By Robert Oakes
Ghost tour guide, The Mount
When the sun sets on The Mount, the Gilded Age estate in Lenox, Mass., that once was home to author Edith Wharton, the beautiful grounds and buildings begin to exude an eerie atmosphere. Shadows lengthen along the wooded paths and marble floors, as the last of the day’s visitors drive off the property. The empty rooms become like tombs, witnesses to history, still and silent, except for the occasional creak or tap or … was that a footstep?
It is during these dark and silent hours at The Mount that we Ghost Tour guides do our work. Each week. We lead groups of intrepid ghost seekers through the darkened halls and rooms of both the stable and the mansion, as well as through the wooded grounds and pet cemetery. By the glow of flashlight, we share some of the many accounts of encounters with mysterious entities that have been reported over the years by residents and visitors of the estate. These include tales of faces seen in windows, odd sensations of being watched or touched by someone unseen, the sound of voices and footsteps, and many other strange and unexplained phenomena.
We also share some of the property’s history, as well as that of its most famous resident, who wrote not only many great novels but quite a few ghost stories of her own. Wharton, who had to overcome her own phobia of the paranormal in order to write those stories, believed that tales of ghosts go deep into our being. They speak to us, she wrote, in “the warm darkness … far below our conscious reason (where) the faculty dwells with which we apprehend … ghosts.”
The Ghost Tours at The Mount honor this spirit and celebrate the telling of a good, spooky tale. When we take groups of ghost seekers through the darkened hallways and rooms of The Mount during a Ghost Tour, we invite them to meet us “halfway,” as Wharton wrote, “among the primeval shadows … filling in the gaps in (our) narrative with sensations and divinations akin to (our) own.” We ask them to listen to the many tales we have to tell and to reach out into the dark with their senses and imagination engaged, staying open to the possibility that they, too, might have an encounter of their own.
Even if nothing happens, I believe the experience is worthwhile. Whenever we reach out with our senses open and our imagination engaged, we do make contact with some mysterious presence that lies deeper than intellectual understanding. And making that connection reawakens a sense of wonder.
That’s what I love most about leading the ghost tours at The Mount. Time and time again, I’ve seen visitors happily turn off their phones, forget the many distractions of daily life, suspend their disbelief, and walk with eager anticipation into the possibility of encountering something truly mystifying. I’ve seen people react with delight, even when genuinely spooked, as we pass the window through which a skeletal face has been seen or stand at the bottom of the attic stairs listening for faint footsteps. And I’ve witnessed even declared non-believers smile as they entertain the possibility that some ghostly presence may indeed linger in this place.
The Mount began its Ghost Tour offerings in 2009 after being visited by the SyFy Network’s Ghost Hunters, who concluded “there appears to be some paranormal activity at The Mount,” following their investigation. That night, they reported footsteps and other strange sounds and even a head peeping around a corner. Since that time, the tales of ghostly encounters have continued to grow largely because of the tours themselves, as many people have reported experiences while on a Ghost Tour. Late last year, drawn by the spike in reported activity, the Ghost Hunters returned to The Mount for a follow-up investigation. That episode is scheduled to air on Nov. 18.
Ghost Tours will be offered at The Mount most Friday nights through October 31.
For more information, visit edithwharton.org or call 413-551-5111.