Hinsdale House
An ordinary-looking house in Hinsdale, New York, the “Hinsdale House” is a spooky property with a reportedly ghostly past – and present.
History
This farmhouse on McMahon Road in the idyllic woods of Hinsdale, New York, is also known as the Dandy House in memory of a family that lived there in the early 1970s.
The house first came to the media’s attention in September 2000 when a book called Echoes of a Haunting was published. This book was written by Clara Miller (Dandy), one of the Dandy family who had lived in the house during the 1970s.
By all accounts, the Dandy family experienced some alarming and violent supernatural events during their ownership.
After the Dandy family moved out, the house was occupied by various people, none of whom stayed for long. It seems as though the spirits in the house were not willing to leave.
The final occupants of the Hinsdale House were a couple, Joe and Florence Misnik, who died only a few months apart.
It is unclear how the house became haunted in the first place, but it certainly appears to be haunted now!
Today, the house is owned and maintained by a paranormal investigator who has been trying to restore the building and preserve it for research purposes.
The alleged hauntings still continue today, with seasoned paranormal investigators and researchers claiming to have nightmares for months after visiting the house.
If you want to check out the house for yourself, tours are available at a cost.
Cases
The Dandy family say they experienced much supernatural activity during their time in the house. The house was already over 100 years old when they moved in, so maybe this explains why there were so many ghosts!
Strange Activity
The family began to notice strange things happening in the house, including weird phone calls and extended chanting coming from the nearby woods. Initially, they put these down to overactive imaginations, but things were about to get worse…
Apparitions
Soon, the family members started to see apparitions in the house, including a woman in white and some disturbing human–animal hybrids.
They even saw what they deemed to be demonic, non-human presences and entities.
Perhaps the most chilling story is when the family saw some unfamiliar and odd faces staring at them through the windows. When Phil (Clara’s husband) ran out of the house to confront these beings, the faces somehow reversed and he realized they were now staring back at him from inside the house…
Violent Poltergeists
Things began to get worryingly violent soon afterward, with items levitating around the house and one object being forcibly thrown at one of the daughters by an unseen force.
Phil succumbed to a state of amnesia and was unable to remember some of the most terrifying events.
Lights were now turning on and off, banging noises could be heard filtering through the walls, and apparently, there was a sense of an evil presence in the house.
Father Alphonsus, a priest from St. Bonaventure University, came to the house to perform an exorcism.
A team of paranormal investigators accompanied the priest, and all say the levels of paranormal activity were through the roof.
It only took a few days, however, for the hauntings to begin again in earnest. The Dandy family had had enough and decided to leave the house for good.
Ghosts in Photos
Jim Kelly, who lives locally, took a number of photos of the grounds around the house. Upon developing these photos, he noticed various apparitions that appeared to be from different time periods.
The faces of some of these individuals and entities were quite alarming, but Jim has not suffered any untoward hauntings. Rather, some benevolent and peaceful spirits have, he says, attached themselves to him. They still appear in photos he takes at home and in other locations.
An Indian burial ground?
There is a theory that the house may have been built on or near the site of a massacre of Native Americans in 1799. This idea was bolstered when tour guide Mary Ball claimed that her young son spotted from a bedroom window a ghostly Native-American figure standing in the garden near his father.
Mary’s husband had been in the garden tending to a campfire when her son, who did not know the history of the house, asked Mary, “Who’s the angry Indian staring at Daddy?”
The area has a few other unsettling features, such as a tree reportedly used for hanging and a nearby spooky pond that has claimed at least one life. During the 1800s, a pair of brothers are thought to have lived in the house regularly robbed the stagecoach. They are suspected of killing their victims and hiding the bodies in the cellar of the house.
Got something to say about this case? Leave a comment or get in touch if you have new information or media you think we should add.
Videos
Photos
| Other Name/s | Dandy House |
| Address | 3830 McMahon Rd.; Hinsdale, NY 14743 |
| Location | United States, |
| Type | House |
| Activity reported | Evil Spirits, Haunting, Poltergeist |
Where to find
Explore
In the media
Paranormal Lockdown Season 1, Episode 5.
Links
References
hauntedhinsdalehouse.com, “About The House,” accessed October 13, 2017,
weekinweird.com, “The Hinsdale House: Investigating The Most Terrifying Haunted House in New York,” accessed October 13, 2017,
boredomtherapy.com, “This Haunted House In Upstate New York Is The Most Terrifying Thing We’ve Ever Seen,” accessed October 13, 2017,
livingwiththeparanormal.weebly.com, “Living With The Paranormal,” accessed October 13, 2017,
https://www.wgrz.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/daybreak/haunted-wny-history-lurking-within-the-shadows-at-the-hinsdale-house/, “Haunted WNY: History Lurking Within The Shadows at The Hinsdale House,” accessed April 14, 2023.
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Last modified on April 17th, 2023 at 9:29 am
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