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 Jamesport Manor Inn: Gourmet dinner and spirits
One could argue that the main character of The Witching Hour, a novel by Anne Rice is the Mayfair mansion on First Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the book, the house is painstakingly restored, making a dandy home, custom-built for the spirits that live within. But this begs the question, what ties a spirit […]
The Spooner House, Plymouth, Massachusetts: A haunting in America’s hometown
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 museum for over 50 years. […]
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 […]
Peter Stuyvesant: A citizen of old New Amsterdam, carrying on nearly 400 years later in New York City
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 West Indies company. The main source […]
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 […]
