A tour of haunts, monsters and weird history
Author hosts free Zoom presentation
Without a doubt, October is the spookiest month of the year, and Jeff Belanger, one of New England’s premiere storytellers, invites you to gather around the campfire as he presents New England Legends, a tour of haunts, monsters, aliens and weird history from our region.
This presentation, hosted by the Fitchburg Public Library, will be held via Zoom, at 7 p.m. Oct. 19.
The program will present highlights from Belanger’s own adventures and work. There will be time at the end of the presentation for a Q&A session.
“Through my New England Legends television series and my weekly podcast, I’ve gathered hundreds of strange stories from around New England,” Belanger said. “Each time I give this program I change up the ten tales I offer, so the program is different every time.”
Guests to this virtual program can expect to see photos, sometimes video clips, and voice actors offering quotes from the past.
“The point is to try and understand how the legend got to be where it is today,” he said. “We will talk haunts, monsters and the just-plainodd.”
“The bizarre is closer than you think,” he adds.
For over 20 years, Belanger has been exploring the unexplained. He seeks out history, folklore, ghosts, monsters and legends all over the world and in our own backyard.
“I grew up in Newtown, Connecticut, one of the many historic New England towns that dot our landscape, and from a young age I had friends who told me their
houses were haunted,” Belanger begins. “I was intrigued and tried to swindle a sleepover so I could check it out.”
What struck him was how their stories were nothing like a Hollywood movie, but more “matterof-fact.”
Belanger says he later grew up in the town next to Edward Warren Miney and Lorraine Warren, American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of hauntings.
“I knew the Warrens since I was 12 years old,” Belanger said. “I’ve been to their home and museum, I’ve interviewed them, and attended their lectures. They had an influence on me for sure.”
Belanger adds that some of Ed and Lorraine’s cases were made into
“The Conjuring” and “Annabelle” horror movie franchises.
“I have a love of history and talking to people. I guess you could say it was a perfect storm that got me into exploring these fringe topics,” he said.
Belanger went to school to be a writer and started his journalism career in 1997 as a feature’s writer for newspapers and magazines.
“I could have never predicted that this would become my full-time job,” he said. “However, it has taught me how to connect with people from all walks of life.”
For his work, he has interviewed thousands of people about their encounters with the profound.
“I have always been an objective person. I try to look at all sides of any topic or issue,” Belanger said. “Journalism was a natural fit for me, plus, I love to chase stories. Sometimes I get this feeling in my gut when I hear something I want to know more about. After that, I am off to explore. I feel like I stopped aging at 13. I still get excited poking around a spooky graveyard or wandering through old abandoned asylums.”
Through his love of journalism and all things spooky, Belanger has written more than a dozen books, published in six languages, with the following being best sellers “The World’s Most Haunted Places,” “Weird Massachusetts,” “Our Haunted Lives” and “Who’s Haunting the White House?”
He’s the Emmy-nominated host, writer and producer of the New England Legends series on PBS and Amazon Prime. He provides programs and lectures to audiences all over the world. He’s also been the writer and researcher for every episode of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel; Paranormal Challenge and Aftershocks on the Travel Channel; and Amish Haunting on Destination America.
Belanger has made media appearances on hun
‘I feel like I stopped aging at 13. I still get excited poking around a spooky graveyard or wandering through old abandoned asylums.’
– Jeff Belanger
dreds of radio and television programs over his 20-year career, and he has a passion for mysteries and legends.
“These legends exist because a community keeps them alive,” Belanger said. “Often there is some unresolved issue from the past that we’re still grappling with, and that will literally haunt us.”
Belanger adds that as we explore these topics, we get to ask the biggest questions humankind has ever asked: What happens after we die? Are we alone in the universe? Do we know every creature that walks the planet with us?
“Those are the biggies that still keep me up at night,” he adds.
He is also an explorer, always one for chasing adventures.
Belanger has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, he’s explored the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, he’s searched the catacombs of Paris, France
(where he encountered his first ghost), he faced his life-long struggle with basophobia (fear of not being able to stand up or walk) on his birthday by going skydiving, and he’s been ghost hunting all over the world from a former TB asylum in Kentucky, to medieval castles in Europe, to an abandoned prison in Australia.
He founded Ghostvillage.com in 1999 — one of the web’s most popular paranormal destinations.
He has been a guest on hundreds of radio and television networks and programs including The History Channel, The Travel Channel, Biography Channel, Reelz, PBS, NECN, Living TV (UK), Sunrise 7 (Australia), Bell (Canada), The Maury
Show, The CBS News Early Show, CBS Sunday Morning, FOX, NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates, National Public Radio, The BBC, Darkness Radio Network, and Coast to Coast AM.
As the pandemic has changed the way society participates in activities, Belanger said he is grateful he can continue his presentations through Zoom.
“During the fall I am always on a story tour, except usually it’s in person,” he said. “Though I miss being in the room with a live audience terribly, I’m grateful that these Zoom programs are the next-best thing, and allow me to share these stories and connect with people who may not be able to get to the venues in per
son.”
As for chasing new stories, Belanger said he is sticking to the remote locations where people are not around anyway.
“So much of what I do is research based, so in that regard I’m not as affected by the pandemic as others,” Belanger said. “Ghosts and legends don’t stop doing their thing during quarantine, and neither do I!”
Participants are asked to register at https://tinyurl.com/fpljeffbelanger. A link to the meeting will be emailed to attendees prior to the event. This is a free program. For information about this or other library programs, call 978-829-1780 or visit FitchburgPublicLibrary.org.