American Horror Story: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Actual Murder House

Fans of FX anthology series American Horror Story are familiar with most of the creepy locations including the Murder House, which was the setting for Season One and the show’s eponymous location. The house was featured again in Season 8’s sixth episode “Return To The Murder House” when Madison and Behold went back to flush out the ghosts. The beautiful California mansion is said to have been haunted since the 1920’s, which made it the perfect place to kick start the popular horror show.

The first season, titled Murder House, mostly focuses on the Harmon family who move into the house from Boston without knowing its past history as well as the supernatural elements that are in it. The show’s debut season received 17 Emmy nominations and is often regarded as a fan-favorite due to it giving birth to a whole franchise.

10 36 People Have Been Confirmed To Have Died In The House

In a mansion called “The Murder House,” the death statistics have to be quite high. By the time of “Return to Murder House,” there are a reported 36 people who have been killed in the home and are now trapped behind the walls and fences as restless and violent ghosts.

This figure does not include the occupants featured in the show’s promotional fan website “You’re Going to Die in There.” The website doesn’t state the number of additional people that died before the events of Murder House or those deaths that went unreported. The show and the site leave the final bodycount audiences to figure out.

9 The Montgomery Family Built The Murder House

The Murder House which has a Victorian design was built by renowned fictional surgeon Charles Montgomery as a gift to his wife, Nora. Things began going terribly wrong when their son Thaddeus was abducted and dismembered by the angry lover of a young woman that Charles had helped procure an abortion back in 1926.

Not accepting his son’s fate, Charles took out the heart of one of his patients and used it to revive Thaddeus. That didn’t go so well, as Thaddeus returned as a Frankenstein-like beast better known as Infantata. Angry at what her husband had done, Nora murdered Charles before committing suicide.

8 The House Is Resistant To Magical Powers

The Murder House is sentient to a certain extent. Most magical abilities such as telekinesis do not work behind its walls due to the fact that most magical abilities are powered by light, yet the Murder House is a dark hellmouth. The house is sometimes referred to as a perfect gateway to hell.

Tate Langdon explained that most people who are protected by magical spells are still unsafe inside the Murder House. However, a few powers have been shown to work inside the house. These include Divination  (the ability to obtain knowledge about anything) and the Spirit Revealing Spell (a form of magic to reveal spirits that are hiding from the human high).

7 The Devil Gave The Ghosts Anger Issues

Humility is a virtue the ghosts at the Murder House don’t possess and there is an explanation for that. Madison Montgomery stated that the ghosts are often violent because they are constantly being manipulated by the Devil.

Apparently, the Devil is keen on manipulating living humans as well as dead souls to enable him create the antichrist. When the antichrist is eventually born and takes the persona of Michael Langdon, he leaves the house. When he does that, the ghosts suddenly become calm. In fact, when Behold and Madison visit the house, the ghosts don’t try to harm anyone.

6 The House’s Victims Are Unable To Cross Into The Afterlife

There are two locations on American Horror Story where people are unable to cross into the afterlife once they die there. These are the Hotel Cortez and the Murder House. Once people die in the premises, they are forever trapped as disembodied spirits and this is what happens to the Harmons.

On the rare occasion that the remains of a dead person happen to lie outside the limits of the Murder House, their soul will be able to leave. This was the case with Moira O’Hara. However, the limits of the Murder House are not clearly stated. It hasn’t been explained whether the yard and the sidewalk count as Murder House grounds or not.

5 Other Supernatural Creatures Lodged At Murder House

The Murder House is mostly occupied by the ghosts of the people who died there, but there are other supernatural elements that have resided there as well.

One of those was the Frankenstein-like Infantata (above, left). The Devil was there too, as he tried to sire the antichrist (above, right). After he was born, the antichrist lived in the house for a while before leaving. It was also revealed that back in 1926, there was a vampire who visited the Murder House and gave birth to a human-vampire hybrid.

4 The Actual House Belonged To A Rich Neighborhood

The real-life house used for filming is the Rosenheim Mansion. It is located in 1120 Westchester Pl, Country Club Park, Los Angeles, California.  The house was built by German-American architect Alfred Rosenheim in 1902. Construction is said to have taken more than five years.

Alfred Rosenheim was also the house’s first resident. Back in the early 1900’s, the neighborhood in which the house is located was known as the “Billionaire Row” because many of the richest families in California lived there.

3 Only A Few People Are Allowed To Come & Go

According to “Return To The Murder House,” only a few humans beings are allowed by the ghosts to visit and leave the house alive. One of those is Billie Dean Howard.

This is possibly because Billie is a medium who has connections to both the human world and the spirit world, allowing the ghosts to communicate with the living through her and vice versa. Most of the spirits are familiar with her, even though she fears Tate because he is too strong.

2 The House’s Current Occupants Sued The Previous Owners

In 2018, the real-life occupants of the house — namely Dr. Ernst von Schwarz and his wife Angela Oakenfold — sued the previous occupants as well as the real estate agents for failing to disclose its history. Apparently, they weren’t aware that the house had been used to film a horror show.

The reason for the lawsuit wasn’t necessarily because they were afraid of ghosts, though. They were simply irked by the number of American Horror Story fans who kept standing outside or even trespassing just to hang out near the Murder House. The couple has stated that they don’t hate the show or its fans, but they don’t like it when certain fans take things too far.

1 Not Much Was Changed During Filming

During filming, most things about the original house stayed exactly as they are. The only two rooms that were redecorated to fit the theme of the show were the kitchen, as well as Violet and Tate’s room.

Most of the furniture seen in the episodes is the same that comes with the property. This means that it would be a dream come true for a fan of the show to actually buy the house, since it appears just like it did it on the show.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1211 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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