Explore the creepiest legends of this southern community in Supernatural Saratoga. Amid the famous mineral springs and horse races, Saratoga Springs is a hub for the supernatural. Author Mason Winfield, operator of Saratoga's Haunted History Ghost Walks, chronicles the Spa City's spookiest legends, from the Iroquoian zombie-like vampires to Benedict Arnold's Halloween apparitions. The heart of the city brims with lore, as covens work in secret in the Devil's Den neighborhood and phantoms linger at the Arcade on Broadway. In the shadow of the Adirondacks, spectral lights appear on remote Snake Hill, and the Woman in White haunts Saratoga Spa State Park. Explore the creepiest legends of Saratoga history, where some gamblers never leave and demons lurk in the forests. Mason Whitfield is a noted authority in the New York supernatural community and the founder of Haunted History Ghost Walks, Inc. He has previously published several books on haunted historical sites and cities, including Haunted Rochester: The Supernatural History of the Lower Genesee with The History Press. Supernatural Saratoga Haunted Places and Famous Ghosts of the Spa City By Mason Winfield The History Press Copyright © 2009 Mason Winfield All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59629-700-5 Contents Introduction: Spas, Steeds and Spirits, NATIVE SPIRITS, Giants and Heads, The Vampires, The Little People, Shape-shifters, Witches, Swiftie at Yaddo, Two Lights on the Hill, SPOOK, SNAKE AND DEVIL, Snake Hill, Spook Hollow Road, Devil's Den, Bear Swamp, The Fault on Broadway, High Rock Spring, The Sacandaga, THE GHOSTS OF WAR, Mourning Kill, The Battle of Stiles's Tavern, The Dawn of the Light, Four Forts, The Battle of Saratoga, SARATOGA'S HAUNTED ARCHITECTURE, Congress Park, Richard Upjohn, Isaac Perry, S. Gifford Slocum, Spas and SPAC, Yaddo, SPA CITY SITES, The Olde Bryan Inn, Palace of Pleasure, The Savage House, The Shocker on Broadway, The Parting Glass, The Arcade, City Hall, The Algonquin, The Lake Avenue Fire Hall, Downtown Wights, THE GHOSTLY TEN, The Devil in Saratoga, "He Is Worth a Regiment", The Witch of Saratoga, Madame Jumel, "Old Smoke", Last Mistress of Pine Grove, Hattie, Lena, The Ninth Guest, Malcolm, Conclusion: Saratoga Is Portals, About the Author, CHAPTER 1 NATIVE SPIRITS The Old Spirits The earliest Native Americans may have settled and traveled through the Saratoga region for twelve thousand years. The first of them would have encountered the last of the megafauna — giant mammals — as the glaciers made their final retreat. In the years before the Contact Period, the population seems to have been light in this region. The Kaydeross was probably a hunting-fishing destination, with population centers elsewhere. By the time of the European Middle Ages, two Native American groups frequented the region, the Mohawks of the Iroquois Confederacy and various Algonquin-speaking nations, including the Abenakis and the Mahicans. Representatives of the two language families didn't always get along very well, but there's quite an overlap between them in supernatural matters. All Native Americans of the Northeast have a vivid belief in the spontaneous apparitions we call ghosts. Members of both Iroquoian and Algonquin groups report frequent sightings of ghosts and other psychic experiences at their traditional power sites. Among the Native Americans, the ghost sightings, as a rule, are not developed into classic tales like those of the Europeans. It is as if ghosts and related experiences are so natural and to be expected that no one bothers to think of them as remarkable. Only the occasional tale interests and thus lasts. Tales of other types of folkloric curiosity are very developed. Inveterate storytellers, the Iroquois populated the wooded landscape with a variety of regional bogies. In this short chapter, I will offer a taste of the supernatural traditions of the Native Americans who still populate the Saratoga region. GIANTS AND HEADS Iroquois storytelling features many curious localized beings, peculiar to one area or region. Those that dominate the mythology tend to be man- form beasts: stone giants, great flying heads, vampire beings and little people. The stone giants are a race of bestial cannibals at perpetual war with humanity. They aren't bright, but they're powerful and almost invulnerable to natural human weapons because of a caked-sand armor that coats their hairy skins. Some say that the bigfoot of the Northeast — often reported in the Saratoga region — could have inspired the legends. The stone giants may be more like the Titans of Greek mythology. The absence of any readily visible stone giants is explained by their extermination — all but one — by the Great Spirit, paving the way for humanity to settle the Northeast. For some reason, the stone giants were associated with healing. One of the oldest origin myths of the magic, medicinal