?otd

Would you ever buy a house that someone had died in? What about buying a house where a dead body was found in the cement in the basement?

The first house we purchased was bargain-priced with absolutely no problems. We couldn't believe our luck when we toured it the first time. Before we signed anything, the real estate agent told us that the previous owners had died in the house. It was a pretty sordid story: the husband found out the wife was thinking about leaving him. They argued, he shot her in their bedroom and then killed himself there. Their very-young children were in another bedroom in cribs, at the time.

The seller assured us that the room had been cleaned professionally. The wall damage had been patched and the room was repainted and there was an ugly carpet remnant instead of proper wall-to-wall carpeting (it did cover the whole floor). We spent the first several months using another bedroom as our room while we painted (it was summer) and picking out new carpet for the whole house. Oh, and unpacking and buying a dog and working full time, etc. Oddly, our new and nervous dog didn't like the master bedroom much, but she also didn't like Beast so we just chalked it up to her temperament.

A few nights before the carpet-layers arrived, Beast went to remove the carpet remnant and sweep up the floor so they could just walk in and get to work. He found a large stain on the top of the carpet pad. When he pulled it up, he realized that it was the original carpet pad, which had not been replaced--or moved--after the shootings.

Proof that he is a saint: I cowered with the dog in our temporary bedroom crying while he took a bucket and towels in and scrubbed the floor as clean as he could get it. He also called the seller's attorneys and screamed at them, to no avail.

Otherwise, living in a "notorious" house was not a big deal. No hauntings, no evil spirit sightings, and the dog was fine in the bedroom once the new carpet was installed.

I wonder about those kids, though, to this day.