Sometimes, I’m more convinced by retracted “ghost stories” than those that get lots of publicity.
Here’s an example:
I was searching for fresh news reports about ghosts. I use special software to filter out the stories that won’t interest me. Then, I click on those that look interesting.
The following is a screenshot of one story that caught my interest.
However, when I clicked to read the article… it had already been removed from the WOOD-TV website.
That’s not entirely weird. After all, it looks like the story was from 2012.
On the other hand, I’m still not sure why it showed up on my feed of recent news stories. (Cue the Twilight Zone music…?)
Generally, when I see something that looks like a publicity stunt — a news reporter “locked in,” Ghost Adventures’ style — I sigh in exasperation. Really, guys, that’s become a cliche. Zak and his friends can do “locked in” investigations far better than amateurs.
What made this story different is that it’s the Titanic.
Of course the artifacts from it could have eerie energy. I’d be more surprised if this kind of exhibit wasn’t haunted.
Though this news story is old, my point is still current:
If you’re looking for creepy, haunted places to investigate, sometimes it’s better to look for reports that vanish almost as completely as the ghosts do.
Stories (and commercial sites) that shout “Look at me! Look at me!” are less likely to be the real deal.
It doesn’t take the Haunted Collector to spot a show or exhibit that could be truly haunted, and worth visiting. In fact, if you can get to a display like this one, I recommend (discreetly) carrying an EVP recorder in your pocket, to pick up any odd messages you might hear while in the gallery or exhibit.
If you’re intrigued by the idea of a haunted Titanic exhibit, you’ll have lots of choices. Check the Titanic Exhibitions list to find a site near you. (Personally, the Luxor would be my first choice. That place is pretty creepy to begin with, with its massive Egyptian statues.)
The mystery may have been solved. According to recent research, Gallows Hill Park in Salem, Massachusetts, isn’t where the accused “witches” were hanged. It seems that the real location might have been nearby Proctor’s Ledge.
Of course, I’m chagrined that my ley line map is no longer as straightforward and tidy as it had been, before this discovery. However, I’d rather have the truth… and a genuine history to work with, for future Salem investigations.
Meanwhile, the media describe Proctor’s Ledge as “in back of a Walgreens.”
Technically, that’s true. However, the neighborhood is mostly residential, with a Walgreens store & pharmacy at the foot of the hill.
If you investigate around Proctor’s Ledge, remember that much of the surrounding area is private property.
In addition, I’m not sure you need to hike into the slightly wooded area to conduct ghost research. A quiet stroll around the neighborhood — not disturbing the residents — may provide the paranormal experience you’re looking for. (See my story, below.)
Since Halloween (Samhain) eve in 2008, I’ve been waiting for this announcement. That’s when psychic Gavin Cromwell — not related to me, as far as I know* — and I wandered around the neighborhood between Salem’s Essex Street, Boston Street, and Gallows Hill Park. [Map link]
Earlier that afternoon, we’d filmed a TV segment at Salem’s “Witch House.” Then, we’d left the film crew to pack up their gear and probably find their way to one of Salem’s many wonderful cafes, pubs, and restaurants.
Instead of relaxing over a hearty meal, Gavin and I wanted to be part of Salem’s annual Samhain celebration.The circle and ceremony at Gallows Hill Park is legendary. That evening, it was open to the public, and — as usual — attracted a very large crowd. (That year, it was hosted by the Temple of the Nine Wells.)
With nothing else to do before the gathering, Gavin and I went for a walk.
In other words — and for the benefit of skeptics — we had no audience. It was just the two of us. No audience. No cameras. Gavin had no reason to invent stories to impress anyone; I already knew he was psychic.
On that late afternoon in October 2008, Gavin and I hiked up and down the residential streets near Gallows Hill Park. Gavin felt drawn to that neighborhood, not the more famous landmark just a block (or so) away.
I’d love to claim that I was the one who first suggested that the Proctor’s Ledge area was the real gallows site.
I didn’t.
In fact, Gavin not only announced it first, he seemed absolutely confident it was where some of the accused “witches” had been hung.
After that, we walked back and forth around the area he focused on. As usual, we bounced our psychic impressions off one another, fine-tuning the history we sensed.
By the time we noticed others arriving at the nearby park, both of us were convinced that some (not necessarily all) of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials had been executed at that location.
And then we went to the Samhain celebration.
(Note: We agreed that something else — something not very nice — had happened at Gallows Hill Park, not just in the 17th century, but later, as well. So, that park is worth investigating if you’re in the area.)
Proctor’s Ledge video
The following video was filmed in 2012 and posted at YouTube by thedevilshopyard. It’s a good way to see what the ledge actually looks like, if you hike into the wooded area.
As you can see, the site is close to at least one busy street. So, especially if you’re hoping to investigate after dark, make sure you have permission. Neighbors and passing cars will notice flashlights, and call the police.
(And, if the site is open to the public and you explore that area, be prepared for poison ivy and very uneven ground.)
In my book about haunted cemeteries, I mentioned ghost hunting opportunities at unmarked graves, and graves just outside cemetery walls.
At the time, I described many of them as the graves of “sinners,” or people whose lives (or deaths) did not allow them to be buried in consecrated ground.
During a recent Saturday investigation in Concord (NH), I discovered another explanation for those graves.
The answer surprised me. It’s Quakers (also known as “Friends.”)
Quakers and unmarked graves
Apparently, between 1717 and 1850, gravestones and memorials at cemeteries were considered “vain monuments” and – according to a decree by members of the Quaker faith – had to be removed from Quaker graves.
In other words, some (perhaps many) unmarked graves aren’t anonymous because the families were too poor to afford gravestones, or because the markers were stolen, but because the burial plots belonged to Quakers.
On the other side of the fence (literally, in this case), mainstream Christians objected to members of the Friends Church or Religious Society of Friends – generally known as “Quakers” – being buried in consecrated ground. This was because Quakers aren’t baptized, or – in Quaker terms – “sprinkled.”
This adds up to a disturbing thought, though it may explain why some homes and fields seem haunted, with no obvious explanation:
Quakers have been buried in fields, and family plots – also unmarked – near their homes. In other words, you may have walked over Quaker graves many times without realizing it.
Old North Cemetery, Concord, NH
I discovered this during some post-investigation research about the Old North Cemetery in Concord, New Hampshire. I’d been there with Lesley Marden and Sean Paradis, and we spent about two and a half hours researching the site.
Sean and I had been there before, and I’d investigated the cemetery on my own, during daytime hours. (It’s on the edge of downtown Concord, in the middle of a busy residential area.)
Though the site may be haunted after dark, and we noticed many anomalies at the cemetery, I don’t consider Old North Cemetery profoundly haunted. It is intriguing, nevertheless.
The cemetery is L-shaped and covers nearly six acres and – according to the National Historic Register application – it’s comprised of three areas: The main cemetery, the Minot Enclosure (sort of a cemetery-within-a-cemetery), and the Quaker Lot. (That’s not quite true, as I’ll explain in a few minutes.)
The cemetery was in most frequent use between 1730 and 1958.
The Quaker Lot
Though I’d been to Old North Cemetery before, I hadn’t noticed the odd, open field in the back of the Minot Enclosure. That field has just a few markers, and one of them reminded us of a bunker marker.
It’s indicated by the arrow, and the Friends’ (Quaker) marker is in the oval. That part of the cemetery is separated from the Minot Enclosure by a cast iron fence (with a break in it) and a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.
To reach the Quaker burial lot, you’ll exit Minot and walk through the main Old North Cemetery, to where the Quaker Lot begins. (It’s not fenced off from the main cemetery.)
Once you’re standing in what looks like an open field, about 10,000 square feet, you’ll see just a few markers. The main one is the slanted memorial listing many of the people buried in the Quaker Lot. The lot was purchased in 1811, according to the terms of the will of Benjamin Hannaford. He’s one of the people buried in the lot.
At left is the memorial marker. (Due to the late-afternoon lighting, I had to increase the contrast in this photo, for the lettering to show at all.)
At the back of that memorial, you can see a metal marker for Levi Hutchins. I think it’s a military marker, and it’s just sort of leaning there. No one knows where Levi Hutchins was buried, so there’s no actual place for the marker.
On the other hand, Levi Hutchins’ wife, Phebe, does have a gravestone. Levi flew in the face of Quaker traditions and commissioned a headstone for his late wife. That’s it in the photo at the lower right.
The history of the Quakers in Concord is an interesting story.
The part that caught my attention was that the Friends (Quakers) built a meetinghouse in 1815, but in 1816 the state bought the land from them (it’s where the Concord State House is, now) . The city moved the meetinghouse to a location just east of the Quaker burial lot, fronting on North State Street. (Sean, Lesley, and I had wondered about the odd landmarks on the property.)
In those days, that was the edge of the city.
In 1845, the meetinghouse was sold and moved again, to become a school building. The land it was on was purchased by the city in 1911, for the sum of $300, because it was “in a very bad condition and a disgrace to our city.”
So, that’s an added reason why the Quaker Lot (and land near it) may be more active than other parts of the Old North Cemetery.
And, from the popular, gated entrance to the cemetery at Bradley Street, the Quaker Lot is – as you might expect – at the back left corner.
Quaker-related activity at Minot Enclosure?
We spent considerable time at the Minot Enclosure, an exclusive section of the Old North Cemetery, surrounded by an elaborate cast iron fence and containing 62 graves. There, we noticed that random gravestones had been turned so they faced slightly away from the Quaker Lot.
Those random and very slight turns weren’t consistent with vandalism. That was one of many mysteries we wondered about as we walked around the cemetery.
Now that we know about the Quaker Lot, Sean Paradis has raised an interesting question:
The Quakers in the Quaker Lot are from a time when gravestones were considered “vain monuments.” Just feet away, the Minot Enclosure is where the 14th U.S. president, Franklin Pierce, is buried. Might the activity within the Minot Enclosure be based on the mutual uneasiness of the Quakers and the upper social register in the Minot Enclosure?
That’s a stretch, but it’s fun to speculate.
However, as I was studying the cemetery records, I realized that Old North Cemetery isn’t just a combination of three cemeteries. I discovered a fourth section of the cemetery, not often mentioned.
The Prison Lot
According to the National Historic Register application, “The Prison Lot, comprised of a long 10′ x 75′ rectangular lot just west of lots #384 and #385 in the center of the cemetery, appears on all maps drawn after the 1844 western addition to Old North Cemetery.”
The report also states that the cemetery records note that there are at least a dozen graves there, but no records of the names of the deceased in those graves.
And, since the old State Prison – built in 1811 – was replaced in 1880, there’s probably no way to determine who might be in those graves. (The photo on the left shows that 1811 prison, on two acres near the Court House. It was attached to a three-story superintendent’s house.)
Unmarked graves + prisoners + no records of any kind to tell us who they were… That’s a formula for hauntings. (If anyone’s giving “ghost tours” of downtown Concord, NH, take note.)
And, in general, if you’re going to visit or investigate Old North Cemetery, I recommend reading the full National Historic Register application, linked below.
(Note: I’ve tried downloading it three times, and it consistently crashes my Adobe PDF reader. If that happens to you, notice which page you’re on when it crashes, and then use the “go to” page function when you reopen the PDF, to pick up where you left off.)
Both the main cemetery and the Minot Enclosure deserve separate articles, which I’ll write later. Today, it’s important to share what I learned about Quaker burial practices. Remember, as it says in one history of the Society of Friends, “By 1700 the Society gained considerable influence in most of the New England and middle-Atlantic colonies. Quaker migration to the southern colonies, especially North Carolina…”
In other words, unmarked Quaker graves – and even unmarked (and forgotten) Quaker burial lots – may exist throughout the eastern United States, as well as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Canada.
What you need to know about all Quaker graves and burial lots
Expect no grave markers for burials before the late 1840s.
Quaker graves could be in Quaker burial grounds, near the person’s home, at the far corner of a family farm or homestead, or in a rural location. I found one reference that said Quakers “always regarded the physical remains of a person as spiritually insignificant.”
The burial was intended to be as inexpensive as possible, within the law. One Quaker historian commented, “Well into the 20th century, it was not unusual for a country burial to have an unembalmed body.”
In some Quaker cemeteries, especially before 1850, coffins were placed in the first available slot in the cemetery, not in family groups. Philadelphia’s Arch Street burial ground (between Third and Fourth Streets), in use until 1804, was organized so the coffins were four layers deep and none had markers of any kind.
Despite rumors and folklore, I found no evidence of any Friends (or Quakers) being buried upright. There was no rule against that practice, but no provision for it, either.
In the 20th century and later, Quakers generally chose cremation.
Quaker beliefs about death
I’ll let William Penn have the final word about the Friends’ (Quakers) attitude towards death. This is from a poem published in 1693:
And this is the Comfort of the Good,
that the grave cannot hold them,
and that they live as soon as they die.
For Death is no more
than a turning of us over from time to eternity.
References
Old North Cemetery, Concord, NH – National Historic Site application (PDF)
This video looked like the real thing to me. There is no reason for grown men to act that frightened… unless they were. And, if you check some of their other videos from that site, I think you’ll be impressed with the location.
This was a very short video and — because it’s so brief and the guys panicked — it’s not terribly scary. However, it’s exactly what happens in a genuinely haunted sites… even if you’re a guy who’ll get out of a car to confront unknown people pursuing you. (That refers to part of the video featured in my Hollow Hill article. It’s an amazingly risky thing to do.)
Basically, the guys arrive at Brown Springs — in Love County, by Thackerville, Oklahoma — and stay just a few minutes. Then, a sense of evil and danger overtakes them and they decide to leave, quickly.
Strong language made this video not safe for office viewing, and the authenticity — suggesting something truly frightening — made this video unsuitable for family viewing, too.
This video is a great example of what real-life ghost hunting was like in 2012. I’m thankful for GFI’s research, especially the work of their cousin and tech guy, the late Joey Thorpe.
As ghost hunters, I think it’s important to remember the importance of every day, and every person we interact with, in real life, online, and at haunted sites.
If it hadn’t been for Joey and the GFI team, we wouldn’t have this kind of record to learn from, today and in the future.
Thank you, Joey, Adam, and GFI.
Here’s my original article, lightly edited in 2020, and with added comments by GFI’s Adam Bennett.
This was our second visit to Poasttown. We retured because we felt we had unfinished business at this haunted location. We will release a full video in the f…
This paranormal investigation video – “GFI Catches REAL Ghosts and Shadow Creatures on Video!” – includes two clips from Poasttown, Ohio.
The first one is good, but I’m not certain it’s ghostly. Also, I need to spend more time reviewing the second one.
These clips are good reminders of how closely you need to study videos, to see anomalies in them.
Note: I recommend muting the music in that video to reduce distractions as you study it. (However, I understand that most viewer probably aren’t going to dissect a video as I do. Also, I’ll admit the music is campy and kind of cool.)
Initial impression
This first screenshot is from the corridor, when it’s normal. It’s at the end of the first clip.
Like most night-vision videos, darkness and shadows are always an issue.
Ditto matrixing… looking for form and meaning in something that’s merely odd (not paranormal) at best.
What I’m seeing is a door that has a window, and a somewhat reflective surface on the door itself. The floor is shiny and reflective as well. Both of these could explain what happened in this video clip… but do they, really?
A shadow person?
The next photo shows the point that interests me the most. In it, a shadow figure seems to cross in front of the door, below the height of the door handle.
It might be a normal shadow. If someone ducked down and walked in front of the video camera, that could cast a shadow in the light, even though the person’s body wasn’t seen in the video.
Or, the shift in camera position could account for different lighting effects that simply look paranormal.
So far, there’s nothing conclusive here.
A closer look
To get a better understanding of what I’m looking at, here are two annotated screenshots.
At right, you’ll see a the 11:18:16 PM screenshot again. I’ve placed an oval over the areas that interest me the most.
(As this screenshot shows, the interesting area is dark. You may need to watch the video again, and adjust your screen settings to see it.)
I’m looking at a shadow that crosses in front of the door. At its tallest, it’s about two feet, maybe two-and-a-half feet, tall. (Less than one meter.)
Then there’s the darker area in front of the door.
Let’s say it is an apparition or shadow figure.
Now, we have two questions:
Is the figure at the door, and is it reflected in the shiny floor?
Or, is the figure nearly human-sized, but closer to the camera?
Simply, does the oval (in the previous screenshot) include the shadow figure plus its reflection, or does the oval include the entire figure, with no obvious reflection?
Attempt at a clearer image
Increasing the contrast didn’t answer any questions. An example is at left. The arrow points to the top of the shadow figure, as I see it. (Others may see something totally different.)
Except that I discount what seems like easy matrixing, several other frames in this video offered some strange images. One looked exactly like a line drawing of a head and torso, extending all the way up to the window in the door, and the shadow was in front of it.
Also, I can see a variety of figures – some upside up, some upside down – in the reflection or possible shadow figure in front of the door.
Yes, my speculations go far out on a limb. That doesn’t mean the anomalies aren’t real. Based solely on the video, I can’t claim the images are evidence of… well, anything. Yet.
But, let’s not get that serious. I think it’s important to ask “what if…?” about even the threadiest evidence. (And, frankly, this video is better than many – and maybe most – that I see.)
You never know where your questions will lead. They may not apply to the evidence in question, but they may trigger ideas for fresh investigation techniques, or new things to check for in old evidence. (This is why I urge people never to delete old photos, videos, or EVP recordings.)
A shadow person could look that small
So, let’s say that the shadow figure is directly in front of the door. Why would it be that small?
Here are a few explanation:
1. The ghost is walking on a level that existed in his lifetime,and only his upper body extends above the current floor.
I’ve seen this phenomena among apparitions in homes where the floors changed, due to a structural change in the building.
For example, when a Victorian home (with high ceilings) is converted so the attic becomes a new living space – by lowering the floor – or the height of the foundation changes (common in homes renovated after flooding), the ghosts may be walking where the old floor was.
(Similar reports around York, England, describe half-bodies of Roman soldiers, still marching where the ground used to be, but it’s been filled-in, since.)
2. Maybe it’s not a ghost. Maybe it’s what researchers describe as a faerie. Some faeries, such as gnomes, are about two or three feet tall.
3. Or, perhaps it’s another kind of entity, also small in stature. (See my book, Ghosts – What They Are and What They Aren’t.)
At this point, as a researcher, I’d need more evidence to be sure that this video is showing something paranormal.
I’d need simultaneous EVP, or regular flash photos capturing the figure, or additional videos with the same phenomena.
Is that realistic for a typical ghost hunting team? No. Most teams don’t have the budget – or a large enough team – for that kind of evidence collection.
This is one reason why – as of 2020 (as I’m updating this article) – I stress the importance of personal observation. Not just what you see or hear, but how it affects you.
Ultimately, almost any ghost-like phenomena can be debunked by a determined skeptic. (Whether their arguments are credible… that’s another matter.)
Often, the real proof is how the haunting affects you, personally. When you know you’ve encountered something unexplained, no one can debunk that.
This video is odd enough to make additional research a priority. Something seems to be casting the shadow, but – without further evidence – it’s difficult to tell if it’s a normal shadow, a shadow figure, or something else.
Adam Bennett’s insights
In August 2020, GFI’s Adam Bennett generously shared some of his insights about this video. Here’s some of what he said:
Tremendously slow down the second video. The ear effect was caused by a shadow cross contaminated with the movement of the apparition. As it retreats back into the room you can make out what looks to be a head, upper torso, and arm. The arm looks to extend and push itself back into the room. Hopefully that helps clarify.
Then he explained:
If you pause it as it returns back into the room you can see a transparent head, arm, and torso.
Those are useful tips. (Thanks, Adam!)
Also, I was pleased when Adam added the following information about Joey Thorpe. Personal insights create a connection, and make ghost research mean so much more.
Our video guy and my cousin would be so proud and pumped that the video is is still around. We miss him a lot. We don’t investigate anymore.
What looks like a mouse?
The second segment of this video confuses me. Maybe I’m not looking at the correct area in the video, because what I’m seeing doesn’t look paranormal.
Many years ago, in our Florida kitchen, we saw mice that looked disturbingly like Mickey Mouse. (When I set them free, far from our house, I think they just returned to my kitchen, rather than heading to Disney World.)
In the Poasttown video, I see something rush out, pause, and then rush back into the wall or a doorway. To me, it looks like a mouse or a rat… a rodent with large-ish ears, whatever it is. Varieties of mice with ears this large include Gremlin mice.
That b&w image (above) was an enlargement of the screenshot. To me, it looks like a mouse on his hind legs, with his ears at full alert, watching the person in the doorway, further down the hall.
At the correct angle, with the lighting “just so,” this mouse could look like the one in the video.
Then, he drops back down on all fours, and scurries back to the room or opening where he’d emerged from.
Of course, with a really shiny floor, it’s difficult to evaluate the figure’s height.
Maybe the anomaly is something else in the video. I’ve watched it several times, and the mouse-like figure attracts my attention every time.
If there’s something else in this video that I’m not seeing, please let me know. I’d hate to miss a really good anomaly.
Fiona’s analysis (2012, before Adam’s insights)
The first segment in this YouTube video shows something odd enough to make follow-up investigations imperative. Though I can explain the shadow in a variety of ways, I’d want to visit the site for test like these:
Have someone cross in front of the camera, but just beneath the lens, to see if that creates a similar shadow.
Deliberately film from a variety of angles, filming constantly, to see what happens with shadows and reflections as the focus and angles of light vary.
For most people, that shadow figure puts this in the “scary ghost video” category. That figure is something I can’t fully explain. When I investigate a site, that kind of anomaly is exactly what I’m looking for.
The second segment – the b&w one – the activity at the left side of the screen looks too much like a mouse or a rat. But, as I said, maybe I’m missing a truly interesting anomaly in another part of the corridor.
Takeaways from this video
Examine each video very carefully. Sometimes, the anomalies are really subtle.
What you think you see in a video may be influenced by what you saw when you were at the site, or your teammates’ opinions.
When you post a video online, consider adding an arrow or other indication of where we’re supposed to look. Of course, many viewers prefer to spot anomalies themselves. For them, that makes the anomaly – and the likelihood that the site is haunted – more credible. (Arrows would have made my analysis easier, but are they a good idea? I’m not so sure.)
You can read my conversation with Adam Bennett in comments at a post at my Facebook Page, Fiona Broome News. Thanks again to him, to GFI, and especially to the late Joey Thorpe, who helped us understand ghost hunting better. He will be remembered, with gratitude.
This video – “Haunted Cemetery – Ghastly Sounds…” – isn’t a “ghost” video, but a tour and history of an Ohio cemetery that’s worth investigating.
We need more videos like that, to help ghost hunters find worthwhile sites.
However, I didn’t see or hear anything especially scary in this video. Most of the night video quality is poor – weak sound and blurry camerawork – but that’s not what I was watching for. In general, this video provided some good history and ghost stories, and I’m confident this is an active (ghostly) cemetery.
There’s a certain mix of sounds and silences, images and shadows… it adds up to a “gut feeling” about some locations. Almost invariably, they turn out to be haunted. I’m pretty sure this is one of those sites. If I were in Ohio, near this cemetery, I’d visit it regularly for research.
In the video, the woman mentions some spooky sounds. Maybe I missed them; the soundtrack isn’t great.
What I did hear – between normal, rural night noises – sounded like footsteps. If the woman filming the video was alone, or her companions weren’t moving around while she was standing still… yes, those sounds are kind of spooky.
The mausoleum is creepy. It has that sterile/tragic combination that often marks a site that seems to attract shadow people. I have no idea why. It’s as if they need to fill in the void with their forms… but maybe I’m putting the cart before the horse.
All in all, this video got me interested in this cemetery, enough to compile some useful links if you’re investigating that site. And then, I discovered another haunted cemetery with the same name, also in Ohio.
Resources if you’re investigating Otterbein Cemetery in Franklin Co.
Otterbein Cemetery, Westerville, OH (This was at GraveAddiction.com/otterwest but it seems to have vanished, as of July 2018).
City of Westerville, OH: Cemeteries
Another haunted Otterbein Cemetery, in Perry County, OH
Otterbein Cemetery (This was another GraveAddiction.com webpage, not online as of July 2018) – According to that website, Hanna Westall’s gravestone has a pulse.
The Horseshoe Gravestone of Otterbein Cemetery (Forgotten Ohio webpage, with at least one not-safe-for-the-office word).
Otterbein Cemetery (Ohio Exploration Society) – Includes notes about “no trespassing” signs and security cameras covering the area.
There’s also an Otterbein Cemetery in Darke County and one in Marion County, Ohio.
Originality – The person who filmed this didn’t let her video skills hold her back. Though the quality isn’t great, the information and the impressions I got from this video made it intriguing. It’s also thought-provoking because I’m trying to understand why I feel so certain that the site is haunted… and has shadow people.
Credibility (Doesn’t apply. This is mostly a “this is the cemetery and what’s known about its ghosts” video.)
Sometimes, I’m more convinced by retracted “ghost stories” than those that get lots of publicity.
In 
Though I’d been to Old North Cemetery before, I hadn’t noticed the odd, open field in the back of the Minot Enclosure. That field has just a few markers, and one of them reminded us of a bunker marker.
At left is the memorial marker. (Due to the late-afternoon lighting, I had to increase the contrast in this photo, for the lettering to show at all.)
The history of the Quakers in Concord is an interesting story.
According to the National Historic Register application, “The Prison Lot, comprised of a long 10′ x 75′ rectangular lot just west of lots #384 and #385 in the center of the cemetery, appears on all maps drawn after the 1844 western addition to Old North Cemetery.”
So, let’s say that the shadow figure is directly in front of the door. Why would it be that small?
