Olivia Barone
Editor in Chief
Take a tour of Rhode Island’s spookiest locations with The Anchor as we delve deep into local hauntings, thrillers and mysteries.
Nestled into humble Burrillville, RI, is the inspiration for the popular 2013 horror film “The Conjuring” and paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren’s claim to fame. The estate was built in 1736 on top of what many suspect to be a Native American burial ground and home to the spirits who dwell there. For over 200 years these specters lingered, as in 1970 the home was bought by Carolyn Perron to house her family and for the next decade they would find themselves inundated with undead guests. Mrs. Perron’s daughter, Andrea, would go on to author a series of books documenting what they witnessed, in which she claimed their home was “a portal cleverly disguised as a farmhouse.” She also described the good and evil forces that waged war in her home and what drove Ed and Lorraine Warren to the property looking to communicate with such spirits. During a seance performed by the Warrens, it is said that Mrs. Perron levitated and began to speak in an unknown tongue, her skin pale and eyes possessing an otherworldly look. Mrs. Perron never returned to the house after she moved out 1980 and was adamant that she would never set foot on the property again.
In 1892, the corpse of young Mercy Brown was exhumed from her place of rest in Exeter, RI. She was 19 when she died of tuberculosis alongside her mother and older sister, leaving her father George Brown and sickly younger brother Edwin Brown to fend off the disease themselves. However, locals believed that the Brown family housed a vampire: a legendary undead creature known to cause mischief in some folklore and the cause of their family’s misfortune. Their suspicion drove them to dig up the graves of Mercy, her mother and sister after having persuaded Mr. Brown. It was Mercy who instilled fear in her remaining family for her body was almost completely intact and her heart still ran red with blood, suggesting to locals that she was the vampire they sought. Her heart and liver were burned and a tonic was made from their ashes for Edwin to drink in hopes of curing him of the illness that plagued him but the boy would die two months later. According to Exeter residents, Mercy still roams near her grave as revenge for disrupting her slumber, many reporting to have seen a spectral orb hovering above it. Many have tried to perform rituals at the site to put Mercy to rest, so much so that police are sometimes stationed at the Chestnut Hill Cemetery, where her headstone stands, around Halloween.
Originally built for millionaire Edson Bradley and his wife Julia in DuPont Circle in Washington D.C., the 40,000-square-foot mansion was taken down and resurrected here along Cliff Walk in Newport in 1925. Here, it became a boarding school for young girls that are said to still wander its halls along with the mansion’s most active spirit: Mrs. Bradley, the original lady of the house. She adored her home, so much so that she remains there after death. Visitors of the mansion have heard footsteps and often find shaking doorknobs as though she is passing through. But Mrs. Bradley’s favorite place is at the seat of her Estey organ that can often be heard played throughout the night. The property caught so much attention that it was featured on the paranormal investigative show “Ghost Hunters” in 2011, giving Mrs. Bradley the opportunity to perform her music. Fellow ghost hunter Amy Bruni, reality television host of “Kindred Spirits,” also made contact at Seaview, claiming that she heard voices following her and something tugging at her hair. But what was most interesting was when she played the organ and her equipment began to sound instantly, as though Mrs. Bradley had come to listen.
Have you ever caught sight of a lingering spirit? Witnessed something unexplained? Share your ghost story with The Anchor by messaging us on Instagram.
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