Folklore and Legends

Local storyteller Jonathan Kruk shares the mysterious lore of the Hudson Valley, best known among them Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." 

This exciting volume and its author has been featured in the Travel Channel's "Mysteries at the Museum," and helped establish the galloping goblin's origin story.

The story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman is one of America's best known fables, but what other stories does the Hudson Valley hold? Imps cause mischief on the Hudson River, a white lady haunts Raven Rock, Major Andre's ghost seeks redemption and real headless Hessians search for their severed skulls. These mysterious and spooky tales from the region's past that inspired Irving and continues to captivate the imagination to this day.

John and Laura Leita delve in to the oddities that make Long Island unique and it may be more odd than you thought possible!

Long Island's history is well known, but often overlooked are the island's unique and bizarre stories and treasures--the most interesting locations and darkest legends. From hidden haunts and legends like the Indian Princess of Lake Ronkonkoma to well-known events like the Amityville Horror House murders, this collection chronicles the tales of restless spirits, unrequited loves and otherworldly visits that riddle the island. There is much to be seen along the roadside, too, including the beloved Big Duck, the Riverhead Indian and even the grave site of Nixon's dog, Checkers. Through history, pictures and the personal experiences of a ten-year endeavor, authors John and Laura Leita brings to life Long Island's abandoned structures, including psychiatric hospitals and other ruins waiting to be rediscovered. Join the Leitas as they go in search of the delightfully quirky side of Long Island.

After this survey of Rochester's super natural history and tradition, the Flour City will never look the same!

Avenging specters, demon-tortured roads, holy miracles, weird psychic events, prehistoric power sites, ancient curses, Native American shamans, active battlefields, ghost ships, black dogs, haunted monuments and the phantoms of Rochester's famous—all are part of the legacy of Rochester and the lower Genesee. Supernatural historian Mason Winfield and the research team from Haunted History Ghost Walks, Inc., take us on a spiritual safari through the Seneca homeland of the Sweet River Valley and the modern city in its place. After their survey of Rochester's super natural history and tradition, the Flour City will never look the same.

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.

Warren township in the southern portion of Herkimer County has been the scene of more than one gruesome event.

In January 1885, locals reeled in horror when disgruntled wife Roxalana Druse shot her husband and dismembered his corpse to incinerate it in a farm house stove. Her trial and hanging was followed up in May of 1901 with two murders in yet another farm house kitchen.

John C. Wallis had allowed his ex-wife Arvilla to return home, one year after running off with hired farm hand Ben Hoyt. Wallis then rehired Hoyt and within months both Ben Hoyt and Arvilla Wallis were dead. Did Ben Hoyt murder Arvilla in cold blood or did John C. Wallis kill both of them?

Author James M. Greiner investigates a mysterious case of marriage, infidelity and multiple murders in turn of the century Herkimer County.

Listen to the whispered legends of spirits, heroes and traitors hidden in one of New York's most captivating regions.

Like the region's first inhabitants, the ""Cat People,"" who made clothing from the mountain lions and panthers that they hunted, Western New Yorkers still savor the tradition of storytelling. Tales such as the ""Mail-Riding Mamma"" of Chautauqua County, who carried both the post and her infant child above her head as she journeyed across perilously-flooded creeks, and the Ossian Giant, who at age 19 stood 7 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed 385 pounds, are vividly narrated by Buffalo storyteller Lorna MacDonald Czarnota.

Hudson Valley is steeped in mysteries, from Celtic chambers resting in the deep woods of Putnam to Millbrook's abandoned Bennett College.

The beautiful, tree-spotted landscape of the Hudson Valley hides the strange and sometimes frightening stories of the region. In the Highlands, Iroquois chief Daniel Nimham gave his life for the cause of American independence. The great passenger steamship Swallow sank near the shores of Athens. And there is even one strange night in the Catskills where a legendary playwright miraculously survived a midnight plunge off the suspended Schoharie Bridge. Author Allison Guertin Marchese reveals a treasure-trove of curious tales recounting the most uncommon history of bad guys, bold girls, creepy colleges, missing mastodons and more in this wondrous region of New York.

The first baseball monument appeared at Green-Wood in 1862 to honor the game's first martyr and star, James Creighton Jr., initiating baseball's tradition of honoring its own with stone or bronze memorials. Green-Wood Cemetery has since served as a model for other tributes, including those found at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Yankee Stadium's Monument Park. Baseball Legends of Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, through painstaking research, brings these baseball legends back to life with a compelling array of rare images that tell the story of the game's birth in Brooklyn, New York City, and Hoboken.

The Hudson Highlands launched revolutions of independence, industry and creativity, and have long enchanted artists and hikers with countless mysteries that still thrive in the area.

Leni-Lenape legend told of an ancient giant slumbering between Storm King and Breakneck Ridge. During the Revolution, George Washington saved the new nation from a military coup by donning glasses. The ghost of the twice-hanged pirate William Kidd returns to secluded caves and hamlets in the Highlands to guard his treasure. Professional storyteller Jonathan Kruk unveils a treasure of stories of the historic, mysterious and colorful Hudson Highlands.

Local author Susan Peterson Gateley tracks down the real Maid of the Mist and investigates the meaning behind the names Soup Harbor, Sheba Island and the Devil's Nose.

Named by the Hurons, Ontario means Lake of Shining Waters. Beneath this gleaming surface, though, the easternmost of the Great Lakes hides enigmas from thousands of years of history. Ghosts linger on the surface, and monsters swim below, frightening sailors on the water. Smugglers used Lake Ontario during the War of 1812 and Prohibition and continue to do so today--Ontario's darkness providing the cover needed to elude law enforcement. Join Gateley as she delves deep below the waves to uncover these and other legends, lore and secrets from Lake Ontario.

New York's Southern Tier and its many communities abound with legends about strange, intriguing events.

Stories of ghosts and other supernatural phenomena create an aura of foreboding and mystery in upstate New York. Tortured souls try to escape from the Inebriate Asylum in Binghamton; Native American treasure lies buried beneath the banks of the Susquehanna River; grandeur and heartbreak haunt Wellsville's Pink House; and locals speculate about the identity of a young woman in white who walks ""Devil's Bend"" in Owego. Local learning institutions are also fraught with otherworldly beings--Elmira College, SUNY Fredonia and Binghamton University students all have long told stories about the paranormal. Folklorist Elizabeth Tucker tells these and other eerie legends of haunted homes, mansions, churches, parks and cemeteries of the Southern Tier.

Born from the chilly waters of Lake Ontario and the Genesee River, Rochester, New York, has been the cradle of the modern spiritualist an anti-Masonic movements and religious sects and communes.

This unusual history has given rise to strange legends and shrouded the city in mystery. Was the corner of Main and Elm Streets - McCurdy's Department Store - cursed? Who was Captain William Morgan, and why did he suddenly disappear? What stories lie behind Rochester's first murder and the execution of William Lyman's killer? What is hoodoo, and who is the Hoodoo Doctor? Native American tales, the history of the infamous Fox sisters and the secrets of the Freemasons are woven into these and other legends of Rochester