This image is the cover for the book Ghosts of Berkshires, Haunted America

Ghosts of Berkshires, Haunted America

“You’ll never look at the region the same way again after reading about the tunnel from hell, toe-tugging spirits, and the curse of the mummy.” —The Boston Globe

Before it became a haven for arts and culture, the Berkshires was a rugged, sparsely populated frontier. From the early days of Revolutionary fervor and industrial enterprise to today’s tourism, many chilling stories remain. A lost girl haunts a cemetery in Washington, and mysterious spirits still perform at Tanglewood. From the ghostly halls of the Houghton Mansion to the eerie events at the Hoosac Tunnel, residents and visitors alike have felt fear and awe in these hills, telling tales of shadow figures, disembodied voices and spectral trains. Author Robert Oakes, who has given ghost tours at The Mount in Lenox for more than a decade, leads this spirited journey through history.

“The rich history of this region—spanning more than two centuries—includes spine-tingling tales from almost every town in the county. Oakes culled many of them for his book, which touches on myriad metaphysicals, including ‘The Undead Hessian of Egremont,’ ‘Highwood’s Ghost at Tanglewood,’ and ‘The Ghostly Guest in 301: The Red Lion Inn’—each of which will inspire readers to ‘peer into the shadows beyond the beam of [their] flashlight.’” —The Berkshire Edge

Robert Oakes

Robert Oakes is a writer, teacher and singer/songwriter from the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. He has written for AAA, Canyon Ranch and a number of other publications and organizations and performs as part of the Berkshire-based folk music duo Oakes and Smith. Since 2010, Robert has led the ghost tours at The Mount in Lenox and has represented the museum and its ghosts on Syfy's Ghost Hunters, Jeff Belanger's New England Legends series on PBS and The Apple Seed, hosted by Sam Payne, on BYUradio. Robert is currently pursuing his master's degree at the Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English in Middlebury, Vermont.

The History Press