There are few places on Earth more depressing than an abandoned asylum. But leave it to the entrepreneurs of the paranormal tourist industry to take that raw, industrial-strength sadness, slap on some discount Halloween decorations, jack up the price tag, and call it a “VIP overnight experience.” That’s how I found myself at Ashwood Institute … Read more
There are many ways to suffer for one’s craft. Some men trek through the Amazon. Some freeze in Antarctic tundra. I, however, took on an assignment far more harrowing: spending the night aboard the HMS Perseverance, a rotting, listing corpse of a ship whose greatest supernatural feat to date is continuing to pass safety inspections … Read more
Ashwell, Massachusetts is the kind of town that smells like autumn year-round and has never quite gotten over the fact that the witch trials happened somewhere else. It’s beautiful, brooding, and deeply committed to the idea that every creaky staircase is a portal to another dimension. Which brings us to the Ashwell Museum of Paranormal … Read more
If you could bottle vague hope, blurry photos, and economic desperation, you’d have Nessie: the most famous aquatic nonentity in modern history. The legend is simple: somewhere in the dark, cold depths of a Scottish lake, an ancient dinosaur-thing lurks — cleverly avoiding all sonar, underwater cameras, and credible witnesses for the better part of … Read more
Sedona, Arizona is famous for three things: red rocks, overpriced smoothies, and people who think standing between two juniper trees will unlock the secrets of the universe. I was lured here by the promise of “powerful energy vortexes,” sites where the Earth’s energy supposedly swirls upward, charging your chakras, refreshing your soul, and—according to one … Read more