The House That Never Sleeps

In the grand presence of New York City, Greenwich village is a small neighborhood known for its aesthetically pleasing streets and its history. However this quiet neighborhood has one address that stands out more than the rest, 14 West 10th Street, is a townhouse sitting between the Fifth and Sixth Avenues in New York City. This eerie townhouse often referred to as, “The House of Death” housed James Boorman Johnston, one of the founders of the famous Metropolitan Underground Railroad and the Broadway Underground Railroad. The House of Death has a reputation of being one of the most haunted places in the Big Apple, theorized to be haunted by at least 22 spirits, Mark Twain being one of them.

Mark Twain resided in The House of Death from 1900 to 1901. He was a non-believer of the paranormal while ironically living inside one of New York City’s most haunted houses. One of the most famous paranormal occurrences that is rumored is Mark Twain witnessing wood moving by itself near his fireplace. By instinct, he shot at the moving object; and although he saw drops of blood on the ground where he shot, there was never any evidence found of an intruder or an animal.

Believe it or not, the old townhouse was converted into an apartment complex in 1937. Potential residents have been scared away from even renting the place and the ones who did dare to rent, ended up moving out because they couldn’t handle having two dozen ghost roomies. The place is a revolving door, no one ever seems to stay.

In 1957, famous author and psychic, Jan Bryant Bartell. moved into the apartment complex on the top floor with her daughter. Bartell wrote about seeing a moving shadow in her home that she was able to sense following her around. Bartell wrote about a ghostly man standing in the hallway; through curiosity, she reached out and to try to touch whatever she was seeing in that moment, and she felt something unlike she had ever felt before. It was a strange feeling described as, “substance without substance.” Bartell reported that she started to feel the tips of her fingers freeze as they slowly became numb.She also stated there were numerous incidents of rotting food randomly showing up on their dinner table that they never purchased.

One day, she hired a paranormal investigator to look into things, and through the investigation it was uncovered that there were almost two dozen spirits that are haunting the property. Bartell was so moved by her experiences at The House of Death, she decided to write about them documenting her psychic experiences with the paranormal while residing on 14 West 10th Street. She titled it, “Spindrift: Spray from a Psychic Sea.”