Books for the Urban Legends in Your Life

Meet Mary, ocean-born and named by an infamous pirate. Her birth saved a group of Scottish immigrants aboard a ship bound for New England in 1720. Halfway through the gruelingvoyage, pirates intercepted and captured the vessel. Upon hearing a baby's cry, the pirate captain promised to spare the lives of all on board if the mother named her newborn Mary, allegedly after his beloved mother. The ship arrived safely in Massachusetts, and Mary lived most of her long life in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Discover the house in Henniker, New Hampshire, that Mary is said to haunt and where a pirate purportedly stashed his treasure. Join historian Jeremy D'Entremont as he separates the facts from the fantastic legends shrouding one of New England's most enduring folk tales.

New Hampshire's historic graveyards, from Portsmouth to North Conway, have bizarre and eerie stories to offer their visitors. Graveyards often invoke fear and superstition among the living, but the dead who rest within them may have more to communicate to the world they left behind. The sands of Pine Grove Cemetery in Hampton once concealed the tombstone of Susanna Smith, but now its message--which reads simply Slaine with thunder"--and her story have risen from beneath the soil. The Point of Graves Cemetery in Portsmouth is home to the spirit of Elizabeth Pierce, who beckons departing guests back to her grave. Along the state's southern border in Jaffrey, tombstones at Philips-Heil Cemetery caution the living to cherish life. Author Roxie Zwicker tours the Granite State's oldest burial grounds, exploring the stones, stories and folklore of these hallowed places."