The Nelson House is an imposing edifice by anyone’s standards. Three stories tall and on a hill overlooking the York River, the house was believed to be for a time, the headquarters of British General Cornwallis during the American Revolution, and was a frequent target of American and French cannon fire during the siege of Yorktown. […]
haunting stories
Long Island’s Jamesport Manor Inn: An insider’s story
You can get used to about anything, living at the Jamesport Manor Inn on Long Island. A former dishwasher who was also a tenant before it burned and was restored, proved it one afternoon as he was at his sink, doing his job. A waitress, who was also familiar with the specter of what people […]
The Spooner House, Plymouth, Massachusetts: A haunting in America’s hometown
The Spooner House, Plymouth, Massachusetts In August of 2005, a group of workmen were hired to do repairs at the Spooner House in Plymouth, Massachusetts and upon arriving, knocked at the door. A little girl in colonial period costume opened it, which surprised no one as the more than 262 year-old house has been a […]
The death, resurrection and retribution of Zona Heaster Shue, The Greenbrier Ghost
Zona Heaster Shue was born in the mountains of West Virginia. Raised around Richlands, as far as we know, Zona never left Greenbrier county in her too short lifetime. Even now, Greenbrier county is far removed from the hustle and bustle of city life, with a population of about 34,000, spread out over a thousand […]
The ghosts of St. Helena’s chapel of ease and Land’s End light – true hauntings from South Carolina’s sea islands
St. Helena Island, a sea island located in the Port Royal Sound of South Carolina has a long history. Some say it’s the oldest settlement in the United States, founded shortly after its discovery by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, a Spaniard looking to colonize the sea islands, some time around 1520. Port Royal, located on […]
A True Ghost Story from the Sea: The Curse of the Charles Haskell
At top, Tropical Storm Ida, Stephen Fields Beach, Plymouth, Massachusetts. I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribbed sea-sand. I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand, so brown.’ – “Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest! This body […]
Peter Stuyvesant: A citizen of old New Amsterdam, carrying on nearly 400 years later in New York City
Statue of Peter Stuyvesant, St. Marks-Church-In-The-Bowery. Before there was New York, there was New Amsterdam. Founded by the Dutch in 1614, New Amsterdam occupied much of the tip of lower Manhattan, with today’s Wall Street taking its name from the outer walls of the settlement. New Amsterdam was a company town, ran by the Dutch […]
Hoppy Rebstock, the heartbeat in the tombstone and the joys of school picnics
“I foamed — I raved — I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder — louder — louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly , and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? […]
A warlock’s curse? The ghosts of Salem’s Howard Street Burying Ground
Salem’s Howard Street Burying Ground with the Old Jail in the Background Giles Corey married three times, the last time when he was pushing eighty years old. When his second wife died in Salem Village, Massachusetts, he married a third time, to a lady by the name of Martha, who had two grown boys. Martha […]
Urban legend Black Annis makes the trip from England to the midwest
Annie lost her children in a fire on the north side of Carmi, Illinois quite some time ago. Ever since she wandered the dark alleys at night, looking for her lost children. She wore black, still in mourning, her face beyond pale and ghastly blue in the moonlight. Sometimes you could hear her shuffling along, […]
Growing up gothic; Of devil worshippers, Satanists and the Dark Secret of Harvest Home
Urban legends often have very rural roots. Read of devil worshippers, Satanists and rock and roll in this drawer of the Gothic Cabinet of Curiosities and Mysteries
Newbury Massachusetts and the Pierce Tomb: Dancing with the dead on Old Burial Hill
The Pierce Tomb in Newburyport Massachusetts has been the victim of various vandals with a macabre streak a mile wide over the past eighty years. Learn more in this
