Ann Barrett: What did he do to make this house so evil, Mr. Fischer?Benjamin Franklin Fischer: Drug addiction, alcoholism, sadism, beastiality, mutilation, murder, vampirism, necrophilia, cannibalism, not to mention a gamut of sexual goodies. Shall I go on?Ann Barrett: How did it end?Benjamin Franklin Fischer: If it had ended, we would not be here. Richard […]
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 […]
Haunted Inns of New England, Longfellow’s Wayside Inn and the ghost of Jerusha Howe
One Autumn night, in Sudbury town,Across the meadows bare and brown,The windows of the wayside innGleamed red with fire-light through the leavesOf woodbine, hanging from the eavesTheir crimson curtains rent and thin.As ancient is this hostelryAs any in the land may be,Built in the old Colonial day,When men lived in a grander way,With ampler hospitality;A […]
Concord’s Colonial Inn: Revolutionary ghosts of a literary nature
The overnight shift at the front desk of Concord’s Colonial Inn is a lot like most small inns. After the last guest is checked in, restaurants and bars closed, there’s paperwork, reports and printing out bills for those checking out in the morning to keep you busy during those hazy hours of sleeplessness. One evening, […]
The Salem Inn: Hauntingly lovely and affordably posh in Salem, MA
The young lady had just walked away from her post at the guest counter of the Salem Inn, a tiny little thing tucked into a nook just below the staircase – and stepped into the parlor to light the fire and warm up a bit. It was cold, early winter in Salem, Massachusetts, and having […]
The Beechwood Inn, Barnstable Massachusetts: ghostly encounters in the shower
It’s Halloween, and I’m in the tub of the Rose Room at the Beechwood Inn in Barnstable, Massachusetts. I’m just back from the Barstable Village Haunted and History Walking Tour, which was a two hour or so stroll through the haunted spots in this stereotypically perfect Cape Cod village. The tour ends at the Old […]
