8 of the Scariest Haunted Houses in Horror Movies

There is something unsettling about a hostile home.

In haunted houses in horror movies, fear doesn’t come from distant monsters or unfamiliar worlds but from places meant to offer us safety.

Haunted houses contribute to how we receive horror movies because homes are personal. They hold history: grief, secrets, violence, and trauma, among others - feelings families try to forget.

The terror can be supernatural; at times, it’s painfully human. Either way, the best haunted houses in cinema become characters in their own right - each with their own story, rules and shadows.

Below is a list of some of the most iconic haunted houses and the films and legends that made them unforgettable.

1.) The Amityville House (New York, USA)

Few houses have a reputation as enduring as the Amityville house, made famous by The Amityville Horror.

The appeal of this horror thriller isn't just that it’s scary; it’s also the claim that the haunting happened in a real property and was based on true events.

What makes this house particularly unsettling is how ordinary it looks. It could be anyone’s house, yet inside, a violent story unfolded.

Located at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, the house is infamous as the site of the 1974 DeFeo family murders.

A year later, George and Kathy Lutz bought the house, but fled 28 days later, claiming they experienced violent paranormal activity.

Today, many details of the haunting - especially demonic activity - are considered exaggerated.

Even so, the Amityville house continues to attract attention. It remains a private residence, and its address was changed to deter tourists from coming.

2.) Perron Family House (Rhode Island, USA)

The Perron family home is one of the most recognisable modern haunted houses in cinema, having been made famous by The Conjuring.

This 14-room farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, is where Roger and Carolyn Perron’s family lived from 1971 to 1980, and is said to have experienced paranormal activity, which later inspired the movie.

The house itself is an isolated property, surrounded by land that adds to its sense of vulnerability.

Originally known as the Arnold Estate, it was built in 1736 and exchanged hands several times before the Perron family lived there.

While the family’s paranormal claims remain controversial, the property’s connection to The Conjuring franchise has made it a tourist destination, attracting fans and drawing in ghost tours.

3.) The Conjuring House (London, UK)

Unlike the first movie’s rural farmhouse setting, The Conjuring 2 is set in a modest London house.

The second film follows Ed and Lorraine Warren, two paranormal investigators, as they uncover a series of disturbing events experienced by the Hodgson family.

The story is based on the real-life Enfield Poltergeist case, which reportedly took place at 284 Green Street in Enfield, North London.

The house still exists today as a private residence. While many aspects of the case remain disputed, the property’s association with one of the most famous paranormal investigations in Britain has cemented its place in horror film history.

4.) Hill House (Alderminster, UK)

In The Haunting (1963), Hill House is the focal point of a paranormal investigation that brings several strangers together inside a single, imposing state.

The film follows a doctor studying supernatural phenomena who invites participants to stay overnight in Hill House, believing it to be one of the most persistently haunted properties ever documented.

The exterior of Hill House was filmed in Ettington Park Hotel in England, a 19th-century Gothic mansion with a long-standing reputation for ghost sightings.

Although Hill House is fictional within the story, Ettington Park Hotel remains a real, operating hotel today.

Its association with The Haunting - combined with its own reported paranormal history - has made it one of the most recognisable real-world locations for horror fans everywhere.

5.) The Overlook Hotel (Colorado, USA)

The Overlook Hotel is a fictional hotel which serves as the setting for The Shining.

The film follows Jack Torrance, who takes a winter caretaker job at a remote mountain hotel, isolating his family for months.

As the snow cuts them off from the outside world, the Overlook’s violent past begins to surface, slowly influencing Jack’s descent into madness.

The hotel’s massive size is crucial to the horror. Its long corridors, cavernous rooms, and empty ballrooms dwarf the characters, making them feel insignificant and trapped.

The building’s history - murders, suicides, and unexplained events - isn’t revealed all at once. Instead, it seeps into the present, suggesting that the hotel doesn’t just remember violence; it repeats it through the people inside.

The Overlook itself is fictional, but it was inspired primarily by the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where Stephen King stayed in the 1970s.

While filming took place on soundstages and at Timberline Lodge in Oregon (used for exterior shots), the Stanley Hotel has since become a real-world pilgrimage site for fans.

6.) The House in The Orphanage (Asturias, Spain)

The house is central to the plot in the movie The Orphanage.

The film follows Laura, who returns with her family to the seaside orphanage where she once lived, intending to reopen it as a home for disabled children.

When her son disappears, the house becomes both a site of investigation and a repository of buried trauma.

The building’s past as an orphanage adds a layer to the film: every room holds remnants of former children, games, routines, and unresolved loss, forcing Laura to confront memories she’s avoided.

The supernatural elements later emerge gradually, tied to the building’s purpose as a place meant to care for children.

The orphanage is a real filming location in Asturias, Spain, chosen for its isolation and weathered appearance.

Its seaside location adds to the film’s themes of distance and inevitability in the sense that once something is lost, it cannot be recovered.

7.) The Winchester Mystery House (California, USA)

The Winchester Mystery House is one of the few haunted locations in cinema based on a real property.

Built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of the Winchester rifle heir, the house became famous for its constant construction, supposedly intended to confuse spirits haunting the family.

Located in San Jose, California, the Winchester Mystery House still stands today as a museum and tourist attraction.

While paranormal claims are up for debate, the property’s layout alone has made it a recurring source of inspiration for haunted-house stories and films - most notably the horror film Winchester, which dramatises Sarah Winchester’s life and the myths surrounding the house.

8.) The Freeling House (California, USA)

The Freeling family’s home in Poltergeist is introduced as a typical safe and comfortable suburban American house, a stark contrast to the usual horror films where danger comes from isolated or abandoned buildings.

However, as the film progresses, the house becomes increasingly unstable. It is later revealed that the house was built over a cemetery whose graves were never relocated.

The haunting happens in direct response to that history, making the property itself complicit in what happens to the family.

The Freeling house is fictional, but exterior shots were filmed in a residential neighbourhood in Simi Valley, California.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary - 8 of the Scariest Haunted Houses in Horror Movies

Haunted houses in horror films don't just serve as a setting; they can also represent an idea that a property can carry history long after its occupants are gone.

Tragedies, secrets, or neglect often sit beneath a house’s surface, shaping how it’s perceived.

However, these effects are exaggerated for cinema.

In real life, this teaches us the importance of choosing a property and understanding its background.

A building’s past use, location, and reputation all influence how the property is experienced, valued or talked about.

Once a story becomes attached to a house, it can be difficult to separate from its history or narrative.