Haunted Plymouth has been known as America’s hometown over more than four centuries, and its history stretches back even further than that. Ghosts and hauntings seem to attach themselves to locations over time … houses, buildings of all sorts, even woods and entire towns. Plymouth has seen its share of real life horror stories, and […]
New England
Running from the storm
Tropical Storm Ida, Stephen Fields Beach, Plymouth, Massachusetts I was living on Long Island, a hurricane was bearing down. The question was, would it strengthen or weaken? The consensus was it would weaken, so now evacuations took place. I had the weekend free, I wanted to be in New England for the storm. It was […]
Is it really the House of the Seven Gables? Perhaps, perhaps not. Either way the Turner-Ingersoll mansion in Salem breathes New England history
“Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst. The street is Pyncheon Street; the house is the old Pyncheon House; and an elm-tree, of wide circumference, rooted […]
A historic home in Salem finds its way into Lovecraft’s fiction
The Crowninshield Bentley House c.1727-30. Click here to view larger and more images from Salem, Massachusetts. Part of the Peabody Essex Museum and available for tours, June through October 126 Essex Street at Washington Square “I lied when I said she had gone away. I killed her. I had to. It was sudden, but we were […]
Prithee WGN’s Salem, forgive me, for I confess I was wrong
In which the author issues a rare apology When I heard that WGN was making a series based on the Salem witch hysteria, I was skeptical. Then I saw the previews. I decided on the spot I’d rather eat my own swill than watch it. The events that happened at Salem were horrifying. The more […]
Top 5 Haunted Massachusetts hotels and bed and breakfasts
Ghost stories are a traditional part of New England evenings, and have been since before the founding of our country. So what can be better than spending an evening in a haunted Massachusetts hotel, inn or bed and breakfast? Let’s be honest … you’re not likely to be disturbed by either the dead or undead in a […]
Cemetery Symbolism: The Meaning of Memento Mori and a Puritan reminder of your mortality
Memento Mori, headstone in the Old Burial Ground, Concord, MA, c. 1759. Click here for more tombstone images “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound […]
Jerusha Howe’s bedroom at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn
Room 9 is the room to get when staying at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn outside Sudbury, Massachusetts. It’s said to host the spirit of Jerusha, who has been known to snuggle up to male guests during the night, when they stay in the room alone. But don’t come expecting much in the way of modern entertainment. […]
The Witches’ Field in Salem Village, Where the Wicked Gathered When George Burrough blew his horn
From the Salem Witchcraft Papers, Boyer and Nissenbaum, 1977 1st June 1692 Abigaile Hobbs then confessed before John Hathorn & Jonathan Corwin Esq’rs That the generall meeting of the Witches in the feild near Mr Parrisse’s house she saw Mr George Burroughs, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne Bridgett Bishop als. Olliver & Giles Cory, two or […]
A Salem Walking Tour in Three Miles
Salem is a walking town, with Essex Street acting as the main pedestrian artery. If you’re spending the night in Salem, haunted hotels are the way to go. This walking tour assumes you’re staying at either the Hawthorne Hotel, or the Salem Inn, which lie at opposites ends of this walk. Both are historic, with […]
A Field Guide to visiting Salem, Massachusetts: From Witches to the Maritimes, to literary fame, a history lover’s dream
I’ll admit it, the first time I saw the sign announcing that I had arrived in Salem, I got chills up my spine. The Salem witch hunt was a real-life horror story, and usually the first one we learn as school children. If you grew up in the sixties, there’s a good chance that mood […]
Deconstructing myths of the American Revolution: Paul Revere’s ride in the words of Paul Revere himself and a travelogue
What most people know about the midnight ride of Paul Revere comes not from the history books, but a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which stretched the truth
