The week of July 19 my family was on vacation. We took a spooky road trip to Salem MA and Sleepy Hollow NY with a side trip to the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA, and a trip to NYC.
Salem was my main destination. This is a bucket list trip I've been planning and saving for about 1 1/2 to2 years.
You can't throw a stone without hitting a "haunted" location in Salem. So many of the buildings are from the 1800s or earlier, meaning there's bound to be a ghost story or two attached to them.
We only had two full days in Salem so we didn't get to see or do all the things we really wanted to but I jammed as much as possible into our schedule and got into 99% of my top-tier destinations.
Here are a few of the locations we went to or by that have ghost stories attached to them. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, we didn't encounter any spookies on the trip.
The Witch House is the last standing structure with direct ties to the 1692 witch trials. It was owned by Judge Jonathan Corwin, a magistrate with the court of Oyer and Terminor which sent nineteen people to the gallows.
Rumors have circulated that the ghost of an old man has been seen sitting in a chair. Haunting footsteps, whispers, and shadows emanate throughout the structure.
For years investigators wanted to access the house but were always denied until 2011 when Ghost Adventures was allowed an overnight investigation. Batteries died, crazy things happened, they captured the sound of a child humming and caught an EVP of Bridget Bishop naming Mary as her accuser.
The House of Seven Gables was made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne's book of the same name. The tour guides deny any spooky activity. Stories circulate in part because Hawthorne himself found the house to be eerie and set his tale of horror in the old place.
The house became so famous that in 1908 Caroline Emmerton bought it and turned it into a museum to match the description in the novel- creating the hidden staircase and secret passageway that were not original to the home.
Creepy and spooky yes, but is it actually haunted? No one knows, however, there are supposedly five unique ghosts haunting the premises.
The location is said to be very haunted.
They have a ghost cat, a woman, and other spirits lingering from the funeral home.
The site of the Old Witch Gaol (Jail) is now an office building and is said to house the spirits of those who were once held in the old jail. Apparations of the jailers have often been seen as well. Whatever lurks in here is not something to be messed with. It is sad, angry, and oppressive. One woman who worked there was attacked by unseen hands while her co-workers helplessly watched. She left and has never returned. A priest was called in to do an exorcism, he left crying that the spirits did not want him there and to this day will not admit he was ever there.
St Peters Church is another popular haunt mentioned during many of Salem's Ghost Tours. One source of possible hauntings is because when an addition was added to the church, it was built over the cemetery. The bodies were left under the new portion of the church while the stones now sit in front of the church fenced in.
Sidenote- I really think they are missing an amazing source of revenue by not selling stickers, buttons, and t-shirts with the Bunghole name and logo. We would have totally bought them all. They have a few things online (which are not great) but nothing in store. They really need a designer and marketing team.
The Stephen Daniels House is touted as the oldest bed and breakfast in the United States, it was built in 1667 by a sea captain. This place is adorable and if I ever go back to Salem I want to stay there or at least take a tour. Rumors say the place is haunted by a ghostly feline and Captain Stephen Daniels himself, neither are scary spirits. Both tend to welcome guests to the B&B.
When the old Witch Gaol was razed they burned all the wood...except one piece which was salvaged and used in the construction of the building that is now The Witch Dungeon Museum.
Originally a house of worship in the 70s it was turned into the Witch Dungeon Museum but not without mishap. Numerous accidents delayed the opening including a man's fall from a 30-foot ladder. Now the location is haunted by a hooded apparition, shadow figures, ghostly voices, an aggressive man in red pants who tries to seduce female workers, and a presence that tries to push guides down the stairs.
The Old Burying Point Cemetery also known as Charter Street Cemetery dates to 1632 and is the second oldest cemetery in the country. It is home to several of Salem's earliest residents including those who took part in the Salem Witch Trials. The cemetery has its own Lady in White apparition along with a crying child.
The Witch Trials Memorial is adjacent to the cemetery.
Lyceum Hall and restaurant Turner Seafood are said to be haunted by Bridget Bishop the first person to be executed during the Salem Witch Trials.
This area was once her apple orchard and many people often report smelling apples and apple blossoms. Apples appear in the area though there are no apple trees anywhere near it now.
Since it opened in 1973 many people have reported seeing apparitions, often of a woman wearing 17th-century clothing. Quite a few strange things have happened here.
The Ropes Mansion is best known as a Hocus Pocus filming location and shows up in all the Hocus Pocus tours. It's also said to be haunted by Judge Ropes.
The information on most of the hauntings was found in
The Ghosts of Salem by Sam Baltrusis.
Some details were provided by Dr. Vitka of Spellbound Tours.
Photos are all mine.
