Florida House For Sale Comes With Underground Dungeon Giving “Lotion in the Basket” Vibes

As a realtor, this is not what you expect when you open what you think is a bedroom closet door. The whole thing looks like a creepy dungeon and it has a "lotion in the basket" feel to it.

Gainesville, Florida based Realtor Jessica Law posted a video of the house to her Tik Tok, which has now reached over 1.7 million views. In the video, she opens a bedroom door expecting a closet and finding something very, very different.

"All the years I've been selling real estate, I've never had something quite like this come up. Um, I opened up to what I thought was a closet door in the bedroom at the back of the house...."

She opened the door to find some form of "underground dungeon."

That iron door with the swinging latch certainly makes you think of Silence of the Lambs "Put the lotion in the basket!" Right? "It puts the lotion on the skin or else it gets the hose again." But post commenters pointed out that the secret room likely had a much different purpose.

Because the latch on the big metal gate is on the inside, it's doubtful this had a sinister use. It's more likely a type of 'safe room.' But safe from what?

From criminals? Maybe. In a home invasion I guess you could escape to this room and wait for help.

The idea of a storm cellar is out. We get hurricanes in Florida - the last place you want to be in a hurricane is underground. That's why Florida homes seldom have basements. Even in Gainesville.

So it's more likely a fallout shelter. The house was built in 1958, the Cuban Missile Crisis was 1962. If this was added, the time frame makes sense.

The sharp corner and the concrete walls would help limit initial radiation exposure. The big gate? That was probably installed to keep others out and keep the owner and their precious resources safe. I've played enough video games to know that a post-apocalyptic world is full of feral ghouls.

Plus, the rug really ties the room together.

So what initially appeared to be an underground prison for a deranged individual to yell out things like "It puts the lotion in the basket!" it's merely a shelter to wait out nuclear fallout from World War 3. That's so much better.

It's only a matter of time before something goes wrong and we're all looking for the best place to hide in SWFL to ride out the apocalypse. Getting away from the concentrated areas of Southwest Florida like Fort Myers and Naples would be a start. But first, let's analyze one of the many, many many scenarios where something cataclysmic can happen to us here in Florida. The Zombie apocalypse.

The idea of large swaths of humanity turning into zombies really isn't as far fetched as you might believe. And it's playing out right now. Let's start with the Havana Syndrome. Symptoms  often include nausea, dizziness, migraines, and problems with vision and hearing. Sleep problems and difficulty concentrating has also been reported. It's been speculated that the syndrome may be caused by some form of attack by a foreign government. Is the next step of the Havana Syndrome to turn people into zombies?

Next up, it's COVID-19. Without getting into the initial cause of the pandemic, we know that scientists are experimenting with viruses in foreign countries (and here in Florida, too). Could a virus be unleashed that turns us all into 'zombies'?

So before any of this happens, as residents of Fort Myers, Naples, and all of SWFL - let's prepare.

My first thought would be an island like Keewaydin, but then you'd run out of food and water. So I decided to crowdsource some ideas. Something Reddit is great for. Here's some of the better ideas:

I need to get to know the last poster, they sound like they're already ready. My plan is actually a lot like lafrank59. I know a guy named Mike. If that falls through, my best place to hide in SWFL would be putting up the hurricane shutters and blocking the door.

But what if you had enough time to get out of town? Are there better places outside of our best place to hide in SWFL? Yes there are. Onlyinyourstate analyzed the 9 best places in Florida to hide from the hordes of the undead. I'll focus on the ones not already covered and ones that we can actually get to.

If you can make it to Central Florida, the tower is located in a less populated area and from 226 feet up you can see if there's any incoming threats. The bonus here is there's a pretty amazing coffee shop there. I can live without a lot of things, but not without coffee.

Costco has absolutely everything you need to survive. Secure the loading docks and board up those front doors and you and your friends could survive in 'Costco City' for years. I call 'dibs' on the Gulf Coast Town Center location.

A group of houseboats surviving in the bay is a solution if you're prepared enough. You can fish for food and if you have a water purifier/desalinization set up you can be out there for quite awhile.

If you happen to be at an Orlando theme park when it all goes down, maybe you could retreat to Disney's underground tunnel system. Find a way to barricade yourself in and you'll find plenty of provisions + medical supplies. It's really an underground city down there with everything you need.

If you can get there, what a sweet setup this would be. A fort on an island 70 miles away from Key West. Being prepared for this escape will be the challenge. You'll need a way to catch fish and there's no potable water at the fort. If you're prepping for an emergency situation, these are the water desalinators they use on life rafts.