People love watching other people’s adventures, which is part of why social media is as popular as it is. Call it vicarious living, one-upsmanship or voyeurism, it’s alive and well.
Maybe it’s the season or maybe it’s just that people love a spooky mystery, but video tours of creepy house features do especially well, and one of the most recent suppliers of such content is Halle Dyer of Lompoc, California.
Dyer has lived in Lompoc a long time, even buying a well-known local coffee shop with her mom last year that she’d worked at as a manager for the previous four years, according to the Lompoc Record.
There’s a lot of history in the city, which is partly why she and her mom fell in love with South Side Coffee Co., and now Dyer lives in a piece of it: a home built in 1908.
And, as you might expect, the house has a few peculiarities. The main one is a “hidden” basement that Dyer showcased on TikTok, racking up nearly 2 million plays since posting it on Saturday.
“Found these weird steps under my patio,” the text on the video reads.
The video shows a section of deck removed to reveal a staircase leading downwards.
“OK, so I just moved into this old home, and we noticed that these were weird, and look at what we found,” Dyer says. “Yeah, there’s a door. Right there. I’m scared.”
She and a friend descend and go through the door to find a large, unfinished basement with definitely creepy vibes. A red arrow is painted on one wall, directing them to a large open space, and on one of the beams more red paint spells out “Wrong Way.”
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that some viewers will find offensive.
“It’s dark and scary,” Dyer says. “There’s another door. … It’s huge in there. I’m scared.”
She and the friend marvel at the size of the basement, comment on how terribly dark it is and have a momentary freakout before the clip ends.
Of course, one video was not enough to sate the curiosity of her viewers, so she posted another video tour on Sunday night with the caption “It’s very scary don’t watch.”
This time Dyer and a friend enter the dark basement with flashlights and wine at night. They’ve discovered some switches that shed light on the situation, and viewers are able to get a better idea of the scope of the space.
“You guys wanted to know what was in, like, that door, and I don’t know what’s in that door, but I’m not willing to go that way,” Dyer says at one point.
In the comments, Dyer also revealed that the home is 2,200 square feet and they’re currently renting it, according to Newsweek.
Some people have been less than impressed with the “hidden” basement, but others insist it’s horribly creepy. While someone suggested it might have been used as part of the underground railroad, Dyer corrected that idea by reminding them they’re in the wrong part of the country for that.
But she did say it could have been part of another sort of smuggling: “We had a huge prohibition where I live too,” she wrote. “Like there’s murals and stuff so maybe.”
She’s also revealed that she’s toyed with the idea of cleaning it up and turning it into a bar. With Halloween coming up, it would also make an excellent haunted house attraction.
Whatever ends up happening with the space, Dyer certainly has a better idea of what lies beneath her quaint old home, and — perhaps scariest of all — now so do millions of others.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
