New England Legends Podcast
410 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 8 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 897 ratingsTwice each week, legend hunter, author, and historian Jeff Belanger and radio host Ray Auger explore the ghosts, monsters, aliens, folklore, history, roadside oddities, true crime, and legends of New England in this award-winning podcast. If you give us about twenty minutes, we’ll give you something strange to talk about today. The bizarre is closer than you think!
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Episodes
The Witch Tree
September 03, 2020 14:30 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBIn Episode 159, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger drive around an odd intersection in Smithfield, Rhode Island, 13 times searching for the Witch Tree. Some claim the intersection of Mann School and Colwell Roads is cursed by a witch rotting below an oak tree that sprouted more than two centuries ago. How did this road hazard turn into a monster? Listen to find out!
Green Lady Cemetery
August 27, 2020 14:30 - 14 minutes - 10.5 MBIn Episode 158, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger drive by the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery in Burlington, Connecticut, searching for a ghost they call the Green Lady. For more than 50 years, locals have been talking about this glowing apparition, but who is she? Or rather, who was she? A murder victim? A victim of circumstance? Listen to find out!
The Secrets of Vampire House
August 20, 2020 14:30 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBIn Episode 157, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll through the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge in Limestone, Maine, in search of the Vampire House, a Cold War relic leftover from the time when nuclear weapons were stored here at Loring Air Force Base. The Vamp House is a building with secrets: there’s legends of an accident that may have left monsters trapped inside. On this adventure we bring along a former military police officer who was there in the 1980s. It turns out with this legend...
The Ghosts and Monsters of Lake Bomoseen
August 13, 2020 14:30 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBIn Episode 156, to celebrate our three-year anniversary show, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger paddle on to Lake Bomoseen in Castleton, Vermont, is search of a ghost town, a phantom row boat, and an island they say is inhabited by giant rabbits with glowing red eyes. This is a buffet of weirdness and wonder with links to the slate industry, tourism, and some A-list celebrities.
Searching for Uncle Sam
August 06, 2020 14:30 - 9 minutes - 9.7 MBIn Episode 155, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger drive to Mason, New Hampshire, to see the boyhood home of Samuel Wilson, a kid who served the Continental Army by guarding and tending to the livestock, then helped the U.S. cause again during the War of 1812. He’s a guy who cared about his neighbors, and about his country. Though his name was Samuel, most locals knew him simply as: Uncle Sam. We want YOU to hear this podcast.
Radioactive Breakfast at the Fernald School
July 30, 2020 14:30 - 12 minutes - 9.34 MBIn Episode 154, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger drive to the grounds of the old Fernald School in Waltham, Massachusetts, just in time for a radioactive bowl of Quaker Oatmeal. This is a facility with secrets. Back in the late 1940s a series of experiments was conducted on 74 boys between the ages of 10 and 17 to determine the nutritional effectiveness of oatmeal. The boys had no idea they were human guinea pigs until a declassified document shed light into the dark corners of the Fernald School.
The Witches of Westerly
July 23, 2020 14:30 - 9 minutes - 9.66 MBIn Episode 153, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Westerly, Rhode Island, in search of witches. While never formally charged with witchcraft, Granny Mott and Rebecca Sims both had witchy reputations in the eighteenth century. Granny Mott could turn herself into a chicken, and Rebecca Sims was a sucker for fiddle music and night watchmen. Both women may still be casting their spells upon us.
The Downs Road Monster
July 16, 2020 14:30 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBIn Episode 152, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger take a stroll down a road to nowhere in search of ghosts and a monster. The abandoned section of Downs Road in Bethany, Connecticut, is home to a host of legends whose roots date back more than a century-and-a-half and include ties to a strange New Haven cult whose leader claimed to have the ability to raise the dead.
The Haunting of Wood Island
July 09, 2020 14:30 - 11 minutes - 17 MBIn Episode 151, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger take a boat out to Wood Island off the coast of Biddeford, Maine, to the scene of a murder-suicide that occurred June 1, 1896 -- a day that will haunt the island forever. The lighthouse keeper’s quarters is said to be haunted as is the entire island.
A Haunted Tower in the Woods
July 02, 2020 14:30 - 10 minutes - 9.72 MBIn Episode 150, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to woods overlooking Brattleboro, Vermont, in search of the haunted Brattleboro Retreat Tower. Built in 1887, and towering 65 feet over the hills above town, the tower is said to be home to suicides from the nearby asylum, and now it’s haunted.
The Stone Throwing Devil
June 25, 2020 14:30 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MBIn Episode 149, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to New Castle, New Hampshire, in search of a stone-throwing devil that plagued the home of George Walton for three months back in 1682 according to multiple eye-witnesses. Rocks were tossed, as were pots, pans, and hammers. Windows were broken, and passers-by were pelted with stones. It nearly drove Walton mad.
The Cobble Mountain Critter
June 18, 2020 14:30 - 10 minutes - 9.89 MBIn Episode 148, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hike the woods surrounding the Cobble Mountain Reservoir in Blandford, Massachusetts, in search of a Bigfoot-type creature locally known as the Cobble Mountain Critter. Could this be the same Sasquatch that’s been seen in the nearby Berkshires, or is it something weirder?
The Gravelly Point Pirates
June 11, 2020 14:30 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBIn Episode 147, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll the grounds around Newport Harbor Lighthouse in Rhode Island, because it’s here that 26 men are buried somewhere below the picturesque lighthouse. This was the site of New England’s largest state sanctioned mass execution. This is the tale of pirates on the high seas!
The Lordship Mermaid
June 04, 2020 14:30 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBIn Episode 146, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to the Stratford, Connecticut, coast by the Stratford Point Lighthouse in search of a mermaid sighting that was reported in great detail by lighthouse keeper Theodore Judson in July of 1915. Mermaid fever had gripped the region decades earlier thanks to another local Connecticut guy name P.T. Barnum who introduced the world to the Feejee Mermaid in the 1840s.
The Wreck of the Royal Tar
May 28, 2020 14:30 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MBIn Episode 145, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll the beaches of Maine’s Vinalhaven Island in Penobscot Bay reminiscing about the circus, and exploring the history and wreck of the Royal Tar—one of New England’s worst maritime disasters. In October of 1836, 32 people perished along with a menagerie of animals from the Burgess and Dexter’s Zoological Institute in an event that still haunts the coast of Maine.
From the Vault: English Jack
May 14, 2020 14:30 - 15 minutes - 11.2 MBIn Episode 143, while still under quarantine, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger revisit the White Mountains of New Hampshire on a quest for beer sold by the most famous hermit to ever grace Crawford Notch.
From the Vault: Black Agnes
May 07, 2020 14:30 - 17 minutes - 24.7 MBIn Episode 142, while still under quarantine, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger touch on a creepy epitaph in Milford, Connecticut, before introducing you to an episode from our vault: The cursed grave of Black Agnes in Montpelier, Vermont! Do you dare sit on her lap?
From the Vault: Haunted Lake
April 30, 2020 14:30 - 12 minutes - 18.1 MBIn Episode 141, while still under quarantine, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger introduce you to an episode from our vault: Haunted Lake in Francestown, New Hampshire! This legend has been around so long, the state made it official.
From the Vault: Capt. Jedidy Cole and the Devil
April 23, 2020 14:30 - 15 minutes - 22.2 MBIn Episode 140, while still under quarantine, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger introduce you to an episode from our vault: Captain Jedidy Cole and the Devil. It’s an old Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Halloween story about our own origins of the jack-o-lantern. Maybe listen to this one by candlelight.
From the Vault: Razor Shins
April 16, 2020 14:30 - 10 minutes - 15.6 MBIn Episode 139, while still under quarantine, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger introduce you to an episode from our vault: Razor Shins of Aroostook County, Maine. Logging camps used to tell of a Native American spirit with razors for shins who demanded an offering of alcohol from the greenhorns in the camp. Not making the offering can prove deadly. This was the first episode where we break into song!
Pausing the Adventure
April 09, 2020 14:30 - 10 minutes - 14.5 MBIn Episode 138, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger are going nowhere! We’re bummed that COVID-19 and quarantine has forced us to pause the production of our regular weekly podcast. But, we are planning to put out some kind of new content each week until we can get back out there exploring legends. We’d love your input and stories to help get us through these strange times. So please reach out to us through our Web site (OurNewEnglandLegends.com), our social media, or call or text our Legend Line an...
The Bugbee Family Murder Mystery
April 02, 2020 14:30 - 14 minutes - 20.3 MBIn Episode 137, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to High Street in Lancaster, New Hampshire, to the site of an 1880 unsolved serial murder that took the lives of six people in two adjacent houses. Was it a contagious illness, or poison? Authorities were torn, but one young woman had the motive.
Goody Hallett: the Witch of Wellfleet
March 26, 2020 14:30 - 11 minutes - 11.1 MBIn Episode 136, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger walk the beaches of Wellfleet on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in search of the ghost of Goody Hallett. In 1717, the pirate ship Whydah sank in a rough storm off the coast of Wellfleet. Some say the ship was sunk as a result of a curse aimed toward the captain, Black Sam Bellamy, by the Witch Goody Hallett.
Lincoln’s Heartbreak House
March 19, 2020 14:30 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBIn Episode 135, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll up to Hearthside House in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Though many call this 1814 mansion the “house that love built,” it also has another nickname: Heartbreak House. After winning the lottery in 1810, Quaker Stephen Smith built this mansion for a girl he loved. The only problem? She didn’t want to live here.
Committed at Fairfield Hills Hospital
March 12, 2020 14:30 - 14 minutes - 13.9 MBIn Episode 134, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger drive up to the remains of Fairfield Hills Mental Hospital in Newtown, Connecticut. Opened in 1933, Fairfield Hills was touted as the latest and greatest in the treatment of people whose “minds have become deranged with strange fancies, and who have lost control over their thoughts and emotions.” But overcrowding and underfunding lead to conditions that were truly horrific, conditions that haunt us decades later.
Three Strange Beasts from the Woods of Maine
March 05, 2020 15:30 - 13 minutes - 13 MBIn Episode 133, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hit an old logging camp in the woods of western Maine in search of the Agropelter, the Billdad, and the Tote Road Shagamaw. These legendary creatures have haunted and hunted loggers for decades. Are they just tall tales told around the campfire at the end of the day, or could there be something more to it?
When Winter Kills in Peacham
February 27, 2020 15:30 - 12 minutes - 12.5 MBIn Episode 132, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger face a brutal winter snow storm in Peacham, Vermont, in search of a story from March of 1869 when a blizzard took the lives of three wayward travelers: Esther Emmons, her daughter Mary David, and her grandson Willie. Three travelers whose lives could have been spared if a stranger would have offered some shelter. The lack of human decency in an emergency has haunted the small town of Peacham ever since.
Becky’s Mysterious Garden
February 20, 2020 15:30 - 10 minutes - 9.92 MBIn Episode 131, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger row out to a tiny island called Becky’s Garden on Lake Winnipesaukee to explore the fairy tale legend behind this rock and little house. It’s the smallest island on the lake, it’s been on the map since 1885, and the story behind it sounds all too familiar.
Where Shute Fell
February 13, 2020 15:30 - 10 minutes - 10.4 MBIn Episode 130, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger row out to Great Island on Spot Pond in Stoneham, Massachusetts, in search of a headstone that reads three words: Where Shute Fell. We know it’s been here since at least 1884, but who was Shute? What does the stone mean? The theories are wild, but not as crazy as the truth!
The Vampire of Cumberland
February 06, 2020 15:30 - 11 minutes - 11.4 MBIn Episode 129, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger search for a vampire buried in a tiny family cemetery in Cumberland, Rhode Island. In February of 1796, the father of Abigail Staples petitioned the town to exhume her body and perform some experiments in an effort to save his other daughter, Lavinia who was dying from consumption. Some believed if Abigail was indeed a vampire, perhaps they could break the spell to save Lavinia.
The Testament of Hospital Rock
January 30, 2020 15:30 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBIn Episode 128, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore Hospital Rock deep in the woods of Farmington, Connecticut. In the 1790s this was the site of a smallpox inoculation hospital. Smallpox was a plague that wiped out families and communities. Hundreds of people in the region came here for treatment, but 66 left their names etched in the stone as a testament to a plague.
Chenoo the Cannibal Ice Giant of Maine
January 23, 2020 15:30 - 12 minutes - 18.2 MBIn Episode 127, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hike into the deep woods of northern Maine in search of the Chenoo, a cannibal ice giant from Algonquin folklore that hunts and kills people foolish enough to wander into his domain. This is the story of a Micmac family who takes on a Chenoo with an unlikely weapon.
The Beaver Trout of Vermont
January 16, 2020 15:30 - 14 minutes - 20.5 MBIn Episode 126, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger go ice fishing for the legendary beaver trout on Lake Memphremagog in northern Vermont. Since the time of the Civil War anglers have spread the tale of a trout that grows a fur coat to keep warm during the cold winter months. The story and even photos of the fish have been in the newspapers for over a century. Is it just a story, or could there be something more to it? The guys enlist the help of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department on their hu...
Haunted House Curve
January 09, 2020 15:30 - 10 minutes - 10 MBIn Episode 125, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger take a drive up to Haunted House Curve in Hampton, New Hampshire. The stretch of road along Route 1 next to the General Moulton House has the ominous moniker not only because of the many car accidents reported there, but because the nearby house is said to be haunted. It’s also the place where they say General Moulton made a deal with the devil. Check your mirrors and your breaks if you drive by!
Boston’s Psychic Sleuth
January 02, 2020 15:30 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MBIn Episode 124, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger start their adventure in Milford, Massachusetts, looking for a local farm boy who went missing in February of 1846. Then they head to Boston where a break in the case came two years later when a psychic medium gave the family the whereabouts of the boy’s body. According to the newspaper reports, her insight unraveled the entire case of the boy’s mysterious murder.
Who’s Haunting Smith’s Castle?
December 26, 2019 15:30 - 10 minutes - 9.93 MBIn Episode 123, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the history and haunting of Smith’s Castle in Wickford, Rhode Island. The earliest roots of this house date back to 1637. 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.
The Mistletoe Bride
December 24, 2019 10:30 - 6 minutes - 16.4 MBA New England Legends holiday extra episode! Jeff Belanger tries his hand at a classic Christmas horror folktale from England. For many years, ghost stories have been a Christmas tradition. We'd love to see that return. Music and production by John Judd.
New England’s First Christmas Tree
December 19, 2019 15:30 - 11 minutes - 11 MBIn Episode 122, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger celebrate the Christmas holiday in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, at the site of New England’s first decorated Christmas tree. In 1777, Hessian Prisoner of War, Hendrick Roddemore, is said to have chopped down an evergreen to decorate in his cabin, putting up a Christmas tree almost a century before it was cool to do so in these parts. Wishing everyone a legendary holiday season!
The Boon Island Cannibals
December 12, 2019 15:30 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBIn Episode 121, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger sail out to Boon Island, Maine, in search of the legend of the Boon Island Cannibals. On December 10, 1710, the Nottingham Galley shipwrecked on the tiny island during a nor’easter, leaving all 14 crewmen stranded. As the men started to die, the survivors were left with an awful choice -- a choice that’s haunted the island ever since. But was the ship’s captain a hero or villain?
Hunting Slipperyskin
December 05, 2019 15:30 - 9 minutes - 9.28 MBIn Episode 120, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hike the woods of Maidstone, Vermont, in search of a clever, but annoying hairy beast called Slipperyskin. For generations, this creature, described as a bear who walks on his hind legs, and who torments the people of Essex County, roamed the forest giving everyone who hunted him the slip. Could he still be out there in the Northeastern Kingdom?
The Mother of Thanksgiving
November 28, 2019 12:00 - 12 minutes - 14.9 MBHappy Thanksgiving! In Episode 119, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger visit Newport, New Hampshire, the 1788 birthplace of Sarah Josepha Hale. Hale not only wrote the most famous nursery rhyme of all time, she lobbied governors, admirals, and U.S. presidents for decades to make a new federal holiday called Thanksgiving. Her determination paid off when President Abraham Lincoln made it official in 1863! We explore the history and mysteries of this holiday. We’re thankful to all of our legendary lis...
The Black Dog of Meriden
November 21, 2019 15:30 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBIn Episode 118, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger climb the cliffs over Hubbard Park in Meriden, Connecticut, in search of a mysterious black dog. They say if you see this mutt once, you’ll find joy, see him twice and you’ll find sorrow, but if you see him three times it means your death. Could this dog be connected to a different Connecticut legend?
A Sermon from Beer Bottle Church
November 14, 2019 15:30 - 10 minutes - 9.93 MBIn Episode 117, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger visit Beer Bottle Church in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, in search of the legend of the beer bottle that sits atop the First Baptist Church steeple. They also explore the strange story behind a unique clock located on that very same steeple. The clock and beer-topped spire are so inspiring that Jeff and Ray may just break into song at the end.
The Robin Hood of Massachusetts
November 07, 2019 15:30 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBIn Episode 116, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hang around an unassuming Westborough, Massachusetts, street corner in search of Tom Cook, an 18th-century man who once out-smarted the devil, and just may be the real-life inspiration for the British Robin Hood you know from centuries of books and movies.
Trick-or-Treating at the Conjuring House
October 31, 2019 14:30 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBIn Episode 115, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Burrillville, Rhode Island, to go Halloween trick-or-treating at the farm house that served as the inspiration for the 2013 movie, The Conjuring. We explore the movie, Ed and Lorrain Warren, then dive into what really happened in that house. You’ll hear from Roger Perron, whose family lived the experience in the early 1970s, and who were portrayed in the movie, as well as the new owners who are still facing the haunting today. Happy Hallowe...
The Pitcher Man of Goose River Bridge
October 24, 2019 14:30 - 10 minutes - 10.6 MBIn Episode 114, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger travel to Rockport, Maine, to explore the haunting of the Goose River Bridge. The ghost of William Richardson is said to offer passers by a sip of ale from his pitchers. If you believe the stories, he’s been out there celebrating for over 200 years.
A Terrible Mountain
October 17, 2019 14:30 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBIn Episode 113, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hike the foreboding Terrible Mountain in Andover, Vermont, in search of tragic accidents and the ghost of a legendary 104-pound old man of a hiker who, in the 1970s, was said to be touch as rawhide until one day he vanished without a trace. Be warned: this episode is terrible!
XYZ Marks the Spot
October 10, 2019 14:30 - 10 minutes - 10.4 MBIn Episode 112, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore Fountain Hill Cemetery in Deep River, Connecticut, in search of the grave of XYZ. Beneath the headstone resides a would-be bank robber who was gunned down in the act December 13, 1899, but no one ever claimed the corpse, leaving police baffled. A ghostly woman in black is said to still haunt the grave, forever paying her respects.
Pembroke’s Murder Pillar
October 03, 2019 14:30 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MBIn Episode 111, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger investigate the Pembroke, New Hampshire, Murder Pillar. This stone pillar sits far back from Academy Road, almost out of site at the tree line of the woods. The marker commemorates the life and death of 17-year-old Josie Langmaid. Her head was found almost 500 feet away. The murder shocked the community to the point where it’s still mentioned in whispers today.
Revere’s Ghostly Pirate
September 26, 2019 14:30 - 10 minutes - 9.8 MBIn Episode 110, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to the Point of Pines section of Revere, Massachusetts, in search of buried treasure guarded by a ghostly pirate and his horse. In the 1690s, local Native American leader David Kunkshamooshaw used his witch hazel divining rod to locate a buried pirate treasure near the shore, but what happened next frightened him and his treasure-hunting crew to their core. Some say that treasure is still out there.