That is, what is the origin of the "classic" haunted house with Victorian architecture? Does it stem from early film or a real life attraction? I frequently see the same style haunted house in cartoons, decorations, advertisements, etc. and wonder why there is such a consistency.
Edit: Response from /u/Crabrubber led me to Wikipedia, which led me to the website below that describes what I was referring to and provides some additional information.
The classic Hollywood haunted house from horror movies is French Second Empire style and not the later Victorian/Queen Anne style. The archetypal houses in "Psycho" and "The Addams Family" have clear Second Empire details like a square central tower and mansard roofs.
As to why this became the archetypal "horror" style, after the American Civil War, several state mental hospitals were built in this style, such as the Athens (Ohio) Lunatic Asylum and the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum.
hi! not sure if you mean Victorian or rather Gothic architecture? If the latter, there was a thread not long ago on all things Goth and Gothic, including horror