Revisiting the Case of the 'Bleeding House' of Georgia: A Greatly Exaggerated Story?

In the late 1980s, a bizarre incident that occurred in a house in Georgia was covered in major newspapers around the world. In the home of an elderly couple, a mysterious red substance was reportedly oozing from the walls and floors of the house. When police tested the substance, it turned out to be human blood. Since that time, the story of the "bleeding house" has been rehashed in countless paranormal communities, podcasts, and articles. Was this truly an unexplicable event? Let's revisit the case of the "bleeding house" of Georgia.

Willie Winston and his wife, Minnie Clyde Winston, had lived in their modest six room house on Fountain Drive in southwest Atlanta for 22 years. Both retired and in their late 70s, Willie's health was failing quickly and Minnie was his full-time caretaker. Mr. Winston was on dialysis daily which he did at home. No one else lived in the house with the elderly couple.

Minnie and Willie Winston, Atlanta, 1987Photo byAP Laserphoto published in "Press of Atlantic City" Fri, Sep 11, 1987 (via nespapers.com)

On the night of Sept 8, 1987, just before midnight, Minnie noticed something odd on her bathroom floor as she stepped out of the bathtub. Minnie immediately woke up her husband and said, "Come look at all this red stuff coming out of the floors." Unable to figure out what the substance was, they eventually called the police.

The police found more of the substance throughout the house. When investigators confirmed the red substance was blood, this caught the attention of the press - although it wasn't known at the time if the blood was from an animal or a human. The first article about the house appeared in The Atlanta Journal on Wednesday, Sep 9, 1987. Here's a copy of the original newspaper clipping:

Newspaper clippingPhoto byThe Atlanta Journal, Wed, Sep 9, 1987 (via newspapers.com)

For the next two days, the baffling story of Georgia's "bleeding house" gained momentum. Newspapers across the globe carried the bizarre story - and when the Atlanta police declared that the substance was human type O blood, and the Winstons both had type A blood, the press and the public went crazy over the story.

News reporters, writers, psychics, and curious people around the world hounded the elderly Atlanta couple. The police had already declared the house a "crime scene," however that didn't stop the calls and visits. In an article carried by the Associated Press on Friday, September 11, Mrs. Winston voiced her frustration at the sudden attention.

"I still don't know where the blood came from, and I'm tired of all these people asking me all these questions. If anybody comes here today, I'm not going to open my door. The phone rang all night, people asking me questions. I'm fed up with all this." - Minnie Winston

The story of the "bleeding house" in Georgia took on a life of its own. Although Atlanta police admitted they were baffled over the incident, they insisted there was a logical explanation behind the blood and nothing "otherworldly" was at play. That didn't stop the press from greatly exaggerrating the story, however, and perpetuating outlandish rumors that there was a "bleeding house" in Atlanta.

Atlanta "Bleeding House" exaggerated articlePhoto byThe Miami Herald Miami, Florida, Thu, Sep 10, 1987 (via newspapers.com)

The story morphed into one of outright gore and horror as sensational accounts of the "blood oozing house" were published around the world. Articles such as the one above from the Miami Herald claimed that there were "copious amounts of blood" in the house and it "spurted like a sprinkler" from the bathroom floor. By the end of the week, Mr. and Mrs. Winston were exhausted from the attention surrounding their home.

An article published in the Atlanta Constitution on Friday, September 11, 1987, showed Minnie Winston's frustration with the press and the false information,

"What they've said about all this is lies. Just Leave us alone! The phone rang all night, people asking me all these questions. I'm fed up with all this!" - Minnie Winston

In the same article, Mr. Winston was quoted as he yelled out of his bedroom window to reporters approaching the scene, "There's no blood in this house. Now, get away from here." Local radio and television stations said they had been flooded with calls with people wanting to know more about the mysterious house that had been reported to ooze human blood.

The most credible accounts of the story seem to be the ones published locally in the Atlanta Constitution and the Atlanta Journal newspapers. After scouring those hometown reports, it was easy to separate the fact from fiction:

• There were not "copious amounts" of blood in the house, no blood "oozing" or running down the walls, and no blood "squirting like a sprinkler" out of the bathroom floor as some newspapers reported. A local reporter who saw the blood described it as "stains that ranged from the size of a dime to a silver dollar."
• No additional blood appeared in the house after the Winstons or the police first observed it. In fact, an article featured in the Atlanta Constitution on Saturday, Sept. 12, 1987, the crime lab confirmed that the blood was completely dried up in the house by the time they were notified to test it. The house was not "bleeding" on an ongoing basis.

Although the police and the Georgia State Crime Lab both stated that the substance was human blood, there was evidence in the home that looked more like a small animal had scattered the blood throughout the house. For one thing, the spots of blood were all very low on the walls or on the floor. The spots in the basement were found underneath a console-type television that stood on very short legs (see photo below) and in places the police described as "narrow spaces virtually impossible for a person to reach." A representative for the state crime lab was quoted that he believed the blood looked as if it had been "shaken off something."

Investigators searching Winston's house 1987Photo byThe Atlanta Constitution Sep 10, 1987 (via newspapers.com)

Photo byThe Atlanta Constitution, Fri, Sep 11, 1987 (via newspapers.com)

In the end, the police quickly closed the case of what became known as the "bleeding house" of Georgia - although it was never actually a "bleeding house" at all. It's worth noting that Minnie Winston never thought the substance was human blood. In an article in the Atlanta Constitution on Thursday, Sept. 10, 1987, "I still don't believe it's human blood," Mrs. Winston said. "I don't care what the police say." She was also quoted in the first local article as saying, "It didn't look like blood, and it didn't smell like blood."

This leaves us with a few possibilities for the mysterious red substance found in the house:

• Did the local police or the state crime lab make a mistake? Was the substance never blood at all as Minnie suspected?
• Was the substance blood - but actually from a small animal, such as a cat or rat, that had found it's way into the Winston's home? Could there have been a mistake in identifying the blood or a mix-up at the lab?
• Was there perhaps an injured and bleeding burglar with type O blood who had broken into the elderly couple's home that night with the Winstons unaware of their presence?
• Did one of the Winstons actually have type O blood and the blood was one of theirs? Their blood was never actually tested by the crime lab. The police depended on their medical records to determine their blood type. Minnie's blood type, in particular, was given over the phone by her doctor's office. That left room for a mistake, for certain.

There are lots of questions that will forever remain unanswered in this infamous case, and although it's still rehashed as a "paranormal" event, there was probably nothing paranormal about the story at all. As for the Winstons, Mr. Winston passed away a couple of years after the case in 1989. Minnie Winston, however, lived to be 105 years old! She passed away in 2015. They are buried together in Greenwood Cemetery in Atlanta. It seems as if they were a sweet older couple who got caught up in a story that was greatly exaggerrated and sensationalized by the press.

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