My Salem Massachusetts Ghost Story

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Salem Massachusetts is famously

known for the witch trials that

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occurred in 1692, during which many

people were accused of practicing

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witchcraft and several were executed.

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The town's historical

significance in this regard.

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Draws visitors interested in the history

of witchcraft and the McCobb year round.

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But October.

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October has been Sanlam

really comes alive.

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Welcome to episode 1 68.

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Oh, this shit works.

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A podcast dedicated to all

things, networking, relationship

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building and business development.

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I'm your host, Julie Brown.

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Speaker author and networking coach.

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And today on my annual Halloween episode.

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I'm going to share my Salem

graveyard story with you.

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salem has a reputation for being

a haunted town with numerous

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allegedly haunted locations.

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People visit to take part in

ghost tours, exploring haunted

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houses and hearing Erie stories.

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And I'm no different.

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I love a good ghost story.

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But up until this point,

I'd never been part of one.

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It was October, 2001, my roommate,

Holly and I had decided to drive

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from Boston to Salem to wander

around during the Halloween

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festivities and happenings one night.

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We were excited to see the town

all decorated for Halloween

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and visit the historical spots.

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Including one of the graveyards where

some of the accused and killed during

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the Salem witch trials were buried.

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The graveyard was a little bit

of a walk from the activity

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and bustle of the main square.

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We ventured down the dimly-lit street.

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The air cold and crisp

in the October darkness.

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The house is on the right side,

stood, shrouded, and shadows,

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their steps adorned with grinning

jack-o-lanterns on the opposite side.

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The ancient cemetery lane silence.

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It's weathered tombstones rising,

like crooked teeth in the Moonlight.

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The only sound was the rustling

of fallen leaves until.

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A huge beast of a dog started

running towards us barking

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and baring its teeth, Haley.

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And I froze with fear as the dog

came barreling towards us stopping.

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Mere inches from us.

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And only when the chain that its

collar was tied to had reached its full

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length and pulled the dog backwards.

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Holly.

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And I stood holding onto each other,

breathing hard and then realizing we

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weren't about to become that dog's dinner.

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And started laughing.

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We crossed the small street

and headed into the graveyard.

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I'm not sure how or why

considering the time of year,

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but we were the only ones there.

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As we walked around the graveyard.

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Holly took out a camera.

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It was a Nikon SLR, which she

had borrowed from her sister.

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Which back in 2001 still

took film digital SLRs.

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Wouldn't be wildly affordable for a while.

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I didn't know that Holly

had brought the camera.

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And when I saw it, I

asked her not to use it.

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Why she said.

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Because I said, if you use that camera.

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When you develop the film, there are

going to be things on those pictures that

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we're not going to be able to explain.

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And I don't want any part of it.

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She joked that I was crazy.

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Come on.

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She said, we came all the way here.

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Let's take some pictures.

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So against my better judgment, I stood

next to a couple of the gravestones

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while she snapped picture after picture.

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She then handed the camera to me

and I took some pictures of her.

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We left the graveyard, mindful

of the dog and stayed on the

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cemetery side of the street.

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We ended up walking through town for a

little while longer and then headed home.

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A few days later, I came home

after work to find Holly sitting

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at the table in the kitchen.

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I walked in and had my back to

her while I rifled through my

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bag that I tossed on the counter.

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I got the pictures back from the cemetery.

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She said,

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I turned around slowly and

her face said everything.

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She opened up the envelope, containing the

pictures and laid them out on the table.

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Every single picture we had taken

in a cemetery was covered in orbs.

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And not just orbs, but streaks of light,

all colors that shot in from all sides.

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And curved up and around our bodies.

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And some of them, the light streaks

covered the entire picture and you

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couldn't see what was behind them.

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There was no light source

that could have done this.

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No explanation for the

orbs that surrounded us.

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I know there are things we

cannot see with our own eyes, but

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can be captured in other ways.

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And this is exactly what

happened on that night.

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I've never forgotten that night.

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Obviously never forgotten the

images, showing the spirits

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and the residual energy that

is contained in that graveyard.

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That I've had other experiences

and maybe in future Halloween

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episodes, I'll get into them.

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But every Halloween, I

always think of that night.

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What about you?

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Do you have your own ghost story?

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If you do, I'd love to hear it.

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Okay.

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Onto the drink of the week, which is

the Hocus Pocus, which is brew, which

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of course we have to have a witch's

cocktail for talking about Salem.

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This recipe comes from

best day of the week.

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Here's what you're going to need.

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Two ounces of Empress, 1908 gen.

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And now normally I would say, oh, use

whatever Jen you want, but I'm not going

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to say that this time, because Jen is

purple and it's important that you have

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the purple gin in order to get this Pooky

blue and purple layering of this cocktail.

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Okay.

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So two ounces of embers, 1908 gen.

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One ounce of blue Curacao, one ounce of

lemon juice, soda, water, and crushed ice.

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Now this is a layer drink.

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So to get the layers of color,

you're going to need to fill a

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highball glass with crushed ice,

and then do it in this order.

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Next, add the blue Curacao.

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Then when that is settled,

follow that by the lemon juice.

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Then add the gin and

then the top with soda.

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Now.

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You got to pour these ingredients gently

in order to do that, to get this layering.

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And I like to, from, in my back from

my bartending days in order to do

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that, I would pour over the back of

a spoon and that helps you pour more

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gently and get that layering effect.

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Okay.

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It's really cool.

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It looks really cool when you do it.

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Cause it's like, it's like blue and yellow

and purple and then it's all spooky.

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All right friends.

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That's all for this week.

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If you like what you heard

today, please leave a review

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and subscribe to the podcast.

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Also, please remember to share the podcast

to help it reach a larger audience.

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If you want more, Julie

Brown, you can find my book.

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They shit works on Amazon

or Barnes and noble.

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You can find me on

LinkedIn, actually brown BD.

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Just let me know where you

found me when you reach out.

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I am Julie Brown underscore BD

on the Instagram, or you can

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just pop on over to my website.

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Julie Brown BD.

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Dot com until next time.

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Happy Halloween and cheers.