The perfect month of the year to share hair-raising stories, last October you may remember we talked about the interesting history revolving around New York's legally haunted house down in the Hudson Valley. Between this spot being known as the house in the famous Ghostbusters ruling and Long Island's very own Amityville Horror House, it frequently feels like some of the most frightening homes in America can be found here in the Empire State. While each house may have it's own chilling history, there's one property out in Cattaraugus County that might just be the most horribly haunted house in our entire state and you can even spend the night there.
Located out in Western New York, the Hinsdale House began showing signs of paranormal activity back in the 1970s.
As haunted as this house may be, for some reason no one has seemed to definitively figured out what exactly made this property so haunted. Local legends and stories have been told throughout time about a young boy that was once killed here and a man who supposedly murdered a member of his family and even the possibility of the home being built on ancient Indian burial grounds, but none of these have been proven to be true by any means necessary. The lack of explanation for the Hinsdale House's unnerving activity makes the entire situation all the more peculiar.
Also known as the Dandy Home, it wasn't until the Dandy family moved in that things took a terrible turn for the worse.
Very shortly after the Dandy family moved in, the family began to experience some unusual activity. While living in the home, the family began to receive strange phone calls, heard alarming chanting coming from the woods and felt uneasy. Quickly, the strange and unwelcoming activity turned quite violent. The family started to see full-body spirits in the home and even had objects moving, like during one instance when a lamp was thrown at one of the Dandy daughters from across the living room. Yikes!
Interesting in hearing more frightening details of the Dandy's stay in the Hinsdale House? One evening the family claimed that they saw a group of faces staring in at them from outside. When Mr. Dandy ran outside to chase away the scary peeping toms, he found that the faces had reversed themselves and were now looking at him from the inside. Excuse me while I recover from all of the chills that just ran down my spine, eek!
Today the Hinsdale House is owned by a couple who's working to restore it and preserve the home's viability for paranormal research.
Eventually after a failed exorcism on the house in 1974, the Dandy family abandoned the property. Back in 2000, more people became aware of what is now known as one of New York's most famous houses when Clara Miller (one of the Dandy family members who lived in the house) published a book called Echoes of a Haunting. Now ghost hunters and paranormal activity seekers travel from all over the country to come and investigate this house.
Those who have the guts to want to check out the haunted Hinsdale House for themselves will be glad to hear that Overnight Lockdowns are offered here!
That's right! While other haunted attractions in our state may require trespassing and limited access, the Hinsdale House actually offers you the opportunity to spend the night in the home.
Those who are willing to sign themselves up for an Overnight Lockdown will get to perform paranormal experiments, roam the house on their own, bring their own handheld ghost hunting gear and more. Spending the night here means the owners will fill you in on more of the home's haunted history, give you full tour of the place and perform a sage cleansing ritual before everyone leaves.
To find out when the dates are for the next upcoming Hinsdale House Overnight Lockdown, click here to check out their website to find out more information.
You can find plenty of paranormal accounts and documentaries about the Hinsdale House on Youtube, but one that showcases some unusual activity is the one below uploaded by Patrick Cochran!
Want to read about another real life haunting that's here in our state? Then read about how If You Want To Stay At This New York Hotel You'll Have To Sign A Waiver First!
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get the latest updates and news
Thank you for subscribing!