Ghosts, Poltergeists & Apparitions > Ghostly Encounters

the House of Mystery

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monstr:
the House of Mystery is located on U.S. 2 near Columbia Heights

For tourists who stop at the House of Mystery near Columbia Heights, the photos they take home show Mom, Dad and the kids leaning at what seems to be an unnatural angle.
They stand on level ground, but are standing at the center of Montana's only vortex.

As soon as visitors pull up to the House of Mystery, the giant rocking chair and two-story outhouse in the front yard tell them that the attraction isn't just any old shack. The path to the house seems normal. But as people enter the house, the force of the vortex takes hold.

As visitors try to walk across the slanted floor of the structure, which is built on the side of a hill, they feel some kind of force pushing against them. They can lean forward, supported by the mysterious source. Marbles roll up hill. Objects hang at strange angles. The House of Mystery seems to defy gravity.

The house is said to be centered upon a vortex, which Webster's dictionary defines as "a whirl or powerful eddy of air" such as that of a whirlpool. The vortex's power sucks objects — or tourists — toward its center.

"It's an oddity of the earth," owner Judy Booth explained.

"From the reaction of customers, it would almost make any skeptic a believer," said her husband, Bill.

The House of Mystery got its start in 1969 when another couple claimed to have discovered the vortex. They built the house to showcase the phenomenon. The business changed hands over the years until the Booths bought it in 1992 after they happened across it in a real estate guide.

The attraction draws about 10,000 visitors a year. The vortex, which Judy said measures 200 feet by 75 feet, produces both believers and disbelievers.

"I'm not skeptical; I think it's fabulous," said Blanca Drissen, of Rockford, Ill.

Her husband, John, said he doubted the vortex's existence. But he did confess to feeling queasy while in the shack.

Some visitors come to the House of Mystery seeking the healing powers they believe the vortex possesses. One out-of-state woman even asked the owners to send her a box of rocks to help cure a friend's backache.

Scientists occasionally stop by the attraction as well, hoping to figure out the source of the spot's powers. But not one of them has come up with a reason, Judy said.

Whether or not visitors believe the House of Mystery truly is home to an unexplainable phenomenon is not the owners' goal. The Booths simply hope their customers emerge from the vortex with a smile.

"As long as you're having fun, what the heck," Judy said.

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