The scariest house on Airbnb is the ‘Hocus Pocus’ cottage
By Emmy Abbassi, CNN
Don’t get your knickers in a twist, it’s just a haunted Airbnb.
The Sanderson sisters of “Hocus Pocus” fame are inviting guests to stay at their creepy cottage in the remote woods of Salem, Massachusetts, this Halloween season.
The witchy trio’s home has been recreated in celebration of “Hocus Pocus 2,” which will be streaming on Disney+ beginning September 30.
The Halloween classic tells the fictional story of Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson, who were executed in the late 1600s for witchcraft, but are inadvertently resurrected three centuries later and hellbent on sucking the soul of a child to remain alive.
The story is loosely based on Salem’s very real history of witches. In 1692 and 1693, townsfolk accused more than 200 people of witchcraft and executed 20, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The Sanderson sisters are fictional (as is their cottage), but three sisters were really accused of being witches in 1692 — Sarah Cloyce, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Easty, according to the Salem Witch Museum. Cloyce escaped, but Nurse and Easty were ultimately hanged.
Those brave enough to spend a night in the Sandersons’ cottage may want to sleep with one eye open. “Wooden boards that groan under the weight of curious cats and cupboards filled with blood of owl and herb that’s red (and even a hair from Winifred’s head) await those who dare to explore the cottage’s dark corners,” Airbnb said in a statement.
Guests can even try to cast enchantments from the sisters’ spell book, though Kathy Najimy, who plays Mary Sanderson in the movie, doesn’t recommend it.
“Don’t open that book — there’s a witchcraft book, but I wouldn’t open that if I were them,” she told CNN.
Najimy said that she and her costars, Bette Midler (Winifred Sanderson) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah Sanderson), believe fans of the iconic movie will enjoy the experience.
“It’s going to be unique and frightening a lot like me,” Najimy said. “The actual whole cottage will have all the Sanderson’s touches. But they’ll have the things that people need to have a good time, sheets and towels and beds and broomsticks and dead man’s toes and frightening things like that too. Really wild vivid recreation.”
As for Najimy’s favorite room in the cottage? Mary’s loft, of course. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s my favorite room,” she said. “It’ll have Mary’s broom. It’s got frightening charm, little bits of scary things and is much better than the other two witches’ kingdoms. My loft is going to be cool.”
The cottage will host two guests for an exclusive stay on October 20 for only $31. The listing will be offered on Airbnb starting October 12 at 1pm ET.
The-CNN-Wire
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