These 9 Rhode Island Superstitions Will Send Chills Down Your Spine

The gothic granite fountain outside the Providence Athenaeum has been around since 1873. Legend has it that if you sip from this ancient watering hole that you may leave Rhode Island but will always be bound to return. Would you risk being a Rhody resident forever to quench your thirst? You can read the full details of this superstition here.

Tower Hill Road in Cumberland has had its fair share of ghostly sightings. The most bizarre thing is that all of the spirits are children. To avoid contact with a ghostly boy and his dog, a little girl, or a small child on a tricycle, stay off this stretch of road at night.

The popular movie, The Conjuring, was inspired by the events that stretched out for years in a Harrisville farmhouse. Picture frames falling off the walls and beds levitating were just the beginning of the terror experienced in this haunted house. Read more on the Perron family's experience in Rhode Island, here.

Known as one of the most haunted hotels in the United States, the Biltmore has plenty of frightening history. Murders, animal sacrifices, and uninvited ghostly guests make this place a paranormal hot spot.

Back in 1839, Pirate Albert Hicks and his band of men went digging for the notorious Captain Kid's treasure where they believed it was buried in Glocester. They were interrupted by a large beast with glowing eyes that was spitting fire. The party survived but would never return. The Glocester Ghoul was seen again in 1896 by resident, Neil Hopkins. Some still believe that the beast lives in the woods off the Providence Turnpike and should not be awoken.

Stories have been swirling around Mercy Brown for more than a century. The child died of tuberculosis in the 1890s. She was said to be a vampire because her body never decomposed after she was put to rest. Read more about this Rhody legend here.

On Indian Corner Road in Washington County, lore from long ago tells the story of a headless skeleton surrounded by a blue glow. The apparition would appear at night swaying back and forth. One night a man traveling the road found a skull in a ditch alongside the road. He took the skull home and placed it on a post outside. In the middle of the night, a headless skeleton roared into the yard to reclaim his missing skull. If you find a skull on Indian Corner Road, leave it where it lays.

The Spraque Mansion in Cranston was the location of a quite chilling murder. The killing took place in the 1800s and since flickering lights, floating orbs, and actual ghost sights have been reported by more than a few guests to the mansion.

Tales of monsters living under the sea are nothing new to fisherman and land dwellers alike. In 1996 something quite strange was trapped in the nets of a fishing boat off the shores of Block Island. A 14-foot serpentine skeleton was untangled and placed in a freezer to be transported to the National Marine Fisheries Service the following day. Before the mysterious remains could be examined, they were stolen. Perhaps it was the remains of a shark or a big fish, but we will never know if, in fact, it could have been a sea serpent and if more could be lurking under the water.