‘Nightmare house’ Internet sensation

An unusual listing for a “nightmare house” with a tenant and “an upstairs apartment that cannot be shown under any circumstances” sparked the imagination of the Internet, with people imagining that the property was haunted or the scene of a gruesome murder.

“Yes, this does not make sense but please don’t bother asking,” read the description of a real estate listing on Zillow, detailing a single-family home with a backyard cottage in Cayce, South Carolina. The house was taken off the market late Wednesday morning, after it had caught the attention of 1.3 million viewers. The listing, however, is still online and, as of Friday afternoon, the count had risen to 1.66 million views.

It all started when a Twitter user posted about the listing: “hey @zillow !!!! I HAVE SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NIGHTMARE HOUSE. Read the description.”

The description, innocent enough at first, took on an innocuous note when it described the house as a “great diamond in the rough,” yet stated that “little is known about the condition except that the property has roof leaks.”

“Property is being sold ‘asis’ with no repairs, no cleanup, and no warranties, expressed or implied,” read the description. Accompanying pictures show a red-stained door, a big hole in the ceiling of one of the rooms and floors that are worn-out and stained.

However, it wasn’t the somewhat shabby state of the house that caught the attention of Twitter users but rather the stipulation that came with owning it.

“Buyers assume responsibility for month-to-month tenancy in upstairs apartment. Occupant has never paid, and no security deposit is being held, but there is a lease in place,” read the description, which has since disappeared off Zillow but is still available on ReMax. “Upstairs room cannot be shown under any circumstances.”

The property description set off a flurry of tweeted responses. Many Twitter users hypothesized that the property was in fact, a “murder house.”

On further investigation, WIS-TV concluded that it is in fact not a murder house or a house haunted by ghosts. The mystery tenant is Randall McKissick, a 70-year-old retired artist who had no idea of the kind of confusion his presence in the house caused on the Internet. He simply moved in when Mike, his childhood friend and apparent owner of the property, decided to help him out with a place to live.

“I think the rent just got too high and I was booted out. Mike says, ‘I have a place for you.’ And I’ve been here since (then),” McKissick told WIS-TV.

Bekka Supp, the Twitter user who posted about the listing, claimed to have booked a flight to South Carolina in the hopes that she will meet the tenant who lives in #MurderHouse.