The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson tells the story of several people in one of the most haunted houses in the country. The novel has recently been reworked as a hit series on Netflix; reports of viewers passing out with fear from watching the show have circulated.

SEE ALSO: 10 Truly Creepy Demonic Hauntings

The horror Jackson’s characters witnessed is a work of fiction. However, the following families all experienced something that felt very much real to them. These families were driven from their own homes, leaving behind a legacy of pure fear.

10 The Smurl Family

When Janet and Jack Smurl first moved into their family home on Chase Street in West Pittson, Pennsylvania, they knew it was a fixer-upper. The property needed repainting and refixing, but what they didn’t know was that the renovations would be the least of their problems.

Over a period of 13 years, they were tormented by the ghosts that haunted the place. Janet also believed she was molested in her sleep by a demon, and Jack said he was sexually attacked by an unknown force as he watched a baseball game on TV. They also witnessed the family dog being thrown violently against the wall.

Demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren identified four ghosts at the property—a harmless old lady, a violent young girl, a man who had died in the home, and a demon who controlled the other three spirits. In 1987, the Smurl family had had enough of the attacks, and they fled their home with no intention to return.^[1]

9 The Perron Family

The real-life haunting of the Perron family was so terrifying it inspired the 2013 horror film The Conjuring. In 1970, Carolyn and Roger Perron, along with their five young children, moved into a farmhouse in Rhode Island known as the Old Arnold Estate, built in 1736. The previous occupant issued them a cold warning: “For the sake of your family, leave the lights on at night!”

The disturbances began almost immediately. Carolyn was awoken in the middle of the night by the ghost of an old, gray lady named Bathsheba, whose head hung loosely. The apparition warned the family to leave. The children also bonded with the spirit of a little boy they affectionately named “Manny,” who watched them through the windows as they played outside. Then there were the malevolent spirits that tossed them out of bed, pulled at their legs, and filled the house with the smell of rotting flesh many mornings at 5:15 AM.

To this day, the Perron family struggle to talk about what happened. Andrea Perron, now a grown woman, said, “Let’s just say there was a very bad male spirit in the home—with five little girls.”^[2]

8 The Enfield Poltergeist

Between 1977 and 1979, there was one ghost story that gripped the world—the Enfield Poltergeist. At 284 Green Street in Enfield, England, sat a suburban family home on a quiet street. Within this home, single mother Peggy Hodgson and her two young daughters were tormented by a violent poltergeist.

Sisters 13-year-old Margaret and 11-year-old Janet complained of menacing voices, loud banging, and chairs being overturned in the house. Janet would also become possessed and speak in a deep, demon-like voice belonging to 72-year-old Bill Wilkins, who had previously died at the house.

Press photographer Graham Morris, who was asked to report on the disturbances, recalled, “I thought it was an ordinary job until I walked into the house.” Morris managed to capture a famous photograph of young Janet purportedly levitating out of her bed as her face twists in horror.^[3]

7 The Lemp Family Curse

Built in 1868, the Lemp Mansion in Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri, boasted a cave where the Lamp family brewed their own beer. In 1901, William J. Lemp was left devastated when his fourth son Frederick Lemp died of ill health. In 1904, William committed suicide by gunshot, and William J. “Billy” Lemp, Jr. took over the family business.

In 1920, Elsa Lemp Wright, the youngest Lemp child, shot herself following her divorce. As a result of Prohibition, the family brewery was sold at auction after hitting hard times, and Billy Jr. also shot himself in 1922. Years later, in 1949, Charles Lemp, the third son, shot himself in the head after killing the dog. The only surviving son, Edwin Lemp, died of natural causes, and his dying wish was for every family heirloom to be destroyed.

Not surprisingly, the Lemp Mansion, now a restaurant and inn, is said to be haunted.^[4] One legend is that there was another Lemp son who was born deformed and hidden away in the attic—his spirit is believed to haunt and torment the house.

6 The Snedeker Family

The Snedeker House inspired the book and horror film The Haunting in Connecticut due to its chilling legacy. In 1986, the Snedeker family—Allen and Carmen, their three sons and daughter, and two nieces—moved into the house on Meriden Avenue, Southington, Connecticut. While exploring their new home, Carmen found mortician’s tools in the basement, and she soon discovered that the property was once a funeral home.

It wasn’t long before their eldest son experienced visions of evil spirits, and both parents claimed to have been sexually attacked by demons. Demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren agreed that the Snedeker house was infested with demons. Since the family moved from the home, there have been no further reports of any paranormal activity; it is believed that the evil within was drawn to the family rather than the house itself.^[5]

5 The McPike Mansion

Alton in Madison County, Illinois, is considered one of the most haunted places in the United States, as many ghost stories plague this town. However, one building stands out among the rest—the McPike Mansion. Businessman Henry McPike built the 16-bedroom mansion on Alby Street for his family in 1869.

In the 1900s, the mansion was sold to Paul Laichinger, who rented the rooms to boarders. However, those who did stay here soon began to hear strange noises, including children talking and laughing together, although children weren’t on the grounds.

Following the death of Laichinger in 1945, the mansion sat vacant until 1994, when Sharyn and George Luedke purchased the property as a restoration project. Sharyn soon noticed that a ghost-like man would stare at her from the window as she was gardening. Other disturbances included orbs being caught on camera and heavy metal doors opening on their own. Ghost hunters have confirmed that the most paranormally active room in the house is the wine cellar.^[6]

4 The Sprague Mansion

In the mid-1800s, Lucy Chase Sprague lost her fortune and died penniless at the Sprague Mansion on Cranston Street in Cranston, Rhode Island. The property has stood with a dark cloud over it ever since. In 1967, Robert and Viola Lynch moved into the 28-bedrooom mansion that featured its very own creepy Doll Room.

In the late 1960s, night watchman Bob Lynch Jr. and a few of his friends had the blankets thrown off their beds. Using a makeshift Ouija board, they contacted a ghost that spelled out: “Tell my story!” Another entity that haunts the place is a ghost by the name of Amasa Sprague, whose body was discovered bludgeoned to death close to the house in 1843.

Since the Lynch family moved away, paranormal experts who have visited the mansion captured the dolls’ eyes in the Doll Room moving on camera. The wine cellar is also a place of much paranormal activity, including orbs and unexplained lights.^[7]

3 The Danny LaPlante Killings

In January 1987, teenagers Annie and Jessica Andrews heard loud knocking sounds coming from their bedroom walls. They also found blood-red writing on the walls: “I’m back. Find me if you can.” The girls had recently lost their mother and believed there was a spirit trying to make contact. When the girl’s father found a young boy standing in the house wearing a dress belonging to his deceased wife and holding a hatchet, he chased him from the house. Police later found a crawl space in the house and that the “ghost” was 17-year-old Daniel LaPlante.

Following a short sentence in a juvenile detention center, La Plante was released, and he turned his attention to a different family. On December 1, 1987, he assaulted and shot 33-year-old Priscilla Gustafson and then drowned her children, seven-year-old Abigail and five-year-old William, in their family home in Townsend, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was sentenced to life behind bars for his horrendous, deplorable actions.^[8]

2 The Lutz Family

On November 13, 1974, at 112 Ocean Drive, Amityville, Long Island, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents, two brothers, and two sisters with a .35-caliber rifle while they slept peacefully in their beds. Butch claimed he was tormented by voices that ordered him to kill his family.

A year later, George and Kathleen Lutz moved into the Amityville house with their three children after purchasing the five-bedroom property for a low price. George reportedly then began to awaken at 3:15 AM every day—around the time Butch was known to have massacred his family. They also saw a pig-like creature with red eyes staring from the windows of the house, and the young children would levitate from their beds.

Both George and Kathleen passed lie detector tests about what they experienced in the home, and eventually, they fled from the property. 112 Ocean Drive is still known as one of the most haunted houses in America.^[9]

1 The Winchester Mystery House

Located at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, California, is the Winchester House, which was first built in 1884. Following the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester, and with a $1,000-a-day inheritance at hand (the average daily wage at the time was $1.50), Sarah Winchester sought the help of a spiritualist to deal with her grief. Sarah had also lost her only daughter when she was just six weeks old.

The spiritualist warned Sarah that she was cursed and advised her to “build a home for [herself] and for the spirits.” The spirits in question were said to be those killed by Winchester rifles. Sarah sold her home in New Haven, Connecticut, and began work on the Winchester House. “If you continue building, you will live. Stop and you will die,” advised the spiritualist.

Every day for 38 years, Sarah continued building.^[10] The property ended up with 160 rooms, 47 fireplaces, trap doors, secret passages, and staircases that lead to nowhere. The labyrinth-like mansion attracts paranormal experts from all around the world.

Cheish Merryweather is a true crime fan and an oddities fanatic. Can either be found at house parties telling everyone Charles Manson was only 5’2″ or at home reading true crime magazines.
Twitter: @thecheish

King of the Hill remains one of the most popular cartoons ever aired on primetime television. However, during its run, it was somewhat overshadowed by fellow FOX series The Simpsons. Still, series creator Mike Judge’s Texas-themed sitcom enjoyed 13 great seasons as one of America’s greatest television shows before wrapping in 2009.

In the years since, old fans have religiously re-watched episodes as new fans continue to fall in love with the series via reruns. Comedy Central’s Adult Swim carried the show’s resurgent popularity through the 2010s with late-night repeats. Later, Hulu picked up the series for streaming. Younger audiences immediately connected with the relatable world of Hank Hill’s family and friends. By the 2020s, viewers were clamoring for a reboot. The world wanted to know how the years have treated Arlen’s residents.

In July 2022, Judge seemed to concede to the demand, telling fans at San Diego Comic-Con that the series “has a very good chance of coming back.” That may come to pass—but do you know how the show came together in the first place? Here are ten unexpected facts that all true King of the Hill fans should know!

Related: Top 10 Real-Life Inspirations For Famous Cartoon Characters

10 Hank’s Very Familiar Inspiration

Judge came to King of the Hill after a popular run with Beavis and Butthead. As any fan of those two Gen-X degenerates knows, the troublesome teens loved to antagonize their neighbor, Tom Anderson. And as any Judge fan knows all too well, Anderson’s voice, mannerisms, and sense of decency were all very much inherited by Hank in the FOX series.

In fact, Hank’s Tom Anderson inspiration nearly went so far as to be familial. In early meetings with network execs, Judge pitched Hank as being Tom’s son. “I was kind of thinking we’d tie it into Beavis and Butthead as a sort of spin-off or something,” Judge said in an interview years later, “but Fox said no.” Still, bits and pieces of Tom Anderson live on in Arlen!^[1]

9 There Was A Real-Life Boomhauer

Hank’s three pals are mainstays in the show. Dale’s conspiracies, Bill’s misfortune, and Boomhauer’s mumblings made the alley what it was. Of the three fellas, Boomhauer’s backstory is the least developed. Viewers have to wait until the series finale to learn his first name (Jeff) and his occupation (Texas Ranger). But did you know Rainey Street’s sworn bachelor was inspired by a real-life voicemail?

Before King of the Hill, Judge rose to fame with Beavis and Butthead, which flourished on MTV through the 1990s. Not everybody was impressed with that snarky show, though. One upset viewer found Judge’s phone number and called to complain about the cartoon. The “deranged hillbilly” critic left a long voicemail, whining about the MTV show.

Whether he was drunk, angry, or something else, the man’s twang was unintelligible. Judge had to replay the tape over and over to figure out what he was saying. But the incoherent, rambling rant proved to be a stroke of inspiration. When it came time to create King of the Hill, he incorporated the speaking style into Boomhauer’s character. Dang ol’ yep, man.^[2]

8 Lucky’s Lucky Break

Luanne Platter’s sexy figure catches the attention of almost every man on the show, from her deadbeat (dead) ex-boyfriend Buckley to Hank’s boss Buck Strickland. But Hank’s niece finally settles down with Lucky Kleinschmidt, a lovable loser who astounds Hank with quasi-deep stupidity. Originally, writer John Altschuler envisioned Lucky as being like “Tom Petty without the success.” The animators came through, drawing him as a rock-and-roll fan with long blond hair and a snaggle tooth.

Inspired by the creative burst, Judge’s team swung for the fences and tried to get Petty himself to voice the role. Luckily (pun intended), the writer’s room quickly learned King of the Hill happened to be one of the rock star’s favorite television shows. Petty stepped into the recording booth and perfectly fit the role of Lucky. The rock musician loved voicing the hard-rocking loser and once described Lucky as a “philosophical idiot.”^[3]

7 The Death Of Common Sense

Judge grew up in Albuquerque, but he was familiar with Texas before creating the show. In fact, Arlen was inspired by the Dallas suburbs of Garland and Richardson. When Judge started laying out the show, he took co-creator Greg Daniels around those neighborhoods to inspire ideas for the series. As the pair hired writers to staff the show, Daniels took the research a step further.

The Los Angeles-based writers had little knowledge about small-town Texas, so Daniels ordered them to read The Death of Common Sense. The 1995 bestseller by Georgetown University Law School professor Philip K. Howard argues bureaucracy has made Americans abandon common sense in favor of caution and distrust. The book’s message clearly stuck with the show’s writers. In countless episodes, Hank’s no-nonsense common sense and practical wisdom butts heads with the poor policies of bureaucratic buffoons throughout Arlen.^[4]

6 Arlen Beats Springfield

Judge’s MTV success with Beavis and Butthead earned him a sweet gig with FOX. The network wanted the full focus of the exec’s creative energies. So they inked him to a lucrative production deal that gave them rights to his TV pitches. The network hoped to create a companion show for its incredibly popular animated series The Simpsons. Using that bit of financial security to his advantage, Judge thought about creating a show he would personally want to watch.

Slowly but surely, Arlen came together. Judge even pitched the show to the network with a pencil test that directly addressed FOX’s president and other network execs. The big-wigs loved the original pitch idea, and they were touched by the all-American Hill family. Viewers were too. Early episodes of King of the Hill had higher ratings than FOX’s first animated hit and virtually everything else on the network.^[5]

5 Taking a Chance on a Theme Song

As King of the Hill started to come together before its premiere, Judge and Daniels went on the hunt for a theme song. The manager of the Arizona-based band The Refreshments heard the call and encouraged his clients to submit a track. The group took their shot with an unknown instrumental piece they had casually been performing at soundchecks before shows. The risky choice paid off. Judge and Daniels picked the song out from among hundreds of entries. It became the show’s memorable intro music.

Years later, the hard-driving track still resonates with viewers. The Refreshments tried to capitalize on the popularity later in 1997 by releasing an “ambitious and largely misunderstood” album. The record didn’t sell, and their label dropped them before a follow-up could come together. Unable to handle the stress of an indie gig, the group broke up in 1998. Their instrumental theme song lived on, though, airing every week on FOX for another 12 years past the band’s breakup.^[6]

4 The Tasty Luanne Platter

Judge and Daniels loved to make real-life references to Texas themes, topics, and places throughout the show. Hank’s beloved dog, Lady Bird, is named after Lady Bird Johnson, the Texas-born former First Lady of the United States. In the show, the hound is even supposed to have descended from the dog that tracked down MLK assassin James Earl Ray—a true bloodhound with southern roots.

But the most bald-faced nod to the Lone Star state sets upon Peggy’s niece Luanne Platter. She’s famously named after the “Lu Ann Platter”—an entree, a side, and a roll—available at Texas cafeteria-style food mainstay Luby’s. The restaurant chain has its own tongue-in-cheek reference on the show, too: The Hills often eat at Luly’s. The real-life Luby’s loved the meta-reference, and in 2010, they dressed a model as Luanne and had her visit some of their Lone Star locations.^[7]

3 Vaya Con Dios!

In 2000, Judge and Daniels came together to develop a spin-off. There was just one quirk: it was a live-action spin-off from their animated series. On King of the Hill, Hank’s family could often be seen watching a catholic priest named Monsignor Martinez on a phony Arlen TV show. The pious priest was also a violent vigilante fond of saying “Vaya con Dios” to the men he killed on screen.

In the live-action spin-off, Judge and Daniels were prepping to showcase Martinez’s antics and adventures. FOX nearly bit on the pilot too. An old official show logline described the plot as “a macho, renegade priest who joins forces with a young stockbroker and ex-nun to destroy the drug dealer that murdered his favorite altar boy.” Sadly, the spin-off fell through, and the live-action show never made it to air. Vaya con Dios, Monsignor Martinez, wherever you are today.^[8]

2 King of the Hollywood Hills?

Hank’s strong dislike of California, specifically Hollywood, is very well-known. So fans were shocked following the end of the show’s second season when FOX launched a PR campaign claiming the Hill family was being pushed to move to… Los Angeles? The network sent press releases to media outlets claiming they were in “discussions” with Judge and Daniels to move the setting of the series.

Viewers flipped out and sent hundreds of letters, emails, and phone calls to FOX, asking them to reconsider. Fortunately, the whole thing was a ruse. As it turned out, the network was moving King of the Hill from Sunday nights to Tuesdays—and not from Texas to California. The weeknight move didn’t work out anyways. After the show spent a low-rated season in the Tuesday night slot, Hank and the gang moved back to Sundays for the rest of the run. It would have been funny to see Hank sell propane in Beverly Hills, though.^[9]

1 Finale Fiasco

It was all supposed to end for King of the Hill after its tenth season finale. FOX opted to cancel the series after its ten-year run. Sad but determined to end things on their terms, Judge and Daniels planned accordingly. The final episode of the season, “Lucky’s Wedding Suit,” showed Lucky and Luanne walking down the aisle in a picture-perfect, family-friendly ending.

After the episode aired, FOX changed their minds. Network executives decided to bring Judge’s crew back for more. The writers had been booted from their offices after the initial cancellation, though, and had to move back in to restart their work. It all worked out in the end, though: The show ended up running another three full seasons, giving the world dozens more memorable episodes.^[10]