These 5 haunted cemeteries in New Hampshire are sure to send a tingle down your spine. Enter…if you dare.
A few years ago, I had a conversation with a friend of mine about a ghost sighting I experienced while driving through Connecticut. When I finished telling my story, she responded, “You’re way smarter about this than I would be, which makes sense since you’ve been living with ghosts your whole life.” As a lifelong New Englander, I felt like this was an accurate way to describe what it’s like to grow up in an area where you’re never far from a haunted place.
The entire region is steeped in both paranormal and supernatural history. Rhode Island is home to Mercy Brown, the 19-year-old whose death in 1892 led to an increase in fear during the New England vampire panic. Lizzie Borden allegedly murdered her father and stepmother in their family home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Wood devils were said to have stalked the Great Woods in New Hampshire. Numerous people have mysteriously disappeared into Vermont’s Bennington Triangle, never to be seen again.
Even if you just looked at haunted happenings closer to home, you’d find enough examples to keep you thoroughly occupied between now and the end of Spooky Season. Case in point? These five haunted cemeteries in New Hampshire that have been rightfully (or delightfully, depending on your point of view) scaring locals for decades.
Whether or not the stories are true remains to be seen, but I’d recommend staying out of these burial grounds after nightfall just to be on the safe side.
1. Pine Hill, AKA Blood Cemetery, Hollis
If an award were given out for “The Most Haunted Cemetery in New Hampshire,” Pine Hill Cemetery in Hollis would be the No. 1 choice for this accolade. Over the years, it has been dubbed “Blood Cemetery” due to the creepy occurrences that reportedly happen at the grave of Abel Blood. Blood was buried at Pine Hill in 1867, and his headstone (as pictured above) features a hand with one finger outstretched pointing toward the sky.
According to New Hampshire Magazine, Blood’s gravestone supposedly shapeshifts at night. Once darkness descends on Hollis, the finger changes position and points downward at the ground instead. It doesn’t appear as though anyone has caught this phenomenon on camera, though author and paranormal researcher Fiona Broome might be able to offer an explanation as to why that is.
Speaking with the publication, Broome said her camera stopped working one time when she tried to take a photo of Blood’s grave. “I pushed the button and nothing happened. No flash, just the film advancing,” she told the outlet. Broome tried over a dozen times to get her camera to work but was ultimately unsuccessful. She wondered if maybe there was an electromagnetic field surrounding the cemetery that could have contributed to the issue.
Beyond whatever is, or isn’t, going on with Blood’s grave, other visitors have reported seeing the ghost of a young boy who was allegedly murdered alongside his family in the 1800s. People who have been able to take photos here have claimed they show orbs and shadows that weren’t there when they were originally setting up the shot, so do with that information what you will.
2. Vale End Cemetery, Wilton
Wilton’s Vale End Cemetery is home to numerous apparitions, AKA ghosts, who float around the grounds at night. Revolutionary War soldiers were buried here, as was the infamous Blue Lady. Said to be the restless spirit of Mary Ritter Spaulding, who died in 1808 at the age of 35, the Blue Lady is notorious for showing up over her grave as visitors make their way around Vale End.
She’s most commonly described as simply looking like a blue column of light, though others have said that the Blue Lady appears the way she did in life, complete with her old-fashioned outfit and style. Spaulding was said to have been “a woman of superior intellect, a great worker, and a skilled tailoress,” and was known for her kindness. That checks out with the Blue Lady’s demeanor, since she doesn’t seem to actually bother anyone she appears before.
Aside from, you know, scaring them out of their skin.
3. Point of Graves Burial Ground, Portsmouth
Point of Graves Burial Ground in Portsmouth is one of the oldest cemeteries in New Hampshire and dates back to the 17th century. It only contains 125 graves, but the souls of those individuals are seemingly pretty restless. An individual called Dr. Vaughn was buried here, and his grave reportedly glows when someone takes a photo of it.
Elizabeth Pierce was also buried at Point of Graves, and author and historian Roxie Zwicker—who owns New England Curiosities—had two strange experiences when visiting Pierce’s grave. As Zwicker explained to the New Hampshire Union Leader, she was conducting one of her tours at Point of Graves when a young girl ran to Pierce’s tombstone and told Zwicker that the woman buried there was sad and lonely.
On another tour, a different young girl sat down at Pierce’s grave and started to cry. “It was just one of those surreal moments, to have two little girls have that reaction to this grave,” Zwicker told the outlet. Regardless of what you believe when it comes to paranormal entities, it is a little strange that two different girls had very similar reactions to Pierce’s gravesite completely unprompted.
4. Woodland Cemetery, Keene
Woodland Cemetery in Keene is a hotbed for ghostly activity. One of the most commonly seen spirits on the property is that of a young girl who peeks around buildings and trees to look at visitors and sometimes even follows them during the duration of their stay. She’s said to giggle every now and then, which could be adorable or alarming depending on what time of day you’re there, or even how you generally feel about kids.
Apparently, if you swear in front of the Summer Knight Chapel at Woodland Cemetery, you’ll suddenly feel like you can taste soap in your mouth. For those who don’t know, washing someone’s mouth out with soap was a form of punishment used by people in the United States and United Kingdom throughout the 19th and 20th centuries when someone was caught swearing or lying.
So it appears as though one of the ghosts at Woodland is a real stickler for people using appropriate language when spending time outside the chapel.
5. Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry
Derry’s Forest Hill Cemetery is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a young Victorian woman who appears disfigured to those who have reported seeing her on the grounds. She wears a white dress adorned with pink ribbons and is only visible at night. Many believe she may be the spirit of Alice D. Morse, who was buried in her family’s plot in 1876.
Beyond the well-mannered specter, much of what makes Forest Hill unsettling is the artwork found on the graves there. Many tombstones bear old-fashioned macabre engravings like skulls and bones, lending to the overall spooky atmosphere.
