author Sam Baltrusis Archives - Neighborhood View

THE BAD ROOM: Residential hauntings in Malden and Somerville

October 19, 2016 neighbormedia 0

As the author of seven historical-based ghost books including “13 Most Haunted Crime Scenes Beyond Boston,” I hear all sorts of stories about alleged hauntings throughout New England. One of my readers, Michael Marciello, reached out to me about a haunting from his childhood home in Malden. As a kid, he called the off-limits haunted bedroom “the bad room.” I got chills as he recounted tales of his father being pinned to the bed by an unseen force and sounds—he later described as evil and potentially demonic—echoing from a room that was unoccupied … at least by the living. His mother ended up putting a lock on the bedroom’s door so he and his siblings would stay away from the paranormally active first-floor room.”It was always so cold,” he said, recalling the inexplicable temperature fluctuations in the bad room. “We thought it was an animal,” he said, claiming that he would smell sulphur which is an indication of an evil entity. When I posted Marciello’s account on social media, sociologist Michelle Willms talked about her […]

“13 Most Haunted Crime Scenes Beyond Boston” with author Sam Baltrusis

October 11, 2016 neighbormedia 0

Listen up guys and ghouls! Neighborhood View’s Sam Baltrusis, author of the new book “13 Most Haunted Crime Scenes Beyond Boston,” writes about the things that go bump in the night. He assembled a motley crew of the area’s most haunted crime scenes in a show airing on MATV on Fridays at 10 p.m., Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. in October. He also penned a book perfect for the Halloween season. The 30 minute Halloween-themed TV show “13 Most Haunted Crime Scenes Beyond Boston” will be available to public access stations across the state by DVD or digital download on October 13. The Sea Witch smells like death. “It’s the paint,” joked one of the volunteers who greeted me as I clumsily stumbled aboard the historic USS Salem in Quincy. “There were hundreds of dead bodies on here during the earthquake in Greece in 1953 and many of them died from burns … so that could explain the peculiar smell as well.” One of the first things I was told when […]

WHAT’S NEW? Seven deadly picks for Halloween

September 20, 2016 neighbormedia 0

With Halloween creeping around the corner, the team from What’s New? assembled a motley crew of spooktacular events scattered throughout the Bay State. With our seven deadly picks for Halloween, we promise plenty of tricks and treats throughout October. MATV’s HAUNTED STUDIO: Coming in at No. 7 is Malden Media Center’s annual event the Haunted Studio. Kids and parents from the Malden Community trick or treat their way through MATV’s creepy maze of spooks held on Halloween weekend. OLD SCHOOL GAME SHOW: At No. 6 is Old School Game Show’s Halloween edition in Cambridge. Michael D’Angelo, host of the devilishly camp Old School Game Show, serves up 1970s-era slasher-flick sensibility in this killer live theater/game show cacophony which includes Boston’s burlesque queen Ginny Nightshade. Based on D’Angelo and Nightshade’s previous Halloween creations, Old School Game Show deserves two Freddy Krueger-style thumbs up. 7 p.m. Saturday, October 15. Oberon, 2 Arrow St. Harvard Square in Cambridge, oldschoolgameshow.com. HAMMOND CASTLE: For 29 years, this Gloucester haunt transforms into one of the most spooktacular haunted houses in New […]

Events

TV SHOW: “What’s New? Malden” for July

July 4, 2016 neighbormedia 0

In the July 2016 edition of Neighborhood View’s What’s New? Malden: Satiate your sweet tooth with Malden’s newest shop on the block Hoff’s Bakery, stay safe this summer with tips from Malden’s former fire chief Jack Colangeli who will also chat about his Italian eatery Jack’s Ristorante. Did you know that Malden was a major player in the American Revolution? Get the lowdown. Also, Neighborhood View’s Liz Taegel talks about juggling her show “Release The Sounds” with the responsibilities of being a new mom. Co-hosts Sam Baltrusis and Sharon Fillyaw unleash the fireworks with the July 2016 edition of “What’s New? Malden.” The monthly program airs 6:30 p.m. Fridays, Noon Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays on MATV’s Channel 3 on Comcast, 28 (Verizon).

Haunted Malden: Ghost hunter’s guide to local haunts

October 29, 2014 neighbormedia 0

Historical haunts in Malden? It’s a no-brainer. As Halloween creeps around the corner, Neighborhood View coordinator and “Ghosts of Boston: Haunts of the Hub” author Sam Baltrusis left no gravestone unturned in search of Malden’s most haunted. The city boasts a bone-chilling assortment of ghostly hot spots rumored to be stomping grounds for spirits … and not one of those El Diablo concoctions at Ferry Street Food & Drink. Speaking of the new restaurant formerly occupied by watering holes like Jimmy O’Keefe’s, the Shamrock Inn and No 9 Ale House, Ferry Street Food & Drink (118 Ferry St.) made headlines last summer about a resident ghost rumored to still claim his bar stool in the afterlife. According to lore, the left-behind ghost looked like John Candy’s “Uncle Buck” character. The spirit supposedly slipped and died in the basement when the space was Jimmy O’Keefe’s. Shannon Ladd, Ferry Street’s co-owner, claims she recently had a close encounter with the Uncle Buck ghost. “Your timing is impeccable because (not) until last night, we have had that hair […]

Ghosts, graveyards, witches, crimes and Salem: a recipe for a book launch

October 25, 2014 azanzirsa 0

First there was the Mod Squad, then the Police Squad, and now there is the Spirit Squad which helps “rouse the dead and give a voice to the long departed.” This according to Sam Baltrusis, author of a trilogy of ghost books taking us from Boston to Cambridge, and now on to Salem the ” Witch City.” Baltrusis explores the cursed history underlying Salem’s supernatural beings in his third book on Massachusetts haunts. Neighborhood View traveled to Salem to bear witness to the launch of Baltrusis’ latest book, Ghosts of Salem. The event was held in the Great Hall at the historic and beautiful Old Town Hall, Salem Mass. The building is the earliest surviving municipal structure in Salem, dating from 1816. Different kinds of haunts are investigated in the book from haunted burial grounds, visiting several cemeteries, to restless spirits of victims of heinous crimes. What is it that attracts so many to Salem every October? They come to be scared, to be fashionable, out of curiosity or just for fun. Some fear ghosts, some dismiss them […]