On the corner of the streets of Álvaro Obregón and Insurgentes, in one of the most popular neighborhoods in Mexico City, stands an imposing abandoned house known as the “Black House” which, according to many, is home to a large number of ghosts, making it uninhabitable.
Mexico is a country full of legends and myths. Among the pages of its history, ghosts and supernatural beings creep in from time to time. The capital itself, on the corner of Insurgentes and Álvaro Obregón, is one of those places that can cast doubt on even the most skeptical.
It is the “Black House” or “Casa Mondragon”, a building with a history full of deaths and tragedies that made it one of the most haunted places in the country, according to several witnesses. Whether it is a mere predisposition or a true paranormal place, what happened in the house is worthy of any horror story.
A deadly superstition
The house dates back to the late 19th century during the period known in Mexico as the Porfiriato. Its first tragedy occurred, in fact, at a time when the consequences of the revolution were still being felt.
It was during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas, from 1934 to 1940, that the capital experienced a small typhoid pandemic. Although it was already curable at the time, several people contracted it because there were not enough resources to treat the sick.
With hospitals filling up quickly, makeshift clinics began to spring up, including the black house. This sealed the terrible fate that awaited the patients, doctors, and nurses who worked there.
In 1935, seeing that the cases were not going down, various religious groups attributed the symptoms to a collective demonic possession rather than a disease. In an attempt to solve the problem, they set fire to the makeshift hospital with everyone inside.
The Mondragon
After the fire, the owners repaired the house as if nothing had happened and sold it to a wealthy family named Mondragon: mother, father, and three children.
However, most believers assure that the souls of the burned remained in the building, and proof of this is that only a month after occupying the house, the Mondragons were found dead inside it. The causes of death were never known.
Just like the victims of the fire, some people claim to see the Mondragon children walking around the building. Whether true or not, the reality of what happened in the black house is a cruel and tragic story in itself.
Failed attempts to occupy it
The house is currently owned by the government, but it remains abandoned, and for almost a century, there haven’t been intentions to renovate it nor demolishing it. That’s not to say that people haven’t tried to occupy the property.
Once a group of homeless people tried to take refuge from the cold at the eerie Casa Mondragon, but they did not stay more than one night, claiming they kept hearing screams and whispers.
Today, some vendors who set up their business on that street use the building as a warehouse, but they never get beyond the entrance. They say that, otherwise, they start to feel like they are being pushed out of the building.
The “Black House” is a mystery at its best. Whether you are a believer in the paranormal or a skeptic looking for a logical explanation, the black house represents a tragic story full of misfortune, and in a way, the fear that many have of it is a vivid reminder of the lives that were lost in that cursed corner.
Photos from: MXCity, Donde Ir, G-Switch
Translated by María Isabel Carrasco Cara Chards