| Stephen King's mini-series "Rose Red" was a story | | | | consult with psychic Adam Coons, who told her that |
| about a mansion that looked the same from the | | | | her fears were true. He told her that all the people and |
| outside, but kept expanding to new rooms on the | | | | animals who had died at the hands of the Winchester |
| inside, as directed by spirits. Believe it or not, this | | | | rifle were avenging their deaths by claiming the lives of |
| paranormal story was loosely based on fact. The | | | | the family. The only way she could stop the |
| Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California | | | | paranormal apparitions from claiming her life was to |
| was under perpetual construction for 38 years and | | | | build them a house, he said. |
| features a number of mad design elements, like stairs | | | | This paranormal story gets weirder when Sarah |
| that go to nowhere, doors that drop off to landscaping | | | | Winchester moves to San Jose, California to begin her |
| below and double-back hallways. Some say this story | | | | project. She continued to hold séances to her |
| is not so much about spirits themselves -- but rather, a | | | | husband and other spirits for inspiration on how to build |
| tragic tale of how one woman's life was ruled and | | | | the house. She added a bell tower to help summon |
| ruined by her belief in paranormal powers. | | | | and dismiss spirits each night. Part of what makes this |
| The story of this paranormal project starts with Sarah | | | | Victorian mansion so exquisite is the educated Sarah |
| Lockwood Pardee, who was born in New Haven, | | | | Winchester's refined taste. |
| Connecticut in 1839. During the height of the Civil War, | | | | Her wealth can be seen in the Tiffany stain glass |
| in 1862, Sarah married William Winchester, the only son | | | | windows inlaid with jewels, the store room full of |
| of gun manufacturer Oliver Winchester. The couple's | | | | $25,000 worth (1920) of imported merchandise, and |
| only child -- Annie -- died of tuberculosis as an infant in | | | | her high-tech modern heating system. Other elements |
| 1866. Oliver died in 1880, leaving the fortune to his son, | | | | of the house are just downright creepy though. Doors |
| but William died of tuberculosis a year later. | | | | open to brick walls and sheer drops. The seance room |
| Following the death of her family, Sarah slipped into a | | | | has a door that opens to an eight foot drop to the |
| deep depression and began suspecting they had | | | | kitchen. Another door is labeled "The Door To |
| befallen some sort of curse. She traveled to Boston to | | | | Nowhere. |