Top: Charleston’s Old Jail, where Lavina Fisher and her husband John were held and executed. Though she’s been dead for almost 200 years, Charleston is in love Lavina Fisher. Or rather the legend of Lavina Fisher. According to legend, Lavinia had a way with men, particularly her husband John. John and Lavinia ran the Six […]
Haunted Towns and Cities
True Confessions: In which the author relates his own encounters in the land of Sleepy Hollow
Above: The shot I was taking in Washington Irving’s Sunnyside when the lady laughed. People are always asking me if I believe these stories, they say “Todd, do you believe these stories?” That’s neither here nor there. But I will offer up a couple of experiences I’ve had, both coming from the Sleepy Hollow area […]
Philipsburg Manor: Historic Attraction in Historic Hudson Valley’s Sleepy Hollow
Philsburg Manor, a historic attraction In Sleepy Hollow, in the heart of the historic Hudson River valley, by history/travel photographer and writer Todd Atteberry for the History Trekker.
The Devil in Old Salem: Proctor’s Ledge, the real Gallow’s Hill?
Proctor’s Ledge, thought to be the location of the gallows in Salem, by history travel photographer/writer Todd Atteberry, for the History Trekker
Salem, Massachusetts: The Historical Record and a Salem Travelogue
Salem is a town riddled with cliche, hoary with history and a fascinating place to spend some time. This piece from the Gothic Cabinet of Curiosity and Mysteries travels to New England in search of the timeless quality, when witches were thought to roam the landscape.
Tales of Old Stony Brook II: Of William Sidney Mount, spirits and Spiritualism
The Hawkins Mount House. In Richard Matheson’s classic novel from the 1970s, Hell House, a team of investigators are sent to spend a week in a haunted house to provide definitive proof of life after death. Almost immediately, a conflict breaks out between the scientist, who while not doubting the existence of the supernatural, or […]
Tales From Head of the Harbor & St. James Part IV: A True Ghost Story from Head of the Harbor
Top: The Carman-White House. Samuel Carman was a wealthy landowner in Head of the Harbor, New York in the 19th century. Following the death of his wife in 1888, his unmarried daughters built on Moriches road, a two story house in the Victorian style, in the same neighborhood as the other Carmans of the area. […]
The Legends and Myths of Mount Misery and Sweet Hollow Road, Part III. Mary takes another swing with her bloody hatchet on the big screen
It’s approaching Halloween and we have another film based on the legend of Mary Hatchet of Sweet Hollow Road and Mount Misery. Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet is a hatchet job on the legends, which we look at in detail in this look at one of Long Island’s most popular Urban Legends in the Gothic Cabinet of Curiosities and Mysteries.
Poe in Charleston and the Legend of Annabel Lee
Sullivan’s Island, Charleston, South Carolina. “I asked myself- “Of all melancholy topics what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is the most melancholy?” Death, was the obvious reply. “And when,” I said, “is this most melancholy of topics most poetical?” From what I have already explained at some length the answer here also is […]
The Legends and Myths of Mount Misery and Sweet Hollow Road Pt. II: Of Native Americans, Mothmen, M.I.B.s and UFOs
Mount Misery and Sweet Hollow’s Road big-time debut came in the book the Mothman Prophecies by John Keel, but the legends stretch back further. Lost and confused in the history of the native Americans of Huntington and Plainview, we try to untangle the mysteries of the mothman, M.I.B. and UFOs in this haunted area. From the Gothic Curiosity Cabinet
