Inside the Winchester Mystery House: A Haunting Preview of Festival Fright Nights 2025

Written and Photos by Brendan Graham

The Winchester Mystery House has been drawing the curious and the brave to San Jose, California, since 1923. The house opened to the public just nine months after the death of its infamous owner, Sarah Winchester. But don’t let the sunny exterior fool you. This isn’t your typical Victorian mansion. It's a sprawling puzzle box of bizarre architecture: staircases that climb into ceilings, doors that open into thin air, and hallways that seem to go nowhere... or perhaps somewhere you weren’t meant to go.

For over a hundred years, visitors have wandered its winding corridors, trying to make sense of the madness, or the method, behind it all. Was Sarah simply eccentric, or was she following whispered instructions from beyond the grave? Legend has it she continued to build and expand her home to appease the angry spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles, ghostly houseguests she feared could never be evicted. There are rumors, of course, of midnight seances, mysterious cold spots, and strange tapping in the walls. But who’s to say what’s just an old house settling... and what might be something else?

Previously, visitors to the Winchester Mystery House could only explore its winding halls under the safety of daylight. Sure, there were the occasional flashlight or candlelight tours, usually popping up around Halloween, but for the most part, the house kept its nighttime secrets to itself.

That all changed in 2019.

That’s when the mansion unveiled something truly spine-tingling: Winchester Unhinged, a fully immersive haunted house experience that pulled guests deeper into the mystery than ever before. This was a descent into the mansion’s darker corners, places usually roped off or quietly avoided on daytime tours. With moody lighting, creeping fog, eerie soundscapes, and a blend of live actors and animatronics, Unhinged brought you face-to-face with the restless spirits said to still wander its halls… spirits who checked in long ago but never really left.

I had the chance to experience the haunt for myself in 2023 (you can check out my review here: https://www.creepykingdom.com/post/unhinged-housewarming-review), and I was genuinely impressed. The attention to detail, the storytelling, the atmosphere—it all came together in a way that felt less like a Halloween attraction and more like stepping straight into a ghost story.

So imagine my excitement when an invitation arrived to return to this mysterious home, beckoning me back to uncover whatever new nightmares the house had conjured up. The intrigue started immediately as soon as I arrived.

I brought my fiancé along. She had experienced Unhinged with me back in 2023, so we were both excited to see what kind of chills the Winchester Mystery House had in store this time. Right from check-in, the atmosphere was perfect, with jazz music floating through the air, and we were handed delicious themed cocktails that were almost too pretty to drink. As we sipped and waited, we kept catching glimpses of movement in the mansion’s downstairs windows and, to our surprise, we saw faces staring out at us.

Soon, our hostess arrived and led us through the front doors and upstairs into the house, where the story began to take shape. We’d been “invited” to a masquerade party by a mysterious host, and from the moment we stepped inside, it felt like something was off. Our guide, well, it was clear she wasn’t telling us the whole truth, or perhaps she was unaware of what was really unfolding below.

As we moved through the house, we heard more about its history—the devastation from the Great Earthquake, the frantic reconstruction that followed, and the strange energy still pulsing through its walls. But the real twist came when we were led down into the infamous basement.

If you’ve never been down there, let me tell you—it’s as creepy as you’d imagine. It’s dark, echoey, and everyone has to wear hard hats because of the exposed pipes and low ceilings. That’s when the haunting really kicked in. Let’s just say we had a close encounter with something that sent our whole group scrambling back upstairs (safely, of course).

And just when we thought the night was winding down, the big reveal dropped: the whole thing had been a teaser for a brand-new haunt, Festival Fright Nights, coming to the Winchester Mystery House this fall. Teaming up with Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, who are responsible for other haunts like Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor and the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, they’ve promised brand-new chills, thrills, and experiences at this new event, starting September 26th, 2025, and running through November 1st, 2025. From their website: “This event will debut three main haunted attractions, theatrical experiences, themed food and beverage offerings, and more. New paths and access to never-before-used spaces will create an unforgettable evening of immersive entertainment.”

Needless to say, I’m already counting down the days. They’ve got some seriously fun (and frightening) things planned, and I'm incredibly eager to return to see what they've cooked up. But the night wasn’t over just yet.

I’d also been invited to take part in a sold-out paranormal investigation happening later that evening, something I’d never done before. As someone who’s always been curious about the paranormal but never actually gone ghost hunting, I couldn’t pass up the chance. Flashlight in one hand, EMF reader in the other (provided by the team), I stepped back into the mansion, this time with the lights off and my heart racing. We were split into small groups to explore different rooms throughout the house, using actual industry-standard ghost-hunting tools to try and catch evidence of… well, whatever might still be lingering behind those old walls. It’s a rare opportunity to get this kind of access, and I felt genuinely lucky to be a part of it.

My group started in the basement, which already feels like the last place you want to be in the dark. From there, we worked our way up through various parts of the mansion, including the attic and Sarah Winchester’s bedroom. Each space had its own weight, its own strange energy. Some areas felt still and quiet. Others made the hair on the back of my neck stand up for no clear reason.

Now, I wouldn’t call myself a skeptic exactly, but I do try to keep a level head with this sort of thing. Some of the tools were going off in ways where I wasn’t sure if they were set up properly or if one of the group members had been messing with them. That said, in Sarah Winchester’s bedroom, the EMF reader spiked sharply in just one specific spot on her old couch. It didn’t happen anywhere else in the room. Just that one area, as if something unseen was sitting there. That moment gave me real chills. Maybe it was something. Maybe it wasn’t. But in the pitch dark, with only the faint click of the EMF meter, it definitely felt like something, and that was the absolute highlight of the investigation for me.

To be honest, not everyone in the group took the experience seriously, which did break the atmosphere a bit. During moments where we could ask the spirits questions, many opted for really silly questions that detracted from the spooky vibes. Still, I managed to find a few moments alone in the dark, just me, the house, and whatever might have been listening. I asked a few questions or just introduced myself in each room. Maybe something whispered back. Maybe not. Even without hard evidence, the experience was unforgettable. Just being inside that place after hours, with so few people around, was genuinely creepy and absolutely worth sticking around for. If the opportunity arises to join another investigation, I will definitely sign up.

Stay tuned for additional updates and information about the upcoming haunt, as well as coverage from the media night this September! Thank you again to the amazing crew at the Winchester Mystery House for the invitation!

For more info: https://festivalfrightnights.com