From grisly murder scenes to terrifying hitchhikers, haunted houses, boats, tunnels and triangles, there is no shortage of weird and downright spooky places to get your fight on in the Bay State. Ready to go ghostbusting? Grab your paranormal investigation kit, cause here are some of the most haunted places in Massachusetts.
7 Most Haunted Places in Massachusetts
1. Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, Fall River
Lizzie Borden was a young woman who, in 1892, was tried and acquitted for the axe murders of her father and stepmother. The house where Andrew and Abby Borden were hacked to death is now a museum and also operates a bed and breakfast. The B&B is styled as the house would have been in the 1890s. Paranormal investigators theorise that demonic spirits possess the inhabitants and this is what causes such horrible events. Visitors to the B&B report hearing the spirits of children and feel someone pulling the sheets off their bed while they are sleeping.
2. The Houghton Mansion, North Adams
Albert Charles Houghton, a former mayor of North Adams built this creepy house in 1890. Today it is considered one of the spookiest places in New England. Why? Visitors claim to hear footsteps and voices when they are alone in the rooms, lights flicker and there is unexplained loud knocking. People have also seen ghostly shadows, and rumour has it that Houghton himself haunts his old abode. Houghton actually died in the house after suffering fatal injuries in a car accident. Riddled with guilt, his driver took his own life in the mansion.
3. USS Salem, Quincy
The former Navy cruiser is now a museum ship and home to lots of sailor spirits, no, not rum, ghosts. The USS Salem is so haunted that it featured on the TV show Ghost Hunters. One of the scariest apparitions is the spirits of women in the birthing room who have been heard screaming “Get it out!”. No, honestly, this Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) was captured on the recording devices.
4. The Hoosac Tunnel, North Adams
This railroad tunnel is nicknamed the “Bloody Pit” due to the number of people who have lost their lives there. During its construction in the 1800s, more than 190 people died. Following its opening, a further 30 people died and throughout the year there has been plenty of tragedies, for instance, 13 miners were killed in an explosion in the shaft. If you listen closely, inside the tunnel you can hear their cries and screams. There have also been sightings of ghosts and glowing lanterns lighting up the Bloody Pit.
5. House of the Seven Gables, Salem
This 17th-century house did indeed inspire Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 novel, The House of the Seven Gables. And it is hard to believe that this pretty house is home to the paranormal, but it is. So much so that it is considered one of the most haunted places in America. Visitors to the house report lots of paranormal activity and ghost sightings, for instance, here is a ghost of a young boy who plays in the attic and a ghost of a man walks up and down the famous, secret staircase.
6. Bridgewater Triangle, Southwestern Massachusetts
This area of about 200 square miles (520 km2) is a hotbed of hauntings and paranormal activity, for instance, UFO sightings, orbs, fireballs and other spectral phenomena. The place is also home to poltergeists, a mysterious bigfoot-like creature, giant snakes and those legendary creatures, thunderbirds. The Bridgewater Triangle is so spooky that it made it into the book Mysterious America by cryptozoologist Loren Coleman. This place is like Disneyland for ghosthunters.
7. Route 44 – Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Route 44 is haunted by a red-headed hitchhiker. Dressed like a lumberjack with dark, hollow eyes, the Red-Headed Spectre bears a very similar resemblance to a man who died in a terrible crash on that same stretch of road many years ago. One petrified woman reported stopping for the hitchhiker and when he touched the door handle he evaporated, then her engine cut out and she could hear his maniacal laughter long after he had vanished. Others say that even if you don’t stop for him, once you pass him he’ll appear on the back seat and you’ll see him in your rearview mirror. He’ll then disappear but you’ll hear his maniacal laugh coming through the radio! Road trip, anyone?
