Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow: Haunts of the Headless Horseman (Haunted America) bySam Baltrusis + giveaway

SALEM VS. SLEEPY HOLLOW
By Sam Baltrusis

It’s a tale of two extremely different, yet oddly similar, Halloween destinations: Salem vs. Sleepy Hollow. Will the witches overthrow the Headless Horseman —or will heads roll— in the ultimate Samhain showdown?

According to J.W. Ocker, author of The New England Grimpendium & The New York Grimpendium, both locations have their “woes” and cons during spooky season.

“I love this topic because depending on how you twist the narrative, you can say these two towns are nothing alike or you can say they are so similar that it’s scary,” Ocker told me during an in-person interview at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel.

“The number one similarity is that they are both extremely popular Halloween destinations,” he said. “You get those click-bait articles every year. Both Salem and Sleepy Hollow are always at the top of every list.”

Because they are known for their October attractions, both locations rely heavily on tourism to feed their local economy. “While Salem is changing and becoming more of a suburb of Boston, the bottom line is if they lose their tourism, they will lose their existence.”

The author of A Season with the Witch added that both cities successfully brand themselves. “No other town can be Salem even though there are tons of other locations that had witch trials especially in the Northeast. But no one can say they’re the Witch City,” Ocker said, “only Salem, Massachusetts can do that.”

In comparison, Sleepy Hollow is known for the Headless Horseman. “There are other towns in the country that call themselves Sleepy Hollow, but this area is the only place that can theme themselves around Irving because he actually lived here and was inspired by the region when he wrote the story. It’s basically Washington Irving land.”

According to Ocker, both Salem and Sleepy Hollow are successful at embracing their respective themes. “There’s something about these two Halloween destinations that’s authentically spooky,” he said. “They’re also great fall destinations. The Hudson Valley and New England are top-tier places known for their foliage.“

Other similarities include their proximity to major metropolitan areas. “Salem is close to Boston and Sleepy Hollow is a short drive from New York City,” he said. “They have this small-town, big-city atmosphere to them. They also have traffic. Who would live in Salem or Sleepy Hollow unless they’re spooky, right?”

Another similarity shared by the Witch City and the Hudson Valley seems to be their eerily picturesque cemeteries. “There’s the Old Burying Point on Charter Street that almost serves as the hub of Salem in many ways,” he told me. “It’s even more true in Sleepy Hollow. The cemetery is extremely important. The Old Dutch Church is on the hill and Washington Irving is buried in the cemetery. The location fits right into Irving’s story and you can almost map out Ichabod Crane’s journey.”

Speaking of the famous chase from Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Ocker uses the tale as a metaphor to describe the differences between the two tourism-driven destinations. “In my mind, Salem is Ichabod Crane and Sleepy Hollow is the Headless Horseman,” he explained. “Salem is so far ahead in regards to marketing themselves, but I feel like the Headless Horseman is slowly creeping up from behind. In most people’s minds, Sleepy Hollow is a less evolved version of Salem, but one day it will catch up.”

Ocker pointed out that Salem had a huge head start. “The very first Haunted Happenings was in 1982,” he explained. “North Tarrytown didn’t even become Sleepy Hollow until 1996, so they’re almost fifteen years behind Salem.”

There’s also the obvious geographical hurdles holding back the village. “Sleepy Hollow isn’t set up to be a Salem because it simply isn’t walkable,” he told me. ”In Sleepy Hollow, you definitely need a car. In the past, they tried turning the area near the chase statue into a plaza, but the problem is that the street is the same Broadway that’s in Manhattan. It’s a busy road and it’s potentially dangerous to put outside seating or a cafe near the statue. The infrastructure isn’t there yet.”

For Ocker, Sleepy Hollow’s greatest weakness is also what makes it so special. The OTIS: Odd Things I’ve Seen blogger said he prefers celebrating spooky season with his all-time favorite monster, the Headless Horseman. Why? After spending an October in Salem while writing his book, A Season with the Witch, the New Hampshire-based writer prefers the smaller crowds and the old-school charm of the Hudson Valley.

“In Salem, there’s the witch-trials tragedy of 1692,” he said. “The inciting incident in Sleepy Hollow is just American letters. It’s art. So there’s no underlying guilt, which is nice. But without that guilt you don’t have the friction, the narrative, and the interesting public relations angles. The appeal of Salem is a tragedy and in Sleepy Hollow it’s just a story.”

The lack of an underlying cautionary tale, Ocker told me, also complicates things when it comes to creating paranormal-themed tourism. “Now that Sleepy Hollow is a spooky town, they’re trying their best to pull as much haunted content as they can to make it more interesting,” he said. “It’s really hard to find great ghost stories in Sleepy Hollow, but it was like that in Salem too.”

Thanks to all of the lantern tours in the Witch City, one can’t walk down Essex Street without hitting an allegedly haunted location. In Sleepy Hollow, however, the haunts are definitely spread out.

“There’s a passage in ‘Legend’ where he talks about this Hudson Valley being so haunted,” Ocker said. “There are tons of stories and the Headless Horseman is just one example out of all of those tales. In the story, he sets the area up as an interesting place with a lot of legend and lore.”

Ocker’s recommendations for tourists visiting Sleepy Hollow? “Follow the chase route,” he said. “Start at the John André monument and walk to the cemetery. Of course, it’s not a very pleasant walk because there are cars whizzing by you. But in October, there’s a lot more to do in Sleepy Hollow. It’s not every day like it is in Salem, but they have something going on every weekend.”

Another telltale sign that Salem is currently in the lead as a Halloween destination? Ocker pointed out that the Witch City’s annual Haunted Happenings parade happens at the beginning of October while Sleepy Hollow holds its celebration during the last weekend of the month. “It’s very telling who is better at promoting the holiday,” he said.

Ocker insisted, however, that New Yorkers are slowly learning to capitalize on the power of the Headless Horseman. “In Sleepy Hollow, you’re starting to see recycling bins that are branded. Their fire engines and police cars now have themed logos,” he said. “Even the fire plugs are black and orange. If you look around Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman is everywhere.”

Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow: Haunts of the Headless Horseman (Haunted America)
bySam Baltrusis
September 23, 2024
Genre: Ghosts & Hauntings
Publisher: History Press
ISBN: 978-146715802
Number of pages: 144
Word Count: 32,500
Chilling tales of the Hudson Valley

Nestled on the banks of the Hudson River, Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown are steeped in history and ghost lore. Famous for Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the storied Westchester region also has a dark history of witches, spies, and pirates.

Rumors of Headless Horseman sightings surge during spooky season while visitors flock to the Valley’s haunted hot spots like the Old Dutch Church and the famed writer’s Sunnyside home.

Join author and journalist Sam Baltrusis on a bone-chilling journey through the streets of Sleepy Hollow as he breathes new life into the legendary village’s long-departed souls.

Amazon-BN-Arcadia

Excerpt:
Sleepy Hollow, New York is brimming with ghostly legends that have somehow taken on a life of their own.

Nestled on the banks of the Hudson River, the fabled region —which includes the adjoining Tarrytown— has become the go-to place during spooky season thanks to the popularity of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Late-night lantern tours in search of a decapitated soldier's galloping ghost? Yes, please.

If one spends enough time walking through the labyrinthine paths of the village's historic cemeteries, however, there's something sinister oozing beneath Sleepy Hollow's rustic, story-book facade.

It's as if the entire hamlet is under some sort of enchantment. Or, as Irving penned in 1820, it oddly feels like the locals are somehow bewitched and "are subject to trances and visions."

The revered writer referred to the area as the "spell-bound region," and rightfully so. According to several first-hand accounts, creepy music and disembodied voices emerge out of thin air

Based on Irving's mythical take on his later-in-life hometown, it should be no surprise that the Headless Horseman isn't the Valley’s only fearsome phantom seeking postmortem revenge.

The entire region seems to be teeming with paranormal activity. Several publications sensationally claim that both Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown together make the "most haunted places in the world."

But, is it?

After digging beneath the surface, it's difficult to pinpoint what's actually paranormal activity versus a made-up ghost story that has been collectively conjured over a 200-year period.

Alex Matsuo, a Maryland-based author and paranormal investigator who has written about the area’s alleged paranormal activity in her Spooky Stuff blog, believes that the line between fact and fiction is somehow blurred in Sleepy Hollow.

“After Washington Irving's infamous tale plunged the area into fame, I would hypothesize that perhaps some of the paranormal activity could be attributed to thought-forms,” Matsuo told me. “There's also the case of self-fulfilling prophecies that people can accomplish without realizing it.”

Matsuo cited the replica of the bridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery as a potential hotspot for ghostly encounters that are freakishly fueled by the expectations of thrill-seeking visitors.

“Just by knowing the tale and the true story behind it, they would already get a case of the creeps,” she explained. “Then, with tensions rising, they hear a branch break or footsteps, and they get really spooked. They go home and tell their friends and family about the creepy experience, unknowing that there was an animal nearby causing the ruckus.”

Also, there are what paranormal researchers call thought-forms or an outward manifestation of the heightened emotions of those who visit Sleepy Hollow during spooky season. Matsuo believes that based on this concept, extreme fear can somehow take a physical form within the spirit world.

“When you have a massive amount of people invested in a story, even a fictional story based on real people, that energy has to go somewhere,” she said. “In the case of Sleepy Hollow, it may have manifested into paranormal occurrences. I would guess that most of that energy is more organized, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of that energy was displaced, which could explain some of the random paranormal events that have happened over the years.”

About the Author:
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Sam Baltrusis, author of Ghosts of Salem: Haunts of the Witch City and featured in The Curse of Lizzie Borden shock doc, has penned eighteen paranormal-themed books including Haunted Boston Harbor and Ghosts of the American Revolution. He has been featured on several national TV shows including the Travel Channel's A Haunting, Most Terrifying Places, Haunted Towns, and Fright Club (1 & 2). He also made a cameo in the documentary The House in Between 2 and on several additional television programs including The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd, History’s Most Haunted, Paranormal Nightshift, and Forbidden History. Baltrusis is a sought-after lecturer who speaks at libraries and paranormal-related events across the country. Visit SamBaltrusis.com for more information.

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Halloween Spooktacular: Weep, Woman, Weep by Maria DeBlassie + giveaway

Weep, Woman, Weep (A Gothic Fairytale about Ancestral Hauntings)
by Maria DeBlassie
August 25, 2021
Genre: Gothic Fairytale, Occult, Supernatural
ISBN:978-0-578-97464-4
ASIN:B09CV9P9SH
Number of pages:150 pages
Word Count: 37,935
Cover Artist: Rachel Ross
Nothing makes a woman brave except getting on with the business of daily life.

A compelling gothic fairytale by bruja and award-winning writer Maria DeBlassie.

The women of Sueño, New Mexico don't know how to live a life without sorrows.

That's La Llorona's doing. She roams the waterways looking for the next generation of girls to baptize, filling them with more tears than any woman should have to hold. And there's not much they can do about the Weeping Woman except to avoid walking along the riverbank at night and to try to keep their sadness in check. That's what attracts her to them: the pain and heartache that gets passed down from one generation of women to the next.

Mercy knows this, probably better than anyone. She lost her best friend to La Llorona and almost found a watery grave herself. But she survived. Only she didn't come back quite right and she knows La Llorona won't be satisfied until she drags the one soul that got away back to the bottom of the river.

In a battle for her life, Mercy fights to break the chains of generational trauma and reclaim her soul free from ancestral hauntings by turning to the only things that she knows can save her: plant medicine, pulp books, and the promise of a love so strong not even La Llorona can stop it from happening. What unfolds is a stunning tale of one woman's journey into magic, healing, and rebirth.

CW: assault, domestic violence, racism, colorism

Amazon

Excerpt:
One time, I was feeling mighty fine and thought I’d try something different. I saw this ad in a magazine where a woman was in an obscenely large bathtub and covered up to the neck in bubbles. This was in a room with a marble floor, and there were candles everywhere, and she had her hair up all nice and a face mask on. Well, I got to thinking a nice long soak after a hard day’s work would be nice.

This was a few months after my run-in with Sherry, and I was trying hard to let myself enjoy things more. It occurred to me after seeing her that her fatal flaw was not believing that her future was right in front of her. Or maybe she was too afraid to take it with both hands. I began to wonder if we didn’t hold back and do half the work for La Llorona with all that we ran from life.

So I bought some bubble bath and made more beeswax candles and set about having myself a spa night. I mean, my bathroom was nowhere near as nice as the one in the picture. My tub was only long enough for me to sit upright and was right next to the toilet, but I made do.

It was lovely. I mean, divine! I could see why fancy women liked this. I put on the radio, and the music was soft and sweet, like the candlelight against the fading day. I was so relaxed, that I was about to fall asleep in that tub.

That was when I felt cold hands grip the soles of my feet and pull me under.
I should have seen it coming. Why willingly linger in a body of water? But I didn’t, and that was how I found myself drowning in bubbles and thrashing around in my tub. It’s also how I learned that evil woman could find me anywhere—and I mean anywhere—so I could never let my guard down.

Her grip was strong. Seemed like the harder I fought, the stronger she got. I was flailing about, my arms searching for anything and everything to hold on to, when I knocked one of those beeswax candles into the tub. To this day, I have no idea why that scared her, but it did. She recoiled something quick at the hiss of the flame when the wax hit water.

I didn’t waste a second—I hoisted myself out of the tub and collapsed on the bathroom floor, choking and sputtering and sopping wet. Took me forever to clean up the mess and cough up all those flower-scented bubbles. My feet were cold and sore for days, with claw marks where her bony fingers hooked into my skin.

Whoever said bubble baths were relaxing was a big fat liar.

Witch's Brew Cocktail

It’s been a while since I’ve concocted a cocktail recipe, and even longer since I’ve come up with one for Halloween. I love a good cocktail because they’ve always struck me as one of the most basic kind of potions. Think about it: a good cocktail can give us liquid courage, exorcise a hard work week, or even act as a temporary love spell. And as will all potions and spells, the medicine is in the dosage. Too much and it’s poison, too little and your Friday night is perhaps a little less adventurous (wink wink).

It bears repeating that I like to avoid syrupy or excessively sugary ingredients and stick to clean tastes modeled after the classics when it comes to cocktail making. I do this because most novelty cocktail—a la Halloween drinks—are sugar bombs. Not my idea of a good time or a tasty drink. Although I call these Halloween-inspired concoctions, I have been known to drink them throughout the year, especially the green fairy, a tasty absinthe-kissed cocktail perfect for ending the workweek and stirring up some writing inspiration for the weekend.

Lately, come Saturday night, I’ve been experimenting with this new drink: Witch’s Brew. It was inspired by my garden and all the herbs I cultivate there: rosemary, lavender, sage…all delicious, all medicinal, all typically associated with healers and witches because of their various magical and healing properties. I started wondering how I could fold those flavors into a tasty magical brew.

I used gin as the base because of herbaceousness and went for a bold choice of mixer: chartreuse. It’s what gives this drink the verdant green color we typically associate with potions. It’s also an ancient healing tincture made from over 130 herbs. It tastes fresh, like mint and fennel, with the other herbs as a strong supporting cast. Yum! I paired this refreshing taste with lime because I love a good gimlet and its variants.

The real kicker to this is what I do with the gin. I infuse it with green apples—who doesn’t think of witches without thinking of forbidden fruit?—along with rosemary and a few juniper berries to make the graciousness of the gin really pop. Also because I love rosemary, the natural protector of the herb world. Juniper berries are also fast becoming a kitchen witch staple in my home. Did you know juniper both protects good energy and repels the negative? If that’s not magical, I don’t know what is! Add a dash of bay leaf bitters, for the leaf’s powers of divination.

As with all spells (and drinks), feel free to play with the recipe. Chartreuse might be a bit pricy for some (though a little goes a long way so it will last a while!), try swapping it out with rosemary or ginger simple syrup or apple schnapps (or both!)—it will change the flavor, but will no doubt be equally festive, if with more sugar. The infused gin makes about two cups of yum—plenty to experiment with or to whip up a magical batch of this brew.

All good spells require a little time, a little love, and quality ingredients. While this cocktail is a touch more labor-intensive than my others in that you first need a week to infuse the gin, it’s worth it. Plus, while you wait, you can prepare the right kind of energy you want to infuse into this brew. Do you need a little more magic in your life? A little more mischief? A dash of hope or a heading dose of healing? Whatever you need, let it brew until you’re ready to infuse it into a batch of this tasty elixir.

Ingredients:

For infused gin:
2 cups gin
1 Granny Smith apple
2-4 juniper berries (depending on how strong you want the juniper flavor to be)
1 large spring of rosemary

For cocktail:
2 oz apple and herb-infused gin
2 dashes bay leaf bitters
.75 oz chartreuse
.5 to .75 oz freshly squeezed lime juice (depending on how tart you like it)

In infuse gin, slice green apple and place in clean mason jar. Squeeze juniper berries so they crack a little—this will help the alcohol absorb their flavor more—and place in jar. Pour gin over ingredients and let sit for a week, shaking when you remember to. A day or two before you want to enjoy your cocktail, throw in a sprig of rosemary that has been slightly bruised, again, to help the alcohol better absorb its flavor. I wait a little on the rosemary because the fresh stuff takes less time to be extracted in alcohol and letting it sit too long in the gin muddies the flavor. To use, pour gin through strainer into a clean mason jar.

For cocktail, mix gin, chartreuse, lime juice, and dash of bitters in a shaker. Add ice and shake until container is frosty. Serves one—so double or triple the batch and invite your coven over. Pair with a chilly autumn night, a full moon, and a handful of spells. Cauldron optional.

This post originally appeared on Enchantment Learning & Living, home of professor, writer, and bruja Maria DeBlassie, where true magic is in the everyday!

About the Author:

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Maria DeBlassie, Ph.D. is a native New Mexican mestiza blogger, award-winning writer, and award-winning educator living in the Land of Enchantment. Her first book, Everyday Enchantments: Musings on Ordinary Magic and Daily Conjurings (Moon Books 2018), and her ongoing blog, Enchantment Learning and Living are about everyday magic, ordinary gothic, and the life of a kitchen witch. When she is not practicing her own brand of brujeria, she's reading, teaching, and writing about bodice rippers and things that go bump in the night. She is forever looking for magic in her life and somehow always finding more than she thought was there.

Find out more about Maria and conjuring everyday magic at https://mariadeblassie.com/

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Weep, Woman, Weep: A Gothic Fairytale about Ancestral Hauntings

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Paranormal Investigator Pamela K. Kinney: A Ghost by Any Other Name Would Still Haunt the Living + giveaway

“A Ghost by Any Other Name Would Still Haunt the Living” 

What are spirits? Where did the words come from? People watch paranormal TV shows or read regional ghost books, and they discover that there are so many different names or terms for them.

In traditional belief, a ghost is the soul of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestations, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely: The mode of manifestation in photos or seen by the living’s eyes can range from an invisible presence, shadow people, translucent or wispy shapes, and orbs, to realistic, life-like visions—solids. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as a séance. Paranormal investigators use equipment to find proof of paranormal activity and to make contact with those who may be haunting the building, cemetery, or land.

The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to appease the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of phantom armies, ghost trains, phantom ships, and even ghost animals have also been recounted.

The English word ghost continues Old English gást, from a hypothetical Common Germanic *gaistaz. It is common to West Germanic, but lacking in North and East Germanic.The pre-Germanic form was *ghoisdo-s, apparently from a root denoting "fury, anger" reflected in Old Norse geisa "to rage." The Germanic word is recorded as masculine only but likely continues a neuter s-stem. The original meaning of the Germanic word would have been an animating principle of the mind, in particular capable of excitation and fury. In Germanic paganism, "Germanic Mercury," and the later Odin, was at the same time the conductor of the dead and the "lord of fury" leading the Wild Hunt.

Besides denoting the human spirit or soul, both of the living and the deceased, the Old English word is used as a synonym of Latin spiritus, also meaning of "breath, blast" from the 9th century attestations. It also denoted any good or evil spirit, like angels and demons. The Anglo-Saxon gospel refers to the demonic possession of Matthew 12:43 as se unclæna gast. Also, from the Old English period, this word might also mean the spirit of God: the "Holy Ghost."

The synonym spook is a Dutch loanword, akin to Low German spôk. It entered the English language via the United States in the 19th century. Alternative modern words included spectre (from Latin spectrum), the Scottish wraith (of obscure origin), phantom (via French ultimately from Greek phantasma, compare fantasy) and apparition. The term shade in classical mythology translates Greek σκιά, or Latin umbra- in reference to the notion of spirits in the Greek underworld. And "haint" is a synonym for ghost used in regional English of the southern United States, and the "haint tale" is a common feature of southern oral and literary tradition. As for poltergeist, that is the term for a German word, literally a "noisy ghost," for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects.

Wraith is a Scottish dialectal word for "ghost, spectre, and apparition." It came to be used in Scottish Romanticist literature, and it acquired the more general or figurative sense of "portent, omen." In 18th- to 19th-century Scottish literature, it was also applied to aquatic spirits.

A revenant is a deceased person returning from the dead to haunt the living, either as a disembodied ghost or alternatively as an animated ("undead") corpse. Also related is the concept of a fetch, the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive.

Another widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Early beliefs were that ghosts were the person within the person (the person's spirit), most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as a white mist. This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of "breath" in certain languages, such as the Latin spiritus and the Greek pneuma, which by analogy became extended to mean the soul. In the Bible, God is depicted as animating Adam with a breath.
In many tales, ghosts were often thought to be deceased people looking for vengeance or are imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life. The appearance of a ghost has often been regarded as an omen or portent of death. Seeing one's own ghostly double or "fetch" is a related omen of death.

White ladies were reported to appear in many rural areas and supposed to have died tragically or suffered trauma in life. White Lady legends are found around the world. Common to many of them is the theme of losing or being betrayed by a husband or fiancé. They are often associated with an individual family line, as a harbinger of death. When one of these ghosts is seen it indicates that someone in the family is going to die, similar to a banshee.

The stories of ghost ships have existed since the 18th century. The most notable of these is the Flying Dutchman.
Ghosts can also be angels and demons. In some paranormal circles, it is believed that demons are non-human, while other spirits who did terrible things (like murder) but human and passed on without the benefit of being forgiven, are not.
Whatever we call them, apparitions are among the living, unseen and sometimes seen. 

Are they proof that there is existence beyond death, or something else? 

What do you think a ghost really is? 

Answer the question by leaving a comment to be entered to win a Kindle of my latest ghost book, Haunted Surry to Suffolk: Spooky Tales Along Routes 10 and 460. Please, one comment means one entry per person.

Pamela K. Kinney
Journey to worlds of fantasy, beyond the stars, and into the vortex of terror with the written word of Pamela K. Kinney.

Haunted Surry To Suffolk: Spooky Tales Along Routes 10 and 460 

by Pamela K. Kinney
April 5, 2020
Genre: Nonfiction Paranormal Ghost
Publisher: Anubis Press
ASIN: B086SNXJXW Paperback: 9781733548298
Number of pages: 254
Take a journey along Virginia’s scenic Routes 10 and 460 eastbound to enjoy the lovely countryside and metropolises that spread around these two roads. Most of all, discover that some historical houses, plantations, battlefields, parks, and even the modern cities, have more than touristy knickknacks, ham, and peanuts to offer. Many have ghosts!

Bacon’s Castle has spirits haunting it since the 1600s. Stay in a cabin overnight at Chippokes Plantation State Park and you might find you have a spectral bedfellow. The city of Smithfield has more to offer than the world’s oldest ham; it also has some very old phantoms still stalking its buildings. Take a ghost tour of Suffolk and see why the biggest little city is also one of the spookiest. Discover the myths and legends of the Great Dismal Swamp and see what phantoms are still haunting the wildlife refuge. And if that’s not enough, Bigfoot and UFOs are part of the paranormal scenery. These and other areas of southeastern Virginia are teeming with ghosts, Sasquatch, UFOs, and monsters. See what awaits you along 460 south and 10. No matter which road you take, the phantoms can’t wait to SCARE you a good time.

Excerpt from the Bacon’s Castle chapter in the ghost book:
Bacon's Castle is the oldest building in America, with the oldest formal English garden, too, and is a rare example of American Jacobean architecture. It is the only surviving "high-style" house in the nation from the 17th century. It is one of only three surviving Jacobean great homes in the Western Hemisphere—the other two are in Barbados. It has the oldest formal English garden in North America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

There is one love story with Bacon’s Castle that can’t be proven, and so might be a myth. A young woman in the 1800s met her lover, a farmer, in secret on the side of a cornfield. Her father didn’t approve of him. But when she had returned to Bacon’s Castle one evening, carrying a candle upstairs to her room, she tripped, and her long hair caught fire from the candle flame. Not wanting her father to know she had been out, she kept quiet and ran from the house, back to the cornfield and her lover. She died in his arms, severely burned.

Bacon’s Castle is rife with hauntings, and there are those who say it is the work of the Devil. Someone in connection with another historical building and cemetery, whose wife works at the house, told me a story about some paranormal investigators who had recorded an EVP of a diabolical laugh and voice in the basement (where the large fireplace is). He believes it to be the Devil himself. Others hold the belief that it is the return of Nathaniel Bacon’s men. Although it’s unlikely that every historic building in Virginia is haunted, there are several that have an undeniably eerie allure to them—like Bacon’s Castle. And let’s be honest, with so many years of people living there, it could even be members of families who owned the house, slaves, and much more.

Paranormal investigators who have investigated there believe that many of the disembodied spirits are those of the slaves who were subjected to unbearable living conditions. While the mansion was decorated lavishly, the slave quarters hardly had any furniture at all. In place of beds, servants were expected to sleep on piles of hay and rags.

Whatever the spirits may be from, there are numerous sightings, from moaning in the attic to strange noises, floating heads, and unseen entities passing by. The one about the fireball is interesting.

Seen as a pulsating, red ball of fire, it rises from the graveyard of Olde Lawne’s Creek Church, which is south of Bacon's Castle. It soars to the castle grounds, “floating or hovering” there before heading back to the Olde Lawne’s Creek Church graveyard to vanish.

There were reports of sightings of this fireball over the years. What can it be? Skeptics say it can be explained, while others call it a manifestation of the Devil. One legend tells of a servant a century or two ago, late doing his chores. As he walked home in the dark, a red object appeared out of nowhere and burst, covering him in flames and burning him to death.

Another story talks about hidden money in the castle and that two men had found it years ago while removing some bricks in the fireplace hearth in the second floor’s west room. No one had ever found the money, and no one has seen the light since.

About the Author:
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Author Pamela K. Kinney gave up long ago trying not to listen to the voices in her head and has written award-winning, bestselling horror, fantasy. science fiction, poetry, along with nonfiction ghost books ever since. Three of her nonfiction ghost books garnered Library of Virginia nominations. Her third ghost book, Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, and Other Haunted Locations, has reached a second printing and is now a 2nd edition with extra new stories and ten new ghostly images added. Her horror short story, “Bottled Spirits,” was runner-up for the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award and is considered one of the seven best genre short fiction for that year. Her latest novel was her first self-published venture, an urban fantasy, How the Vortex Changed My Life. In 2019, she had a science fiction novella, Maverick Heart, released from Dreampunk Press. She has horror and fantasy short stories in anthologies and magazine, plus her own collection of horror stories, Spectre Nightmare and Visitations, published by Under the Moon. She will have a horror short story, Hunting the Goatman, which will be in the anthology, Retro Horror, releasing in 2020. Of course, she is working on various horror and fantasy short stories and has finished a supernatural horror novel and is also working on edits for a Young Adult apocalyptic urban fantasy novel.

Pamela and her husband live with one crazy black cat (who thinks she should take precedence over her mistress’s writing most days). Along with writing, Pamela has acted on stage and film and investigates the paranormal for episodes of Paranormal World Seekers for AVA Productions. She is a member of both Horror Writers Association and Virginia Writers Club. You can learn more about Pamela K. Kinney at http://www.PamelaKKinney.com.

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Answer the question by leaving a comment to be entered to win a Kindle copy of my latest ghost book, Haunted Surry to Suffolk: Spooky Tales Along Routes 10 and 460. 
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Haunted Halloween Spooktacular: Downtown Flint’s Five Most Haunted Locations + giveaway

Downtown Flint’s Five Most Haunted Locations

Home to ancient Native American battle sites and burial grounds, the Sit Down Strike of 1936-37, unsolved murders, economic depression, social injustice, and a water crisis - Flint’s unholy brew of energy has led to macabre tales of ghostly encounters and stories of demonic possession.

Is there something sinister lurking in Flint’s history to blame for all the hauntings? Do the souls of Flint’s murdered linger, craving justice by haunting the land until they get their vengeance? Whatever the reason, Flint is filled with frightful sites and terrifying tales.

From ghostly graveyard apparitions in Glenwood and Sunset Hills to spooky specters spotted in downtown Flint’s Capital Theatre and The Whiting, Flint is filled with ghosts.

Here are downtown Flint’s Five Most Haunted Locations.

Stockton Center at Spring Grove

The Stockton Center at Spring Grove is a haunting example of Italianate architecture. The house first belonged to Colonel Thomas Baylis Whitmarsh Stockton and his family before becoming a hospital and then a nursing home. Considered to be Flint's most haunted location countless ghostly encounters have occurred in this building. Some believe the Stockton Family still reside in the home, Colonel Stockton himself watching over it for eternity.

The Masonic Temple

Officially dedicated in 1911, the Flint Masonic Temple is located in the heart of downtown. Shadowy figures, strange noises and the distant haunting sound of organ music fill this old building. Many who have worked in the building have experienced strange encounters and ghostly apparitions.

Whaley House

The Whaley House started life in 1859 as an Italianate but Robert Whaley hired an architect to transform it into a Victorian. In 1885 the Whaley family moved into the newly remodeled home. Levitating tarps, moving toys, ringing bells, curtains blowing with no wind, and shadowy figures fill this haunted mansion. In the basement, you may feel an unearthly chill and a sense of being watched.

The Capitol Theatre

The Capitol first opened its doors at 140 E 2nd St on January 19, 1928. Rumors of hauntings have swirled about The Capitol Theatre for decades. Strange knocking sounds, disembodied singing, shadowy figures…The Capitol’s recent renovations returned the building to its original glory. Did this calm the restless spirits or make them more active?

The Cornwall Building 

Construction began on the house in the early 1870s by Royal Ripley who lived on premised from 1874 to 1881. In 1881 Er Milner purchased the home and completed construction on it in 1883. The ghost of Jennie Milner Cornwall is said to haunt the premises. Sometimes you can see her looking out the window.

Haunted Flint (Haunted America Series)

by Roxanne Rhoads and Joe Schipani 
September 2, 2019
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN-10: 1467143049
ISBN-13: 978-1467143042
Sinister Secrets in Flint’s History

Home to ancient burial grounds, unsolved murders, economic depression, and a water crisis, Flint emits an unholy energy rife with ghostly encounters.

Colonel Thomas Stockton’s ever vigilant ghost keeps a watchful eye over his family home at Spring Grove, where guests occasionally hear the thump of his heavy boots.

Restless spirits long separated from their graves lurk among the ancient stones in Avondale Cemetery.

Carriage maker W.A. Paterson’s spirit continuously wanders the halls of the Dryden Building, and something sinister and unnamed resides in a Knob Hill mansion waiting to prey on impressionable young men.

Join authors Roxanne Rhoads and Joe Schipani on a chilling tour of Flint’s most haunted locations.

Amazon-BN-Chapters-Book Depository-Arcadia Press-Goodreads

About the Authors:
https://www.haunted-flint.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/ 

https://www.facebook.com/AllThingsHalloweenGuide/ 

https://allthingshalloweenguide.blogspot.com/ 

Roxanne Rhoads is an author, book publicist, mixed media crafter, and lover of all things spooky.

Roxanne is the owner of Bewitching Book Tours, a virtual book tour and social media marketing company, she operates Fang-tastic Books, a book blog dedicated to paranormal and urban fantasy books, and she runs the blog, A Bewitching Guide to All Things Halloween, which is dedicated to everything Halloween related. Roxanne’s sells handcrafted jewelry, art, and home decor through The Bewitching Cauldron.

When not reading or writing, Roxanne loves to craft, plan Halloween adventures, and search for unique vintage finds.

Joe Schipani is an integral part of Flint’s Art Community with ties to local artists, galleries, book stores, and the Flint Cultural Center. He is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.

He has a weekly column on All Things Halloween titled Freaky Flint History showcasing true crime and weird but true tales of Flint deaths.

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2 Cover Reveals for author Pamela K. Kinney

Pamela Kinney has a new science fiction novella coming soon. Check out the cover!

Maverick Heart

by Pamela K. Kinney
Dreampunk Press
Lieutenant Michelle Roddenberry is a maverick and flaunts the rules. But as an officer in the Terra Federation Navy and with a galactic war going on against an alien race, one must follow orders. It is the difference between life and death. Grounded from joining her squadron on another mission and about to be dishonorably discharged too, she flaunts the rules again and steals her fighter spacecraft, flying off to join her squadron for one last battle.

Instead of finding her squadron, Michelle crashes on an unknown planet. It is a world full of changing wonder and danger. She finds another castaway there, an alien called Dakna. Both find themselves in a war with the planet, as Michelle tries to find a way off planet for them. The rule book thrown out; Michelle may find her maverick ways the only way to survive.

Another cover reveal; an anthology in which Pamela Kinney has a true ghost story "Cavalier Hotel" included. 

Handbook for the Dead Anthology
November 23, 2019
Anubis Press
The Frightening Floyds are back in one of their home stores in Louisville. If you're a fan of the paranormal, come check out Handbook for the Dead, the new release from their imprint, Anubis Press. There are many talented authors included in this anthology. Paranormal enthusiasts will not want to miss it!

About the Author:
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Pamela K. Kinney is an award-winning published author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, and a ghost wrangler of nonfiction ghost books published by Schiffer Publishing. Her horror short story, "Bottled Spirits" published by Buzzymag.com was runner up for the 2013 Small Press Award.

Two of her nonfiction ghost books were nominated for Library of Virginia Awards. Her latest nonfiction ghost book to be published by Schiffer Publishing, Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area, will be released August 2015.

She also has done acting on stage and in films, is a Master Costumer--costuming since 1972— and she even does paranormal investigating, including for DVDs for Paranormal World Seekers, filmed by AVA Productions. She was casting director for High Mountain Films' movie, The 19th (been an extra in the film, too), and wrote a horror screenplay, "Crawlspace Creep," now with an Indie production company.

She's a member of Horror Writers Association and the local Virginia chapter.

She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cat sometimes suffer for it!

To find out more about Pamela's acting, costuming, and directing, click here.

Under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she has published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance along with a couple of erotic horror stories. Her erotic urban fantasy by the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, Being Familiar With a Witch is a Prism 2010 Awards winner and an Epic Awards 2010 finalist. The sequel to Being Familiar With a Witch, A Familiar Tangle With Hell was released June 2011 from Phaze Books. Both eBooks were combined into one print book, The Witch and the Familiar, released April 24, 2012.

Book Review: Be Our Ghost Reviewed by Pamela K. Kinney By the Frightening Floyds (Jacob and Jenny Floyd

Be Our Ghost

By the Frightening Floyds (Jacob and Jenny Floyd)

June 3, 2019
Publisher: Anubis Press

138 pages
ASIN: B07SPC315W 

ISBN: 9781733548243
The Frightening Floyds invite you to be our ghost as we take you on a tour of the happiest haunted place on Earth! In this book, you will read about much of the alleged paranormal activity as well as urban legends spanning the various Disney theme parks around the world. From the haunted dolls of It’s a Small World to the real ghosts of the Haunted Mansion, there are many spirits here to greet you. And make sure to say “Good morning” to George at Pirates of the Caribbean. Enjoy the spooky and fascinating tales in Be Our Ghost! And don’t worry, there are no hitchhiking ghosts ahead…or are there?

Jenny and Jacob Floyd love Disney and they enjoy ghost stories, and it shows in this book. Besides photos of them at Disney World over the years, they learned of ghost stories and legends connected to the parks from online, books, and through employees working there. 

I knew of Disney haunting the apartment over the fire department at Disneyland since that was the first park I went to at one-year-old. Then Disneyland opened and I went many other times as a pre teen and teenager and as an adult, until the last time with my husband. One thing didn’t know was the one about the feral cats there. Somehow, I never saw any of the cats, although my husband said he has. So, I learned something new. Plus many of the stories were interesting too. I won’t go on, but let readers buy the book and discover for themselves.

If you love Disney, visiting the parks, and enjoy true ghost stories and legends, this book is the one for you. The Floyds show their love for Disney and don’t say the stories they learned are true or not, as they hadn’t had experiences, but they don’t put the tales down either. Before you head on that Disney vacation, maybe you should pack this book and keep an eye out while on the rides, because maybe that quiet gentleman behind you in line might be something otherworldly.

I give Be Our Ghost 4 ghostly sheep.

Reviewed by Pamela K. Kinney

About the Authors:

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Jacob and Jenny Floyd (also known as The Frightening Floyds) are paranormal authors, ghost hunters, and tour operators from Louisville, Kentucky. Jenny is a sensitive and an empath that has been around the paranormal for years. Jacob Floyd has been a writer and paranormal enthusiast for years and enjoys all things creepy and macabre. They recently began two tours in Kentucky—the Shepherdsville History and Haunts Tour and the NuLu History and Haunts Tour—and have been a part of numerous ghost hunts in graveyards, hotels, and other various buildings. They live in a home surrounded by pets and one possible ghost.

Wicked Salem: Exploring Lingering Lore and Legends by Sam Baltrusis + excerpt

WICKED SALEM PROFILE: THOMAS O’BRIEN VALLOR

“We have a problem with the way that most modern 'ghost hunters' are disrespectful toward the dead.”
—Thomas O’Brien Vallor, Salem Witch

Be sure to check out the 30-second book trailer at the bottom.

By Sam Baltrusis

When it comes to the twisted representations of the witch-on-broom stereotypes perpetuated by Salem’s tourism machine, Thomas O’Brien Vallor has seen it all. “I don't find it to be annoying or offensive like a lot of people do because I have seen the industry from the inside out,” the Salem-based Witch (capital W) told me.

It’s the ghost hunters on TV that really stir his cauldron.

He’s the first to point out why the city’s contemporary pagan population is wary of the typical “aggressive male approach” on programs like Ghost Adventures and formerly Ghost Hunters. “To a Witch, the paranormal is normal and the supernatural is natural,” Vallor said, paraphrasing a quote passed down by his elders.

Vallor contends that the paranormal personalities featured on television don’t respect those who have passed. “We believe that the dead are around us at all times so the idea of ‘ghosts’ as the souls of people who are trapped on Earth doesn’t align with our beliefs,” Vallor explained. "We have a problem with the way that most modern 'ghost hunters' are disrespectful toward the dead.”

As far as the ways paranormal investigators are being disrespectful, the Salem Witch Walk tour guide said it’s a long list. “First of all, they don't have the right intention in their heart,” Vallor said. “Some might not respect the true history of the area or understand who actually lived here or what happened here. They’ll needlessly focus on traumatic things and sensationalize people's personal lives,” he continued. “When a Witch communicates with the dead, it’s with the utmost respect.”

Vallor has a point.

For example, paranormal investigators wanted access to the city’s Witch House, the last structure standing in Salem with direct ties to the witch-trials hysteria of 1692. Home of judge Jonathan Corwin, a magistrate with the Court of Oyer and Terminer, which sent nineteen to the gallows, the Corwin House dates back to 1675 and is an icon of America’s tortured past.

Access to the house was denied for years. Members from the Park and Recreation Commission thought it would be in poor taste to investigate the Corwin dwelling. “We have to have respect for the gravity of the injustice that occurred in 1692,” responded board member Chris Burke. “This is sort of a touchy subject,” said Elizabeth Peterson, director of the house. “We want people to be aware that we’re not a Salem witch attraction.”

In 2011, the governing board apparently changed their minds and allowed the crew from the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures to set up an overnight lockdown. When Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin and Nick Groff walked into the Witch House, all hell broke loose.

“In broad daylight with [Witch House director] Elizabeth Peterson and talking to her, things got really weird,” Groff told the Boston Herald. “Zak was filming and the batteries on his wireless mic kept dying. There was some sort of energy causing his batteries to die. We felt something weird, felt cold and then the batteries died.”

The Ghost Adventures team fought for years to gain access to the historic property. “We’ve already captured a voice and we just stepped into the house to start talking about history,” Groff continued. “I think we’re going to be in for a long night of finding paranormal activity.”

The crew supposedly picked up a child humming and an EVP of Bridget Bishop, who named “Mary” as her accuser. She kept repeating the word “apple.” In Christian Day’s The Witches’ Book of the Dead, he claimed to have summoned Bishop’s spirit away from her usual post at the Lyceum. “I didn’t want anyone living or dead to steal the spotlight from the Witch House,” he wrote. “The team mentioned recording some strong activity on the second floor, but their machines really started to get going once we arrived. Real Witches are magnets for the dead,” he said, adding that he performed a necromantic blessing in the house, which included a blood offering.

Groff, who left Ghost Adventures 2014 and is now featured on Paranormal Lockdown, told me that the Essex Street haunt was a historical goldmine. “The location, the Witch House, is just absolutely awesome. To be able to walk back in time, regardless of the paranormal activity that’s actually occurring there, it’s just cool to step foot on those wood floors and experience the environment of what it could have been like,” he told me. “You’re almost stepping back in time. Whatever paranormal stuff that happens there is a plus to me. It’s a cool place.”

In hindsight, Peterson said she has mixed feelings about the investigation. “Personally, I was very uncomfortable doing it. I love this sort of thing, so it wasn’t the subject matter,” Peterson told me. “They were lovely kids, but I don’t think they were a good match for the house. When they were off camera, they were very different. When their camera started running out of batteries, they did pick up a child humming. My first response was shock. My second, as a mother, is that it saddens me that there may be a child’s spirit here that I wasn’t sensitive to or was unaware of in the house.”

Peterson believes the EVP captured on Ghost Adventures was questionable. However, she’s not saying the Witch House is free of residual energy. “There were eleven deaths in this house up until 1719,” she said. “Enormous amounts of human drama unfolded in these rooms. My son thinks he’s seen things, and I think I’ve heard things.”

When Wicked Salem questioned Vallor about Christian Day’s use of blood on Ghost Adventures, he bit back. “I don't think that Christian’s blood ritual was disrespectful at all,” Vallor said. “He has a lot of respect for Bridget Bishop and did a lot of work with her. If you think it's disrespectful, then you don’t have a misunderstanding of blood magic.”

As far as Salem’s “coven of commercialism” disrespecting its past, Vallor believes it’s an underlying tension that has existed for years. “When it comes to what most people consider to be commercial or touristy in Salem, I see it more related to the culture and image that the city has had for centuries,” he said. “We were the Witch City long before we were a tourist town.”

Along the way Salem transmogrified as a city known for its blood-stained history to a Halloween-themed mecca of magic. But how? In 1970, Laurie Cabot opened the city’s first “witch shop,” selling a few tools of the trade. Her underlying goal was to educate the public about modern witchcraft and dispel some of the misconceptions related to her path. Cabot flourished.

In response, Salem set up a bevy of “museums” to educate visitors, including the Witch Dungeon Museum and the Salem Witch Museum, while offering a few scares along the way. However, it wasn’t enough. So, entrepreneurs set up the Haunted Witch Village, which later became the Haunted Neighborhood at the Salem Wax Museum.

“People were walking away from Salem disappointed that they did not get the scare,” said Salem Wax Museum’s former spokesperson in North Shore Sunday. “Historically speaking, they were overly satisfied. But they weren’t coming here just for the history. They want a haunt—to get frightened out of their wits. So we’re going a different route. And there’s nothing historical about it.”

Of course, the Haunted Witch Village faced some controversy when it opened in October 1995. “I recently visited Salem because the witch trials were the only thing I remembered from high school history,” said a New York visitor, adding that he was confused “that a town would make a tourist trade out of this horrible event. These are disasters, you don’t celebrate them.”

The controversy quickly subsided and the Haunted Witch Village thrived. The debate, however, continued.

A similar backlash swept Salem in 2005 when TV Land decided to unveil a statue in Lappin Park of Elizabeth Montgomery’s character Samantha Stephens from the ’60s TV classic Bewitched. “It’s like TV Land going to Auschwitz and proposing to erect a statue of Colonel Klink,” said a former member of the Salem Historic District Commission. “Putting this statue in the park near the church where this all happened, it trivializes the execution of nineteen people.”

The statue was erected despite the minor backlash and has become an icon of sorts for the Witch City. Oddly, the statue’s hand is pointing in the direction of Proctor’s Ledge, the spot where innocent men and women were hanged for witchcraft in 1692.

Vallor said he didn’t come to Salem for tourism or witchcraft. However, he stuck around because he loved the city’s Halloween-year-round vibe. “I moved here as a teenager and went to Salem High School,” he said. “I hung around downtown for years before I worked in the tourism industry or even knew I was Witch.” He started giving tours with various groups in town which eventually led him to the Salem Witch Walk. “In order to help explain witchcraft to tourists I began to educate myself,” he recalled. “That is when it dawned on me that I was a Witch.”

The tour guide in his mid-thirties believes that the hysteria of 1692 somehow laid the foundation for real Witches three hundred years later. What are the lessons learned from the Salem witch trials according to Vallor? “Don’t believe everything you hear or judge a book by its cover,” he said. “And, most importantly, think for yourself.”

Wicked Salem: Exploring Lingering Lore and Legendsby Sam Baltrusis
May 1, 2019
Genre: Ghosts, Hauntings, Local History, Salem, Haunted History
Publisher: Globe Pequot Press
ISBN: 978-1-4930-3711-7
ASIN: 978-1-4930-3712-4
Number of pages: 264
Word Count: 61,500
Cover Artist: Globe Pequot Press
Something Wicked This Way Comes

It’s no surprise that the historic Massachusetts seaport’s history is checkered with violence and heinous crimes. Originally called Naumkeag, Salem means “peace.” However, as its historical legacy dictates, the city was anything but peaceful during the late seventeenth century.

Did the reputed Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo, strike in Salem? Evidence supports the possibility of a copy-cat murder. From the recently pinpointed gallows where innocents were hanged for witchcraft to the murder house on Essex Street where Capt. Joseph White was bludgeoned to death and then stabbed thirteen times in the heart, Sam Baltrusis explores the ghost lore and the people behind the tragic events that turned the “Witch City” into a hot spot that has become synonymous with witches, rakes, and rogues.

Amazon-BN-Globe Pequot Press

Excerpt:
What is it about the sleepy New England city that engenders itself to history’s witches, rakes and rogues?

Salem, Massachusetts suffers a bit of an identity disorder. There are two versions of the so-called “Witch City” that have symbiotically etched itself into the collective unconscious. There’s the iconic, blood-stained Salem that boasted a sadistic sorority of witch-hanging zealots in the late 1600s. And then there is the modern, witch-friendly spectacle that welcomes thousands of supporters into its coven of commercialism every October.

It’s a tale of two Salems.

As far as the paranormal is concerned, the city is considered to be hallowed ground. However, based on my personal experience as a local historian and tour guide, Salem has a love-hate relationship with its ghosts. Why?

"The city has a long history of not wanting to get wrapped up in commercializing its witch history," explained Tim Weisberg, host of the radio show Spooky Southcoast and researcher with Destination America's Haunted Towns. "It's something they've only really embraced over the past couple of decades. There's still a bit of an 'old guard' in the city that doesn't want to see anyone capitalizing on witches, ghosts or things of that nature.”

As Salem’s on-air expert for the national Haunted Towns TV show, I helped Weisberg hunt for locations with ties to the witch trials of 1692. It was tough. “As they've let some of that guard down and television shows have come in, it's been my experience that the 'powers that be’ who control many of the allegedly haunted and historic locations have been disillusioned with the way productions have come in and treated its history,” Weisberg told me. “At least, that's what I heard in the rejections I received from certain locations when attempting to get permission to film Haunted Towns."

Known for its annual Halloween “Haunted Happenings” gathering, it’s no surprise that the historic Massachusetts seaport is considered to be one of New England’s most haunted destinations. With city officials emphasizing its not-so-dark past, tourists from all over the world seem to focus on the wicked intrigue surrounding the 1692 witch trials.

Originally called Naumkeag, Salem means “peace.” However, as its historical legacy dictates, the city was anything but peaceful during the late seventeenth century. In fact, when accused witch and landowner Giles Corey was pressed to death over a two-day period, he allegedly cursed the sheriff and the city. Over the years, his specter has allegedly been spotted preceding disasters in Salem, including the fire that destroyed most of the downtown area in June 1914. Based on my research, a majority of the hauntings conjured up in Salem over the city’s tumultuous four-hundred-year-old history have ties to disaster, specifically the one-hundred-year-old fire that virtually annihilated the once prosperous North Shore seaport.

Cursed? Salem is full of secrets.

About the Author:
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Sam Baltrusis, author of Wicked Salem: Exploring Lingering Lore and Legends, has penned eleven historical-based ghost books including Ghost of Salem: Haunts of the Witch City. He has been featured on several national TV shows including Destination America's Haunted Towns, the Travel Channel's Haunted USA on Salem and served as Boston's paranormal expert on the Biography Channel's Haunted Encounters.

During the summer of 2019, he will be featured on the one-hundredth episode of A Haunting airing on the Travel Channel. Baltrusis is a sought-after lecturer who speaks at dozens of paranormal-related events scattered throughout New England, including an author discussion at the Massachusetts State House and paranormal conventions that he produced called the Plymouth ParaCon in 2018 and the Berkshire’s MASS ParaCon in 2019. In the past, he has worked for VH1, MTV.com, Newsweek and ABC Radio and as a regional stringer for the New York Times.