The actual structure can be anything from a decaying European feudal castle to a newly occupied suburbanranchhouse of fairly recent construction, though many authors and moviedirectorss prefer that the architecture be from the 1900s or earlier. The key feature of a haunted house, however, is the presence of one or more ghosts, often due to a murder or other tragic death having occurred on the property, or to an owner of the house elsewhere, at some time in the past.
Many stories and legends about haunted houses have a basis in reported experience, and authors from William Shakespeare to Stephen King have featured them in their writings.
