The chambered tombs and long barrows of Britain have long tickled the imagination, and perhaps none more so than Wayland’s Smithy. Perhaps it’s the stand of beech trees enclosing it which makes it feel more intimate, more hushed. Unlike West Kennet Long Barrow near Avebury, sitting exposed to the wind and the rain, high on […]
historic and haunted travel-destinations
Folk horror from Wiltshire: The Blood Stone at Luccombe Spring, starving out the Vikings at Bratton Camp, the White Horse of Westbury and the nature of folklore
The Luccombe Valley below Salisbury Plain and Bratton Camp, just visible in the upper right. In the foreground are two of the four barrows in the valley, with one of the others being the site of the Bloodstone. While wandering on Salisbury plain one day I came across a hidden valley and as I […]
Old Wardour Castle … a splendidly haunted ruin in the British countryside
Top: Old Wardour Castle, Tisbury, Wiltshire “On the south western border of Wiltshire about half between Salisbury and Shaftesbury and in the parish Tisbury stand the ivy crowned remains of the old castle Wardour.” The Antiquary, Volumes 3-4 Front Cover.W. Allen, 1873 Old Wardour Castle was built as an impressive fortified home for Lord Lovell in the late […]
Eating Poe, Part II: Edgar Allan Poe’s time on Sullivan’s Island and debunking a Charleston myth
I wake up before dawn and heard the ocean outside. The dunes separate the beach house from the sea itself, but not the smell of the ocean, nor the pounding of the surf, a dull thud, without the crackle and sizzle of the foam. The sky is beginning to lighten, I get dressed and grab […]
A Visit to Gog and Magog in the Glastonbury Zodiac, and A Spell For The Protection From Anger
I took off from the George and Pilgrim Hotel about ten in the morning. I was really kind of excited to be getting out of there. It’s moody and dark, which I love. But I needed the light. I had light for the first block I walked up High Street. It’s not that steep of […]
Top 4 elegantly creepy places to spend the night with ghosts in the midwest
Haunted hotels, bed and breakfasts with ghosts … there are countless places to spend a spooky night across the country. Let’s face it, ghosts don’t appear on schedule and usually not at all. So if you’re spending the night someplace spooky, it should be somewhere full of stories, comfort and ideally, a well stocked bar […]
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 […]
The Haunted Lemp Mansion in St. Louis: Dining and sleepovers with the ghosts of the upper crust
We’ve all heard of railroad tycoons and oil barons, but beer barons? St. Louis was ripe with those by the turn of the twentieth century, and foremost on that list was the Lemp family. Lemp beer became the first mass produced lager in the United States, and created a fortune for the family. Yet the […]
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 […]
In old Charleston, the historic and haunted are around every corner
The slogan for Charleston, South Carolina is “where history lives.” This is true. The layers of Charleston history are laid out side by side, rather than mashed on top of each other. So if you aren’t finding what you want in Charleston, turn the corner.
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 […]
