‘Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night, thinking you heard a noise, and wondered, just for a second, if there was someone in your house? What if all those times when that happened, there really was?’‘¦. A line from a good-but-defunct, short-lived TV series, called ‘Freaky Links’.
In every part of this great land of ours, it seems there is always one place, one building, or one house which everyone says is haunted. Come on, you know that place. It’s the place your parents told you not to go near. Your mother would plead with you not to go near it, with that worried look in her eyes, and dad would use his ‘authority voice’, and say something along the lines of ‘I told you kids not to go near that place!’. Of course, you went there anyway, and in all likelihood, nothing happened. You had some fun, and maybe you and your buddies tried to scare each other, but nothing happened, did it? No, of course not. The only thing that may have happened was mom or dad throwing a nutty, when they found out that you went there. (And they always found out, didn’t they?)
Every city, every town, every location has its haunted house. It does not have to be a traditional house at all. It could be an old factory of some kind. It could be a small cottage, or an enormous mansion. If it’s in the inner city, or an industrial area, the haunted house could be an old warehouse, or a spooky tenement apartment building. I understand that somewhere on the west coast, there’s supposed to be a Toys-R-Us store that is haunted. Hmm. Maybe the employees should set up several board games, including ‘Mouse Trap’, and see if they get played with in the night. In more than twenty five years of serious bicycle riding around Boston, I have heard that a section of Route 2A, is haunted by the ghosts of long-dead cyclists. In fact, I have heard this three times over the years. I’ve ridden this road at night, and it’s easy to understand. I’ve encountered the usual number of whacky drivers, but I have yet to cross paths with a ghostly bicyclist.
Come on now, you know that place. Sure you do.
I live in New England, a part of the country that is old, and has lots of ‘haunted house stuff’. The places that are reputed to be haunted are just too numerous to list here, as are all the legends. There is one place though; one big building that I feel is the grand daddy of all haunted places in New England. That dear reader, would be the long-closed Danvers State Lunatic asylum. (Insert evil laughter here.)
Those of you who have seen the great, but under-appreciated movie, ‘Session 9’ have seen this place. It was built after the civil war, on a wind swept hilltop, about thirty miles north of Boston. It’s clearly visible to travelers on Interstate 95 and Route 1. Even from a distance, it has a look of foreboding to it, with its water tower, and gothic spires, which suggest a castle of some kind. A lot of people were kept here over the decades. There is a small cemetery on the property, where most of the grave markers have only numbers, not names. The place has been totally closed since 1992, and as you may have already guessed, it is strongly rumored to be haunted. (Side note here: I advise against trying to access this property, despite strong urges to do so. It has been vandalized badly over the years, and a lot of concerned people are trying to get the original structure preserved for its historical value. It is, in fact, irreplaceable. Trespassing for a thrill will not help matters at all. The property is guarded and frequently patrolled by police. If you choose to trespass, you will be arrested. There is a procedure to access the property legally, but I don’t know what the procedure might be. Anyone who knows is welcome to drop me a line here.)
When you think about it, the Danvers Asylum would be the perfect place for a good haunting. It’s big, massive. It’s old, with the original structure having been built before there were such things as electricity and central heating. And of course, it housed thousands of people over the years, probably including some who didn’t have anything wrong with them at all. Think about it: In Victorian times, if a husband had a wife he wanted to get rid of, what better way than to have her declared to be ‘mad’? (‘She’s mad I tell you! Take her away!’)
There are numerous websites with plenty of information on the Danvers Asylum, and this is one of the best I have found. A further historical note: The year 1692 was the year of the infamous ‘witch trials’ here in good old Massachusetts. At this time, the town of Danvers was actually known as Salem Village, and it was here where the witch trials were held. It is rumored that some of the hangings may have taken place on the hill where the Asylum was built. I don’t know how factual that is, and I don’t think anyone does. More than three hundred years is a long time, so who knows?
So, what haunted houses are there in your part of the world? Come on, everyone knows at least one.
With that, I’d like to wish everyone a happy and safe Halloween!
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