Haunted Places in Essex County

Middleton-The Blue Door Inn
Like many other business or historical locations in Massachusetts, this inn was once a Masonic lodge.  There are several names attached to the unusual events here, most namely Phillip Knight II, the original owner, and Capt. Henry Quiner.  The most common occurrences involved the playing of the piano, ringing of unseen bells and the smell of wax or roses.  Loud parties are often heard by visitors, only to be informed by the people who work there that there was no party.  There have also been several sightings, including a greenish figure sitting in a chair and a dead body that was seen and then disappeared.  The effect on several different senses makes this a convincing location.

Danvers-Danvers State Prison
Danvers is perhaps the most haunted site in Massachusetts.  It certainly has the most terrifying reputation, matched only by Spider Gates in popularity.  The prison has been featured on television shows and was the focus of the movie Session 9, one of the most intriguing suspense movie made in the past few years. 

Michael Ramuer has written several books on the subject of Danvers and his site and books are worth looking at.
http://ramseursdanversstatehosp.com

Dogtown
Dogtown is an area near Cape Ann and Gloucester that has an interesting mix of history based on legend and current paranormal activity.  Established in 1623 as a shipping town, the women who settled there began to breed dogs to keep them company during the long months their husbands were at sea.  The town was built inland to prevent attacks from the Native Americans along the coast, but the choice of settlement also led to isolation for the citizens.  They changed their economy from fishing to farming to become more self-sufficient, but the town some began to bleed money and could not sustain itself.  The citizens began to rent out the houses to make ends meet which allowed an odd element to enter the town.  Eventually the town was abandoned, although some of the odder elements stayed.  The town was known to host phantom shadows and was the landing area for many of the witched of the area who were cast out of other areas.

Today Dogtown is part of a larger haunted tradition in Gloucester.  Bordered by MBTA tracks and 128, it seems an odd place for a forested area filled with dirt paths and swamps.  The colorful names found for the areas within, such as Granny Day Swamp, Uncle Andrew’s Rock and Peter’s Pulpit, add to the aura of the place.  Stepping into Dogtown is like stepping into another world.  If you can get beyond the mosquitoes and ignore the gunshots from a nearby shooting range, it is an excellent place to investigate.

Salem
There are many areas in Salem that have a reputation as being haunted, and many claim to be to take advantage of the history of the town.  There are entire sites dedicated to the activity there, such as Festival of the Dead, so we have decided to leave this town basically alone and let those that are there speak for what you can find there.
http://www.festivalofthedead.com/


Salem-The House of Seven Gables
We do however feel the need to mention the House of Seven Gables, the house that was the inspiration for one of our favorite novels.  One of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s relative was a major participant in the Salem Witch Trials, and Hawthorne was so effected by the tragedy he changed his name to separate himself from him.  He believed he and the house were cursed, which became the basis for the novel.  Over the years people have seen lights and strange figure during tours at the house.  The house itself consists of many secret passages and odd entrances and exits, so the chances of fraud exist.  There have been some that remain unexplained, such as the appearance of a little boy who has been spotted several times.  People who have experienced this ghost often identify him later in the tour as Julian, Hawthorne’s son, although many feel the ghost is actually that of Hawthorne who was the spitting image of his son and who suffered greatly after his father’s death at the age of four.

Andover-Harold Parker State Forest
Like many areas throughout Massachusetts, the Harold Parker State Forest was once a stop over for the Underground Railroad.  Freed slaves died in the forest, often without proper burials and a suicide happened in the 1980’s involving a tragic burning.  There is a pond in the Forest that has been the site of several drowning deaths.

Nahant-Swallow Cave
This probably classifies more as an unusual attraction more than a haunted area, but there have been reports of ghost near the cave, most often in the form of Witch Wonderful.  During the King Phillip’s War several native led attacks on the surrounding areas and then hid in the Cave.  A colorful character of the town named Witch Wonderful negotiated between the settlers and the Natives and led to their save departure.  Her ghost has been seen dancing in the area, but there have been reports of other figures and odd singing.


Saugus
There is a house on top of Penny Lane called the Dexter House.  We have heard two different legends and hauntings involving this location.  The first involves a man who is seen on the porch holding a shotgun.  The second has a longer story attached to it.  Either an entire family killed themselves or one killed everybody and then themselves, but one person escaped.  He walked down the hill and wrote, "We were here now we're gone" on the ground in his own blood.  A spirit is seen in the house and on the street nearby.  This legend seems someone sketchy and the details have never been confirmed by another source.  Even the intital source states they do not know the origin of the haunting.  A recent e-mail dispelled the legend, noting they had lived in the town their whole life and had never heard it.  They also informed us there is no Penny Lane, although there is a Pennybrook Road.