Real-life spooky stories based in New England will get you in the Halloween spirit for sure. Read on to learn more about some of the most captivating and thrilling tales:
- unrequited love in vermont
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The bridge at Gold Brook in Stowe, Vermont, is very much a haunted one. Legend says that years ago, a girl named Emily committed suicide there because of a broken heart. Those who have driven their cars through this bridge have reported unexplained scratches and marks on their vehicles. Pounding, loud footsteps, and wailing are also common to hear. Hauntings continue to this day, making Emily’s unrequited love story one of the most famous (and tragic) in New England.
- dancing on graves in maine
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Colonel Jonathan Buck, founder of Bucksport, Maine, dug his own grave with this one (ha, see what I did there). Legend has it that way back when, Buck became convinced that a woman in the town was a witch and ultimately sentenced her to death. In her last moments, she placed a curse on Buck, saying she would dance on his grave for all of eternity. Buck died in 1795 and was buried with a monument to honor him. However, the stone has a stain on it that no cleaning has been able to remove — and it is in the shape of a leg and foot dangling down the side. The wronged woman continues to dance on his grave to get her revenge.
- the cursed town in Connecticut
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The Dudleys were an English family who came to America in the mid-18th century to build a flourishing community: Dudleytown. However, evil spread throughout the town, shortening lives and causing accidents. Whether it was the Dudley family or the town itself that was cursed, residents smartly decided to leave Dudleytown forever. The forest eventually swallowed the entire town. Now, the property is heavily patrolled, and it is hard to gain access to the land. But those who were able to enter described the area as eerily quiet with little to no animals to be seen. Weird stuff.
- boston’s athenaeum in Massachusetts
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Famous writer Nathaniel Hawthorne often visited the Boston Athenaeum to write. In April of 1842, he was making one of his regular visits when he encountered Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, Harvard’s librarian. Hawthorne thought nothing of it when Harris sat down in his usual chair to read a newspaper. Hawthorne was later told that Harris had died in the chair. Harris’s ghost now haunts every aspiring writer that enters the athenaeum.
- keene state college in new hampshire
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Keene State College’s Huntress Hall was named after Harriet Huntress, one of New Hampshire’s Department of Education administrators. The wheelchair that she once used is still stored in the attic of the building, which was built in 1926. Students who live there report that they can hear the creaking chair wheeling around the attic at night. It is said that Huntress’s ghost does not like to be mocked, and she gets her revenge on anyone that dresses up as her for Halloween — they often end up with broken legs or bad car accidents.
Hopefully these real-life ghost stories got you in the mood for Halloween!
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