The house
The House of Mystery is north of Louisville, Kentucky, where it was built and abandoned by Colonel Braitwaithe before the American Civil War,[17] and in the Dreaming. Little is known about the House of Mystery in general. Its exterior and interior change periodically, meaning that one never enters the same room twice. The House of Mystery lies in the same graveyard as the House of Secrets, its companion. Cain lives in the House of Mystery, whereas Abel resides in the House of Secrets.
Cain is not the only person to have lived within the House; in addition to boarders, including Mister Mxyzptlk, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark took shelter within the house. Her brief stay in the House of Mystery is notable for two reasons: first, the House of Mystery is established as being the same house throughout its publication history. Three distinct personalities of the house are shown: the original horror House of Mystery, a dark humor "House of Weirdness"-style which harkened back to Cain's stint in Plop!, and the current version of the House of Mystery in Kentucky. The second reason is the timing of Elvira's stay. She took up residence during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Elvira, tasked by the House of Mystery to find Cain, took over his role of host for a brief period, while Cain was relegated to being the butt of her jokes during occasional cameos.
The House of Mystery possesses sentience, along with mystic powers. It has possessed someone before and merged with the House of Secrets briefly. It was destroyed in The House of Mystery #321 before being restored during Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Batman entered the house in The Brave and the Bold #93, tripped on a floorboard, and would have been shot had his pursuer's gun not jammed. He never actually met Cain, who instead narrates a story about him occurring in Scotland, which climaxes in a castle he describes as "a house of mystery" rather than "the House of Mystery".[18] Superman teamed with Cain against Mxyzptlk, who was attempting to take over the House, in DC Comics Presents #53.[19]
The House of Mystery appears mainly in various Vertigo titles, especially those tied into Neil Gaiman's Sandman; it has appeared briefly in Resurrection Man. Something called the House of Mystery appeared in 52 #18, where it seems to have been used for some time as a base for a team of detectives called the Croatoan Society, which counts both Detective Chimp and Ralph Dibny among its members. It is unclear if the Croatoan's House of Mystery is meant to be the same as the original House of Mystery, a post-Infinite Crisis version of the original House of Mystery, or simply a different location with the same name. Cain's name appeared on this house's mailbox, implying a connection to the original House.
In The New 52's rebooted DC continuity (launched in 2011), the House reappeared in the pages of Justice League Dark, being used as a base for the team. The House is shown to currently belong to John Constantine, who claims to have won the key to the House in a poker game against Doctor Occult and Father Time. Constantine takes his time to adjust to the House of Mystery due to the changing rooms and feels that the House has to play tricks on those who enter it.[20]
