109 Bizarre Staircases That Might Make Even The Most Confident Person Grab The Railing, If There Is One

Certain staircases have earned a frightening reputation for reasons that have little to do with physical danger. The Winchester Mystery House in California has a particularly strange story behind its unusual design.

The enormous mansion contains 47 staircases, including some that lead absolutely nowhere, ending abruptly at the ceiling. Its owner, Sarah Winchester, spent decades expanding the property, creating a maze of strange rooms and passages.

According to popular legends, she deliberately designed the house this way to confuse evil spirits that she believed were haunting her.

Another staircase with a rather creepy reputation can be found at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, which famously inspired Stephen King’s The Shining. Over the years, guests have reported strange figures appearing on its grand staircase, along with other unexplained activity throughout the building.

In 2016, one visitor even photographed what appeared to be a ghostly woman standing at the top of the stairs. He insisted that he didn’t remember anyone being there when he took the picture.

Whether it was a ghost or simply another guest remains a mystery, but the story has certainly added to the hotel’s already eerie history!

Whether they’re associated with ghost stories or questionable engineering, staircases have certainly given us plenty of reasons to be nervous over the centuries. Luckily, most of the stairs we encounter are perfectly ordinary, and there’s no reason to start avoiding them altogether.

Still, looking at some of the designs in this collection, it’s hard to imagine what their creators had in mind. Perhaps the next time we encounter a particularly boring staircase, we’ll appreciate it a little more!