It is common throughout the real and the fictional world of the paranormal to be set in particular social, medical or commercial type of buildings where a negative energy could reside such as hospital, prison, orphanage, religious buildings and sites such as churches and graveyards.

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The use is especially important when determining the nature of the buildings occupants. In the case of one heavily used trope in horror media, mental asylums have claimed ‘the mental patient’ as a perfect subject of unrelenting terror as an antagonist character. This has set the scene of a clinical environment in many pieces of horror fiction. Roger Dobson writing for The Independent in 1999 (Dobson 1999) claims that the societal mocking of those with mental illness is exploited in horror, thus perpetuating the stereotype for the sake of entertainment;

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“In the Hollywood version of mental illness, sufferers are almost always violent, usually kill or maim innocent victims and are not infrequently triggered into carrying out savage deeds.”

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Abandoned buildings create another perfect scene of fear, where nature takes over, engulfing and often completely transforming any ruins that stand after a partial demolition or through complete abandonment. Derelict buildings have become an important role in entertainment, as urban exploration and DIY “paranormal investigations” continue to take a place on TV screens across the world in the form of documentaries.

15 out of 55 people agreed that medical/social institution like a hospital or orphanage are more likely to be haunted.

The age of a building is directly in conjunction with the history. An older building is of course more likely to have a richer history of tragedy, but is also susceptible to rumors and hearsay formed over many years. This ensures that the older the building, the more likely it is to be ‘haunted’, or at least have enough lore surrounding its history to deem it haunted by the local community and spread to the world.

Frank McAndrew (McAndrew 2015) explains that our assumptions in the age of building may be stronger than other influences –

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“Ultimately, whether or not a house is perceived as haunted obviously depends upon something other than the physical features of the house - just as important are the expectations of the person exploring the house.”

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In many cases, the fear that comes from the age of a building may be due to its growing and changing needs. Comaroff and Ker-Shing refer to the way in which a historical attribute of a building can evoke an uncomforting emotion, where the old becomes the uncanny. They comment;

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“The horrid wells up when the techniques of one historical moment are applied to the needs of another.”

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However, to dispute this, many historical buildings (whether they are haunted or not) thrive with their rich value of character and quality. Julia (Rochhi 2015) at the National Trust of Historical Preservation describes the importance of preservation;

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“Buildings of a certain era, namely pre-World War II, tend to be built with higher-quality materials such as rare hardwoods (especially heart pine) and wood from old-growth forests that no longer exist.”

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This is why it is important not to assume that age is the only contributing factor for a building to hold the premise of negativity, provided by paranormal suggestions.

No matter the use, age, history, the location of the site will always directly link to the surrounding community and their fundamental beliefs. James McLenon looks at the role of religion and tradition within cultures studying the reason behind belief in the paranormal (McLenon 1990);

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“The cultural source theory explains the existence of specific belief systems within cultures, in driving these types of experiences. Anomalous exeriences are found at similar incidence rates in countries where religious experiences are encouraged”

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4 out of 55 people who responded to “The Architecture of Horror” survey admitted they were exposed to horror ‘through religion’, a statistic which is represented across the world, as strong, spiritual religious beliefs begin to dwindle.

News of death and tragedy can evoke an emotional, empathetic response in most people. The human tendency to collectively mourn for those who have perished universally, as in many cases a tragedy can stir the local community even in the case of strangers. It seems one of the most important factors to a haunted building is the possibility of “residual energy” after death.

It is evident that even people who do not believe in the paranormal, will still reconsider visiting/buying a certain building on the basis that a murder, suicide or general tragedy has occurred there. For example, it is thought that building on battleground/burial ground can spark negative energy, this is common throughout America where much of its land is tainted by the history of bloodshed of the Native Americans.

A pre-existing mindset that ghosts exist or that a building may be haunted appears to be involved in the case of unusual experiences… For example, in research conducted by Lange and Houran in 2002 found that those who were told that a property was haunted were much more likely to report a range of unusual experiences while walking through a building than those who were simply told that the same property was being renovated found that people who believe in ghosts had more unusual experiences than those who did not believe in ghosts when walking around Hampton Court Palace. (Lange R. & Houran 2002)

When we think of the most likely aesthetics of a haunted house, most will refer to American 19th century domestic architecture. The Gothic and Victorian revival styles of this era stand at the fore front of the houses seen being represented in horror fiction.

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American architecture from many eras in general tends to exist the most in environmental portrayals of horror. This is perhaps due to the monopoly on high budget film in Hollywood, the emotional aspect of wars fought by settlers and Native Americans, but also the rich history of religious influence.

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Scott Timberg interviews Colin Dickey about his book "Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places" in an interview (Dickey 2016), where he describes the difference between America and other locations in the world where ghosts reside;

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“You find ghost stories and haunted houses the world over. But what is different about America’s history is that it is young, so the ghost stories we’ve accumulated tend to have a different quality and variety than what you find in Europe and Asia.”

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New England is the region of the USA first touched by the British settlers, who’s architects took inspiration from many attributes of Victorian design. This would be known as the Queen Anne style. The HNE (Historic New England 2017), the oldest heritage organisation in the country describe this style finding;

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“Queen Anne style is difficult to define. The initial inspiration came from England, but developed into something uniquely American.”

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In this style we can see evidence of how the choice of materials in a building can affect the negative or positive impact it has upon its visitors. Original British Victorian structures were built in brick, but to combat the hot summer temperature of New England, houses were built with timber. Peter Roberts, expert in masonry design explains the reason for this (Roberts 2014);

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“There is a tradition of construction in Europe which involves masonry. Most Europeans are surprised when they visit North America and notice that the vast majority of houses are built primarily of wood.”

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This is because building materials are region and geographically specific, the ground in Europe provides the perfect material for brick production, where America’s vast forests and never ending supply of timber makes for easy, cheap construction using wood.

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 The apparent imitation of stronger European structures whilst maintaining the same aesthetic style may be an aspect of the underlining discomfort of these buildings. By building something in a classic style with revised materials, the result becomes, what Stanislaw Lem (1964) defines as ‘phantomatic’.

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'Phantomatics' is a term made by Lem in reference to buildings, or pseudo-buildings created as scenery in the absence of true architecture. These structures lack the necessities of a traditional permanent building. A classic example of this is the many decorative and aesthetic aspects of Disney World (fig. 14 and 15) - for example the Disney Palace towers elongate and become thin towards the top of to create the illusion that the building is far taller than it is. This may not directly refer to the American 19th century buildings, however this aspect still contributes to the spatial experience (Lem 2013).