Moon Mausoleum
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
In the eerie mansion in Salem of The Haunted House of the Seven Gables, also known as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, discover what lurks in darkness and uncover secrets behind its perpetual terror.
In the eerie mansion in Salem of The Haunted House of the Seven Gables, also known as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, discover what lurks in darkness and uncover secrets behind its perpetual terror.
Step inside The Haunted House of the Seven Gables and explore its halls of perpetual terror and darkness. The house is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem Massachusetts, a place known for being a place of mystery and witchcraft.
From ghostly figures roaming the corridors to mysterious tales of hauntings, prepare to discover what lurks in this fascinating haunted house.
“But as for the old structure of our story, its white-oak frame, and its boards, shingles, and crumbling plaster, and even the huge, clustered chimney in the midst, seemed to constitute only the least and meanest part of its reality. So much of mankind’s varied experience had passed there,—so much had been suffered, and something, too, enjoyed,—that the very timbers were oozy, as with the moisture of a heart. It was itself like a great human heart, with a life of its own, and full of rich and sombre reminiscences.”
― Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables is a real house that was known as The Turner House or the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion before the novel inspired by it came out. The thing that made it famous was the American author Nathaniel Hawthorne when he wrote a gothic novel inspired by the house in the 1850s.
The novel follows a New England family and their home where he explores guilt, retribution and atonement. The story is filled with hints at the supernatural and witchcraft and influenced horror writers like H.P Lovecraft.
Read Also: Find some novels about witchcraft like The House of the Seven Gables: Here
Hawthorne, most known for the novel The Scarlet Letter, was himself born in Salem and grew up hearing stories about the house. His great-great-great grandfather was one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials which the house also had a connection to.
From legendary tales of cursed spirits trapping guests to mysterious hauntings that have been reported through the ages, explore the legends that make The Haunted House of the Seven Gables one of the most haunted locations in the world. Learn about the curses that lurk in its dark corners, and find out about the secrets this house has been concealing for centuries.
The house was built as a place for peace and quiet, but ended up being in the center of one of the most notorious witchcraft trials in 1692 to 1693 were over 200 people in the puritan New England town were accused of witchcraft.
John Turner Jr. lived in the house at the time with his sisters and wanted to protect them from the hysteria of the locals that accused their neighbors, their friends and family for being witches and in league with the devil. A part of the protection was to build a hidden staircase with the fireplace.
In later years there were also uncovered a hidden dining room and accounting room to hide if any in the family were ever accused of witchcraft.
The Salem Witch Trials was a product of mass hysteria that happened in the British Colonies as well as in Europe at the time. It all started when two small girls started having these fits of contorting bodies, making strange noises and speaking gibberish.
This type of affliction seemed to spread to other girls and they were all diagnosed with witchcraft. And when the girls were interrogated, they started naming names about who cursed them, and a witch hunt began.
A total of 14 women and 6 men were executed in the witch trials by hanging, one by being pressed to death. Another 5 died while in prison.
Although the Turner family remained safe during those trials, the imprint and trauma of the witch hunt remained in all of Salem and ringed back for generations, something Hawthorne also discusses in his book.
After being in the Turner family for 3 generations it was sold to Captain Samuel Ingersoll as there were no remaining heirs. He had a daughter named Susannah, a cousin of Nathaniel Hawthorne who knew well and would come to hang out with.
When inside the house, Hawthorne was inspired by the house and its quirky features and old history. There they also talked about their families involvement in a dark past. Hawthornes involvement in the Salem Witch Trials and Ingersoll’s involvement in slavery as an example.
Susannah even advised him to put a W in his last name, which originally was Hathorne, to remove himself from his ancestral sin. Hawthorne often wrote about his guilt for his family’s involvement and in his most famed work, The Scarlet Letter, he even opens up with an analogy for it all.
Mystery and terror await you as you attempt to uncover the secrets of The Haunted House of the Seven Gables. If you ask many of the tour guides, they will be quick to reply with a no. However, there are many who tell about another side of the story.
One of the ghostly silhouettes that are reported to be seen is that of Susannah Ingersoll. There are not only one, but many paranormal activities that are said to take place within the old house.
Today the dark wooden house is made into a museum and gets plenty of visitors that are looking for something paranormal, and many claim to have found it. A psychic visiting the house claimed to see a young boy play near the gables as well. Little footsteps can be heard from the attic followed by giggles and laughs.
A man can be seen climbing up and down the infamous staircase and lights are turning on and off and even the water faucets have a habit of turning on and on on their own.
so, would you like to visit and see for yourself whether or not the house is haunted?
House of the Seven Gables – Salem Ghosts
