Sign A Waiver To Enter If You Dare! Paxton Manor in VA.
It’s no secret that haunted houses are terrifying. These foreboding mansions are set up for productions that can truly scare the living daylights out of you. Yet even so, it’s not often that you hear of a haunted house so completely horrifying that visitors are required to sign a waiver before entering. That’s the case with northern Virginia’s Paxton Manor. This haunted house is much more than an attraction; it’s a historic site with acclaimed paranormal activity. And you can experience it all this October…if you dare.
There’s the twelve days before Christmas, the eight days of Hanukkah… most kids even get a full school-free week to celebrate Thanksgiving. Indeed, some holidays just can’t be bundled into one day festivities. Back in 2009, the team behind the today’s popular Shocktober 1, felt that Halloween should be one of them.
Leesburg, Virginia’s Shocktober is a month-long event that invites daring souls to get their scream on in a historical setting. It is hosted on the elaborate Victorian estate called Carlheim, a property which includes a labyrinth of underground caves, several outbuildings, and the infamous Paxton Manor. Throughout the grounds and the house’s over thirty two rooms, event organizers have staged trained actors and planted plenty of equipment (spiders, snakes, a casket simulator, and a clown-themed tunnel2, to list just a few) to ensure that visitors experience full-on fear.
But the event can’t just thank these modern additions for its success; Paxton Manor, a house whose list of occupants includes wounded soldiers, orphans, and a man accused of animal cruelty, has always been paranormally busy. For producers of a twenty first century scare ground, it was ripe for the plucking.
History of Paxton Manor:
In terms of history, the house is built on an area which has experienced plenty of supernatural activity and warfare. Leesburg’s earliest occupants include the Algonquian Indians, who believed in the afterlife and practiced shamanic rituals. Perhaps their efforts to reconnect with the deceased are what have left portals to the hereafter still open.
Two other tribes, the Catawba and the Lenape, frequently butted heads, and had a particularly bloody battle right by Leesburg. You can imagine that the spirits of these warring warriors have been unhappily disturbed by the influx of present day tourists.
Paxton Manor, first known as Carlheim Manor, was conceived by a wealthy industrialist from Pennsylvania, named Charles R. Paxton. In 1869, Paxton moved into Leesburg with his wife, Rachel, and purchased 765 acres of land. His property’s massive extent afforded a home of extreme size as well, and so in 1872, it was certainly a lavish structure which architect Henry C. Dudley delivered.
Dudley’s interlaced dark brown sandstone with pinkish ones to create a two and a half story main house that mimicked the look of Italian villas. His approach to exterior details was restrained and simple, but he gave the inside of the house much more attention. Dudley installed beautiful marble mantels, a massive central staircase, elaborate panel work… even a central heating system. For Rachel Paxton, this comfortable 20,000 square foot home was the ideal setting to host lavish parties and raise her only child, Margaret.
Unfortunately, Rachel would outlive both her daughter and husband. Charles passed away in 1899; Margaret, just one year later. Rachel devoted the rest of her life to helping needy children and wanted her efforts to continue after her death. The Margaret Paxton Memorial for Convalescent Children was thus created in 1921, and the Carlheim estate transformed into an orphanage and then a childcare center.
Today, it is known asPaxton Campus5, a place that provides convalescent children with shelter and schooling, and underprivileged families support and medical care. In fact, all proceeds from Shocktober go to the non-profit organization. This seems more than befitting; when psychic Sherry Sherry was brought in to investigate a series of odd occurrences in Paxton Manor6, she attributed them to the ghosts of previous orphans and even Rachel Paxton herself.
But the house also has more formidable forces residing within (and under) it. The theme behind Shocktober’s nights of theatrics last year, for instance, was based on the legend of Jedidiah Carver, a man who lived at Paxton Manor and was exiled from Leesburg after being found guilty of mutilating animals.
Some say that rather than leave the property, he and his family secretly relocated to the massive underground lake that lies beneath it. Visitors who descend into this “Well of Souls”7 from the house’s basement have a maze of dark caves to explore and plenty of terrifying Shocktober creations to run into:
“Specific characters in the house include Shiner Carver, a bartender that blew up half of his face with a moonshine still, and Doctor Stitch, who experiments with animals and has half a pig’s face.”8
Leesburg’s colonial era is also marked by much black magic and bloodshed. Though Virginia was not as eager as Massachusetts3 to prosecute those accused of witchcraft, it too had its fair share of trials. You can be sure that the spirits of the wrongly convicted have yet to move on from the area.
Ghosts of dead soldiers are also believed to be a chief source of Leesburg’s paranormal activity. In fact, the famous Civil War Battle, the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, occurred right by the Carlheim estate. It is said that the Paxton house is haunted by traumatized troops who may have sought refuge at the building.
In 1872, the mansion known as Paxton Manor was built in the northeast portion of Leesburg, Virginia and known at the time as Carlheim. It was built by Pennsylvania resident Charles Paxton, after whom the house is now named. The structure is an impressive 20,000 square feet and was included on the National Register of Historic Places by 1979.
Today, the manor serves two purposes. First and foremost, it’s the home of the Margaret Paxton Memorial Learning and Resource Center, a nonprofit campus for children. Its second identity is much spookier. Several times throughout the year, this Victorian home opens its doors and welcomes the brave of heart for self-guided haunted tours. And these dual identities work seamlessly together, as profits made from the haunted house go directly towards the Paxton Campus.
Two of the most famous productions are know as “Shocktober” and “My Bloody Valentine,” the second of which requires all participants to sign a waiver. For nearly 30 minutes, visitors wander the darkened hallways of the mansion, anxiously awaiting figures dressed as creepy dolls and clowns to spook them. It’s quite a take on the traditional Valentine’s evening. With over 30 rooms to meander through, you can imagine a tour of this kind would feel like it never ended.
Paxton Manor also opens its doors to those in search of the paranormal. Visitors can sign up for an all-night investigation with professional ghost hunters. All productions aside, Paxton is considered to be a hotbed for haunted activity. Perhaps this is why the tours themselves are so terrifying.
I hope you enjoy your visit!
