The Hauntings That Inspired Winchester
Wikimedia CommonsThe mysterious Winchester house.
Horror movies based on true stories sometimes exaggerate the actual presence of paranormal activity, as in this case.
The truth behind the 2018 horror film Winchester is sadder than it is spooky. The film centers around eccentric firearm heiress Sarah Winchester and her neverending building of the Winchester mansion.
Sarah and the mansion are both true, but the haunted happenings in the film really only existed in Sarah’s grief-stricken mind.
Sarah was born into an affluent family in 1840 and had the best that life could offer. She went to the best schools, married well, and had a daughter. However, when she was in her late twenties her perfect life came crashing down.
CO Springs Real Estate NewsSarah Winchester outside her home.
Her daughter died and a decade later so did her husband, leaving her alone – and extremely rich. Her husband left her 50 percent of the Winchester firearms empire which totaled about $507 million by today’s standards.
She fled to San Jose, California to outrun her grief in Connecticut. There Sarah began to construct the mansion. She feared the ghosts of those who were killed by her family’s rifles and believed the only way to keep the angry spirits at bay was to constantly build onto the house — as if constructing a fortress.
Sarah was known for her capricious nature, which resulted in haphazard remodeling, building over old rooms, or sealing off unused spaces. For instance, the Winchester Mystery House contains multiple stairways that end abruptly and lead nowhere.
The Jet PackerA staircase that leads to nowhere in the Winchester home.
The house was constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week from 1886 until Sarah’s death in 1922. At its biggest, the mansion had 200 rooms, 10,000 windows, 47 fireplaces, and 2,000 doors.
The mansion still stands today in it all of its massive glory, as a piece of tangible evidence of an inconsolable wife and mother’s grief.
After this look at horror movies based on true stories, discover the true story of mobster Billy Batts’ murder that was too brutal even for Goodfellas. After that, check out the horrifying stories behind these Disney classics.
