Slightly Odd Fitchburg

"Where there's a witch, there's a way, you know." - Aunt Clara – Bewitched Atlas of the Odd: The Bewitching History of the Hawthorne Hotel Welcome to Atlas of the Odd! This is an October series focusing on haunted locations throughout New England that you can visit right now. They’re open to the public and have histories of happenings that will make your spooky season one to remember, so get out there and explore them! You never know what you might find! Standing nice and stately at 10 Washington Square West in Salem, Massachusetts is the storied and illustrious Hawthorne Hotel. This imposing structure has been home to television studio sets, presidents, military dignitaries, and Bradly Cooper. Ladies. Even more impressive than the guy from the Hangover movies is the fact that it’s also been called the 4 th most haunted hotel in America by Travelocity. If it comes from a gnome, then it has to be true. This hotel has stood for over two centuries in the...

I'm BAAAA-AAACCKKK!!!!! Let me ask you a question: Who is a haunting for? That might seem silly, but just think about it for a second. Is a haunting for the haunter or the haunted? If you were to do die tomorrow, why would you haunt someone? Would it be for your sake or for theirs? Just consider what's going on. You're dead and you're never coming back. Your Earthly coil has been shed. None of it affects you anymore. Time, space, ailments, old age, it's all gone. The length and breadth of the universe is yours. Eternity is yours. What do you do? You're a celestial being now. Does anything that happened in life matter to you? Let's say you were murdered. So what? Why would you care? You can see the endless reality of the stars ahead of you. Why would the transgressions of an evolved ape against your former meat vessel, all those breathless eons ago, matter to you? Well, maybe we can delve into that question with a look at the S.K. Pierce mansi...

Nestled deep within Fitchburg, and far away from the consciousness of anyone outside Worcester County, you'll find Dean Hill Cemetery. It's a decently sized open field with far fewer headstones than you're used to seeing in a graveyard. It was established in 1791 as a resting place for the soldiers of the Revolutionary War and their families. Colloquially known  as "The Rev," it's also home to more than its fair share of ghost stories. Join us, if you will, on our search for the... Ghosts of "The Rev!" JUMP SCARE! There's really no way to overstate just how out of the way this place is. To give you an idea, here's the road leading up to it: If you squint, you can find the serial killer. It's on Ashburnham Road and was once close to the Dean Hill Tavern, which was built around 1777. The tavern is no more, but the cemetery still stands and gets all sorts of visitors, however unwelcome they may be. The cemetery i...