By Owen Lee, Staff Writer
The Bridgewater Triangle is among the most unsettling places in New England, including the abandoned Danvers State Hospital, the Blood Cemetary in Hollis New Hampshire, all of Salem Massachusetts, Stephen King’s house, and more. New England has a minor occultic reputation due to its association with witchcraft and its general autumnal atmosphere, but the Bridgewater Triangle has the most paranormal activity per square foot a New Englander could get.
It has been described by paranormal researchers as a “vortex,” like an inescapable drain where all the weird energies of the world flow into, and the best part about it is that we live only about thirty minutes away from it. It’s an absolute must-see for anyone interested in horror tourism.
The triangle was named in 1970 by paranormal researcher Loren Coleman, after the more famous Bermuda Triangle. It has three corners, which are the rough areas of Rehoboth to the west, Abington to the north, and Freetown to the east, and the area’s namesake, Bridgewater, lies towards the middle, although the exact center is the Taunton State Hospital.
The Triangle includes other notable Massachusetts towns such as Taunton, Berkley, Raynham, and others. The whole area is directly south of Boston, so it’s possible that anybody could just drive right through it without knowing it.
You may not believe it yourself, but it’s recorded that paranormal activity in the Triangle is on an absurd range, with cases dating back to 1760. This includes reported sightings of ghosts, levitating fireballs, cult activity, cattle mutilation. The area even has its own Rosetta Stone in the form of Dighton Rock, carved in an indecipherable language attributed to visiting vikings, early native americans, and pheonician. A large number of UFOs are also reported to be in the area, too, from reports from a party of five of a strange ball of light in 1986 to a report from a Bridgewater Law Enforcement Officer of a triangular craft in 1994.
There’s also ghosts, like a hitchhiker that dwells on a chunk of Route 44 or a phantom trucker that threatens travellers coming down Copicut Road from Freetown.
There’s also Hockomock Swamp, which is known as New England’s largest swamp, and one of the weirdest locations in the country, reportedly teeming with a variety of cryptids. A hairy, apelike humanoid figure is supposed to lurk in this swamp, as well as massive, ghostly panthers. In 1970, Bridgewater and state troops went out into Hockomock to catch what was reported to be a massive bear following reports of a 7-foot tall creature, but they never found a trace, even using police dogs. The site is also reported to contain Thunderbirds, birds of a massive size and unidentifiable species.
The site is rumored to have been cursed and haunted by the native american survivors of King Phillips’ War, but that’s probably just a racist rumor, don’t put too much stock in that.
Now obviously whether or not any of that is legitimate is up for debate. Who knows if ghosts are real, who knows if bigfoot’s real, Dighton Rock is probably an elaborate hoax. However, keep in mind that horror movies aren’t fun until you’re invested in them. If you have even a little fascination in the paranormal, follow that fascination to Bridgewater for your post-Halloween celebration. Maybe you’ll be the one who catches Bigfoot.