Cursed in New England: Stories of Damned Yankees
- Book Review,
by Joseph A. Citro
From Publishers Weekly
Vermont native Citro has spent years studying the darker side of New England; in books such as Passing Strange, Curious New England and Green Mountains, Dark Trails he’s told stories of hauntings and horrors, of mysteries and superstitions. Here he examines some of the area’s most famous curses, from the 1600s through the 1960s, and while his tone is generally impartial ("in the interest of journalistic objectivity"), he admits a fascination that verges on belief. Convicted citizens who knew themselves to be innocent often pronounced final curses on their accusers (Citro reports that in the late 17th century, after being told by a condemned woman that God would give him blood to drink, a dishonest cleric suffered an internal hemorrhage and drowned in his own blood), while desperate people called down evil on those who had refused them help (in the early 19th century, Citro writes, a woman who has been refused passage on a Lake Champlain steamship caused it to burst into flame). In most of these stories, the curses act as the vengeance of the powerless on the powerful. Citro does a fine job of presenting the evidence for curses, but he’s not afraid to debunk them either. Creepy b&w illustrations add to the pleasure of this informative and entertaining volume for all students of the supernatural.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Joe Citro writes the best and most believable stories about the supernatural since Edgar Allan Poe. Cursed in New England is especially engaging because in it, Mr. Citro brings his own wise and often hilarious personal interpretations to the wonderful tales he tells of accursed farms, mountains, graveyards, towns, houses, and families in a New England few tourists have ever visited. Cursed in New England is a splendid combination of off-beat social history, masterful storytelling, and absolutely first-rate writing from a true New England original with a life-long passion for things that go bump in the night and, come to think of it, in broad daylight, as well."
--Howard Frank Mosher, author of Waiting for Teddy Williams
Book Description
A collection of riveting stories about preternatural revenge, numerous in Yankee lore, with each New England state providing its favorites. Some are well known, at least regionally. Others are nearly forgotten. All are cursed.
From the Back Cover
A salty profanity uttered by a taciturn old Yankee is generally more humorous than menacing, but can a curse really be used as a weapon? In Cursed in New England, renowned storyteller Joe Citro recounts seventeen tales of genuine maledictions intended to invoke evil, injury, or total destruction against others.
Inside these pages you’ll read about curses that were followed by the strange disappearance of a father and daughter in Rhode Island, mysterious afflictions in Massachusetts, a river of death in Maine, an unaccountable blight in New Hampshire, unexplained madness in Connecticut, and other eerie happenings from New England’s colorful history.
Citro vividly brings these stories to life, letting you decide whether the resulting tragedies were simply bad luck, coincidences . . . or something far more sinister.
About the Author
Known alternately as "Vermont's Ghostmaster General" and "New England's Bard of the Bizarre," Joseph A. Citro is doing more than anyone else to keep the region's legends and lore alive in popular culture. He has written five Vermont-based thrillers and three collections of "strange-but-true" stories. Since 1992 his commentary series on public radio has featured the region's best-loved ghosts, monsters, madmen, and mysteries. He is an expert in New England's occult lore, including Spiritualism.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Cheating the Devil?
Finally, in 1844, Paul Doran, who had donated the land, hit upon another simple scheme. "Look," he said to the assembled work crew, "you know the words of the curse as well as I do: 'The first man to break ground for the church will die a sudden death'."
He had the crowd's attention; all eyes stared expectantly at him.
"The curse clearly says, 'the first man'," he continued, emphasizing the word. "My wife Mary-who I assure you is no man-has volunteered to break ground so our work here may begin."
In was an inventive solution. The assembled workers cheered as Paul Doran made a big show of handing a spade to his wife.
With equal flourish Mary plunged the spade to the ground, modestly hiked up her skirt just a bit, and used her thick-soled shoe to drive the shovel into the earth. Nothing happened. The ground was much too hard. A laborer nearby handed her a crowbar with which she vigorously hacked at the earth, leaving a deep gash. At last, church ground was broken!
But perhaps the effort was too much for her.
For a moment Mary Doran stood there wide-eyed, as if something unseen had slapped her soundly on the backside. Then, slumping a little at the knees, she clutched the crowbar as if it were a cane. She tried to remain standing but her legs wouldn't hold. Rushing forward, her husband grabbed her just as she began to fall. He lowered her gently to the earth where she died moments later in his arms.
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