Here's my question: If you bought this house, could you hire a Roman Catholic priest to exorcise it or absolve it or annul it or bless it, whatever they call it to cleanse it of any Evil Karma left over from the famous murders that took place there four decades ago? Are some priests better at that sort of stuff than others? What do they usually charge? Do they charge more if you're not Catholic?
I'm not Catholic myself and normally have no need for a Catholic priest, but I'd think you'd want to call in the the heavy hitters on this one. (via Neatorama )
I had an opportunity to buy a nice house for a very good price, only because there was a gruesome murder in there. I was assured that the murder room had been remodeled and that there were no traces of the crime. I passed. The only other time I had a similar opportunity was when the IRS was trying to sell a house in a good neighborhood for unpaid taxes. The house had been owned by drug dealers. Again, no dice.
Posted by: Woody | 11/12/2006 at 01:16 PM
Hmmm. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have to hire a priest, but speaking for myself, I'd be careful to find one of great faith who is experienced in exorcisms. For me, it doesn't take a murder -- when I move to a new home, I always have my pastor come over to celebrate a house blessing. In fact, when we moved into a house where the last three couples in residence had been divorced while they lived there, we prayed a lot more forcefully.
Speaking for myself, though, I wouldn't buy it simply because the resale would be a pain in the neck. Not to mention the hordes of visitors on Halloween. I'm pretty pragmatic.
Posted by: Roz | 11/12/2006 at 02:23 PM
I read the book and saw the original film of In Cold Blood back when I was in HS, and was so freaked out that I slept with the lights and radio on for a couple of weeks after that.
My brother lived in Gettysburg PA for several years while he was a seminarian, so we are no strangers to allegedly haunted locations resulting from bloody history. That said, it would be outside of my personal comfort zone to walk through or spend even one night in the Clutter house, much less call it my home.
At least the real estate listing is up-front about the home's original owners. Nonetheless, the listing is creepy to read.
For those interested, an April 2005 series of articles in the Lawrence (KS) Journal-World appears to be a good source of further information. Included in this series is an article about the home's current owners, who seem to be more haunted by tourists and curiosity-seekers than by their home's former inhabitants.
Posted by: Karen | 11/12/2006 at 03:38 PM
Maybe the simplest solution would be to sell the house to atheists. It would be a great test of their non-faith. And since they don't go to church or read the Bible, they would have the time to deal with the tourists!
Posted by: Tom McMahon | 11/12/2006 at 04:25 PM
I don't think that an exorcist would take on this assignment. Here's the logic:
Diabolic possession is of people, not places--IOW, the murderers might need an exorcism, but not the house.
However, a priest who came over to bless the house for the new owners might want to bring an extra gallon of holy water.
Posted by: dad29 | 11/13/2006 at 11:26 AM
That house looks exactly the way I imagined it would. Guess that Capote guy could really write, huh?
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