Synopses & Reviews
A salty profanity uttered by a taciturn old Yankee is generally more humorous than menacing, but can a curse really be used as a weapon? In Cursed in New England, renowned storyteller Joe Citro recounts seventeen tales of genuine maledictions intended to invoke evil, injury, or total destruction against others.
Inside these pages youll read about curses that were followed by the strange disappearance of a father and daughter in Rhode Island, mysterious afflictions in Massachusetts, a river of death in Maine, an unaccountable blight in New Hampshire, unexplained madness in Connecticut, and other eerie happenings from New Englands colorful history.
Citro vividly brings these stories to life, letting you decide whether the resulting tragedies were simply bad luck, coincidences . . . or something far more sinister.
Review
Vermont native Citro has spent years studying the darker side of New England; in books such as
Passing Strange, Curious New England and
Green Mountains, Dark Trails hes told stories of hauntings and horrors, of mysteries and superstitions. Here he examines some of the areas most famous curses, from the 1600s through the 1960s, and while his tone is generally impartial ("in the interest of journalistic objectivity"), he admits a fascination that verges on belief. Convicted citizens who knew themselves to be innocent often pronounced final curses on their accusers (Citro reports that in the late 17th century, after being told by a condemned woman that God would give him blood to drink, a dishonest cleric suffered an internal hemorrhage and drowned in his own blood), while desperate people called down evil on those who had refused them help (in the early 19th century, Citro writes, a woman who has been refused passage on a Lake Champlain steamship caused it to burst into flame). In most of these stories, the curses act as the vengeance of the powerless on the powerful. Citro does a fine job of presenting the evidence for curses, but hes not afraid to debunk them either. Creepy b&w illustrations add to the pleasure of this informative and entertaining volume for all students of the supernatural.
-- Publishers WeeklyReview
"Cursed in New England is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about these parts. By gathering together stories, synthesizing them, analyzing them, Joseph A. Citro has over the years made a significant contribution to New England History and culture. He does it all in a simple, elegant prose style and with insight and a sneaky sense of humor."
--Ernest Hebert, author of The Old American, The Dogs of March, and five other novels
Synopsis
A collection of riveting stories about preternatural revenge, numerous in Yankee lore, with each New England state providing its favorites. Some are well known, at least regionally. Others are nearly forgotten. All are cursed.
Synopsis
New Englanders are always cursing. But a colorful profanity uttered by some stero-typically taciturn old Yankee is usually more humorous than menacing. Yet, true maledictions (the opposite of benedictions) have frequently been spoken on New England soil, curses intended to invoke evil, injury, or total destruction against other people. Stories about preternatural revenge are numerous in Yankee lore, with each New England state providing its favorites. Some are well known, at least regionally. Others are nearly forgotten. Within these pages, storyteller Joseph A. Citro vividly brings these tales to life, letting us decide if these tales of woe were bad luck or ... something else. All are cursed
Synopsis
A collection of riveting stories about preternatural revenge, numerous in Yankee lore, with each New England state providing its favorites. Some are well known, at least regionally. Others are nearly forgotten. All are cursed.
About the Author
Known alternately as "Vermont's Ghostmaster General" and "New England's Bard of the Bizarre,"
Joseph A. Citro is doing more than anyone else to keep the region's legends and lore alive in popular culture. He has written five Vermont-based thrillers and three collections of "strange-but-true" stories. Since 1992 his commentary series on public radio has featured the region's best-loved ghosts, monsters, madmen, and mysteries. He is an expert in New England's occult lore, including Spiritualism.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Preface
1. Damned Yankees
2. "A Dreadful Wizard"
3. The Burton Ail
4. Saga of the Saco River
5. A Blighted Campaign
6. The Phantom Foot
7. The Missing Man
8. Connecticut's Village of the Damned
9. Nix' Mate
10. That Old Sand Farm
11. No Mercy from Mercie Dale
12. Fate and the Phoenix
13. The Witch and the Virgin
14. The Tree of Knowledge
15. An Idol Revenge
16. Haunted Waters
17. A Shadow Over Crompton
18. The Crash of Camelot
19. A Cluster of Curses
APPENDIX 1-Commination Service
Acknowledgements / Bibliography
Index