Slightly Odd Fitchburg

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the haunting story! Fitch Bits: The Worcester Palladium DID YOU KNOW that the Worcester Palladium is haunted AF? Yeah, it's super haunted! It was built in 1928 and was the subject of a Ghost Hunters episode. It's said that you can hear disembodied voices in certain areas of the venue. There are also reports of a glowing orb floating around. It's about the size of a soccer ball and multiple people have seen it! It's very common for a theater space to be haunted but few of them have any actual reasons to be. Not the Palladium, though! It's rumored that several dead bodies were once found in a dressing room and that pretty much guarantees some angry ghosts! Anyway, this DYK is going to be a little light on

Okay, so this post has been a long time coming. I was originally supposed to post it back in October as part of the Atlas of the Odd series. The whole concept was to give you haunted places that you could actually visit during the Halloween season, but, needless to say, that didn’t happen. I ended up coming down with COVID and that knocked me out for a month and a half. Then I came out on the other side of that just in time for the holiday season. Then I was just lazy. Anyway, here we are again in a new year and it’s finally time to visit Route 44 in Rehoboth! This is a story that you legally have to talk about if you write about ghosts and stuff. It’s pretty much been done to death, but hopefully I can give you some new information about it, or at least make it entertaining. Let’s just say that I want this post to get a big thumb up, and not just from a hitchhiking ghost! Get it? Wow, we’re off to a terrible start. Okay, let’s go! The Redheaded Hitchhiker and other Route 44 Attract

Check out my really fun guest spot on The Paranormal Putas' Podcast where I talk about Pukwudgies and the S.K. Pierce Mansion!

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the haunting story! Fitch Bits: The Angry Old Ghost of The Old Powder House DID YOU KNOW that The Old Powder House in Somerville, MA. is haunted by a very angry ghost? The building was constructed as a windmill around 1703 for the Mallet family farm. It was subsequently sold to Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1747, and turned into a powder magazine. That's where it got its name and it actually featured somewhat heavily in the Revolution. It was seized by the British because it held gunpowder and munitions for the colonies. One thing led to another and there was a battle fought over it. That's later than our story, though. Back when it was still a windmill, it was the scene of a grisly murder! At least that's the fo

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: Boston's Murder of the (19th) Century DID YOU KNOW that Boston was home to the murder of the century? Oh, yeah! As PBS puts it: "The Parkman murder has been called the O. J. Simpson trial of the nineteenth century. It had everything a good murder story needs: a rich, well-known victim; a well-respected suspect; gruesome evidence; and a possible underdog hero." So, basically, it all began in November of 1849 when Dr. George Parkman, a scion of one of Boston's richest families, suddenly vanished. One week later, the janitor of the Harvard Medical College discovered body parts hidden in the laboratory of a mild-mannered professor of chemistry named John Webster. Though his influenti

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg and following us at Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the sad story! The Hartford, Vermont Railroad Disaster DID YOU KNOW that Hartford, Vermont is home to one of the country's worst railroad disasters in history? It happened in the winter of 1887 and claimed the lives of 37 passengers. A further 50 people were injured in the accident. Just like a few days ago, Vermont was in the middle of an arctic blast that froze the White River solid,  below the Woodstock bridge in -18 degree cold. The Montreal Express, out of Boston, was over an hour behind schedule. Ordered to make up for lost time, the engineer hit the bridge at a higher than usual speed. The rear passenger car hit a break in the track and that was all it took. It went over the bridge and took two additional cars wit

Today we turn our attention to the far off land of Tolland, Massachusetts. Situated on the edge of Connecticut, it was, and still is, largely a farming community. With a total land mass of almost 33 square miles, its population sat at an astoundingly small 471 at the 2020 census. It’s the smallest town, by population, in Hampden County and still manages to govern itself with an open town meeting. It actually started its life as a part of Granville back in 1750. But by 1810, Tolland had enough of G-Ville and its big city ways and incorporated itself as the 169 household having, land working community that it is today. That’s why it’s so surprising that this sleepy town is also home to a scary ghost! Seriously, this is downtown Tolland, MA. The Fancy Ghost of Elijah Berry or Scooby Doo IRL Okay, so it’s not really that scary. It all began back on August 29th, 1884 when a well-off gentleman farmer by the name of Elijah H. Berry unexpectedly passed away. He was having a good time fishing

  “Let the storm increase! I will see home tonight in spite of the last tempest, or I may never see home!" Those were the last words ever spoken in anger by Peter Rugg. A man short of temper, but long on rage, his white wig flopped about on his head, matching time with his furious gesticulation. With the pleas to wait out the storm by his friend silenced, this soon to be unfortunate soul climbed into his one horse carriage and drove off into the night with his young daughter, Jenny, seated next to him. The two were fated to never reach their Boston home alive. The Never-ending Ride of Peter Rugg With so many of us preparing to travel for the holidays, it only seems right to spend a little time on the story of Peter Rugg. This was a man foolhardy enough to challenge nature itself and refuse the kind offer of safe haven at a time when just driving down the street had a 50/50 chance of survival. His anger and stubbornness are still known, these many years later, and his fin

There are two sides to every story and two sides to every person. There’s the story you get publicly, with all of its embellishments and inaccuracies, and the story that’s actually true. It’s just like the public persona a person puts out and the private individual with his or her own thoughts and motivations. Such is the case with Arthur Blood and Lancaster Town Forest. Talk to some people and you’ll hear the story of a kindly old gentleman who donated his private land so his town could have a public, wooded area to explore. Talk to other people and you’ll hear the tale of a murderous psychopath who slashed his way through the local populace after he lost his mind. Which story is true? Well, we may never know. One thing is clear, though: Blood Town Forest will always be a great place to take a hike!   Nothing creepy to see here! The Hauntings This is a story that’s best to start off at the final result. Camp or hike through Blood Forest and you might just run into a few victi