Abandoned house, Freehold Township, New Jersey

When I was a young child there was an old abandoned house near my home and I remember my mother telling my brother and me that a family named Buxton had lived there but that the mother had gone insane after she had lost her children in a fire. I often wondered if the ghost of Mrs. Buxton was still in that house.

Another memory from childhood is seeing an old house off by itself in the country in which there was little left standing except one or two walls and the brick chimney. It was a bit scary looking and our family would always refer to it as the Haunted House when we would pass it by.

Perhaps due to these early experiences I find abandoned houses both fascinating and a little bit frightening, even as a rational adult who does not believe in ghosts in the traditional sense. They're fascinating because I wonder about the family that used to live there: Who are they? Why do they no longer live there? Where did they go? Why did they just abandon the home? Then I wonder did something dark and sinister happen there and that is why it has been consigned to rot away into oblivion and at that point it becomes a bit frightening. Is there evil lurking inside?

This house in Freehold Township, New Jersey has been abandoned for at least fourteen years and I've watched it deteriorate over the years. The house itself is not much on drama, just a non-descript tract house as it were on a large piece of property. Heavy snows the past couple of winters have taken their toll on the roof and nature is slowly reclaiming the space.

Today has been a cold, blustery day akin more to a late fall day than to a mid spring day. They gray skies and the overgrown weeds on the property emphasize the forlorn feelings of abandonment, while a No Trespassing sign on the boarded up doorway warn intruders to stay away. It's like the house is saying to anyone who should approach, "Go away and let me die in peace!"

Silver Efex Pro 2 helped create the grainy, dream-like, even nightmarish, image.