Stone-Throwing Devils

The Trickster Spirits of Early New England

The early New England colonies were, in large part, intended as a utopian experiment to establish a model Christian society in preparation for Judgment Day. To guide this lofty vision the founding patriarchs cobbled together a social blueprint based on archaic Old Testament precedents and stern Calvinist church-state doctrine. The resulting “biblical commonwealths” of their design were, in stifled reality, highly regimented settlements ruled by a strict religious order and moral code. Enforced church orthodoxy dominated civic life. Neighbors regularly turned on neighbors in righteous condemnation, with even minor infractions inviting swift and often cruel punishments by authorities. And those who transgressed the established order could expect no less than to be banished, tortured or hanged.

The rigid demands of Puritan life made for a fairly bleak existence that centered around one's predestined relationship with a cold, demanding and, at times, highly erratic God. It also fostered a psychological culture of repressed volatility. For the faithful devout, it was only by the fortified sanctity and purity of their godly settlements that the dark forces of the land were kept at bay. Sacred space was safe space; a symbolic means to ward off the unknown, unpleasant and unacceptable – and when cracks appeared in this fragile edifice it triggered sudden and unpredictable outbursts, including the seemingly paranormal...

Ritual Murder in Rural England

The Strange Case of Charles Walton

A brutal murder is reported in a quiet West Midlands village. Local authorities are unable to come up with a suspect or motive so Scotland Yard sends their best detective to help crack the case. It could be the plot line to any number of classic English murder mysteries. However, the investigation into this particular homicide would soon take an unexpectedly strange turn. Hushed rumors of witchcraft, spectral black dogs and ritual sacrifice would surround the case as it became entangled in the dark folklore and history of the region. Was this the work of a lone madman... or something far more sinister?

Haunted Trees of New England

New England is steeped in ghostly legends and folklore, with an exceptionally high number of haunted sites reported throughout the region. There are houses, bars or inns that played host to tragic events where tortured souls still reside. Desolate roads or old cemeteries where lonely spirits walk the night. And whole areas where cursed villages were abandoned or great battles were fought, charged with the residual energy of the past. There are also haunted trees.

The belief in haunted trees goes back through history and across cultural boundaries. For the ancient Celts, sacred trees were considered to be a link with the supernatural world. It's a English folk belief that carried through the ages. The various native tribes indigenous to the area had their own, remarkably similar, beliefs regarding the spirits and divinities that occupied the untamed forest spaces. And the superstitious Puritans who settled these lands lived in constant fear of the dark forces that lurked just beyond their village borders...

The land remembers.