The witch lore of Haddam was the first East Haddam Connecticut mystery I ever heard about from my friend and now sister-n-law, Jennifer. She has been an East Haddam resident for three decades and is entrenched in the paranormal like me.
It's actually how we met.
In 2007, I started a group called CGHOSTS (Connecticut Ghost History of Shoreline Towns). Jenn and her husband Brian, who had investigated with field rock stars like The Warrens of Amityville Horror fame, were well versed our town's haunted history. We have been trekking spooky towns, states, and countries together ever since.
I continue the work of CGHOSTS now as the East Haddam Mystery Club.
I want to take a detour from our map for a moment to clarify that I am not a folklorist or historian such as Dr. Karl Stofko of East Haddam.
My real roots are in paranormal research and experiences, but I look to the gifted storytelling and writings of Dr. Stofko often to learn the nitty gritty of our local legends and lore. Another great is Stephen Gencarella, a local resident folklorist and professor at Amherst. I encourage anyone who really wants a deep dive into East Haddam history to review their works which can be found at our local library. Gencarella has published works available on Amazon.
So, what's up with our witches? The story flies into other lore in the area including the Carbuncle we visited in Icon #5, the Moodus Noises from Icon #1 and Devil's Hopyard Icon #2. According to legend, those pesky rumblings and home shaking noises recorded since 1600s were also attributed to local witches at war with each other. This comes by way of the late 19th century writings when witchcraft was still regarded as a practice in league with the devil. Apparently, there was a faction of witches living across the Connecticut River in Haddam that were healers and only did "white" magic. On our side, in East Haddam, the witches were a bit more mischievous and served the Hopyard Devil and Hobomock the evil spirit roaming around Mount Tom.
Both sides of witches used the power of the great Carbuncle beneath Mount Tom to source their magical powers. At night, when the rumblings began, a great light would appear from the cave and the local residents whispered that it was the witches magically throwing huge boulders across the river at each other in hopes of each other's destruction.
This witch lore is one of my favorite stories. I love to imagine a coven of witches flying around our night skies in a great battle. I am certain, as with all legends, there is a kernel of truth that stems from days of old warring neighbors using tactics of religious fear and gossip to resolve disputes. In the 1880s, when the story appeared in local writings, fear of natural phenomenon occurrences such as tremors and odd weather were usually linked with the supernatural and more specifically, the devil's work.
If you look to our skies at night, and you feel those Moodus noises kick up, you might hear the sound of cackling too on the wind with cloaked figures flying their brooms overhead. If you look close enough, it just might be Jenn and I following the river on a full moon. I am definitely the good witch in this story (cackle cackle cackle!)
If you would like to visit the sites affiliated to the East Haddam witches, you can visit the shoreline of Connecticut River just north of the East Haddam Swing Bridge. Also, Machimoodus State Park and Devil's Hopyard, both in East Haddam.
Happy Haunted Trekking!
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