#haunted inn

The Salem Inn

Salem, Massachusetts

The Salem Inn was the 1834 home of Captain Nathaniel West, a successful sea captain and merchant. It later became the home of Civil War General Williams Cogswell. General Cogswell also served as mayor of Salem. The current owners bought the property over 35 years ago and converted it into the Salem Inn.

Since then, the owners have expanded the Salem Inn into two other buildings, the Peabody House, built in 1874 and the Curwen House. Curwen House was built in 1854 by James and Samuel Curwen.

It is said that there are three spirits in the Inn. The owners don’t believe any spirits are haunting the Inn but staff and guests have had several experiences, just read the journals in the rooms.

The first is a woman who is referred to as Elizabeth, perhaps after Nathaniel West’s wife, who divorced her husband for his extramarital affairs. Others refer to the spirit as Katherine.

There is also a little boy who is heard running up and down the staircase and through the halls. Staff have heard a child giggling when there are no children in the Inn.

The third ghost is that of a cat, the Inn has no cats, but guests report seeing one dart down the hallway or into a room.

Some of the strange occurrences the guests and staff have experience include that classic ghostly behavior of thievery. Countless times, members of the staff have complained of coal logs vanishing from the fireplaces, and even freshly set up candles disappearing from the surface on which they were placed upon.

One room that has achieved legendary status at the inn is Room 17. It is within this room that guests and staff alike have claimed to have experienced the most activity. Reports of items mysteriously moving from one location to another and the sight of unexplainable shadows are not uncommon. The ghost of Room 17, is believed to be a woman who was killed by her husband. This betrayal by her husband, has lead to her spirit’s ill treatment of any man who stays in the room. Usually when a man does spend the night in Room 17, she’ll become quite active in order to disrupt their sleep. She achieves this by causing loud noises in the closet, and stomping around the room. It’s been said, if you leave a tumbler of whiskey, or any alcohol for that matter, she just may leave you to a restful night of sleep.

The last of this spirit triangle, is believed to be the ghost of a child. The staff have said that they’ve heard the sound of a child giggling, at times when there were no kids saying at the inn. Some staff members have also heard light footsteps following them around the inn. Footsteps so faint they could have only been made by a child, but upon turning around expecting to see a kid in need of assistance, they are baffled by the discovery of nothing.

Ragged Cot Inn
England

The Ragged Cot is a 17th-century coaching inn and is said to be haunted by a mother and child who died there. The story goes that one night the landlord of the inn decided to hold up a stagecoach. His wife went after him to stop him from carrying out the robbery. Unfortunately, she was holding her baby in her arms as she confronted him. Pushing her aside, both his wife and child fell to their deaths down the stairs. 

Horrified at what he had done, he hid their bodies in a trunk. When the police arrived shortly after to arrest him for the robbery, mysteriously the bodies of his wife and child were found back at the foot of the stairs where they had died. As he was led away by the police it’s said the apparitions of his wife and child were seen walking back up the stairs disappearing into the darkness.

Since that time, guests and staff have reported hearing unexplained noises around the Inn. The sound of a struggle has been heard near the stairs followed by the sound of a body falling. The sounds are believed to be the bodies of Bill Claver’s wife and child tumbling into eternity.