Update on the basement cave: My house is really really old and there's a stone wall in the back of the basement that maybe was part of the original foundation. It's got an enormous uneven hole in it like it was partially knocked down, and behind that.... spiders. Jesus Christ so so so many spiders. I felt bad for them but I vacuumed up their homes. One walked away carrying an ant like a tiny bindle :(
Through the mystery hole is exactly the type of room you'd hide skeletons in.
the basement room has concrete walls and a floor that is completely covered in discarded bricks and dust. Idk if it's stone or dirt underneath but there are clearly man made walls. NGL I'm scared of it even having cleaned it out a bit. Like... it really is a spooky and unexplained room. My spouse wants to brick it all up but I think that makes it worse and even more like that Poe story. Dad thinks it was for holding coal and not skeletons so I'm telling myself that's what it was.
@Expecting_Words Is there a closed-up window, or one that opens to the side of the house that has bricks around it or covering it? That's probably the coal chute. It might be all the way across the basement from the 'cave'.
We see them a lot in 100+ year old homes in the city.