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04/08/2017 12:00 AMIf you find yourself strolling along the cobbled streets of Boston one October evening you may feel like you're not alone. A sudden cool breeze may make the hair on the back of your neck rise, and the simple hoot of an owl could sound sinister. Welcome to Halloween in Boston.
Ghosts probably don't restrict their nighttime travels to October but the Halloween season is an appropriately eerie time for visitors and residents of Boston to join them for a tour of some of the city's most notoriously haunted venues. To ensure you see the best of Boston's most haunted locales, a number of companies lead a series of ghost tours highlighting Boston's paranormal past – or possibly present.
As tours make their way through famous location such as the Boston Common, the Boston Athenaeum, the Omni Hotel, and the site of the Boston Massacre, visitors are introduced to the macabre side of history that primary school textbooks may have skipped over. One tour in particular, the Ghosts and Gravestones tour, highlights the deceased residents who are rumored to still roam the city. Tour guides dress in costume and take guests through the city by trolley, stopping at haunted buildings, murder sites, and some of the oldest cemeteries according to tour manager Meg Feczko.
While the location where the Boston Strangler's final victim was discovered may be sufficiently creepy for some guests, Feczko said the high point of the tour is the stop in the cemeteries. The tour stops at Copp's Hill, a graveyard in the North End, and at the Granary Burial Ground and King's Chapel Burial Ground – both located in and around the Boston Common.
"They are almost 400 year-old graveyards, the three oldest in the city," Feczko said. "They hold the headstones of a drowned family that is still thought to haunt the country's oldest lighthouse, (and) the monument to many of our famous patriots and founding fathers. There's even a ghost that might haunt the tomb of Paul Revere."
Graveyards and their famous inhabitants – living or dead- are popular attractions on many tours. Haunted Boston Ghost Tours takes a look at some other famous ghosts, including the ghosts of British Revolutionary War soldiers spotted in the tunnels of the Boylston T stop, and a few spooky residents of the Boston Common. Founder of Haunted Boston Ghost Tours Hillary Kidd said the tour is all about the creepy details.
"We take you to the Boston Athenaeum and tell the story of the highway man, James Allen, who after his death, had his memoirs bound in his own skin, and gave the book to one of his victims," she said. "Guests get an up-close and personal look at the Omni Parker House Hotel and hear of the countless ghosts that roam the halls."
The Omni Parker House Hotel, located on School Street near the Freedom Trail, is Boston's most famous haunted hotel – and yes, you can stay there. The Hotel was built in the 19th century and is allegedly haunted by its founder, Harvey D. Parker, who continues to roam the tenth floor annex. Other notable guests of the hotel include Charles Dickens who stayed on the third floor. According to legend, elevators are frequently called to the third floor without a button being pushed. If you're feeling brave, make a reservation – but maybe specify which floor you want to stay on.
The immediate city of Boston has plenty to offer with its historical haunts, but for visitors willing to take a ride north on the commuter rail, the town of Salem has horror stories of its own. Notorious as the site of the Salem Witch Trials in the late 1690s, visitors can still dive into the mass hysteria that brought about the execution of 20 men and women on the charge of witchcraft. Tours are offered throughout the year, but Salem transforms into a haunted nirvana for tourists throughout the month of October.
Costumed tour guides and historical reenactments dominate the town during the Halloween season. Visitors can get a good taste of the towns horrifying past just by walking around, but guided tours offer an up-close look at the key places and players of the witch trials.
The Tales & Tombstones Trolley Tour weaves together the locations, mystery, and literature of the period according to tour general manger Tammy Harrington. The trolley goes by the Burying Point Cemetery, the Howard Street Cemetery, the Joshua Ward House, and the Gardner Pingree House– the site of the murder of Capt. Joseph White whose famous trial was prosecuted by Daniel Webster.
"The Joshua Ward House has been called the third most haunted house in America, and the Howard Street Cemetery is said to be haunted by Giles Corey, a victim of the Witch Trials who was pressed to death at that location," said Harrington. "The Burying Point Cemetery is allegedly haunted by Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife Sophia who fell in love amidst the gravestones."
The sites are a big hit among visitors, but Harrington said the reenactments really bring the horrors of the witch trials home.
"At Witch Dungeon Museum you'll experience the acclaimed performance of a witch trial adapted from the 1692 historical transcripts," Harrington said. "Professional actresses in repertory reenact the electrifying scene. Following the reenactment you will proceed into the basement where you will find out what the dungeons were like in 1692."
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, after spending a night exploring the Boston area, a city dominated by history and one or two horrors, you may find yourself checking over your shoulder a little more often. You'll never know if you picked up a follower...
To learn more about the different tours visit: www.hauntedboston.com, www.ghostsandgravestones.com, and www.SalemTrolley.com. Tours range in price but visitors are advised to buy tickets in advance.
If you're looking to experience the supernatural right here at home, Connecticut has plenty to offer in the way of ghostly and eerie locations.
Dudleytown, an abandoned village in Cornwall, is considered one of the state's most haunted locations. Notoriously nicknamed the "Village of the Damned", the village's former residents are said to have gone mad and died off. The village is gone except for the remains of some foundations but the property is allegedly cursed and possessed by demons. Curious visitors should be warned, however. The area is considered private property and is patrolled by local and state police who have been known to arrest and prosecute trespassers.
Former hospitals make up a large portion of Connecticut's haunted locations. While most are no longer open to the public, hospitals like Newtown's Fairfield Hills State Hospital, known as a "warehouse for the insane", is said to have a history of unauthorized lobotomies and bizarre deaths but be aware, the police heavily guard the area.
But as with any old state, Connecticut's most famous haunts are mainly cemeteries – filled with the ghosts of murderers, witches, and the unjustly accused. Perhaps the most famous cemetery is Union Cemetery in Easton, a 400-year-old cemetery that has become a favorite stomping ground for ghost hunters. The graveyard is home to the White Lady who has been spotted wandering through the regularly. If you're driving along Route 59 near the cemetery, you may see her ghost standing in the middle of the road. As with most of the state's notorious haunts, the cemetery is off-limits after sunset. The Easton Police are very active in the area and will arrest trespassers.