>>> PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR EDITH WHARTON'S HOME, TH
MOUNT, IN LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS IS RENOWNED FOR ITS BEAUTY AND
MAJESTY, BUT THERE'S ALSO A SINISTER SIDE TO IT.
MARITAL INFIDELITIES, MADNESS, AND
DEATH ARE ALSO A PART OF THIS GILDED-AGE MANSION'S TALE, AND
GHOSTS OF THE PAST ARE SAID TO STILL HAUNT IT TODAY.
ON THIS HALLOWEEN NIGHT, NEW ENGLAND
LEGENDS' JEFF BELANGER TURNS A PAGE IN WHARTON'S STORY TO
UNCOVER SOME OF THE MOUNT'S GHOSTLY TALES AND ITS DEEPEST,
DARKEST SECRETS.
♪ ♪ >> THE PULITZER PRIZE
WINNER EDITH NORTON WROTE I HAVE NEVER SEEN A
GUEST BUT I AM AFRAID OF THEM.
COULD IT BE SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED HERE AT THE MOUNT IN
MASSACHUSETTS?
WHEN WAS THE MOUNT BUILT?
>> IT WAS BUILT IN 1932.
AFTER THE WAR, THEY GAVE HIM HOME IN LONG ISLAND AND WILL
HER GRANDFATHER BUILT THE HOME AND CALLED IT THE MOUNT.
>> WE'RE SURROUNDED BY GHOST SPEAKING TO US FROM CENTURIES
AGO BUT THIS IS A THING WHERE PEOPLE ARE SEEING AND
EXPERIENCING THINGS BEYOND THE EARTHLY REALM.
WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?
>> THEY SEE TWO PEOPLE IN THESE CHAIRS SITTING IN FRONT
OF A FIREPLACE AND READING ALLOWED FROM BOOKS BUT NO
VOICES.
>> AND HISTORICALLY WHO WOULD HAVE SAT IN THESE CHAIRS?
>> E EDITH WHARTON AND HER HUSBAND TEDDY.
>> AS HER HUSBAND SUNK INTO DEEP DEPRESSION, THEY FELL
INTO A DARKNESS OF MENTAL ILLNESS.
>> WE THINK THAT SHE WAS WRITING LARGELY FROM THE
BEDROOM FROM THE LAST YEARS HERE IN THE HOUSE AND IT IS A
VERY DARK BOOK HAVING TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS.
>> AND SO FOR SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS, SHE
SEEMED TO HAVE A LOT OF SUPERSTITION, RIGHT?
>> WELL, HER BELIEF IN GHOSTS WAS A LITTLE COMPLICATED.
I DON'T KNOW IF SHE CAME OUT AND SAID I BELIEVE IN GHOSTS.
IN FACT, WHAT SHE DID SAY TO HER PREFACE OF GHOST STORIES
IS THE QUESTION OF WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS IS NOT A
RELEVANT QUESTION BECAUSE IT IS NOT SO MUCH WHAT YOU
BELIEVE BUT WHAT YOU FEEL AND WILL WHAT YOU EXPERIENCE.
WE TELL THE STORY ABOUT EDITH'S SORT OF STRANGE HABIT
SHE HAD IN THIS ROOM.
SHE WOULD PLACE HER SLIPPERS AT THE FOOT OF THE BED EVERY
NIGHT BEFORE SHE WENT TO SLEEP AND THE SLIPPERS HAD TO BE
POINTED IN THE DIRECTION OF THIS WALL OVER HERE.
AND ONE TIME SHE WAS ASKED BY SOMEONE, WHY DO YOU DO THIS,
AND HER ANSWER WAS KIND OF STRANGE.
SHE SAID SO THE HOBGOBINS WON'T WATCH ME WHEN I SLEEP.
>> ROBERT, WHAT ROOM ARE WE IN NOW?
THIS IS TEDDY WHARTON'S DEN AND I THINK IT IS THE ROOM
WHERE HE MAY HAVE SPENT MOST OF THE TIME AT THIS HOUSE.
>> AND IT IS A HOT SPOT FOR GHOSTLY ACTIVITY?
WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
>> WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS I SAY AS WE COME INTO THIS ROOM
IS PEOPLE WILL SAY THEY SMELL THE SMELL OF CIGAR OR PIPE
SMOKE UPON ENTERING THE ROOM AND THAT IS USUALLY A SIGN
THAT TEDDY WHARTON IS HERE, THAT HIS SPIRIT IS PRESENT IN
THE ROOM.
SO WHEN WE WALKED INTO THE ROOM ON THAT PARTICULAR NIGHT,
WE COULD SMELL THAT SMELL.
SO I, YOU KNOW, KIND HALF JOKINGLY SAID TEDDY WHARTON IS
WITH US TONIGHT AND NO SOONER HAD I SAID THAT, THE CHAIR
THAT WAS IN THE CORNER OF THE ROOM SEEMED TO DO THIS LITTLE
HOP BECAUSE WE HEARD LIKE A LITTLE BUMP FROM THE CHAIR AND
IT WAS LIKE OH, WE SEEM TO BE GETTING AN ANSWER.
AND A FEW OTHER PEOPLE ON THE TOUR HEARD IT AND WERE BAFFLED
BY IT, TOO.
>> SO WE'RE STANDING NOW ON THE BEDROOM FLOOR OF THE HOUSE
RIGHT OUTSIDE THE HENRY JAMES SUITE AND WE THINK OF THIS AS
KIND OF A HOT SPOT.
ON OUR GHOST TOUR, THIS IS A PLACE WHERE WE SPEND A LITTLE
TIME AND ACTUALLY THIS IS A PLACE WHERE I, MYSELF, HAD A
STRANGE EXPERIENCE.
IT WAS JUST THIS SEASON, ACTUALLY.
>> WHAT HAPPENED?
>> WELL, I WAS GIVING A GHOST TOUR AND AS I DO, I WALKED
INTO THIS SPOT AND WAITED FOR PEOPLE TO COME UP AND MEET ME
AND AS I WAS STANDING HERE IN THE DARK, I FELT LIKE THESE
THREE LITTLE TAPS ON MY HEAD AND YOU KNOW THAT SENSATION
YOU GET THAT, YOU KNOW, SOMEONE IS RIGHT AROUND YOU?
OF COURSE I WAS ALL ALONE HERE, STANDING AND WAITING
HERE.
SO IT WAS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS THAT I WAS AWAKENED TO THE
FACT THAT SPIRITS ARE OFTEN FELT IN THIS HOUSE AND THAT
SENSATION OF BEING TAPPED ON THE HEAD IS SOMETHING THAT
MANY PEOPLE HAVE REPORTED.
>> MARGIN, TELL ME ABOUT THIS PHOTOGRAPH.
>> THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS SENT TO US FROM ONE OF THE PEOPLE ON
OUR TOUR.
IT WAS ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO.
YOU CAN SEE THE FIGURE HERE.
THE FIGURE WAS NOT THERE WHEN THE WOMAN TOOK THE PHOTOGRAPH.
IT WAS ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO.
YOU CAN SEE THIS FIGURE HERE.
>> THIS IS REALLY COOL.
IT IS NOT JUST SOME REFLECTIVE THING AND IT HAPPENED RIGHT
HERE WHERE WE ARE STANDING.
>> RIGHT WHERE WE ARE STANDING AND IT IS NOT A SHADOW BECAUSE
THE LAMP IS BEHIND HER.
>> RIGHT.
MARGE, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MOUNT AFTER THE WHARTONS LEFT?
>> IT WAS SOLD IN 1911, THEN THERE WERE TWO PRIVATE
FAMILIES WHO OWNED IT AND THEN IT WAS SOLD TO THE FOX HOLLOW
SCHOOL FOR GIRLS.
>> WHAT KIND OF THINGS HAPPENED HERE?
>> WE FREQUENTLY HAVE WOMEN COME VISIT THE MOUNT WHO
ATTENDED SCHOOL HERE AND THEY TELL US THEY REALLY BELIEVED
THAT THERE WAS A GHOST IN THE CUPOLA AND THEY WOULD TALK TO
IT FROM THE STAIRS.
THEY WOULD ASK IT A QUESTION AND IT WOULD ANSWER.
>> EDITH WHARTON MAY NOT HAVE BELIEVED IN SPIRITS BUT THEY
COME UP TIME AND AGAIN BY HER WORK.
SHE WAS HAUNTED BY SOMETHING AND THAT SOMETHING MAY STILL
BE ECHOING HERE AT THE MOUNT IN LENOX.
YOU MAY NOT HAVE BELIEVED IN GHOSTS, EDITH, BUT THEY
BELIEVED IN YOU.