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Best places in New England to get spooked

Salem, MA is one of the premiere haunted destinations in the United States. (Courtesy of The Salem Wiki)

Valeria Montoya
Connector Contributor

It’s almost Halloween and it’s time to get spooky!

Do you have any plans for Halloween besides crying because of midterms? No? Well, lucky for you, here is a list of the top three spookiest places in New England, so you can make some plans with your friends.

1. Salem, MA. Do you remember learning about the Salem Witch Trials in your history class? They were pretty messed up. Hundreds of people were accused of practicing witchcraft, the devil’s magic! The people of Salem were kind enough to offer these witches a “fair trial,” to determine their likelihood for witchcraft. Five people died in jail cells, and about 20 very unlucky supposed “witches” were deemed guilty and sentenced to execution. They were killed in very cruel ways, including: being hanged, sliced by a guillotine, crushed and stoned to death, or being drowned in the infamous “water test.” In the water test, the accused were tied up, placed in water, and if they floated they were “definitely witches.” If they sank they were innocent but they would consequently drown. A while after the witch trials, the people of Salem realized they wrongfully killed innocent people and formally apologized and compensated the victims’ families. Aside from Salem being haunted, there’s also a cool witch museum, and there are guided walks around the town, which is littered with cemeteries and memorials.

2. Lizzie Borden’s House: Fall River, MA. If you’ve watched the Lizzie Borden Chronicles, or perhaps saw the episode on Supernatural, you’re quite familiar with the story. Borden allegedly went crazy one night and decided to bludgeon her parents to death with an axe. The blame was put on Borden because she was the only person in the home besides their maid when the bodies were found. She claimed she was in the barn during the times of the murder, and only stepped into the house to discover her dead parents. She was tried, and the only evidence they had against her was circumstantial, so she was eventually acquitted. Despite that, she was still viewed as guilty by the public, so, whenever people saw her, this rhyme came to mind: “Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.” If you’re up for a drive to Fall River, you can actually stay at the Borden house, which is now a bed and breakfast. You can also get a tour and see the exact locations where her parents were killed, where Borden slept, and the rest of the house.

3. Dogtown: Cape Ann, MA. If you’re the more active type, this is a haunted hike you can go on. Dogtown is an abandoned settlement, which used to be a place where people in the 1600’s hid away to avoid attacks from the Native Americans and pirates. It was rumored that the witches of Dogtown actually used to practice their witchcraft in that very forest. There are a lot of creepy messages engraved on stones in the area, such as: “If work stops, values decay,” so this could make the perfect area for a creepy Instagram photoshoot if you’re one of those social media types.