THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The House of Death is one of New York City's most infamous haunted residences. Numerous witnesses have reported apparitions, disembodied voices, shadow figures, and unexplained paranormal activity throughout the brownstone. The building's long history has attracted paranormal investigators for decades.
The tale of this house is told in the 1974 book “Spindrift: Spray From a Psychic Sea” by actress-turned-psychic Jan Bryant Bartell. According to her, many people died under mysterious circumstances at this haunted place. Among the ghosts who are said to haunt the place are author Mark Twain, who lived here from 1900 to 1901. His ghost was seen by 1930s tenants who found him in their living room. When they asked who he was, he replied, “My name is Clemens, and I has a problem here I gotta settle” — and then he vanished. Much later in 1987, a resident named Joel B. Steinberg was convicted for beating his 6-year-old daughter to death. Ghost tours have been available.