THE TRAGIC AND MYSTERIOUS HISTORY OF THE GHOST HOUSE:

Research into this property's past has revealed little that may be considered completely reliable, but there do seem to be a number of facts that are quite disturbing regarding it's history.

The house was built in the year 1820 by Captain Joshua Harsh, a stern angry man who was disliked by all. Some said Harsh was a pirate, and deeply involved in witchcraft. He claimed his frequent ocean voyages were to the East Indies, but it was rumored that Captain Harsh was actually going somewhere else, somewhere secret and terrible. He always returned with several sailors inexplicably missing. He would also return with large quantities of jewels and gemstones, distributing most of these among his crew and keeping very few of them for himself. His sailors were always quite pleased with this, but most of his crew tended to die from one cause or another within a few months of reaching shore. The gemstones found in their possesion were said to have peculiar runes and symbols scratched into them.

Harsh boasted one rainy night, while drinking heavily in a local tavern, that he would soon be 'opening the gateway' and 'crossing the dimentions'. A local farmer named Larson was said to have laughed openly at this. Larson was found dead the next morning, his body hanging from an ancient oak tree. The muddy ground beneath the tree revealed no tracks or footprints of any kind.

It was noticed that construction of Harsh's new house only went on at night. The workers were not from the nearby village, and were never seen in the daytime. On many occasions strange chanting was heard, but none of the locals dared approach closely enough to investigate. When the construction was complete, Captain Harsh once more set sail for the East Indies.

Harsh returned in 1821 with a maiden at his side, but she wore a veil and her features were never seen. Although Harsh remained cold and hostile to everyone, he treated his new bride like a princess. They settled into their new home and for a little while all seemed normal. But then the local villagers once more began to hear chanting in the midnight hours.

When planting time came, Harsh cleared a small area for farming. Locals noticed several strange men laboring in Harsh's field, although Harsh had acquired no slaves during any of his ocean voyages. These laborers seemed to have greyish skin and appeared blind. They never spoke. Villagers felt a strong aversion to them and began to avoid the Harsh farm altogether. Since the Harsh property was near the cemetery, some suspected Harsh had called forth zombies to do his bidding. Public opinion soon became outrage, and Captain Harsh apparently left town late one night, never to return. There is speculation that he was later killed by thieves in an alley.

Several days after his departure, Captain Harsh's bride, still heavily veiled, walked into town and hired two workmen to install a lamp post in the front yard of the Harsh estate. The workers watched as she lit the lamp and then drifted back into the house. A delivery boy found her lifeless form sitting in the living room two days later. She was reportedly buried somewhere on the Harsh estate.

Harsh's field became overgrown and his laborers were no longer seen. No one was sure what had been planted, but the thick black stalks never seemed to completely die. Each October a few of them would raise upward in the moonlight, spreading dark purple blooms that were said to smell like corpses.

Through the years there were reports of strange humanoid figures shambling about in the nearby woods, rotting things that might once have been human. Villagers passing the property at night began seeing strange ghostly figures drifting around the house.

It was precisely 13 years after the death of Captain Harsh's bride that the wailing began. On a cold October night the villagers suddenly heard a terrible wailing sound, a maiden crying out with soul crushing sorrow. Several concerned individuals raced to the Harsh estate, only to find it completely empty. But on the following full moon those hopeless cries were heard again, as they were during every full moon for the rest of that year.

The house sat empty, shunned by all, untill the summer of 1910. It was then sold to three sisters who were suspected of being witches. Oddly, there is no record of their names, and no images of them seem to exist. Shortly after their arrival, dogs and cats began vanishing mysteriously. Then children began to vanish as well. Ghostly apparitions continued to be sighted in the area.

By October the terrified villagers could stand no more, and one night a small group of men set out to find and kill the three sisters. As they approached the Harsh estate, the crying and screaming of children was clearly heard. The men were seen entering the house, and a few moments later a brilliant blue flash of light reportedly issued from one of the windows. When the men failed to return by morning, several others went in search of them. The house revealed no trace of the men, and they were never seen again. The three sisters had also vanished. One searcher claimed to have found three small piles of blue ashes in the corner of a room, surrounded by a circle of very small bones.

The house sat empty untill 1937. It was then purchased by a widow named Florence Blanch. She was known as a kind hearted soul who often gave shelter to stranded travelers and homeless drifters. She sometimes placed advertisements for renters, offering a few of the upstairs rooms for a very reasonable price. Her tenants, however, often complained about the mysterious crying and screaming they constantly heard when the moon was full. There were also reports of ghostly forms drifting around nightly throughout the house.

As time went by, it was noticed that people who rented rooms from Florence tended to vanish after a short while. Salesmen and deliverymen also seemed to frequently disappear. The police finally grew suspicious and searched Florence's home. In the attic they found a total of 17 human skeletons. In the basement they found an additional 32. Florence Blanch reportedly smiled and explained that the murders were necessary to keep 'those three witches' quiet. She then added that the bones were needed to 'satisfy those who rest uneasy'. Florence Blanch was declared insane and was placed in a mental hospital, where she perished after jumping from a seventh story window on Halloween night, 1956.

The Harsh estate remained empty untill 1972. It was then sold to an archeology student named Herbert Nash. He is known to have spent 2 months in the house before being reported missing. His notes, as well as a deep tunnel he had dug in the cellar, proved conclusively that although the Harsh estate had been built near a local cemetery, there had once been another smaller cemetery, long forgotten, directly under the Harsh property. And directly below that was an ancient Native American burial ground. And directly below that were yet more bones, possibly Viking in origin. Herbert Nash was never found.

Since that time, the house has remained empty. There are rumors that birds dislike the structure, and will hurl themselves at it as if in anger. The house has large gaps in it's siding as though the wood were torn or chewed away. Lights are often reported in the upstairs windows at night, particularly during thunder storms. Odd skeletal creatures are said to shamble about in the overgrown field. There are still frequent reports of ghostly forms drifting around the property after dark. Moaning and crying are still heard during nights of the full moon.

And the lamp in the front yard, lit by Captain Harsh's bride all those years ago... that lamp has never gone out. It's still burning, even now.