New Hampshire

New Hampshire, one of New England’s six states, features rugged White Mountains, deep forests, and historic towns filled with stories. Its folklore and tales of cryptids rise from colonial history, remote wilderness, and the traditions of isolated communities that lived close to the land.

Legends describe strange creatures moving through the northern woods and ghostly figures haunting coastal settlements. These tales reflect both the wild character of New Hampshire’s landscapes and the lingering fears and superstitions that shaped its past.

Wood Devils (Coös County)

Reports of Wood Devils come from the deep forests of Coös County, near New Hampshire’s northern border with Canada. Witnesses describe them as tall, thin, and covered in hair, with a habit of darting behind trees the instant someone spots them. Their quick movements and elusive nature make them nearly impossible to track.

Unlike Bigfoot sightings elsewhere, Wood Devils appear lankier and more human-like, resembling feral woodsmen rather than giant apes. Hunters and trappers in the White Mountains have shared stories of these strange figures since at least the late 19th century, keeping the legend alive in New Hampshire folklore.

Lake Winnipesaukee Monster

New Hampshire’s largest lake, Winnipesaukee, has carried monster legends for generations. Witnesses describe a massive, long-necked creature rising from the water, its shape more like a prehistoric reptile than a serpent or dragon. Fishermen and lake visitors told of its head and back breaking the surface, and later sightings echoed those early reports.

The lake’s great depth and mysterious underwater caves continue to spark speculation about what might lurk below. Stories of the Winnipesaukee Monster remain part of New Hampshire’s folklore, blending natural wonder with the unknown.

Devil Monkey (Danville, 2001)

In 2001, residents of Danville reported a terrifying creature that resembled a large, baboon-like animal. Witnesses described its long limbs, sharp claws, and piercing screech as it leapt across roads and climbed with startling agility. The locals quickly gave it the name “Devil Monkey.”

Some dismissed the sighting as the work of an escaped exotic pet, but others connected it to similar reports from the Appalachians and New England dating back decades. The Danbury case remains one of New Hampshire’s most striking modern cryptid encounters.

The Witch of Hampton (Goody Cole, 17th century)

Eunice “Goody” Cole of Hampton became the only woman in New Hampshire formally convicted of witchcraft during the 1600s. Authorities imprisoned and whipped her for the charges, and after her death in 1680, townspeople claimed her ghost returned to haunt Hampton.

Local tradition says she cursed the town and that her spirit lingered in the coastal marshes. For centuries, residents blamed strange happenings on Goody Cole’s presence, ensuring her legend endured as one of New Hampshire’s most chilling pieces of folklore.

The Deerfield Booms (Deerfield, New Hampshire)

Later New England folklore retellings place the Deerfield Booms in the southern part of Deerfield, near South Road. New England Legends says the blasts began in 1836, shook the ground, and drew the attention of Josiah Butler, the South Deerfield postmaster, former congressman, and judge.

The same retelling says the booms continued through the 1840s, sometimes as often as once a month or once a week, and then stopped in late 1846. A 2025 New England Legends summary still called the Deerfield Booms a 175-year-old mystery, which shows how firmly the story stays tied to Deerfield in regional folklore.

Mystery Hill (America’s Stonehenge) Legends (Salem, New Hampshire)

Mystery Hill in Salem became one of New Hampshire’s best-known site legends. The attraction now calls itself America’s Stonehenge and presents the Salem site as a place with more than 4,000 years of human history. Discover says locals still use the older name Mystery Hill, and it notes that visitors and television shows long linked the site to ancient builders, astronomy, and even sacrifice.

That folklore kept growing through promotion and dispute. A 2002 Boston University report said visitors were still hearing claims that ancient settlers from Europe built the stones 4,000 years ago, while archaeologist Curtis Runnels rejected any Bronze Age or pre-Columbian European origin. Discover also says William Goodwin reshaped parts of the site in the 1930s to fit his Irish monk theory, which helped keep the ancient-builder legend alive around Salem.

Isles of Shoals Hauntings (Isles of Shoals, off Portsmouth)

The Isles of Shoals carry a cluster of named ghost stories rather than one single haunting. Vaughn Cottage says Celia Thaxter’s 1873 Among the Isles of Shoals preserves the oldest written account it found of the Pirate Bride, a sea-cloaked woman on Appledore Island who told a visitor, “He will come again.” The same museum source says later tellings tied her to buried pirate treasure and a vanished pirate lover.

Appledore also carries the ghost of Phillip Babb, or Old Babb. The Yankee Express calls him one of the islands’ most famous ghosts and places his haunt at Babb’s Cove, while Vaughn Cottage says Hawthorne wrote about “Old Bab” and notes later reports of unexplained sounds on the fourth floor of the Oceanic Hotel on Star Island.