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Heeeeere’s Spending Pressure!

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Happy Halloween! The changing colors of the leaves mark the proverbial transition from summer to fall to winter. But before you relax by the fire sipping hot cocoa, remember that it’s spooky season! Many of us like to go to haunted houses, shuffling along dimly-lit hallways and getting scared by actors in heavy makeup brandishing chainsaws. But there are a few unfortunate souls who have had to live in estates suspected to actually be haunted by disgruntled spirits. StatisNostics checks the data behind 4 famous haunted properties in the U.S. and sees if there is anything more sinister than spirits haunting the grounds.


Buckner Mansion

Buckner Mansion is located in New Orleans, Louisiana and has a longstanding reputation for being haunted. Many have reported the sound of sweeping on the front porch despite its vacancy. Some have even claimed to see the apparition of Miss Josephine, former slave of the Buckner family, resting on the stairwell. The property was also utilized for filming during season three of the hit television series American Horror Story. The show follows a coven of witches as they fight to evade extinction and hone their supernatural abilities. Unfortunately, all the magic in the world couldn’t save them from high spending pressure. 

We ran the Buckner’s address through StatisNostics, a database that utilizes U.S. government census data, and discovered that New Orleans has a spending pressure score of 87 out of 100. On top of that, the city has a debt burden of nearly $80,000 per resident. Too bad there’s no spell to create a performance-based budget to eliminate unnecessary spending. If the financial imposition from the state government wasn’t scary enough, New Orleans also has a crime score of 99 out of 100. So, in the event that you aren’t hexed by a witch, you still have a 1 in 69 chance of being the victim of a violent crime. 


The Conjuring House, Burrillville, RI

The Old Arnold Estate is an 18th century colonial home made famous by The Conjuring in 2013. The film depicts real-life accounts from the Perron family, who occupied the house in the 1970s and claimed to hear unexplainable voices and footsteps. The house is now open for experiences, including house tours, overnight stays, and camping on the property.

Using Statisnostics to get address data, we find an even more sinister spirit haunting the property: high spending pressure. The spending pressure score in Harrisville, Rhode Island is 94, which is considered a ‘very high’ score. One must wonder what motivated the Perron family to leave first: the hauntings, or the ever-increasing burden imposed on them from government spending. Even worse still, Harrisville has an abysmal walkability index score of 3.5, which places it in the ‘least walkable’ category. Hopefully your car will successfully start as you try to make a getaway from The Conjuring House, because it’ll be quite difficult to escape by foot. 


The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO

The infamous Stanley Hotel is where inspiration struck for Stephen King to write his bestselling book, The Shining. The hotel has, over time, grown to become an iconic Coloradan landmark and has undergone modern changes over the last few decades. Guests are able to book “spirited rooms” where paranormal activity is known to happen, or they can take advantage of some of the non-spooky amenities including the spa, restaurants, and chocolate factory. If none of those things pique your interest, you can always go to a seance! Yep, you can actually attend a “theatrical seance experience” at the Stanley. Perhaps the spirits can explain why Estes Park’s debt burden is so high.

According to StatisNostics, Estes Park has a debt burden of $77,983 per person. Estes Park has a population of a little under 6,000 which means the total debt burden of the town is around $460 million. Something else that stands out about Estes Park is its high FEMA risks. The town has (on a scale of 0-100) a lightning risk score of 99, a wildfire score of 99, a riverine flooding score of 98, a hail score of 98, and a landslide score of 97. Despite the weather risks, The Stanley Hotel is still a top-tier destination if you’re looking for a ghastly getaway. And if inspiration doesn’t strike you like it did Stephen King, a lightning bolt probably will.


The Franklin Castle, Cleveland, OH

Franklin Castle is a Victorian stone house located in the Ohio City district of Cleveland, and is said to be the most haunted house in Ohio. It was built in the early 1880s for German banker Hannes Tiedemann, and multiple members of his immediate family died within the property, including his mother, his fifteen-year-old daughter, and three of his children in infancy. Rumors extend this even further and suggest that his mistress, his niece, and his servant were all murdered in the house. The castle was used by various German cultural organizations after Tiedemann sold it up until 1968 (although locals believed the house was actually being used by the Nazis to carry out assassinations). After that, it changed hands multiple times and is now open for tours and overnight stays. The property is rumored to be haunted by Tiedemann’s wife and daughter, and there have been reports of surging electricity, the sound of babies crying, a mysterious woman dressed in black, and even bones found on the property (the bones are suspected to have been planted by an entrepreneurial owner). 

Compared to other properties on this list, Franklin Castle boasts a relatively moderate spending pressure score of 79, and it has a Walkability Index score of 16.2, putting it in the ‘most walkable’ category. However, according to Stati, StatisNostics’ AI Powered Assistant, Cleveland’s crime score has been 100 (the maximum possible score) since 2016, and there has been no significant downward trend in the score over the thirty-year period. Thus, visitors to Franklin Castle should be as weary of crime as they are of paranormal hauntings while traversing the castle halls. 



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5. DiMatteo, Ralph. “The Tale of Franklin Castle, the Most Haunted House in Ohio.” Cleveland Vintage Shirts, 19 Oct. 2022, clevelandvintage.com/blogs/cleveland/the-tale-of-the-most-haunted-house-in-ohio.

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8. “Historic Stanley Estes Park Hotel.” The Stanley Hotel, www.stanleyhotel.com/. Accessed 26 July 2024.

9. Leasca, Stacey, et al. “12 Real Haunted Houses across the United States.” Travel + Leisure, Travel + Leisure, 22 Aug. 2023, www.travelandleisure.com/holiday-travel/halloween/real-haunted-houses.

Cover Photo Credit: Creator: d1sk | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto