Episode 35: The Dover Demon | Haunting the Fireside

In tonight’s episode, we explore the case of the Dover Demon, a “cryptid” that was allegedly seen by four teenagers over the course of two nights in April 1977. What was it? Was this a hoax? Will we ever know the truth about this mystery? Tune in as we ask — and try to answer — these questions.

Sources and further reading:
– DeLorme Mapping Co., MA Atlas & Gazetteer
– Frank Smith, Dover Farms
– Fred Alsop, Birds of North America, (Eastern Region)
– Loren Coleman, Mysterious America
– Loren Coleman, Monsters of Massachusetts
– Mark Raycroft, Moose: Crowned Giant of the Northern Wilderness
– Hunter Shea, The Dover Demon
– Joe Nickell, “Identifying the Enigmatic ‘Dover Demon’” (Skeptical Inquirer, July/Aug. 2023)
– Mark Sullivan, The Boston Globe, October 29th, 2006: https://web.archive.org/web/20070226070142/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/29/decades_later_the_dover_demon_still_haunts/
– WGBH Interview with Jeff Belanger: https://www.wgbh.org/culture/2024-04-29/nearly-half-a-century-later-dover-demon-mystery-still-puzzles-enthusiasts
– Metro West Daily News article on Bartlett and the Demon: https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/news/2021/10/19/dover-demon-massachusetts-unidentified-creature-cryptozoology-urban-legend-folklore/6026676001/
– California’s snowy owl: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/05/world/snowy-owl-cypress-california-rare-sighting-scn/index.html
– Connecticut’s snowy owls: https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/fairfield/snowy-owls-spotted-this-week-at-connecticut-beaches/
– Youtube: Dover Demon on Lost Tapes (Pt. 1) / https://youtu.be/_qJZ3QKMh0Y?si=YRhbain8th6BH_75
– Youtube: Dover Demon on Lost Tapes (Pt. 2) / https://youtu.be/6iRrfmRlAfs?si=jarTDuHSEXNPL1th
– Wikipedia on the Dover Demon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_Demon
– William Bartlett’s page on BostonArtists.org: https://www.guildofbostonartists.org/william-bartlett

Content is produced, written, and edited by Stoneham Public Library staff, including the music featured in this episode. Stock footage and still images were taken from Canva.com (except for Bill Bartlett’s sketch of “the creature”).

Episode 34: “Romanza” and “La Volta” | Auditory Inspirations

Today’s installment of Auditory Inspirations features a Stoneham librarian’s performance of two pieces on the guitar. The first is “Romanza” (composer is anonymous), and is accompanied by video clips of Spain taken from Canva. The second is “La Volta”, arranged by 16th century composer Michael Praetorius, and is accompanied by Renaissance art, which were also taken from Canva.

Episode 33: “The Specter of Goruckpoor” by M. Quad | Haunting the Fireside

In tonight’s story, published in 1901 by M. Quad – the pen name of journalist Charles Bertrand Lewis (1842-1924) – a British officer in 19th century Gorakhpur, India, takes justice into his own hands after an ally squadron is attacked by a band of thieves. However, he pays the price for his impulsive act in a rather mysterious way. This tale has a similar moral to that of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Mark of the Beast”.

All music and sounds that appear in this video were originally composed by library staff.

Episode 32: Selections of Irish Poetry | Poetry Appreciation

Today’s episode is a Saint Patrick’s Day special, poems by seven Irish poets. Entries can be found in “A Book of Irish Verse”, edited by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939). See below for the cast of poets and their poems:

1. Rose Kavanagh (c. 1860-1891) / Lough Bray
2. T. W. Rolleston (1857-1920) / The Spell-struck
3. A. E. [George William Russell] (1867-1935) / Sung on a By-Way
4. Aubrey de Vere (1814 -1902) / The Little Black Rose
5. Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) / Old Age
6. Thomas Moore (1779-1852) / The Light of Other Days
7. William Allingham (1824-1889) / The Winding Banks of Erne