The most TERRIFYING legends of Moscow’s ‘Haunted House’
This massive residential complex standing directly across from the Moscow Kremlin was built in 1931 based on a design by architect Boris Iofan specifically for the Soviet elite: high-ranking officials, marshals, scientists and cultural figures. It featured luxurious apartments, its own movie theater, a laundry facility and even tennis courts. Yet, the residents paid for this comfort with their privacy: every conversation was wiretapped and every move was monitored.
During the Stalinist terror of the 1930s, the building turned into a trap. Residents of more than half of its 505 apartments fell victim to the purges – people were arrested in the middle of the night and sent off to labor camps or executed. It earned the grim popular nickname, the ‘House of Pre-trial Detention’. It’s this historical tragedy that gave rise to the legends.
Legend #1: Entrance 11, which has no apartments
The building’s most famous architectural “anomaly” is entrance 11, which contains no apartments. The official explanation is this: during, the floor plan was changed to make the apartments larger and one entrance ended up being “superfluous”. Local lore, however, offers a different account: It’s said that this entrance was built specifically for the NKVD to house wiretapping rooms and specialized facilities for their agents.
Legend #2: The ghost of an army commander’s daughter
Many believe that Moscow’s most famous ghost haunts this very place. This is the ‘Army Commander’s Daughter’ (referring to a commander of an army). According to legend, when authorities came to arrest her father, the young woman hid inside the apartment. To lure her out, NKVD officers cut off all utilities to the building. She eventually died of starvation and it’s said that her ghost is still occasionally seen on the embankment near the building.
Legend #3: the sound of children crying from sealed-off apartments
When parents were arrested, their apartments were sealed with official NKVD wax seals. Legend has it that the sound of children crying could be heard at night coming from these locked-up units. This story has a basis in reality: Olga Trifonova, director of the ‘House on the Embankment’ museum, recounted how, in 1937–1938, three boys would sneak into sealed apartments via a shared balcony to retrieve their toys. On one occasion, they discovered a crying infant hidden inside a wardrobe, a child whom the mother had concealed during her arrest to prevent him from being taken to an orphanage. In the collective memory, this incident evolved into the haunting image of all the abandoned children of the building crying out.
Legend four: the "cursed apartment" and the shadows of suicides
Researchers studying the history of the building have documented around 40 cases of suicide among its residents. Living in a state of constant fear, some chose death over arrest. It’s said that no one can live for long in one of the apartments on the top floor – strange, inexplicable things are rumored to happen there.
Legend five: a building constructed on bones
There’s an even darker theory to explain all these misfortunes: the building supposedly stands on the site of an ancient cemetery. A church dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker once stood nearby; during construction, the cemetery was demolished and it is said that the gravestones were allegedly used in the building’s foundation. This fact influenced the entire atmosphere of the house.