While Monte Cristo Cottage is famous as Eugene O'Neill's childhood home and inspiration for plays like Long Day's Journey Into Night, its haunted reputation centers on the perceived lingering presence of his mother, Ella Quinlan O'Neill, whose troubled life and movements through the house are thought by some to remain as a spectral energy. The house's atmosphere is described as moody and filled with memories, where the past feels palpable and elements of the playwright's painful family life seem to persist within the walls. The cottage's construction, with its low ceilings, cheap wallpaper, and odd architectural features, contributes to a somber atmosphere that influenced and depressed O'Neill, according to inkct.com. The house served as the setting for Long Day's Journey Into Night, and the palpable sense of family conflict, addiction, and despair within its walls is believed to have been a significant source of inspiration for O'Neill's work, notes www.youtube.com. Visitors and those connected to the house describe a sense that the memories and emotions of the O'Neill family don't feel distant, but rather reveal themselves in the space, making the past feel present. The most prominent haunted account claims that the ghost of Eugene's mother, Ella, is said to pace in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Actress and historian www.youtube.com commented that the O'Neill mother moved through the house like a ghost, and the feelings of the family seem to remain in the house. Some describe the cottage's pervasive sense of sadness and struggle as a manifestation of the "ghosts" or presences of the O'Neill family, who continue to linger within its confines.