Brooklyn Ghosts: Cobble Hill March 22, 2013 I just came across a Brooklyn ghost story I’d never heard before. And it’s thoroughly awesome. Henry Reed Stiles’ 1869 history of Brooklyn recounts the following event, which transpired one night in the 1820s, in a rowdy little tavern on Red Hook Lane. According to a Bowery Boys blog post: “One evening at around 11 […]
Frightening Favorites March 12, 2013 This is a decidedly non-New York post, but lately I’ve been thinking about some of my favorite (fictional) ghost stories, and I realized that some of them aren’t even ghost stories at all. They’re just strange, and eerie, and unsettling, and if you ever get a chance to hunt them do, by all means do. […]
New Look, Plus Twitter! March 1, 2013 After months of playing with this website, and with the overall concept of Boroughs of the Dead, I’ve finally figured a few things out. First, and most obviously, I’ve updated the look of the site. The present theme has a pleasantly old-fashioned look, one wonderfully reminiscent of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper. Second, I’ve […]
The Tragic Romance of Charlotte Canda January 28, 2013 The story of Charlotte Canda isn’t technically a ghost story, but it’s an eerie tale of love and death in Victorian New York, which makes it the perfect thing for the upcoming weeks — for those who like their Valentine’s Day with a Gothic twist, that is. Charlotte Canda was a Victorian-era debutante who lived […]
Poe Tour This Weekend January 18, 2013 Join me this Saturday January 19th to celebrate Edgar Allan Poe’s 204th “birthday” with a walking tour of Greenwich Village. I’m running two tours, one at 2:30pm and one at 7:30pm. Tours are 90 minutes long, and you can buy tickets here. Poe belongs to New York. He was a literatus, not a loner, and […]
Poe in New York City, 1837 – 1838 (Pt. 2) January 10, 2013 This is the second half of a guest post written by Lisa Lideks, who runs the blog The World of Edgar Allan Poe. An authority on Poe who is devoted to separating truth and fiction, Ms. Lideks gives us the lowdown on some of his lesser-known years in Gotham. Last we heard, he was living […]
Poe In New York City, 1837 – 1838 (Pt. 1) January 9, 2013 The following is the first half of a guest post written by Lisa Lideks, who runs the blog The World of Edgar Allan Poe. An authority on Poe who is devoted to separating truth and fiction, Ms. Lideks gives us the lowdown on some of his lesser-known years in Gotham. Check back tomorrow for the […]
Mythbusting Poe: Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction January 6, 2013 When it comes to Poe, the truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction. Or what we know of the truth, that is. In my last post I noted the general facts of his life – a brief one, marked by pain, death, misery, poverty, and the repeated loss of every woman he ever loved – as […]
Edgar Allan Poe: Myths and Facts January 4, 2013 I would be remiss if we let January slip by without celebrating him. His birthday, January 19th, is celebrated by horror fans everyone, including the mysterious “Poe toaster,” who used to show up every year on his birthday and toast to him beside his grave. Unfortunately, he has not been seen in recent years. Perhaps […]