The Haunted Hill House
Are you ready to stay at a real haunted house? Well now is your chance, unless you’re deterred by what co-host of the Travel Channel’s “Portals To Hell” Jack Osbourne said about the Haunted Hill House in Mineral Wells, Texas: “it’s probably the one place that I would say, if there was a demonic presence it would be [there].”
The Real Haunted Hill House
You’ve probably heard of a haunted Hill House popping up in various films and literature. The original inspiration for these fictional haunted Hill Houses comes from the novel The Haunting of Hill House, written in 1959 by the great literary horror novelist Shirley Jackson. This novel inspired the 1963 film The Haunting starring Julie Harris, and a more fantasized 1999 adaptation of The Haunting starring Lili Taylor and Liam Neeson. And, of course, the Netflix series, “The Haunting of Hill House.” The Netflix series really doesn’t have much to do with the original novel at all (other than character names) but you should still watch anyway.
But Shirley Jackson’s Hill House, which inspired all of these offshoots, was not inspired by the haunted Hill House in Texas. In fact, according to Jackson’s biographer Ruth Franklin, Jackson drew inspiration for her fictional Hill House from the Winchester Mystery House. So, while both the fictional Hill House and real Hill House are obscenely haunted, they’re completely different places.
Haunted Hill House History
125 feet away from the (also haunted) Baker Hotel sits the looming Haunted Hill House. This house is a Victorian mansion that takes up 3800 square feet. The famous East Mountain, where Native Americans and Outlaws battled over a century ago secludes the mansion from the main thoroughfare. The house was built during the Civil War as an A-frame home and belonged to the First Founding Families of Mineral Wells. During the late 1800s to the early 1900s the home was used as a makeshift hospital and then later became a retreat for illegal activity. It once hosted prostitutes, bootleggers, and gambling for those that wanted to be discreet and imbibe these illicit activities in secret.
How did this house become so famous for having the most paranormal activity?
Some say, if you die on the property, you never leave.
During the years that the house was shrouded in illegal and illicit activity, several deaths happened there. Some say that the spirits wander the halls as if they’re still living there. Investigators have detected nine different spirits haunting the home. The most dominant spirit is one of a little boy that inhabits the upstairs area. The little boy may have been a disfigured child born to one of the working girls. He only made it to the age of six. One of the owners who fell into a well also haunts the property. Also, all those that died on the property due to the flu outbreak.
Anyone that visits or even dares to stay overnight could be in for the fright of their lifetime due to high levels of reported paranormal activity. The home has 18 areas where you can investigate, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and a kitchen. People that do overnight investigations have access to the entire property.
At the time of this writing, the home is owned by Edward and Katherine Estes. Katherine offers to anoint her departing guests with Holy Water or another cleansing item to make sure they stay protected.
Ready to stay the night or take a tour?
Beware of the haunted experiences some visitors to Hill House have had:
- Nausea
- Headache
- Immediately feeling ill upon entering the grounds
- A malevolent spirit visitation the next day after visiting the house
- Groups have had balls moved by the little boy spirit
- Several have had things thrown at them
- Over 70 people have been scratched and 2 have been bitten
- Seen green orbs
If you’re still feeling brave, visit their website to book an overnight investigation!
The house is located at 501 NE 1st St, Mineral Wells, TX 76067, just over an hour West of Fort Worth, Texas.
Haunted Hill House Trivia
- Previously visited by members of Ghost Adventures, Haunted Collector, Deep South Paranormal, Taps, Paranormal Files, Portals To Hell, Strangetown, and Christopher Saint Booth.
- Katherine said the house ranks #1 as the most haunted house in Texas (and third most haunted in the nation) by Good Day America.
- Big Seven Travel listed it as the spookiest home in the state by
- Caves known as the East Mountain are located on the property.
- You can have your wedding at the house, but beware you may have some non-human guests!
Mineral Wells, TX
The town of Mineral Wells, TX, was first populated by settlers around the turn of the 19th century due to the discovery of purportedly miraculous curative mineral water. Remind you of any other famously haunted locations we’ve written about? The mineral water was dubbed “Crazy Water” because of a local legend of a woman recovering from some ridiculous 19th century mental disorder after drinking it. By 1900, Mineral Wells was the spa resort destination in the Southern US, drawing over 150,000 visitors that year alone. The tiny town boasted 46 hotels and boarding houses by 1909, and most visitors were only there because of the water. Visitors indulged in the four bathing houses, chugged at the seven water pavilions, or booked more intensive treatment at the two local sanitariums.
But the most hilariously cruel tourist attraction was the “Fat Man’s Reducer”. Tourists would gorge themselves on miraculous, healing, unfiltered, un-sanitized mineral water (a known laxative). Then they would take attempt to climb the “Fat Man’s Reducer”: a thousand-foot staircase built on the side of East Mountain. According to legendary66.com, the locals amused themselves by watching the tourists get halfway up, and then realize that they had to use the bathroom quite urgently, due to the water hitting their unprepared system. Hill House, at the foot of East Mountain, might have been a prime location to view these follies.
Have you visited the Haunted Hill House?
This house is on our long, long list of most haunted places to visit. If you’ve visited the location, please submit any findings you’d like us to share on this page!
