10 spooky New England towns to visit if you dare
For those who seek out the paranormal or get a rush from the thought of a ghost, New England is a pretty good place to be in October. Here is an in-no-way-inclusive list of some towns you can visit if you’d like to get a shiver down your spine this fall.
Hartford, Connecticut
The Mark Twain House in Hartford gleams in the sunset.
Mark Twain loved a good ghost story, and at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, you can take a “graveyard shift ghost tour.” While you’re in the city, check out the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, which also runs an otherworldly tour. Not only did ghost stories show up in Stowe’s writing, her family participated in séances and tried to communicate with dead family members.
Salem, Massachusetts
As Frankenstein, John Febonio of Lynn strolls the Essex Street pedestrian mall during the October long pre-Halloween Haunted Happenings celebration in Salem.
Though the Salem Witch Trials took place centuries ago, that dark period in Massachusetts history — more than 150 people were accused of witchcraft, and 27 were either executed or died in jail — is still very apparent in the coastal town. During the month of October, you will often see (scarily realistic) people in costumes, and you can take historical and ghost tours.
Wethersfield, Connecticut
The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield.
Salem was not the only place to have witch trials — in fact, the Wethersfield witch trials came first, between 1648 and 1668, according to the Wethersfield Historical Society. Head to the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, where you can take a Witches and Tombstones tour and learn the history of the trials and executions. On the tour, you’ll also stop at the Wethersfield Ancient Burying Ground, where you will hear about the 1782 mass murder that’s considered the first documented mass murder-suicide in North America, according to the Connecticut Historical Society.
Exeter, Rhode Island
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After an illness (probably tuberculosis) plagued the Brown family in the 1800s, the town accused one of the dead daughters, Mercy, of being a vampire once they examined her dead body and found it to be “suspiciously well-preserved,” according to Atlas Obscura. As the story goes, people in the town cut out Mercy’s heart and burned it, later making her sick brother eat the ashes. Her grave still stands in the Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Exeter.
Fall River, Massachusetts
The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum offers lodging and tours in the house where the infamous murders of Andrew and Abby Borden took place on Aug. 4, 1892.
You can stay the night or just stop by for a tour at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum, the former home of Lizzie Borden, who was tried for killing her father and stepmother in 1892 with an axe. (She was acquitted, but many continued to consider her guilty.) If you’re feeling brave enough, you can sleep in her very bedroom, or her father and stepmother’s room.
North Adams, Massachusetts
The east portal of the Hoosac Tunnel.
This western Massachusetts town has a few haunted locations, including the Hoosac Tunnel. The near-five-mile tunnel is often referred to as “The Bloody Pit,” according to Atlas Obscura, because 200 people died over the course of its 24 years of construction.
Gilford, New Hampshire
Kimball Castle was built in the late 1890s for Benjamin Ames Kimball, who was president of the Boston-Montreal Railroad.
Featured on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters television show, Kimball Castle was built in the 1890s for Benjamin Ames Kimball, the president of the Concord & Montreal Railroad. On the episode, the team said that some people have reported having spooky experiences at the castle, such as seeing doors close on their own and even some apparitions. The castle was deemed “not necessarily haunted” after the Ghost Hunters investigated, but it can still be pretty creepy.
Newport, Vermont
A view of Lake Memphremagog.
Barbara Malloy, the head of the Memphremagog Historical Society of Newport, told the Huffington Post that some locals and visitors say this otherwise calm and peaceful lake is actually home to a 30-foot-long monster. According to the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, another rumor is that you can spot the ghost of Revolutionary War-era General “Mad” Anthony Wayne on the lake.
Waterbury, Vermont
Old Stagecoach Inn.
This still-functioning inn dates back to 1826. According to its website, eerie things have happened there, such as a rocking chair moving on its own and bed linens being stripped without anyone doing it. There have also been some alleged ghost sightings in some of the rooms, though the website notes that they may just be practical jokes.
Prospect, Maine
A view of Fort Knox.
Fort Knox is a Civil War-era fort on the Penobscot River. It was featured on Ghost Hunters because of reports of the opening and closing of doors, a ghost soldier, and strange noises. Each year around Halloween, you can attend “Fright at the Fort” (which takes place this year on Friday, October 28 and Saturday, October 29 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.), a walking tour around the fort featuring actors in costumes and food for purchase.
Correction 10/25/16 10:37 a.m.: This story has been updated to state that Fort Knox is located on the Penobscot River, not the Prescott River.
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