Back to Monster Map Haunted Newport Newport, Rhode Island October 1st - 31st Discover the rich past and learn about the wealth and power that gilded the island. Newport Fun Facts In 1774, Newport hosted the first circus in the US. Newport has the oldest circulating library in continuous use in the US. Newport was home of the first female newspaper editor. Newport had the first photograph taken by electric light (1866). The Newport Historical Society is home to the oldest typewriter in America. The Newport Mercury, started in 1758, is the oldest newspaper in steady operation in the US. The White Horse Tavern, built in 1673 is believed to be the oldest tavern in the US. Jacqueline Bouvier married John F. Kennedy in 1953 at Newport's St. Mary's Church. Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest synagogue in North America. Read it and creep! Ghost lover or history buff, unearth Newport's chilling riddles for yourself. Haunted Newport by Eleyne Austen Sharp

"You are alone and uneasy about it. A shadow darts across the walls and up the stairs, but it's not your shadow. The windows rattle with the blow of a Nor'easter yet there is no wind. The floorboards are creaking and your heart thumps loudly, but it cannot drown out the eerie, hollow whispering of a stranger's voice." - from Haunted Newport by Eleyne Austen Sharp The book started it. Haunted Newport by Eleyne Austen Sharp caused so much interest that the author came up with the idea to create an event called Haunted Newport Week. It would celebrate Halloween, and help extend Newport's tourist season. Newport, a 7.7 mile island community, is located on the east coast of the US, surrounded by Narragansett Bay and the Rhode Island Sound. Founded in 1639, Newport is rich in history and known for its beautiful beaches, picturesque wooden docks and colonial architecture. Haunted Newport Week first debuted in 1999 and was produced by Austen Sharp Publishing and Promotions and the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Events were held throughout the community, planned and managed by independent venues. Haunted Newport Week was a hit. It not only brought in many visitors during the off-season, but also attracted media attention from Yankee Magazine and New England Travel. Haunted Newport Week was expanded in 2000 to a full month and renamed Haunted Newport. It is the only month-long Halloween festival in the world. When faced with thirty-one days of spooktacular fun, what's a ghoul to do? After all, Haunted Newport offers cemetery tours, haunted hayrides, ghost stories, murder mysteries, psychics, workshops on magic, lectures on vampires, talks on witches, book signings, and a Halloween market, to name just a few. Too busy to attend them all? Okay, here are some highlights: Belcourt Castle Join Virginia Smith as she conducts her ghost tour at Belcourt Castle. The tour includes a slide lecture, stories about Belcourt's many ghosts, and live demonstrations. Belcourt Castle is rumored to be the most haunted place in Newport. Designed as the summer residence for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont and his wife, the former Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt, the 52-room house was based on Louis XIII's hunting lodge at Versailles. It was constructed in 1891. The castle is now the home of the Tinney family.    Belcourt Castle. The most haunted place in Newport? Edgar Allan Poe at Beechwood Dare to spend the weekend with that master of macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. The staff of The Beechwood Theatre Company recount Poe's hair-raising tales at The Astors' Beechwood Mansion. Beechwood is the former home of Caroline Astor, the undisputed "Queen of American Society," who made Newport the social center of the Gilded Age. Known as The Mrs. Astor, she was the creator of the first American social register, "The 400," and the mother of John Jacob Astor IV, who died on the Titanic.    Performers from the Edgar Allan Poe Weekend at Astors' Beechwood. Ghost Ship Set sail on the ghost ship, Spirit of Newport. This one-hour tour of Narragansett Bay features a reading and book signing by Eleyne Austen Sharp, author of Haunted Newport. Haunted Hike Take a walk with local vampire scholar/author Christopher Rondina on his two-hour walking tour among the graves of Newport's Common Burying Ground. Christopher will also be appearing at the Boys & Girls Club, speaking about vampires and his books, Vampire Legends of Rhode Island and Vampire Hunter's Guide to New England. Psychics Look into the future with a psychic. Both The Mind's Eye and Tea & Herb Essence offer several different events that allow one to delve into the mysteries of the mind. One of the programs offered at Tea & Herb Essence is Developing Your Psychic Ability with Darlene M. Vieira. Darlene M. Vieira    Touched By Angels: A Conversation with Darlene M. Vieira Fortuneteller. Card reader. Medium. Psychic. Different names to describe the same thing: a person sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and influences. Darlene M. Vieira is a psychic with the ability to predict a person's future. "The number one thing I want to tell you is that I work with the angels. They help me," says Darlene M. Vieira. "They look like cherubs," she adds. Although she's been reading for twenty years, the heavenly help is something new to her. It's only been a few months since the angels appeared and she couldn't be happier. "They sit in with me during a reading," Darlene explains, and says that since the angels' arrival, her abilities have grown stronger. Darlene explained that she's had psychic abilities all her life. "I was born gifted, I know that because there was a veil over my face at birth," she says. The veil she is referring to is the caul, a membrane that sometimes covers the head of a child at birth. The caul is considered good luck, and has been sought after by people wishing to use it for divination. "The gift is inherited," Darlene explains. "I got it from my grandmother." People unfamiliar with psychics may have one image in mind, that of someone telling fortunes with a deck of cards. Darlene says that while she can use cards, for her, they are not necessary. She can read for a person by touching the lines on their hands, by touching a possession, or simply by sitting across from the person. And of course, she has the help of the angels, who communicate with her with both words and images. Darlene tells a story about a man she read for. He sat stiffly in his chair, a blank look on his face. As she did the reading, he gave no indication if she was right or wrong. When she finished, he admitted he had been testing her. To his amazement, everything she told him was correct. Darlene can be reached at home by calling 508-998-7117 (EST). Believe It, Or Not "There is something here. The idea that your every move is being watched sends tiny electric shivers throughout your body. If you weren't such a practical person, you would swear the place was haunted. But you don't believe in ghosts-or do you?" - from Haunted Newport by Eleyne Austen Sharp Learn more about Newport's dramatic history and surreptitious sightings in our Haunted Newport book review.