The House Of Blue Lights was the name given to a house on the far northeast side of Indianapolis, Indiana. Decorated year round with blue Christmas lights, it was actually the home of eccentric Indianapolis millionaire Skiles Edward Test. It gained a reputation for being haunted.
Description[]
According to local folklore, Skiles' deceased wife was embalmed in a glass coffin inside the house, surrounded by the eerie blue lights. Test himself encouraged the rumors when he began burying the remains of some of his 109 pet cats in carpeted caskets under brass nameplates. After Test's death, no evidence was discovered that indicated his wife was buried on the property, for, in fact, he had been married three times and all three women survived him. The public sale at auction of the possessions from the property did enhance the rumors of his eccentric later life. Nevertheless, the house was widely regarded as a "haunted" site well past Skiles' death in 1964, and is still recognized in the folklore and culture of Indianapolis.
Accounts[]
It was a clear night as we turned off Shadeland Avenue onto Fall Creek Road. I could see the stars from the back seat of Mike’s convertible. We had the top down for 2 reasons. One it was a warm summer night and two was that we thought we might need to make a fast getaway. It’s much faster to jump into a car than to stop and open the doors when you are in a hurry.
As we turned onto Johnson Road I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I thought about what we were about to embark upon. There were 4 of us that night. Wayne, Carol, myself, and of course Mike since it was his car. I had been here before with other friends but we had always “chickened” out at the last minute. This night, however was different. Wayne was a real go-getter and would never back down from a dare. In addition we had just been to the “Haunted Bridge” the night before and even though we were scared we still made it all the way to the bridge. The rumors about the Haunted Bridge in Avon may or may not have been true about the lady ghost at midnight but we left there at 10 PM so I really don’t know.
As we turned the corner I saw the headlight beams as they glanced off the gates. If we were really going through with this we would have to find a shorter fence. The gates were much too tall to climb. We pulled off the road a few feet from the gates. We followed the fence as it ran up a steep hill. The trees and brush were dense but with the help of flashlights we found a place where the fence was partially down. One by one we went through the fence. Wayne was out in front, then Mike, then Carol and me. Once through the fence we made our way back toward the gates. We figured it would be much easier to walk up the lane than go through the woods.
As what seemed like a mile going up this steep lane we saw a blue haze off to the right just ahead of us. A few yards later we saw a building that was blocking part of the blue haze. We moved off the lane and went up along side the building. It was a steep climb but when we reached the top we discovered the reason for the blue haze. There was a magnificent swimming pool with blue lights implanted under glass all around the pool. There were no other lights visible near the pool but not far from it we saw more lights surrounding a house. We made our way toward the brightest part of the house which was made of all glass. The brightness was almost blinding but as we neared the house we all saw him at once and we stopped dead in our tracks.
The man didn’t seem to be moving. He just sat there in front of an open glass casket. His hands were grasping the edge of the casket as if they were glued to it. His face was stern looking yet sad and beside him was a shotgun on one side and a dog on the other. The dog was not glued to anything and he saw us! Wayne shouted “scatter” and we did. All we heard as we ran was a door slam, a shotgun being fired, dogs barking and the sound of our feet breaking every twig in our path. Wayne and Carol headed toward the right side of the pool, Mike took the walk that led straight to the pool and I headed into the woods on the left side of the pool. I heard Mike yell “The dog has me” as he jumped into the pool. More shots were fired; Wayne yelled “I’m hit. Carol said “They are coming out of the tunnels, God help us”. By this time I had made it past the left side of the pool. I turned to see if anyone or thing was behind me and that’s when I tripped over something and fell. It suddenly became quiet. I looked up and saw this blue mist rolling toward me like fog. I clicked on my flashlight and saw what I had stumbled over. It was a small tombstone, however there was not just one tombstone, there were hundreds of them. The one in front of me said “Kitty Joe”. I stumbled to my feet and tried to move but something had me… (HouseOfBlueLights.com)Trivia[]
- This legend could also be categorized as a Haunting.
- Following the death of Skiles and the destruction of the house, his heirs bequeathed the property to Indy Parks and it was developed into a natural resource area called the Skiles Test Nature Park. A view of the property from the air in 1937 can be found at the IUPUI Skiles Test Nature Park page.