An Invitation to Explore
Sometimes, a good idea comes to life when you least expect it. That’s how this adventure began. My friend Rob, a fellow Marine Corps veteran, messaged me after seeing some of my social media posts about recent hikes. Rob, who lives in Somerset, had been exploring the Bridgewater Triangle, specifically the Freetown State Forest.
“Want to hike it with me?” he asked.
His timing was perfect, and his suggestion even more so. The Freetown State Forest is infamous for its dark and creepy reputation: ghosts, Pukwudgies, Bigfoot, aliens, and satanic rituals are just the start. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore a place steeped in unsettling history.
Into the Woods
We met up after work, made a short drive, and parked at a gated dirt road. Rob had planned a route to indulge my love for eerie tales, though he didn’t tell me much beforehand.
About a mile in, Rob led me off the main gravel road to a small path that ended in a clearing beneath a tree. A stone marker caught my eye:
“Animal Rescue League of Fall River, Animal Cemetery. This marker dedicated to all beloved pets, who gave love, happiness, and companionship, laid to rest, sadly missed, but not forgotten.”
Rows of headstones surrounded the tree, some ornate, bearing the names of cherished pets. But what stood out were the empty graves—holes where animals had been exhumed.
Rob explained that during the 1980s, occultists desecrated the cemetery, digging up animals for use in rituals. The desecration became so rampant that authorities closed the cemetery in 1989.
The sight filled me with anger. The idea of people disturbing someone’s beloved pet for any reason, let alone for so-called rituals, was sickening. I made a snarky comment about the desecrators summoning a demonic entity that smelled of sulfur and scratched their feet at night. Rob chuckled, but I was dead serious.
Haunted New England: History, Legends and Lore
By: Joseph Gelinas
