Explore Spooky Historic Boston!

When late September and October roll around, there is a cold breeze in the air, the leaves start to fall, and children are focused on the most sugary event of the year: Halloween! Most people associate Halloween with Salem, but Boston has its own ghost stories and many historic spooky places to visit. And might we add, without the crowds.

We suggest an afternoon at the 1849 Boston Athenaeum reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Ghost of Doctor Harris” in one of its many

quiet cozy reading nooks overlooking the 1660 Granary Burial Ground. Written in the 1850s and published posthumously in 1900, Hawthorne’s story recalls the author’s experience seeing the elderly Reverend Doctor Thaddeus Mason Harris of Dorchester reading in the Athenaeum day after day, only to discover that he had been dead for several days.

At the Athenaeum, you can also put a face to the name, as the library exhibits a portrait of Doctor Harris. More information on “The Ghost of Doctor Harris” can be found on the Athenaeum website.

After a nice afternoon reading at the Athenaeum, stop over at the Boston Landmark, Omni Parker House, which has been at the corner of School

and Tremont Street for nearly two centuries. Known for its many associations with famous guests and staff, the Parker House also introduced the world-famous Boston Cream Pie and the Parker House Roll. From the lobby, you can take a short trip up the stairs to the mezzanine level to see the actual mirror that hung in Charles Dickens’ room during a six-month stay at the hotel in 1867 and 1868. The first American public reading of A Christmas Carol was by Dickens at Tremont Temple. It is said Dickens practiced the reading in front of this mirror and that if you look closely, you may see his ghost in the mirror.

Finally, we suggest a trip to the Boston Harbor Islands. It's fall and colder in Boston, but the Harbor Islands always amaze. Just bundle up for the boat ride over to the islands. The Boston Harbor Islands website details the Legend of the Lady in Red, the Legend of the Lady in Black, and the Legend of the Lady of White. You may hear piano music on the winds at Peddocks Island, see the Lady in Red walking the shores of Long Island, or the Lady in Black haunting the halls of Fort Warren on Georges Island. And spookiest of all is Fort Independence at Castle Island, which it is said, inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s horror story “The Cask of Amontillado,” drawn from the author’s time stationed there. The story that inspired him was spooky to start.

Have fun on your amazing spooky adventures this October. And we suggest bringing a friend.