Haunted houses: The Riddle House, Florida

Due to the measures surrounding the coronavirus, there are almost to no outings to visit in the coming time. But we do want to make you happy with our blogs. Before joining OpstapmetLisa, I had a blog about creepy places around the world. I especially love the history behind certain houses and stories! Because our blog about real haunted houses in the Netherlands was read a lot by you, we are now making a series about haunted houses in the world. Because there is a lot of haunting going on all over the world….

The house of the overseer

Riddle House was built in 1905 and was intended for the overseer of the adjacent Woodlawn cemetery. The overseer kept the cemetery tidy and caught grave robbers (they were still active at that time). Overseer Buck was the first overseer to move into the house. He died during an argument in town that got out of hand, but he did not realize it himself. After his death, he continued to go to work every day as if nothing had happened. The paranormal events are partly due to Buck, but he was not the only one who turned Riddle House into a haunted house.

Karl Riddle

In 1920, city manager Karl Riddle and his family moved into the house. This made it a residential house, but one with a special function: the superintendent’s job came with it for free. Karl himself did not always have time to keep an eye on things, so he hired people to take on the overseer’s job. Strangely enough, none of the employees stayed long. Some left the house and didn’t hear from them again, while others had the decency to tell him the reason for their dismissal. Each time, the message was the same: people heard voices, saw ghostly apparitions and heard chains scraping on the ground. Things were clearly not right there. Karl Riddle himself had noticed that. He began writing down the strange things in a journal.

The suicide of Joseph

One of the employees employed by Karl Riddle was Joseph. Joseph was a kind man and he was good at his job, but he had a secret. He was so deep in financial woes that one day he saw no other solution but to take his own life. He did so in the attic by hanging himself. He chose Riddle House as his final resting place because he had come to love it so much. However, his spirit continued to hang around Riddle House and regularly he would show that he was still there. With dire consequences, of course.

Moving

Before long, the house became completely empty. In fact, it began to deteriorate and was about to be demolished. John Riddle, Karl Riddle’s nephew, decided to put a stop to that. He figured that the house, which was built in Edward Style, would thrive just fine in Yesteryear Village, a kind of amusement park where all the historic houses are located. The plan was worked out and so it came about that the house was carefully divided into two pieces and transported to the other side of Florida. That happened in 1995 but whether the spirits were so happy about that?

Aggressive spirits

The spirits in Riddle House had so far been friendly, scary, but friendly. Now they were really enormously angry. Tools were literally flying through the windows and the various rooms. A construction worker got a piece of wood on his head while working. Eventually they managed to transport the house, but because the workmen literally fled, they would not have succeeded. Peace has still not returned to Riddle House, even though the ghosts are no longer as angry. Lights go on and off and whispering voices still echo through this historic house. So you can visit it in Yesteryear Park. Ghost tours are also given. Would you dare enter the house?

Curious about more horror stories from around the world? Next week we will have another new haunted house blog. Are you curious about the previous haunted houses? Then read the previously published blogs.