7 Creepy Haunted Homes for Sale

There are some homes that can send chills up your spine — and we're not talking about their price tag or peeling paint. These haunted homes are spooky, creepy and dripping with a bloody past. And they're perfect for holding séances, Halloween parties and scaring away unwanted guests.

But those traits can be bargaining chips rather than deal breakers for the right homebuyer. It's just a matter of living long enough to close the deal. So check out these seven haunted houses for sale — if you dare.

Read: 10 Open House Red Flags Before Buying a Home

405 N. Mayflower Road, Lake Forest, Ill.

Asking Price: $9.95 million (Zillow)

This 10-bedroom, 25,000-square-foot mansion has a gruesome history that might put a damper on the grand architecture and panoramic Lake Michigan views.

The home was a wedding present to Laura Shedd by her father when she married Charles H. Schweppe in the early 1900s. Rumor has it that when Laura died in 1937, she left only $200,000 of her $10 million fortune to her husband Charles. Charles was sad about his wife's death and failed business deals. According to the Chicago Tribune, he committed suicide in the home and left a note that read, "I've been awake all night. It's terrible."

The mansion remained empty for nearly 50 years after … or was it? Many claim Laura, Charles and their servants haunt the mansion, according to HauntedPlaces.org.

1 West 72^nd St., New York City

Asking Price: $3.6 million to $17.5 million for Various Apartments (StreetEasy.com)

One of New York's most storied buildings, the Dakota building has been home to the rich and famous, including John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Rosemary Clooney and Bono. The building is even spooky enough that it was used as the filming location of the bone-chilling horror film "Rosemary's Baby." But it's perhaps most famous for what happened right in front of the building: the assassination of John Lennon.

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Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, still reportedly lives in the Dakota and once said she saw his ghost sitting at his white piano, reports Business Insider. Lennon supposedly turned to Ono and said, "Don't be afraid. I am still with you." Sounds like bargaining points to us.

842 Sleepy Hollow Road, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.

Asking Price: $7.5 million (Zillow)

If you're thinking about buying a home in New York, this 13,242-square-foot mansion is surely as opulent as it is head-turning. But, it doesn't exactly scream soothing location. After all, Sleepy Hollow Road is the mythical street made infamous by the headless horseman who rises each night from his grave and rides the road in search of his missing head, according to Atlanta's 11 Alive news. Not exactly inspiring for evening strolls.

Could that be part of the reason why the price has been reduced a few times, from $10.9 million to $9.8 million and now to under $8 million? But rest assured, there have been no claims of ghosts inside the walls of the mansion — yet.

5121 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles

Asking Price: $4.799 million (Zillow)

Besides being one of the worst cities for saving money, Los Angeles is home to some pretty gruesome murder scenes, including the murder of the Black Dahlia.

On a January morning in 1947, the body of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short was found in a vacant Los Angeles lot. She had been badly mutilated, including having her body severed in two and her blood drained from her. The tabloids soon named this the Black Dahlia Murder, and it has become the most notorious unsolved murder case in LA history.

So what does this house have to do with it all? The murder's prime suspect, Dr. George Hodel, lived in this home that originally belonged to painter/photographer John Sowden. Some believe that Hodel might have murdered Short in the Franklin Avenue house. Sleep tight.

744 Clay St., Port Townsend, Wash.

Asking Price: $750,000 (Zillow)

This nearly 6,000-square-foot Victorian-style mansion was built in 1889 by contractor George Starrett as a gift to his wife Ann, the love of his life. It features master woodwork, frescoes of angelic figures in Ann's image and a 70-foot tower accessed by a three-tiered spiral staircase.

In the tower, George installed ruby red colored glass in the tower's windows. When the sunlight hits the glass on the first day of each season, red light shines on an image of Ann, signifying his red hot love for her. Perhaps that passion is the cause of what many say is the haunting of the mansion by a red-haired woman and male spirit, according to HauntedHouses.com. The home, which now serves as a boutique hotel, is also said to be haunted by many spirits of George and Ann's descendants. Good thing there are eight bedrooms

Carleton Island, New York

Asking Price: $495,000 (Realtor.com)

This crumbling relic of a bygone era has that ever-important location — on an island where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence River. But, this might be one of the haunted houses for sale with the worst luck.

The majestic home, which some believe is haunted, was built in the 1890s for tycoon William O. Wyckoff, reports CNBC. Wyckoff's wife reportedly died of cancer before the house was done. And him? He died of a heart attack the day he moved in. Today, the asking price might not be scary, but the reported million or more it will take to bring this mansion back to life might be.

228 E. Oglethorpe Ave., Savannah, Ga.

Asking Price: $1.5 million (Zillow)

It's not the fact that this Savannah home overlooks a cemetery that makes it spooky. It's what happened inside in February 1901. It was then that American poet Conrad Aiken, 11 at the time, heard his father and mother arguing in their bedroom. His father, a respected brain surgeon, counted to three, shot Aiken's mother dead and then turned the gun on himself, according to House-Crazy.com.

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The traumatizing scene of his parents' death haunted Aiken for the rest of his life, but in a somewhat macabre move, he later returned to Savannah and bought the home right next door. The home where his father carried out the murder/suicide was later sold to another doctor, who came to believe it was haunted. Care to find out for yourself?

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com:

7 Creepy Haunted Homes for Sale

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