The Union Station Hotel in Nashville is a non-smoking hotel, and the lady needed a smoke before bed. She stepped out on the old platform, saw the bellhops and valets busy at their station and lit up. At the end of the platform she notices a woman, looking anxiously about, and pays little attention. The […]
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 […]
The Ragged Cot Inn: Where spirits go bump in the dark of an English country night
In December 1760, the landlord of the Ragged Cot, Bill Clavers, decided to rob the midnight stagecoach travelling to London. Before setting out, he gave himself Dutch courage and resistance to the cold with liberal helpings of rum. As he staggered from his bedroom with loaded pistols, his wife, with their young child in her […]