--- description: A gruesome tale from the TIME archives title: Is This the Scariest Story in Halloween History? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9248563d4f27af14/698763683c1639b96c44f5a4/haunted-house.jpeg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Bizarre](/tag/bizarre/) ## Bizarre Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Is This the Scariest Story in Halloween History?  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Oct 31, 2014 11:00 AM CUT ![Edward Wyndam Schenley \[Misc.\]](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9248563d4f27af14/698763683c1639b96c44f5a4/haunted-house.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2) A supposedly haunted house once owned by Captain Edward Wyndam Schenley, pictured in 1945 A supposedly haunted house once owned by Captain Edward Wyndam Schenley, pictured in 1945Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Oct 31, 2014 11:00 AM CUT The local-news business is often full of bizarre stories. TIME’s coverage of community goings-on deemed to be worthy of national note — a practice that was generally more common in the magazine’s earlier days — is no exception. The magazine has told the stories of [babies born with full beards](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,717229,00.html "undefined"), women who made [bathing suits out of ostrich plumes](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,846679,00.html "undefined") and [gator-wrestling feats gone wrong](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,788465,00.html "undefined"). When Halloween comes around, those stories can cross from the bizarre to the downright terrifying. The following item appeared in the pages of [the Sept. 30, 1957, issue of TIME](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,891345,00.html "undefined") — along with a completely inappropriately tongue-in-cheek headline. It is, in all seriousness, probably the spookiest Halloween story in the magazine’s history. Read at your own risk. --- > “” --- Good luck with your nightmares. **_Read about the modern — and much safer — haunted house industry, here in TIME’s archives:_** [You Can’t Scare America](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2155000,00.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3548116/scary-story-halloween-1957/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3548116/scary-story-halloween-1957/"},"headline":"Is This the Scariest Story in Halloween History?","datePublished":"2014-10-31T11:00:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:07:15.549Z","description":"A gruesome tale from the TIME archives about a haunted house gone terribly wrong","url":"https://time.com/3548116/scary-story-halloween-1957/","keywords":["Bizarre","halloween"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9248563d4f27af14/698763683c1639b96c44f5a4/haunted-house.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9248563d4f27af14/698763683c1639b96c44f5a4/haunted-house.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Haunted House","caption":"Edward Wyndam Schenley [Misc.]","creditText":"Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bizarre/","name":"Bizarre"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3548116/scary-story-halloween-1957/","name":"Is This the Scariest Story in Halloween History?"}}]}] ```