Ghosts and Haunted Places in New England

Do you believe in ghosts? Ghost hunters say two of the most active haunted places in New England are Houghton Mansion in North Adams, Massachusetts, and Carousel Gardens Restaurant in Seymour, Connecticut.

Sample these scary stories from Ghost Hunters of New England by Alan Brown. Read on, if you dare…

Houghton Mansion 172 Church St. North Adams, Massachusetts

Excerpt from interview with Josh Mantello, Berkshire Paranormal Group

“During an all-night investigation, several members of [Josh’s] group … heard a loud noise coming from another room down the hall. Two of the investigators walked down … One of them exclaimed, ‘I heard the sound coming from over here!’ and pointed to a corner of the room. At that same moment, the other investigator took his photograph. ‘He’s pointing to an orb in the photograph,’ Josh says. ‘It’s not transparent. It looks like it’s emanating its own light instead of reflecting [the] flash … I like to go there because I know I’ll find something every time. I’ll go there at 3 a.m., and I’ll hear voices.’ “

The Houghton Mansion, built in the 1890s for North Adams’ first mayor, is now a Masonic Temple, said to be haunted by the spirits of owner Albert C. Houghton and his daughter Mary, both of whom died following a tragic auto accident, and chauffeur John Widders, who committed suicide on the property. Legend has it that witnesses have seen a young girl in the cellar. “She comes in and peeks around the corner at you,” Josh Mantello told Alan Brown. “If you walk toward her, she disappears.”

Carousel Gardens Restaurant 153 North St. Seymour, ConnecticutExcerpt from interview with Donna Kent,Cosmic Society of Paranormal Investigation

“The paranormal has held a lifelong fascination for Donna Kent: ‘As a child, I would hear my name called … when I was home alone from school, and it would sound like my Dad’s voice … Many years ago, I went to Carousel Gardens with a radio station [disc jockey who] was a skeptic. He was mocking the ghost … As the night went on, [he] continued to provoke the spirit more and more. All at once, he said, “If there is a spirit here, I’d like to see something right now.” At that moment, a wine glass sitting on a table across the room shattered, and all the shards formed a perfect circle on the floor … [He] went from total skeptic to totally terrified in a matter of minutes.'”

Helena Ruth Wooster, one of the owner’s five daughters, and her brother, Horace, are believed to haunt their old home. Ruth is said to have been in the habit of setting the table with porcelain dinner for her pets; after her death, witnesses reported seeing a gray-haired woman in the windows of her bedroom.

Other Haunted Places in New England: