In Episode 218, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore Hull, Massachusetts, in search of multiple ghosts spotted around the turn of the twentieth century. After a ghostly horse and buggy was spotted by none other than local hero Captain Joshua James, a strange apparition stalked a local actor by the Hull Cemetery. We hear their accounts, and walk the grounds searching for the spooky specters.

New England Legends Podcast

The Ghosts of Hull

In Episode 217, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Pownal, Vermont, to explore the witch trial of the widow Mrs. Krieger. In 1765, the widow Krieger was accused of being in league with the devil. She was given a choice to face one of two horrible tests to see if she was indeed a witch. Though a century had passed since Salem’s infamous trials, belief in New England witches has not gone away.

Vermont’s Witch Trial

In Episode 216, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll Main Street in Concord, New Hampshire, searching for the birthplace of a torture device that has plagued billions of people since it was invented by Levi Hutchins back in 1787. Hutchins built a machine intended to defy both God and nature. It was on this humble street, that he unleashed his creation on New England and then the world.

Concord’s Diabolical Torture Device

In Episode 215, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger drive to the Buckingham Village shopping plaza in Glastonbury, Connecticut, in search of a bolder where a man believed there was buried treasure because of a dream he had, and because a psychic told him so. In 1921, that man lost his life trying to get the loot. Today that rock still stands as an obscure memorial to long-shot hope and a dream of a better life.

The Exploding Treasure Rock of Buckingham Village

In Episode 214, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the woods around Moosehead Lake in central Maine searching for some leaping French-Canadian loggers who became the subject of teasing and a neurological study back in 1880. When startled, these loggers would jump up and down uncontrollably and do whatever anyone tells them to do. Was this affliction the result of inbreeding? Boredom? Or something else?

The Leaping Lumberjacks of Central Maine

In Episode 213, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the woods around School House Pond in Charlestown, Rhode Island, searching for the place where a Narragansett boy named John Onion challenged the devil, and the dark rock formation where horrible acts still haunt the woods.

The Devil and the Crying Rocks

In Episode 212, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll down Brick Kiln Lane in Pembroke, Massachusetts, searching for a tapping ghost who was seen and heard over the span of years back in the 1940s. This ghost has ties to the old shipyard, which has ties to the Boston Tea Party. This ghostly experience was documented by local journalist Curt Norris in the 1980s. Could these taps come from the ghost of shipbuilder Barker Turner?

The Tapping Ghost of Brick Kiln Lane

In Episode 211, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the haunting of Highgate Manor in Highgate, Vermont. Once the home of Dr. Henry Baxter, some believe the doctor performed strange experiments on his children sending them to an early grave. Later, the house was turned into an inn where notorious mobster Al Capone once stayed. Today the stately home sits empty, save for the ghosts and legends still lurking inside.

The Haunting of Highgate Manor

In Episode 210, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in Meredith, New Hampshire, searching for a mysterious stone unearthed back in 1872. This fist-sized, egg-shaped artifact has several images carved on it, including a face, corn, and other geometric shapes. It appears to be Native American in origin, but matches nothing seen by tribes local to this region. This rock raises so many questions that some have speculated it could be a Thunderstone--a rock forged in the sky by some deity and then dropped to the earth. The mystery stone has perplexed archaeologists ever since it was discovered.

The Lake Winnipesaukee Mystery Stone

In Episode 209, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Ledyard, Connecticut, to investigate the death and alleged resurrection of Jemima Wilkinson. Going by the name Publick Universal Friend, this pronounless religious leader started a movement in the late 1700s, then traveled New England ready to perform miracles like walking on water and resurrecting the dead. To many, this person was a fraud and cult leader, to others, this person had the spiritual answers they were seeking.

The Second Coming of Jemima Wilkinson

In Episode 208, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger take a drive down Route 2A through Haynesville, Maine, to see a road so treacherous and haunted, it inspired a 1965 country song by Dick Curless. Behind the song, though, are countless stories of vehicle accidents and strange encounters on this road that may cause you to slow down and look twice. Be warned, Jeff brought his guitar on this trip, and Ray may have sung some of Dick Curless’s song.

A Tombstone Every Mile in the Haunted Haynesville Woods

In Episode 207, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger take a week off to regroup, so they introduce you to an episode from the vault: Who’s Haunting Smith’s Castle in Wickford, Rhode Island. Originally aired December 26, 2019, we explore the dark history and haunting of Smith’s Castle. The structure and grounds are home to a mass grave, the site of America’s only prisoner to be drawn and quartered, a former slave plantation, and a clumsy ghost who may still be replaying her tumble with destiny.

From the Vault: Smith’s Castle

In Episode 206, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Brookfield, Massachusetts, to examine the crime scene and trial of Bathsheba Spooner -- the first woman hanged in the United States for a capital crime. On March 1, 1778, the body of Bathsheba’s husband was dumped in the family’s well. It didn’t take long for authorities to unravel a murderous plot hatched by the victim’s wife and her lover.

The Trial of Bathsheba Spooner

In Episode 205, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger go on a hunt for the 160-foot Vermontasaurus at the Post Mills Airport in Thetford, Vermont. Born in 2010 from the rubble of fallen buildings, the giant beast is the brainchild of hot air balloon pilot Brian Boland, who joins us on this Jurassic adventure. The Vermontasaurus faced extinction not once, but twice, yet still stands lurking by the runway of the airport. Welcome to Vermont’s Jurassic Park! Note: This episode is dedicated in memory of Brian Boland. 

The Vermontasaurus

In Episode 204, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll the haunted grounds of the Enfield, New Hampshire, Shaker Village. In July of 1863, Civil War veteran Thomas Weir returned to Enfield to try and retrieve his daughters who were indentured servants to the Shakers. For over a year, Weir tried to reason, beg, and even threaten the Shakers to get his daughters back. When they refused, Weir pulled out a pistol and murdered Caleb Dyer, and set a tragic haunting in motion that can still be felt today.

The Enfield Shakers Murder

Each week, folklorist, author, and historian Jeff Belanger and radio host Ray Auger explore the ghosts, monsters, folklore, history, and legends of New England. If you give us about ten minutes, we’ll give you something strange to talk about today. The bizarre is closer than you think!

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New England Legends Podcast

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