What Does a House Want? Exploring Sentient Houses in Supernatural Literature

abstract:Most haunted houses in literature are inhabited or visited by supernatural entities, often ghosts. At times, they are haunted not by the ghosts of previous inhabitants but by the “residual energies” such people have left behind. Most presences and energies that haunt a house are malevolent, but they originate in human beings—meaning that other human beings, whether the new inhabitants or paranormal investigators, are usually able to understand their objectives, if not necessarily foil their plans. But what if the house itself is haunting its inhabitants; what if the house itself is a malevolent sentient entity?