I tried color coding so it wouldn't be so confusing, but this dumb thing wouldn't let me, anywho, I know I haven't done this in a while. Long while, but I decided to bring you a special one today. I give you the haunted places of Salem, Massachusetts, a lil bit of Halloween history, and Halloween superstitions. Enjoy..........and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Salem - Gallows Hill - Many report unknown phenomena happenings. Said to be the so called witches that were hanged there in the olden days.
Salem - The Hawthorne Hotel - The elevator is believed to be haunted. The 6th floor is haunted as well. There was a double murder over a lovers quarrel. Could spots have been felt as well as chandeliers swaying with no sound.
Salem - Joshua Ward House - This house is associated with the Salem Witch Trials. Sheriff Corwin is said to haunt this place.
Salem - Patriot Cinemas - Sometimes you can smell cigarette smoke over near the projector, but you can't smell it anywhere else. There is a room at the end of the hall which is very cold. You can see shadows moving fast out of the corner of your eye. One time there was a person reflected in the window, standing next to the projector, but no one was there. Someone had keys on a clip hanging from their pocket at hip level, and these keys somehow came unclipped, flipped around, and clipped on a wire, while this person was standing there. A little while later, they realized they were missing and after searching everywhere, found them hanging on this knee level wire. (There are at least 15 keys on this key ring, so you would have heard them if they fell off.) Another time the light upstairs was shut off, and the only way to get up there is if you have a key, someone with a key turned it back on, and then 5 minutes later when they went upstairs, the light was off again. The lights upstairs are always kept on.
Salem - Saint Mary's Cemetery - Very strange noises, like the sound of a dog jogging on cement, a strange light what seemed to be a white glow stick go by very fast, but the oddest of them all was the Unexplainable feeling of evil, the feeling of being watched, and being rushed and overwhelmed with a negative energy.
Salem - Salem Hospital - ghost of a woman that died in childbirth there is seen in the halls.
Salem - Salem Jail - Haunted by the spirits of civil war prisoners who were held there.
Salem - Salem State College - Bowditch Hall Room 222 - Known for the ghosts of all three roommates that were found murdered there in the 70's. Reports of beds shaking in the middle of the night and loud banging on the walls that can only be heard in that room.
Salem - Salem State College - Mainstage Auditorium - The ghost of a little Boy named Tommy is said by theater professors and students to haunt the auditorium. Tommy is supposedly the ghost of a child that got into the area above the auditorium one night during the '60's. He fell through a spot in the ceiling and was found dead in the seats of the auditorium by a professor the next day. Tommy still haunts the area above the auditorium, which has long been sealed up and used for storage. He is mischievous for the most part, making noises, moving things, and causing unexplainable problems in the theater. Technicians working on tall ladders swear they can feel Tommy putting a pressure on their backs. They claim that it is Tommy trying to prevent any one else from falling. December 2003 correction:The actual story is this: It was in the '70's when it happened, and the boy that fell wasn't a child, he was a teenager.The boy that died was named Tommy. Tommy and few other kids had been drinking and they snuck into the auditorium. They were fooling around, jumping on seats, rolling around on the stage, etc. When the kids where getting ready to leave, but they couldn't find Tommy. They figured that he had left and so they left. The next morning my dad got a call saying that his friend Tommy had fallen through the ceiling of the auditorium. He had fallen head first onto the floor and died on impact.
Salem - Salem YMCA - The old pool. The old pool was built above the original pool. Many lifeguards at the old pool have seen movements and heard noises by the stairwell leading to the old pool. It is rumored to be from a swimmer that died there.
Salem - The Ward House - is haunted by the ghosts of the evil Sheriff George Corwin and witchcraft victim Giles Cory. Corwin is buried in the cellar.
Born on Halloween? For those who are born on October 31, the folklore says that you will have the ability to read dreams, and see and talk to spirits.
Common Halloween Superstitions When it's the time for Halloween celebration, it is then that the people tend to become more superstitious. There are many superstitions and myths about Halloween and most of the people have a strong belief in them. In the reservoir of common Halloween superstitions, there are distinctive kinds of superstitions: animal superstitions, witch superstitions, bats in house superstitions and many more. Presented a few general Halloween superstitions:
Going in for dumb supper, meaning that nobody will talk while having supper, encourages the spirits to come to the table.
It is believed that if an unmarried girl keeps a rosemary herb and a silver sixpence under her pillow on Halloween night, it is quite likely that on that very night, she would dream of her future husband.
It is said that if you hear someone's footsteps behind you on the Halloween night, you should not turn back because it may be a dead following you. And if you commit the mistake of looking back, it is likely that you might join the dead very soon.
People believe that if on the Halloween night, a girl carrying a lamp in her hand goes to a spring of water, she will see the reflection of her life partner in water.
People have a superstition that if an unmarried girl carries a broken egg in a glass and takes it to a spring of water, she will be able to catch the glimpse of not just her future husband, by mixing some spring water in the glass, but also she can see the reflection of her future kids. There is the old saying that "black cats are bad luck". It was once believed that black cats were the devil, or consumed by evil spirits. People used to believe that Satan was a nut-gatherer. Nuts were also used as magic charms on the day of Halloween festival. If you put your clothes on inside out as well as outside walk backwards on Halloween night. At midnight you will see a witch in the sky. People used to believe witches were the devil, or that they were consumed by evil. There is also an old saying "if the flame on your candle goes out on Halloween celebration; it gives you the meaning that you are with a ghost". If you ring a bell on Halloween it will frighten evil spirits away. Many people used to consider that owls would dive down to eat the souls of the dying on Halloween. They used to think if you pulled your pockets out, and left them hanging, they'd be safe. It has been said if a bat flies into your house on Halloween, it is a sign that ghosts or spirits are very nearer, and maybe they are in your home and let the bat in. People used to believe that if bats are out early on Halloween, and they fly around playfully, then good weather is to come. If a bat flies around your house three times on Halloween, death is very soon to come To ward off evil spirits on Halloween, you can bury all the animal bones in your front yard, or even put a picture of an animal very close to your doorway. People used to believe you could walk around your house three times backwards before sunset on Halloween, and that would take care of all evil. It could be the spirit of a dead loved one watching you if you watch a spider on Halloween.
The History of Halloween Halloween traditions of trick-or-treating and jack-o-lanterns were brought to America in the 1840s by Irish escaping the Great Potato Famine. On Halloween, Irish peasants begged the rich for food and played practical jokes on those who refused. To avoid being tricked, the rich handed out cookies, candies, and fruit - a practice that turned into our present day trick-or-treating. Jack-o-lanterns trace back to an old Irish tale about a man named Stingy Jack. Unable to enter Heaven because of his stingy ways and turned away by the Devil, Stingy Jack wandered the world, searching for a resting place. To light his way, Stingy Jack used a burning coal in a hollowed out turnip -- hence the name "jack-o-lantern." The first jack-o-lanterns, in fact, were carved out of turnips. Only when the Irish tradition reached America did turnip carving turn into pumpkin carving. Witch means wise one. It comes from the Saxon word wica. Witches were thought to be wise enough to tell the future. Orange and black became Halloween colors because of orange is associated with harvests and black is associated with death. Halloween is the 8th largest card-sending occasion. There are over 28 million Halloween cards sent each year! There are many variations on the history of Halloween, but it's generally believed that Halloween dates back to 700 B.C. to the Celts, a rural society in northern England, Ireland and Scotland. On November 1, the first day of their new year, the Celts celebrated a festival called Samhain ("sow-in"). Chosen to signify the end of the harvest season and the onset of winter, Samhain was also thought to be a day of the dead. Because it was the end of one year and the start of another, the Celts believed that past and present were closely linked, allowing ancestral spirits to join them. On the eve of Samhain, October 31, the Celts dressed in costume, lit bonfires, and offered food and drink to masked revelers. Many say the costumes and fires were used to drive away the spirits, and the food given to placate the dead. October 31 came to be called Halloween when the Christians proclaimed November 1 as All Hallow Day. Unable to stop the pagan ritual of Samhain, the Christians made it a day to celebrate saints who had no day of their own. The night before, or All Hallow Eve, was later shortened to Halloween. Happy Halloween!
