Pliny's Haunted House

History of Ghosts: Pliny's Haunted House

Pliny the Younger, author, lawyer, and magistrate in Ancient Rome (61- ca. 112, A.D.) wrote of a more classically terrifying apparition in a letter to fellow Roman government official, Lucius Licinius Sura. The tale is among the first “hauntedhouse” stories ever recorded. In the story, Pliny describes a house in which the apparition of an old man, emaciated, bearded, and burdened with heavy chains plagues the inhabitants therein. Those who bought or rented the house became so frightened that they evacuated the property. Finally, a philosopher, who was identified as Athendorus, takes up residence there. Familiar with tales of the ghost, Athendorus decides to immerse himself in his writing, in the hopes of distracting himself when the ghost appears. However, the sound of the rattling chains and moaning becomes so dreadfully loud and terrifying that Athendorus can take it no longer. He follows the ghost to a spot outside the house, whereupon the figure disappears. Athendorus marks the spot with grass and leaves and in the morning orders the spot to be dug up. The excavation produced the corpse of a man wrapped in heavy chains. Athendorus promptly ordered a proper burial for the man, and his ghost was never seen in the house again. Read Pliny's Haunted House.