Presented by EA Game Changers
The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff adds a brand new lot type to the game; Haunted House Residential. This lot type has some similarities with the Tiny House Residential lot type introduced with The Sims 4 Tiny Living Stuff, but comes with a lot more in-depth gameplay! Your Sims will have to put some effort into reaping the benefits of their new haunted abode rather than just being granted bonuses for living on the lot.
Lot Info
Any Residential lot can be turned into a Haunted House Residential lot in Build/Buy, even if there are Sims already living on the lot. In the lot info panel in the top left of the screen, simply click the lot type drop down list and select Haunted House Residential. Boom! Your house is now officially haunted!
You can see all the new features that come with living in a haunted house in the third tab of the lot info panel, but we’ve also listed them below for you:
- Ghostly Assistance: Meet Guidry the Ghost, he’s quite the charmer.
- Specters: Floating apparitions roam the lot at night! They can range from friendly to hostile.
- Haunted Treasure: Specters have all sorts of strange valuables on them!
- Paranormal Activity: Things get weird around here, especially at night… Your Sims will definitely take notice.
- Accursed Objects: Occasionally strange artifacts find their way into your house. Keep your eyes peeled!
- It’s Alive!: Try keeping the entities of the house on your good side.
- Be Brave: Each successful night yields Reward Store Points for all Sims!
- Aspiring Investigators Welcome: Become a Paranormal Investigator with the help of Guidry.
- ????????: SHE’S COMING FOR YOU!
Guidry, Your Friendly Neighbourhood Ghost
If your Sims are living in a haunted house, they’ll meet Guidry on their second night in the home. Otherwise, he can be summoned on any non-haunted lot using a séance table. Guidry is a friendly ghost and in case you were wondering, he won’t go around breaking all of your appliances at night. He has more manners than that. Guidry is quite the charming gentleman.
Guidry is who you’ll want to talk to for help and advice about all things paranormal. He can refresh your energy when you’re too scared to sleep, give you filling otherworldly snacks, and even help you out when you’ve come face-to-face with a certain villainess or when you’ve foolishly sold your soul to a specter. He’s also an encyclopedia of paranormal information and hands out Paranormal Investigator Licenses! And yes, he can be romanced and WooHoo’d, but he can’t become a member of your household. At least not without using cheats.
Guidry has his own social category conveniently called “Guidry,” so you don’t need to go searching through the Friendly social category to find all of his unique NPC interactions. He has lots of funny dialogue you can read in-game, but we’ve also compiled his dialogue here. If you don’t want to have anything spoiled before you play through the pack yourself, feel free to skip the following section!
“Why are you here?”
Well in case it wasn’t immediately apparent, I’m a ghost! And ghosts need to haunt somewhere!
If I can crash here for the time being, I’ll help you out with all the other haunted happenings going around. Little scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Sound like a deal?
But if you’re sick of ol’ Guidry, you can prevent me from appearing with that weird Hand statue you might have seen. I won’t fuss, no questions asked. I’m one of the good guys remember, I’ll understand if you need some space!
The hand Guidry is talking about here is the Helping Hand decorative statue, which you can find in Build/Buy. Filter for Paranormal Stuff if you’re having trouble finding it. When placed on the lot, you can click it to disable Guidry’s nightly visits and enable Heroic Mode. Heroic Mode makes the lot extra haunted, but also rewards your Sims with more Satisfaction Points for surviving each night there. Once enabled, Heroic Mode cannot be turned off for a while, so make sure you’re ready to deal with some craziness for an extended period of time.
“What’s up with those creepy objects?”
Yeah you’ll want to stay away from those at all costs, those things are SUPER cursed. Just being near them is like nails on a chalkboard for your soul.
Make sure you keep your eyes peeled and get rid of them the second they show up, because they are NOT friendly.
Cursed objects can come in a variety of forms; creepy dolls, hands coming up from the ground, glowing symbols on the floor, slime puddles, and strange vine overgrowth in the yard are some of the cursed objects you can expect to start popping up all over a haunted house. All of these things will deteriorate the spiritual balance of the home, causing more aggressive specters to show up at night. Destroying or cleaning up these objects improves the spiritual balance and helps keeps the specters friendly.
“What’s the deal with Specters?”
Who knows! Maybe they’re the manifestation of the lost dreams and ambitions of mankind? Or maybe I’m reading into things too much.
One thing I do know is that they love presents! If you manage to make them happy they’ll cough over something useful, and put in a good word with the rest of the entities of the house!
While Guidry is telling the truth about specters loving presents, he’s left out an important detail; they only like handcrafted items your Sims have made themselves. They won’t even accept anything else as an offering… except for souls. We noticed a lot of cross-pack integration with this feature. We were able to offer base game crafted items such as food, drinks, and wood carvings, but we were also able to offer knitted objects from Nifty Knitting Stuff and small robots from Discover University! Try a variety of different things your Sim has made.
“What’s a Paranormal Investigator?”
Seekers of the unknown! Used to be one myself a lifetime ago, I’ve always been interested in things that bump in the night!
There’s even an organization out there that recruits properly certified Paranormal Investigators too!
If you can prove your spiritual Medium skills to me, I might just be able to get you certified…
This is Guidry’s way of saying you aren’t qualified enough to be a Paranormal Investigator. Max out your Medium skill to level 5, then use the “I want to become a Paranormal Investigator!” social with him. He’ll give you a Paranormal Investigator License, which will then open up the career for you.
“I want to become a Paranormal Investigator!”
(Must have maxed Medium skill for this social to appear)
For adults:
Now look at you! You’re practically brimming with spiritual energy! I knew there was something special about you!
That’s why I’ve got this here Paranormal Investigator’s License with your name on it!
So what do you say, are you ready to take the next step?
For teens and children:
Now look at you! You’re practically brimming with spiritual energy! I knew there was something special about you! That’s why I’ve got this here Paranormal Investigator’s License with your name on it!
Unfortunately I think Child Labor Laws may have changed a bit since I was last alive, so you won’t be able to get hired until you’re older. But until then, enjoy this spiffy badge!
As Guidry explains, only young adult and older Sims can work as Paranormal Investigators. Children and teenagers can get their Paranormal Investigator’s License, but can’t join the career until they become young adults. Children and teens who have a Paranormal Investigator License do have a unique social interaction called “Show off Paranormal Badge,” though! They can impress other Sims by showing them their badge.
“How do I become less scared?”
Being afraid is perfectly natural, it happens to all of us!
But if you’re having a hard time managing your fears, I strongly urge you to get some Sacred Candles. Being near them soothes your soul and wards off all sorts of nasty feelings. Place them throughout the house if you need to, you can never have too many in my opinion!
You can make them from Wraith Wax gifted by Specters, or purchase Sacred Candles directly from the Reward Store!
Sacred Candles are quite handy to have around the house. In fact, it’s best to keep one in every room of a haunted house to ensure your Sims feel safe at night. Make them with Wraith Wax that specters drop or purchase a set of three from the Reward Store for 500 Satisfaction Points. Sacred Candles do burn down after a couple days, so make sure you’re well stocked.
“Can I make this place less… Spooky?”
Of course! The state of a Haunted House degrades over time, so it’s up to you to keep its spookiness in check.
Performing Ceremonies on the Séance Table is a great way to satiate the entities of the house, as well as appeasing any wandering Specters you might find.
If you’re ever in doubt what state the Haunted House is in, try using the Sense Spiritual Volatility Séance.
Performing Ceremonies at the Séance Table is the best way to keep the spiritual balance of the home and make sure the specters that hang around the place are friendly. For Sims who haven’t mastered the Medium skill, ceremonies will rapidly drain their energy. When a Sim’s needs drop too low, the ceremony can get interrupted, which will make the specters angry. Make sure all Sims participating in a ceremony have high motives. Using the Sense Spiritual Volatility interaction on the Séance Table will tell you the current state of the home and whether or not you need to be concerned about malevolent specters.
“Any advice living here?”
Honestly, just embrace it!
Collect Specter loot! Purchase Reward Store items! Stomp some dolls! And if you need to scream your lungs out occasionally, do so!
Adversity is part of being alive, just savor it all!
Apart from going into Build/Buy and changing the lot type back to a regular Residential lot, there is no way to completely un-haunt a haunted house. The point of living in a haunted house is not to get rid of the specters, but to live in a harmonious balance with them and keep them happy in order to receive otherworldly presents and Satisfaction Points to spend in the Reward Store.
“Who are you?”
Claude René Duplantier Guidry, but you can call me Guidry! I’m a bit of an expert in the paranormal, and I’ll never turn down a chance to help someone in need! I’ve been chasing after the unknown all my life, and afterlife.
Let me know if you need any help!
This is simply Guidry’s charming way of saying you can ask him for information and help regarding all of this pack’s new content. Curiously, his name is just Guidry when you scroll over him. His full name seems to exist only in object descriptions and his own dialogue bits.
“Wanna… Have a drink?”
(Must be Flirty to use this social)
To be honest everything has been pretty tasteless since my unfortunate demise, but here, try some of this!
It’s called Specter Sip! It seems to be made from… actually don’t think about that too much. Just try it!
Drinking Specter Sip will grant your Sims some new skills! Guidry will hand over Specter Sips fairly regularly, although there does seem to be a cooldown period because if you ask him again immediately after receiving a Specter Sip from him, he just says “Sure, if you’re buyin’!” but does not give you another one.
“Someone terrible appeared! Help!”
(Temperance must appear before you can use this social)
First Dialogue:
Yeah she and I go way back, things are… complicated. But she’s definitely bad news.
Here, try placing one of these Idols on the ground. She hates these things, and conveniently enough they hate her too!
If that doesn’t work, use your Medium skills to summon Bonehilda! She’s actually a master in spirit-based mixed martial arts, and will gladly lend a hand.
Second Dialogue:
I don’t have anymore Idols on me right now, those things are hard to come by!
You might be able to snag one from a Specter if you’re lucky though!
Remember if all else fails, use your Medium skills to give Bonehilda a call on the Séance Table!
As Guidry’s second dialogue piece suggests, he’ll only give you one Bizarre Idol the first time you tell him this. They are a rare find in the game and your Sims won’t come across them too frequently, so hang onto that first one he gives you. It’s very useful for stopping Temperance in her tracks. Who’s Temperance? More on her in the next section, Surviving Your First Week in a Haunted House.
“I’m terrified! Help me!”
(Must be Terrified to use this social)
First Dialogue:
Whoa! I can see that! You should make sure you’re near a Sacred Candle to calm down!
Here, take this Wraith Wax. You can mold this stuff into Sacred Candles!
And no you don’t need to be one of those Evergreen Harbor hipsters to make these either. Just give it a try!
Second Dialogue:
Sadly I’m out of Wraith Wax, but you can always find them by appeasing Specters too.
If you’re out of Sacred Candles you might just need to hide under the covers for a while until you calm down.
And if you’re really desperate for Sacred Candles, you can always find them in the Reward Store too.
Like he says in his second dialogue, Guidry has limited Wraith Wax, but it’s not too hard to come across in the game. Specters often leave it behind and you can get it as a reward from the Paranormal Investigator career. Click on Wraith Wax in your Sim’s inventory and select Make Sacred Candles. Each piece of Wraith Wax makes three Sacred Candles. Sacred Candles can also be purchased outright from the Reward Store for 500 Satisfaction Points. Each purchase gives you 3 Sacred Candles, so they’re pretty inexpensive.
“I may have sold my Soul.”
(You must have sold your soul to a Specter to use this social)
First Dialogue:
You did WHAT? First of all, how? Second, why? Actually I don’t need to know all the details, let’s just leave it at that.
Thankfully I may have just the solution. Try uhh, absorbing one of these. This should replace whatever you stripped out, and maybe numb that stinging feeling of regret.
Just maybe be more conscious of what you do with your soul next time?
Second Dialogue:
YOU DID IT AGAIN? Of all the…
Alright I don’t have a solution this time, you might just need to wait this one out.
Now I’m definitely a “Try anything once,” kinda guy, but please be more considerate of your soul next time? Maybe find another way to appease Specters?
As Guidry’s second dialogue piece suggests, he will only give you one Soul Piece. You can’t get unlimited Soul Pieces from him, so maybe don’t sell your soul too often. Why not? Well, every time you sell your soul, your age bar fills up by a considerable amount, shortening your Sim’s overall lifespan! Absorbing Soul Pieces can restore your age bar, but they aren’t exactly lying around like spare change. Apart from Guidry, they can only be dropped by Specters and given as Paranormal Investigator rewards. Take care with your Soul Pieces… and your soul!
“I can’t get a good night’s sleep!”
(You must be tired to use this social)
Okay HOLD STILL-
There! Do you feel more… ENERGIZED? Hah! Of course you do!
Just a little ghost razzle-dazzle, perfectly harmless. Maybe take a shower later though.
Feel free to tell Guidry whenever you’re tired and having a hard time getting any sleep! He’ll restore your energy bar for you anytime you need him to. Having Guidry replenish your energy will almost completely refill the energy bar, too!
“I can’t get a chance to eat!”
(You must be hungry to use this social)
No worry! Here, eat this Ectocake! I’m told they taste pretty good!
Managing your mortal needs can sometimes be difficult in a Haunted House. Thankfully eating one of these will keep you satiated for quite a while!
Also do you see that cute little face on it? It’s adorable!
Feel free to let Guidry know whenever you’re hungry and too scared to cook anything for yourself! He has unlimited Ectocakes on him and he’s happy to share!
Surviving Your First Week in a Haunted House
Now that you’ve gotten the rundown of some of the basics of living in a haunted house, can you survive a whole week in one? Don’t be intimidated by that thought! As soon as you load onto a haunted house, the game will start an informal tutorial series that lasts one in-game week. Don’t worry; this tutorial is pretty non-invasive and won’t eat up all of your time. You can pretty much live a normal life and do whatever you want in that first week. You’ll just receive some popups at certain points throughout the week providing you with direction on how to deal with various paranormal happenings in the home.
The First Night
You won’t notice anything strange about your new haunted home during the day, but at 9pm on your first night in the house, you’ll receive a popup message warning you that you’ve somehow ended up inside a haunted home! Spooky! You can respond confidently or not-so-confidently to this unsettling news. It doesn’t really matter which option you pick; it’s mostly just for storytelling and flavour, so just pick whatever option you like the most.
You’ll be on your own tonight, but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The house’s spiritual balance starts off in a positive state, so the paranormal activity won’t be too out of control. Any specters you come across will most likely be friendly, but do make sure to get rid of any random creepy objects you find around the house. Those can deteriorate the spiritual balance of the home if left to sit around unchecked.
Try the Sense Spiritual Volatility interaction on the séance table to get a feel for the spiritual condition of the home. It’s also a good way to start learning the Medium skill. You can also try interacting with any specters you find around the house.
If your Sims are feeling a bit creeped out by specters, cursed objects, or flickering lights, you can always purchase some Sacred Candles from the Reward Store! They come in sets of three for 500 Satisfaction Points.
The Second Night
At 9pm on your second night in the haunted house, Guidry makes his grand appearance! We’ve already discussed Guidry at length in this article, but as a small refresher, he’s a good ghost who won’t be a nuisance and he’s here to help you out. He’ll pay you a visit every night from now on in a haunted house, but you can disable his visits with the Helping Hand decorative statue in Build/Buy if his nightly appearances are getting on your nerves. On non-haunted houses, he can be summoned at the séance table.
Depending on how things went the previous night, your house’s spiritual balance might have deteriorated a bit by now, so it’s a good thing Guidry’s here. His presence will make your nights in a haunted house much easier. You can ask him for information on what to do about various paranormal happenings in the home (or just read the previous section of this article if you want to save yourself some clicking in-game). If your Sims become too frightened to satisfy their basic needs, Guidry can also give you filling snacks and help restore your energy when you’re tired.
With Guidry around to help, you shouldn’t have too many issues tackling the specters and cursed objects on your second night. Make use of Sacred Candles, Perform Ceremonies if needed, get rid of cursed objects, and appease some specters. If things go south and your Sims become too frightened to do these things, ask Guidry to help calm you down or help satisfy your needs.
The Third and Fourth Nights
There are no plot-important game prompts on nights three and four, but Guidry will still be around to provide you with assistance should you need any. Continue your nightly work of removing cursed objects and appeasing specters. If things are getting too spooky for your liking, perform a ceremony to help calm things down. Oh, and don’t forget those Sacred Candles!
Since nothing of any particular importance happens during these two nights, it might be a good time to sit down at the Séance Table and work on building your Medium skill if you’re interested in becoming a Paranormal Investigator. Even if you’re not, becoming a master Medium is still helpful for any Sim living in a haunted house. Their interactions with specters succeed a lot more often and they don’t use up nearly as much energy while performing ceremonies.
Having high Medium skill is also going to prove helpful tomorrow night…
The Fifth Night
SHE’S HERE!!!
It looks like the previous two uneventful nights were meant to lull you into a false sense of security because at 9pm on your fifth night, Temperance comes to call. Unlike Guidry, Temperance is a nasty ghost who is not nice at all and the opposite of helpful. She and Guidry have a shaky romantic history and it doesn’t seem like she’s forgotten about it.
Temperance will generally just be a massive pain, doing mean and mischievous interactions, scaring your Sims, and interrupting séances. Just being near Temperance will make Sims Terrified, rendering them unable to do much of anything. They won’t be able to cook, sleep, or counteract any paranormal activity going on in the home while they’re in the Terrified emotional state. Temperance can make life pretty miserable for your poor exhausted, panicked Sims.
Luckily, Guidry knows her best. After Temperance appears on the fifth night, tell Guidry “Someone terrible appeared! Help!” He’ll give you a Bizarre Idol and tell you that Temperance hates them. If you want to get rid of her fast, place one of them down on the ground near her. Placing a Bizarre Idol near Temperance will cause the Idol to start flaming and Temperance will cower in fear. She won’t be able to cause any trouble while she’s incapacitated by the Idol. Eventually, she’ll stop cowering and flee the house.
Bizarre Idols are the quickest and easiest way to get rid of Temperance whenever she shows up, but they’re in short supply. Guidry won’t give you another one and they’re a pretty rare find from specters. You’ll want to hang onto the first one he gives you, just in case you ever need it again. If you ever lose your Bizarre Idol and Temperance pays you a visit again, you can also summon Bonehilda at the Séance Table.
Summoning Bonehilda requires Medium skill level 3, so I hope you were practicing the previous two nights. Bonehilda is a skeleton maid who also happens to be a skilled martial artist against the paranormal. If you call on her while Temperance is on the lot, Bonehilda will beat her up for you. Temperance can make your Sims too terrified to use the Séance Table, though. If you don’t have a Bizarre Idol handy, it’s a good idea to summon Bonehilda before 9pm every night, just as a precaution. She’ll stay the full night and if Temperance comes knocking, Bonehilda will send her packing!
The Sixth Night
You deserve a break after the terror of last night. Nothing particularly note-worthy happens on your sixth night, but if you haven’t been regularly appeasing the specters with ceremonies, cursed object removal, and offerings, the spiritual balance of your house could be pretty out of whack by now. You might encounter the angry red specters and a lot more paranormal shenanigans going on, like sudden thumping sounds and lights flickering on and off. As usual, combat this by putting Sacred Candles in every room of the house, performing ceremonies, cleaning up cursed objects, and giving presents to specters.
If you’ve been doing a good job of keeping the specters happy, you can sit back and relax with a Specter Sip with Guidry. Or maybe summon Bonehilda to help you tidy up the place a little. It’s probably a disaster after Temperance invaded last night.
The Seventh Night
Guidry is so impressed with your perseverance that he wants to give you a reward for spending so many nights in a haunted house! Spending seven nights in a haunted house will unlock Guidry’s own outfit in CAS. If you were jealous of his dapper style, you can look just like him now! Just… try not to think about the fact that he died wearing that outfit. It’s totally not haunted or anything. Probably.
You’ll find the full ensemble unlocked for the whole household in CAS. It comes in three pieces; a hat, a full-body outfit, and a pair of shoes. The hat and shoes are tagged for both frames, but the full-body outfit is tagged for only the masculine frame by default. You can of course switch the tags so your feminine Sims can wear the full outfit, too.
Mortimer Goth wearing the unlocked hat, shoes, and full-body outfit.
Congratulations on surviving your first week in a haunted house! The informal tutorial is finished now, so what’s next? Is your home un-haunted now? Well, not exactly. Your house will always be haunted unless you change the lot type in Build/Buy, but as Guidry advises you, just embrace it. You’ll find that performing ceremonies daily, cleaning up cursed objects, and keeping Sacred Candles around will just become a normal part of everyday life for your Sims, but it’s not so bad! The specters will drop all kinds of neat stuff for your Sims to collect, consume, or sell. You’ll also continue to earn Satisfaction Points every morning at 6am just for surviving another night in the home. Personally, I found myself looking forward to Guidry’s nightly visits. It felt like an old friend coming back to say hi. My Sims became quite close with him.
But if living in a haunted house just isn’t enough of a thrill for your Sims, they should look into getting their Paranormal Investigator License. There’s never a dull moment for a Paranormal Investigator.
