Oct 9, 2017 3 min read

MONESSEN – The overgrown bushes on the front lawn, the leaking roof, chipped paint and crooked awnings make a perfect backdrop for a haunted house attraction in Monessen.

Nearly 5,000 people line up each October to see what thrills are inside Castle Blood in a century-old Victorian mansion in the Westmoreland County city, a historic building preservationists in Pittsburgh say needs to be saved.

“It looks like ‘The Addams Family’ or ‘The Munsters’ family home,” Castle Blood owner Alec “Ricky” Dick said, referring to two old television series about ghoulish families.

Due to its deteriorating condition and because it is one of the only surviving Victorian mansions in Monessen, the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh included Castle Blood on its 2017 Top 10 list of preservation opportunities in the region.

Despite its appearance, the 15-room house “showcases charming Victorian features including a turret, wrap-around porch, and original decorative exterior trim and cornices,” the preservationists said Thursday. “It had been abandoned and vandalized for several years before being acquired by the Castle Blood Theater Group.”

The house, which dates to 1905, also served as a funeral home for decades, a history that only enhances the attraction.

“In 1940, it became the David H. Woodward Home for Funerals,” said Daniel Zyglowicz, president of Greater Monessen Historical Society.

The place also is known as the John William Manown House, taking its name from a once-prominent Rostraver Township man. Manown was Monessen’s first postmaster and a city school director.

Monessen founder James Martinus Schoonmaker purchased the Manown and McMahon farms to establish the new industrial town along the Monongahela River, Zyglowicz added.

By the time Castle Blood relocated there in 2014, “It had been trashed,” said Chris Handa, the company’s operations manager.

Castle Blood has been rated among the “must see” places in Pennsylvania by America’s Best Haunted House Directory.

True to the home’s past, the Castle Blood tour features a funeral viewing room, Dick said.

“How do we not have a funeral?” he said.

Dick said it’s an honor to be recognized by the young preservationists, a distinction that might help Castle Blood find money to replace the roof. The house was nominated for the list by Matt Shorraw, the apparent mayor-elect of Monessen, with the cooperation of Castle Blood.

Dick said the interior walls have not been altered, and some of the original fireplaces and lighting fixtures were left untouched by scavengers while the house was vacant.

“It’s in dire need of a new roof,” Handa said.