I'd like to start us off with a bit of a secondhand ghost story. A true encounter with the paranormal that has haunted my little group of friends in recent weeks. Back at the start of March, my husband and I traveled to Boston to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. And while we were there, we took the opportunity to tour one of the most infamously haunted towns in all of America, Salem, Massachusetts. Now, as a seasoned paranormal investigator and researcher, this was
obviously a very surreal experience for me. I basically spent that evening gliding through the streets of Salem, scoping out renowned haunts like The Witch's House, Roc A Fella's, and Old Town Hall. Suffice it to say I was having a grand old time. Meanwhile, my friends were standing behind me, feeling confused and a bit bewildered. Specifically, when we made our stop at the Ropes Mansion. The beautiful colonial era home featured in the cult classic Halloween film, Hocus Pocus. Okay. So
full disclosure here. I have always been under the impression that the ropes mansion was inhabited by friendly spirits. The ghost of the home's storied past is you will. Our tour guide even reaffirmed that impression, while we were standing there in the front lawn. And yet, one of my friends had been adamant that he had seen something. A shadow up in a second floor window. And that this shadow had been sinister, by every definition of the word. Friendly spirits be damned. So that got me
thinking. When it comes to the paranormal, who are we to say what's good and what's bad? Is it even open to interpretation? Or are we just kidding ourselves by thinking that we could differentiate between a negative entity and a positive one? I mean, at the end of the day, it's all just energy, right? Well, it's hard to say for certain, even when you've just been gallivanting through one of the most haunted towns in the country. Which is why I've been
itching to investigate this haunt even further. And of course, this time, I'll be taking you along with me. I'm Courtney Hayes, and you're listening to haunts. Stay tuned. Situated just a stone's throw away from Salem Harbor, the residence at 318 Essex Street is a true testament to colonial living. Dating back to 17 twenties, the mansion itself was built as the private home of Samuel Bernard, a wealthy merchant from nearby Deerfield.
To be honest, it's sort of a behemoth, consisting of 2 and a half stories, complete with bay windows and a slate shingled roof. It's a marvel to look at even to this day. Although like many of the other buildings scattered throughout Salem, its history is a bit grim. You see, even before Bernard taken up residence on Essex Street, he had been a widower. Tragically, he lost both his wife and his
son while they were living back in Deerfield. Meaning that his move to Salem Village had likely been made as a fresh start. Which is even more tragic, considering the pattern that seemed to follow Bernard in the years after. During his time at the Ropes mansion, Samuel Bernard would remarry, again, again, and again. His second wife, Rachel, passed away in 17/43. Then his 3rd wife, who he married a short time after Rachel's passing,
died only 10 years later. At that point, poor Bernard had been widowed on 3 separate occasions, which to me would have felt like somewhat of a curse. But even still, he decided to try his hand one more time, marrying his 4th and final wife, Catherine, who he then widowed, in 17/62. Okay. So 4 weddings and 3 funerals. I think it's safe to say that the Ropes mansion is already racking up quite the toll.
And we haven't even met its namesake yet. A wealthy, yet unpopular Salem attorney, who also found tragedy in the home on Essex Street. It was 17/68 when Nathaniel Robes purchased the house from a nephew of Samuel Bernard. And as of today, the Ropes were the last family to have ever lived at the mansion. That was actually a dying wish for Nathaniel, at least according to our tour
guide. He had been adamant that the Ropes mansion stay in the Ropes family, passing down through the generations, until such a time that there was no one left. Then and only then, could it be used for non residential purposes. Which is more or less exactly what happened. Singh is how the property, now operates as a museum, garden, and of course, goes to our stop. So Nathaniel Ropes got his wish, even in spite of his reputation.
Now, while we're on the topic, I don't wanna make any snap judgement of Nathaniel's character. But it's worth mentioning that, at the time, he had been a loyalist to the British monarch, which was a relatively unpopular stance in New England during the late 17 sixties. So is turn, Nathaniel Robes was widely disliked by his peers and neighbors there in Marblehead.
To make matters worse, Nathaniel was a judge, meaning that his hefty salary was paid out by the crown and by proxy, colonial tax dollars. It was messy. There's no other way to say it. I mean, this was Nathaniel's livelihood. And he had a family to provide for. So I guess I can see why he may have been hesitant to give up his salary as so many of his neighbors were urging him to do.
But that doesn't change the fact that those very neighbors were beginning to feel slighted by Nathaniel, his wealth, and the tax dollars that they were paying to fund it. So in March of 17 74, a group of infuriated colonists stormed the ropes mansion. They threw rocks, sticks, even mud at the home's beautiful bay windows, all while demanding that Nathaniel ropes renounce his allegiance to the British crown. Okay. I think at this point, Nathaniel may have been ready
to give up the ghost. He may have felt somewhat haunted by his career decisions, or even willing to admit that the home he loved so much had been cursed in his name. But before he even had the chance, Nathaniel Robes died, rather unexpectedly, only a day after this attack. Back in 17 seventies, Salem Village was overrun with the smallpox epidemic. The likes of which caused a great deal of unrest amongst the citizens of Marblehead.
Of course, it had been this epidemic that claimed Nathaniel Robes on that spring morning in 17/74. And in case you were wondering, his home hadn't been the only building targeted by anxious townspeople. In fact, on another occasion, a mob had actually burned down the local smallpox hospital, in protest of high treatment costs. Suffice it to say, things around Salem Village were tense, around the time of Nathaniel's passing. And all the while, the Ropes mansion was basically left to absorb that
tension. So I can't help but wonder is that energy left its mark on the property, whether that be in the form of a curse, or some other sort of negative effect. I know, it's a bold claim to make. And Hayes, I may be connecting things that aren't actually connected. I mean, if the paranormal really is just energy, then it would be tough to say whether or not this energy was positive or negative.
But like I said, my friend was and still is very adamant that something felt off during our visit to this haunt. And as we'll see throughout the remainder of this episode, the Robes mansion was no stranger to death and tragedy in the years following Nathaniel's passing. There is an old legend, or really sort of a rumor, that's been made about the Ropes mansion over the years.
So the story goes, roughly 60 years after Nathaniel's death, his wife Abigail had somehow caught fire inside the mansion, Ultimately burning to death inside its walls. Now I'm sure you guys are probably wondering, how on earth did that happen? Was it a simple accident? Spontaneous human combustion? Or something even more sinister than that? And do we even know if this story is true to begin with?
Well, what I can tell you is that a woman named Abigail did is fact catch fire in the Robes mansion after standing a bit too closely to the fireplace. And tragically, she did lose her life as a result. But Abigail hadn't been Nathaniel's wife. She was his daughter. And what's chilling is that this wasn't the only fire to break out around this haunt. In fact, dating as far back as 1891, to as recent as 2009, the Ropes mansion has made quite a reputation for itself as being somewhat flammable.
Multiple fires have started within the building, seemingly without rhyme or reason. A fact that has led many to believe that the ghost of Abigail Ropes is to blame. It's sad, really, what they say about Abigail's spirit. That she's more or less doomed to relive her final flaming moments from the other side. And that the fires that have plagued the Ropes mansion over the last several centuries are only evidence of that
fact. Now based off the history alone, I'd say that this claim does make a good bit of sense. Although, I should mention that another member of our Little Salem tour group presented a different theory when we were debating the ins and outs of this haunt. Why are we so sure that it's Abigail? What if instead, there's something darker, setting the ropes mansion ablaze? Okay. So I think it's obvious that this episode
is pretty much all conjecture. I mean, I have no hard evidence to back the claim that the Ropes mansion is cursed or otherwise haunted by some sort of negative energy. And it would certainly be unfair of me to assume that Abigail herself is a vengeful spirit, hell bent on turning the property into a fiery inferno. Still, you
have to admit, her story is quite shocking. And the history of the home itself is rather macabre, which is why museum caretakers believe that the mansion is rife with paranormal activity and not just Abigail's. In fact, Rick and Georgette Stafford, the previous Ropes mansion caretakers, believed that they once captured the image of Nathaniel Ropes himself on film. The picture in question was taken during a recent insurance appraisal, not during an investigation or a tour as you
might expect. But supposedly, the image shows the apparition of a man sitting on the couch. That said, I searched high and low for a copy of this photo during my research, but I wasn't able to find any evidence that it exists. Of course, this is not to say that this isn't an interesting story or that the Staffords are frauds, But I do think that we should take this alleged photo with a grain of salt.
Now since I've brought up a few different personal theories throughout the course of this episode, I think it's only right that we end this investigation of the Ropes mansion, by bringing some science back into the equation. So let's circle back to the topic of energy in the paranormal. As we discussed back in episode 52, spikes in electromagnetic energy are sometimes indicative of paranormal activity, meaning that such activity can often be measured via EMF meters.
Now I quite literally went through a whole science lesson on this theory during that episode. So if you missed it, make sure to go check it out when we're done here. But for now, I'd like to expand a bit further on that idea. Let's think back to our high school physics class, when we first learned about positive and negative energy. Now full disclosure, I was never the physics whiz, so I won't
even try to explain this to you now. Instead, I'll let the Rochester Museum and Science Center clue you in. You see, at least according to a museum guide that they released covering useful concepts and energy interactions. Positive energy results in positive outcomes. Picture a controlled fire that warms you up on a cold winter's night. On the flip side of that coin, negative energy would
obviously equate to negative outcomes. Like an uncontrolled house fire, for example, in a beautiful colonial era home. I guess what I'm getting at here is that if this is all true, if positive and negative energy does in fact coincide with positive and negative outcomes, then why can't the same be said when discussing what's good and what's bad in the paranormal? I mean, let's face is, it's all just energy. Right? This episode of haunts was written and produced by me, Courtney
Hayes. If you've been enjoying the show so far, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave us a 5 star review. A lot of work goes into each episode, and reviewing the show really helps us reach more listeners each week. Also, if you're interested in learning more about this week's topic, I greatly encourage you to check out the show notes section at hauntscast.com. This is the location where I share my sources and provide any visual aid that may be
referenced during the show. While you're there, make sure to follow us on social media at hauntscast. And don't forget to stick around to the end of the episode for this week's podcast recommendations. Thank you again for listening, and until next time. Happy haunting. As the moonlight pierces through the dark, paranormal enthusiast and best friends, Farrah and Courtney venture deep into the woods armed with flashlights and a sense of adventure. Farrah, are you sure this is a
good idea? Sure. I'm sure. We're paranormal investigators. We're not scared of any ghosts. What was that? Probably some animals. My god. My flashlight is going out. Following the chilling sounds, the 2 stumble upon an abandoned and haunted building, is dark silhouette looming over them. Look. There it is. The abandoned radio station it's supposed to be mad haunted. Let's be careful. We don't know what's inside. Wow. Look at this place. A long growl is heard coming from
behind the girls. They turn around slowly, and to their surprise, a zombie is standing in front of them dressed to the nines wearing a 70s bell bottom hot pink and purple leisure suit. Who are you pasty looking females and what the heck are you doing in here? Who are you calling pasty? Nice suit. Did you raid Barry Manilow's wardrobe or did John to have a yard sale? Sorry about that. We didn't mean any harm. We're just curious about this
place. Curious, Well, come with me. I got something to show you. And as they wandered deeper into the building, they uncover vintage studio equipment covered in dust and decay. Farrah, you were looking for a new place to set up your podcast. Right? And this is it. Woah. Woah there, sweet cheeks. No. No. No. Don't worry. We'll make it worth your while. We love the strange and unexplained phenomena, true crime, macabre, and the sinister. And, hey, you'd be a great touch to the show. Maybe be an
announcer for us as well. That does sound stellar. I'm in. A few minutes later. 12 seconds later. 3 weeks later. Many months later. Okay. We're rolling. Welcome to Studio Sinister Podcast where we explore stories that haunt us all. And then we'll go make a fresh kill to celebrate. Dawn. Just kidding. Join Pharah, Courtney, and Don the zombie on the first, 10th, 20th of every month for some rad chilling stories. And if you piss your
pants, that's your problem. Come embrace the Haunts. See you soon, sinister seekers. What's up, freaking weirdos? My name is Kevin, and I'm the host of Where the Weird Ones Are podcast. This is a conversational podcast based on guest experiences and encounters with paranormal, cryptids, aliens, spirituality, mental health, as well as conspiracies. If these topics interest you, you can find me on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Iheartradio, as well as YouTube
and Rumble. If you have an encounter or an experience of something that you can't quite explain, I would love to hear from you. You can reach out to me at where the weird ones are at gmail dot com. Where underscore the weird ones are on Instagram, and where the weird ones are On Facebook. I hope to hear from you my friends. Question everything and stay weird.