Writer Joshua Malkin ventures into the Los Feliz Murder Mansion

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

In the hillside neighborhood of Los Feliz in Los Angeles, there stands a mansion that has been vacant and largely untouched for nearly fifty-six years. No has lived in the house since the morning of December 6, 1959, when Dr. Harold Perelson beat his wife to death with a hammer, attacked his eighteen-year-old daughter with that same hammer, and then committed suicide.

When an abandoned mansion has a history like that, it's no wonder that it has drawn the attention of a lot of people, including trespassers who go up to the windows to gaze in on the frozen-in-time furnishings (including a Christmas tree, with wrapped presents still under it), have picnics in the yard, or even try to break in. Over the years, trespassers and neighbors alike have started reporting paranormal activity on the property.

Earlier this year, Jeff Maysh wrote an article about the Los Feliz Murder Mansion for Medium.com, and the film rights to that article have now been picked up by The Coalition Group, who have hired CABIN FEVER 2 screenwriter Joshua Malkin to turn the story of the supposedly haunted crime scene into a film.

It will be interesting to see exactly what type of approach Malkin takes to the concept. Will it be the story of the Perelsons? The story of new residents, or unlucky trespassers? Will it follow a journalist investigating the house? There are all sorts of possibilities.

Regardless of what the movie will be, the Los Feliz Murder Mansion certainly seems like a fascinating location.