Into Therapy
- Grand jury indicts man for murder in shooting death of Texas girl during ATM robbery
- Summer Kitchen Must-Haves Starting at $8, Plus Kitchen Tools, Gadgets, and More
- Carolinas bracing for second landfall from Tropical Storm Debby: Live updates
- Plane crashes after takeoff in Alaska, bursts into flames: no survivors found
- New Biden rule would make 4 million white-collar workers eligible for overtime pay
- Jimmie Allen Shares He Contemplated Suicide After Sexual Assault Lawsuit
Recommendation
3 years after the NFL added a 17th game, the push for an 18th gets stronger
Arrests follow barricades and encampments as college students nationwide protest Gaza war
'Them: The Scare': Release date, where to watch new episodes of horror anthology series
A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states
Family of explorer who died in the Titan sub implosion seeks $50M-plus in wrongful death lawsuit
Person fishing with a magnet pulls up rifle, other new evidence in 2015 killing of Georgia couple, investigators say
Investigator says Trump, allies were part of Michigan election scheme despite not being charged
North Carolina legislators return to adjust the budget and consider other issues