HGTV’s scary-house competition offers a renovation to the winner

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – There’s a house in the woods that some people find downright scary.
The spirit that haunts the place, locking people in a bathroom, would be enough to send some people running. But add in a vertigo-inducing three-story interior with balconies and a catwalk and plenty of places where one misstep would send you plummeting to your doom, and some might argue this home should win some kind of a prize.
Well, that’s what led its owner to enter the house into HGTV’s “Scariest House in America.” The house is one of a dozen competing nationwide for a $150,000 home makeover on the show, premiering Friday (9 EDT/PDT) as a spinoiff of the network’s “Ugliest House in America.” Except that, timed for Halloween, the entrants will be judged on criteria including “scary appearance,” “bad function” and “fear factor.”
A real estate agent might simply call the house a 1,300-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom three-story with an elevator. But “Scariest” series host, actor and comedian Retta simply calls it a “frightening fixer-upper.”
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The house that wins the contest, which will be announced on the Oct. 25 finale, will get a surprise makeover by interior designer Alison Victoria. Other serious competition includes:
At least, thankfully, the Rhode Island house won’t compete against The Conjuring House, in Burrillville, R.I., which some would consider the scariest house in the world.