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Boo! 15 Haunted Spots Around the Hub

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The only things scarier than Greater Boston's housing costs are its many haunted sites. What do you expect in one of America's oldest and most storied regions? Herewith for your Halloween are 15 creepy spots around the region, a good many publicly accessible—if you dare. The paranormality ranges from a kindly ghost and several angry ghosts to card players who will never fold and carriage wheels that will never cease spinning. Beware!
Note! This map was majorly updated in October 2015.


· Our Curbed Maps archive [Curbed Boston]

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Omni Parker House

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Harvey Parker, the hotel's developer, who died in 1884, is said to inhabit the 10th-floor annex; and was once described by a spooked guest as "a heavy set older man with a black mustache," according to the hotel's website. Elevators also arrive at the third floor (where Charles Dickens stayed for a time) without any buttons being pushed or anyone awaiting a lift.

The George Parkman House

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This townhouse was the home of Dr. George Parkman, who was murdered and dismembered in 1849 in Harvard's Holden Chapel, the university's first cadaver room. He continues to disquiet the premises.

Christ Church

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The church off Harvard Square was a redoubt of Tory sympathizers during the Revolution; and one British soldier, buried as he was under the church building, still haunts the pews, looking for his regiment.

Hooper-Lee-Nichols House

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Five Hessian soldiers, still in town from the Revolution, have been playing cards since 1915, awoken by construction then that added a new wing.

Everett Square Theatre

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The recently rehabbed Hyde Park landmark hosts a fairly pleasant ghosts who has earned the sobriquet "Smilin' Al" in honor of Al Jolson, who played the Everett a century ago.

Old Charlesgate Hotel

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The old hotel, built in 1901 and converted to a B.U. dorm in 1947, is said to be haunted by ghosts so brazen they set traps for unwitting persons.

Charlestown Bridge

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A Bostonian named Peter Rugg is said to have disappeared on a stormy night during his return trip from Concord. The clatter of his horse and carriage can still be heard on the west side of the bridge.

Powder House Square Tower

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The ghost of an old man accidentally shredded by the windmill that used to stand where the tower is still rattles about, his anger producing shooting blue lights.

Johnson Park

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First spotted in the late 1880s, this ladylike ghost is said to wander the intersection of Lamartine and Green streets, around Johnson Park in Jamaica Plain, late at night. She is often so tuckered out by the traipsing that she can be seen resting on area walls and fences.

Georges Island

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The island was the site of a notorious Confederate prison, and is haunted by the angry widow of an inmate, the so-called Lady in Black. She came all the way from Georgia to rescue her man, only to die in the attempt.

Cutler Majestic Theatre

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Find a sober Emerson student (they're out there) and you may very well hear tales of moving chairs and suspicious power outages.

Shelton Hall

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Tortured playwright Eugene O'Neill died in Suite 401 of B.U.'s Shelton Hall in 1953. Students still run into him today. (Guess curiosity may have killed the cat, but not him! Get it?)

Province House

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This grand Tudor mansion was the residence of royal governors until Washington's army kicked their asses out of Boston at the start of the Revolution. According to a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, however, an old housekeeper named Esther Dudley stayed behind to await the return of the king's men, a return, of course, that has never come.

Boston Neck

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This creepily named spit of land was the site of many a hanging back in the day, including, in 1648, the execution of the first New Englander convicted of witchcraft. The isthmus no longer exists, of course, but the troubled souls of the strangled still murk about.

Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School

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The ghost of an old man apparently haunts a hallway memorializing World War II.

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Omni Parker House

Harvey Parker, the hotel's developer, who died in 1884, is said to inhabit the 10th-floor annex; and was once described by a spooked guest as "a heavy set older man with a black mustache," according to the hotel's website. Elevators also arrive at the third floor (where Charles Dickens stayed for a time) without any buttons being pushed or anyone awaiting a lift.

The George Parkman House

This townhouse was the home of Dr. George Parkman, who was murdered and dismembered in 1849 in Harvard's Holden Chapel, the university's first cadaver room. He continues to disquiet the premises.

Christ Church

The church off Harvard Square was a redoubt of Tory sympathizers during the Revolution; and one British soldier, buried as he was under the church building, still haunts the pews, looking for his regiment.

Hooper-Lee-Nichols House

Five Hessian soldiers, still in town from the Revolution, have been playing cards since 1915, awoken by construction then that added a new wing.

Everett Square Theatre

The recently rehabbed Hyde Park landmark hosts a fairly pleasant ghosts who has earned the sobriquet "Smilin' Al" in honor of Al Jolson, who played the Everett a century ago.

Old Charlesgate Hotel

The old hotel, built in 1901 and converted to a B.U. dorm in 1947, is said to be haunted by ghosts so brazen they set traps for unwitting persons.

Charlestown Bridge

A Bostonian named Peter Rugg is said to have disappeared on a stormy night during his return trip from Concord. The clatter of his horse and carriage can still be heard on the west side of the bridge.

Powder House Square Tower

The ghost of an old man accidentally shredded by the windmill that used to stand where the tower is still rattles about, his anger producing shooting blue lights.

Johnson Park

First spotted in the late 1880s, this ladylike ghost is said to wander the intersection of Lamartine and Green streets, around Johnson Park in Jamaica Plain, late at night. She is often so tuckered out by the traipsing that she can be seen resting on area walls and fences.

Georges Island

The island was the site of a notorious Confederate prison, and is haunted by the angry widow of an inmate, the so-called Lady in Black. She came all the way from Georgia to rescue her man, only to die in the attempt.

Cutler Majestic Theatre

Find a sober Emerson student (they're out there) and you may very well hear tales of moving chairs and suspicious power outages.

Shelton Hall

Tortured playwright Eugene O'Neill died in Suite 401 of B.U.'s Shelton Hall in 1953. Students still run into him today. (Guess curiosity may have killed the cat, but not him! Get it?)

Province House

This grand Tudor mansion was the residence of royal governors until Washington's army kicked their asses out of Boston at the start of the Revolution. According to a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, however, an old housekeeper named Esther Dudley stayed behind to await the return of the king's men, a return, of course, that has never come.

Boston Neck

This creepily named spit of land was the site of many a hanging back in the day, including, in 1648, the execution of the first New Englander convicted of witchcraft. The isthmus no longer exists, of course, but the troubled souls of the strangled still murk about.

Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School

The ghost of an old man apparently haunts a hallway memorializing World War II.