Learning about the mysteries of Massachusetts at DTL

By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Reporter

Massachusetts has a history with the mysterious and unexplainable, and Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe has always been fascinated with the paranormal. She took to the Dover Town Library (DTL) as GeekGal with lectures and panels on geek culture and in October, all things spooky. On Tuesday night people filed in to learn about Mysterious Massachusetts.

Hodge-Wetherbe stressed that her presentation was not to make anyone believers or convinced of a conspiracy, she just wanted to tell the stories so the crowd could enjoy them. Her presentation was done in three sections, each as tantalizing as the last.

The first was Cryptozooloy; a search for animals which are considered myths. While not an official scientific study, it has the most well-known cryptid, Bigfoot! Bigfoot sightings have been recorded in the 48 continental United States and Alaska. Notable sightings in Massachusetts came from the Hockomock Swamp, the Cobble Mountain Critter, and in the Westfield/Russet area.

But Dover has its very own cryptid, the Dover Demon. Spotted on Farm Street and adjacent ones in 1977, the Dover Demon was described as small, shark-like light gray skin, with a large head no nose, no mouth, and glowing orange eyes. Much is unknown about Dover Demon, except all sightings had him running away or being very shy, so demon might be too strong a title. He has not been spotted since, at least on record. The story is still around Dover to this day.

Her next category was UFOS and aliens. There were two standout cases from Massachusetts; The Andreasson Affair, which has many books written on the subject, and The Reed Family Abductions. The many stories of alien abductions are more well known, so Sarah went to paranormal activities.

The focus of such was The Mount in Lenox, where the late Edith Wharton is often seen on the ground. Stories from Shakespeare & Company’s stay there in 1979 include apparitions seen in a freezing cold room and hearing pacing down a hall, but only when a back was turned. People report spooky sightings from The Mount all the time, maybe you will have your own encounter.

The presentation ended with another Massachusetts staple of Salem, the witchcraft city. She started on the Joshua Ward House, which was known for George Corwin, a brutal and cruel sheriff during the witch trials. Finally, the Lizzie Borden house famed from the nursery rhyme but it got some details wrong, like it was her stepmother. The details are brutal but the case itself is very interesting and worth looking into, and you can stay in the room they found the body. Hodge-Wetherbe had her own experience there, a portrait of one of the case judges flew from the wall and hit the ground, breaking in an implausible way.

Massachusetts is full of stories with the unexplainable. If you have the chance to look into them, or can catch a GeekGal presentation, you will be in for a surprising and spooky history lesson.