Flicker: Winchester Mystery House by Candlelight

Peek around corners, by night, inside the San Jose landmark.

ANY HAUNTED HOUSE MOVIE... worth its creaky staircase and loooong hallways and foreboding family portraits will have, at some point, a moment where a character carries a candle. It could be a movie set in the 1800s, or a film that takes place in modern times, but you can bet someone will place flame against wick, the better to lend flickery atmosphere to the shivery tale. But touring real-world historic homes by candlelight isn't something that's seen often nowadays, unless it is autumn, and unless what is just about the world's most famous said-to-be-ghosty abode is involved. No peeking around corners, trying to suss out which structure we're alluding to here: It's the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, that 160-room wonder of myth, legend, fact, and fancy. You say you've done the popular Flashlight Tour before? If you're craving a different way to commune with Sarah Winchester's sprawling home, consider the...

HALLOWE'EEN CANDLELIGHT TOURS, which open on Friday, Sept. 29 in 2017. The in-house walk-around, which has a guide at the lead, is all about the shadow-producing flicker. In fact, "...candlelight provides the only illumination through the bewildering maze of rooms, frozen in a state of arrested decay or still resplendent in Victorian grandeur." Eep. You won't have to "eep" all night, if the mere thought starts a quaking in your knees, for the tour will last a good-of-size, but-not-overwhelming 65 minutes. How many chances will you have, though, to sign up for such a... spirited excursion? There are 20 nights in all, stretching from the dead last days of September right through to the most ghostly night of the year, All Hallows Eve. Best be on it as fast as a flame dances in a totally lights-out room.

AS FOR THE FLASHLIGHT TOURS? They'll return next year to celebrate a pair of Friday the 13ths: Friday, April 13 and Friday, July 13, 2018.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us