haunted house

haunted house (countable and uncountable, plural haunted houses)

1. A amusement attraction in which a building or series of rooms is decorated to frighten the people who pass through.

   Lisette can't wait to create a haunted house on Halloween night.

2. (uncountable, music) Synonym of witch house (“music genre”)
   • 2011 March 25, Paul Lester, “New band of the day: Christian AIDS (No 991)”, in The Guardian‎:

     This enigmatic bunch are a reaction to Manchester's musical past, with a blend of haunted house and rave dynamics

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see haunted,‎ house.
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, “The Mortals in the House”, in The Haunted House‎:

     It was easy to see that it was an avoided house—a house that was shunned by the village, to which my eye was guided by a church spire some half a mile off—a house that nobody would take. And the natural inference was, that it had the reputation of being a haunted house.

• house