Is
there anything more cliché’? More hoary and hackneyed? More played out? The
Haunted House “trope” has been beaten to death, thanks to Scooby Doo, ABC After
School Specials, and a ton of pop cultural appropriations. Along with the
ghosts who frequently accompany them, no other supernatural occurrence has been
so abused and ridiculed as the Haunted House.
And
yet, some of the best horror movies ever made are haunted house movies. Some of
the most terrifying films of all are about something being left behind, or
being “not quite right” about the cornerstone of our notions of safety and
security. Houses—our homes—are our defense against the forces of darkness that
stop at our threshold. When our own walls revolt and offer us no protection,
what hope do we have? That’s where the best haunted house movies get us: right
where we live.
