The Panic of 1893 was the worst depression America would experience until 1929, and its effects triggered a new symbol of American gothic: the haunted house. Newly built homes with their gingerbread shingles, turrets, and wide-eyed windows were abandoned and shuttered by owners who could no longer pay for them. 

Will the half-empty suburban lot become the iconic haunted house of the next century? Or has it already begun?