Keziah Mason and the Witch House - Arkham's most terrifying address

At the end of the seventeenth century, the Devil left his hoofed footprints in New England, or so many believed.

The Witch Hunt was at its height. Innocents were accused without reason, men and women were caught in the middle of the night and taken to interrogations, and some were subjected to torture in the basements of churches and houses of justice. Hysteria reached its peak when a simple name could result in an avalanche of accusations. The fever that settled in the Puritan Village of Salem spread with speed like a plague of fear and zeal all over Massachusetts. Children pointed to adults, pointing to neighbors, pointing to family members, pointing to friends... A cycle fueled by rumors and gossip that seemed to have no end.

In the midst of madness, it is no exaggeration to say that the overwhelming majority of the accused never had any connection with witchcraft or black magic. Most of these people were absolutely innocent, but because of the degrading circumstances, they agreed to play the game of the accusers. After all, those who acknowledged his alleged guilt and who gave away other names were spared from the gallows.

But what about the guilty ones?

Among the accused citizens who had never professed the blasphemous black arts or evil deeds, there were a few who actually communed with the darkness. They were wicked witches and warlocks, who knew ancestral secrets, used terrifying powers and profane rituals to gain power. But contrary to what the witch hunters believed, they did not serve the Devil, but rather the darker things that inhabit the recesses of Time and Space. On moonless nights, or in front of bonfires, they did not beg for the intercession of Satan, but for the Cthulhu Mythos.

The first witch cabals were settled in New England, with the pioneers who crossed the sea in search of a New World. Some of these witches already knew what existed beyond the ocean, for their profane masters had sent them forebodings dreams about what they would find on the other side of the ocean. The knowledge of the New World, and of what was in it, was also written in some forbidden tomes. They knew that this would not be New Canaan as the Puritans dreamed, but a perilous land where the Mythos walked freely: furious and savage. A new territory to be exploited and conquered and the desire for more power and influence over a part of the world until then, little known, certain makes sorcerers embark on such a journey.

Keziah Mason is supposed to have mingled with the early people who settled on the coast of New England. There are no records of her until the date of her capture in the haunted city of Arkham. It is not known how old she was, where she came from, how she arrived or why she decided to come to the New World. All that is known is that she was already old and enjoyed notoriety among the good people of the region. Everyone feared old Keziah Mason and preferred to leave her alone.

The woman always lived in solitude, being one of the first to settle in the riverside region of the Miskatonic River in a simple hovel of whitewashed stone and jute roof. Though old and fragile in appearance, her neighbors denied her any help, though many claimed to be charitable Christians. The old woman, from the beginning raised suspicion, and like domestic animals that become shy before a beast, the villagers preferred to ignore her. They said there was something about her that inspired distrust, repulsion, and a certain degree of fear.

Mason's House was avoided by their neighbors - who built their homes a good couple of miles away and used to circumvent the property even at cost of a long detour from their destinies. All because the house inspired bad omens, no one wanted to pass the gate and see the old hunchbacked crone in some of their activities. Some who spied on her from afar told that she walked in front of the sordid shaggy and poorly cared dwelling alone or with unseen companions. The brave few claimed to have seen her chopping wood, tending chicken or wandering around. They looked at her sideways and pressed their stride so the matron did not notice them.

They said the shack was decadent and in need of repairs, and an old woman should not endure life in such wilderness. No one took the feat of claiming to have entered the crooked dwelling, and if anyone did, no one would believe in such a stunt. In the distance, bolder observers had seen bits of bone, colored stones and glass on leather ribbons hanging from the porch where the old woman sat on a rocking chair smoking a pipe. When the wind blew, these objects danced, and even when the air seemed still and stagnant, this strange decoration moved, as if on its own. From the stone chimney sometimes rises a black smoke. This often produced an ocher stink that most could not describe. The garden around the house was pure weed, with bushes that grew wild, but even so, it was hard to ignore the foul mushroom that sprouted here and there. There was a smell concentrated in that meadow, a foul odor of rotten fruit and soil.

The old crone herself was a vision of a nightmare and those who saw her still young were astonished when they realized, as adults, that she was still the same: dreadful and frightening. Despite its fragile constitution, she showed an inexhaustible energy, which left the villagers bewildered. Once a traveler, who passed by, said that he had seen her on the roof of the house. He did not try to explain how she had come up or how she would get out of that place. For all intents and purposes, she was small or at least seemed to have short stature, since she was panting. A protruding hunch formed a dense mass on her back. This unusual posture made her lean forward, almost to the point where her face touched the ground. Her crooked legs held what looked like a bag of skin and bones with no substance.

Mason always wore the same outfit, winter or summer, a patched black nightgown, with long sleeves and the hem that touched the floor. The feet and arms were hidden, leaving only the arthritic hands, with clawed fingers, holding a knobbed cane. She walked with a waddle, balancing herself like a tree in a gust of wind.

The few who had seen her closely had the dubious advantage of describing the hag in detail. She was an old woman, they all agreed, but no one was able to determine her age. They all suggested that she must have seen many winters, and the hypothesis of being a centenarian was accepted by the majority. Her lime-white hair stretched beyond her waist and hung shaggy in long braids. The skin was yellowish with the color of aged paper, marked by senile spots and other signs. In her mouth she had only half a dozen yellowish teeth and her chin was incredibly pointed. Those who hear her voice described it as a scraping sound, the words interrupted by loud thoughts verbalized inadvertently and guttural laughter. Mason seemed to have lengthy dialogues with imaginary interlocutors giving then shrewd answers. The pale blue eyes however were very alive, always alert to the slightest movement.

The superstitious ones said that the old woman once shared her house with other people. They mentioned a man, a well-known thief who answered by the nickname of Brown Jenkin, who would have resided in the decrepit hut for some time. The people of Arkham suggested that he was a distant nephew, but some even said that Jenkin was a fugitive who had agreed to live in the house as a refugee. Rumors continued for some time until they ceased, when Jenkin was no longer seen in the vicinity of the property.

Around this time, curious people began to notice that Mason carried in her arms a brown animal, lean and shaggy. The creature, supposedly with the size of a cat, was always nestled in her arms, his face hidden in the folds of her patched robe. No one had ever seen the animal closely, but assumed that the old woman and the animal were company to each other.

In 1692, the name of Keziah Mason would surface in the height of the terror of the witches. It seemed natural to the good people of Arkham, who had long feared the old woman to regard her with a serious suspicion of malice. It is not recorded in the documentary records of the county in which circumstances the name was first raised, but it is known that Keziah Mason was sought by three officials after several complaints were made. The men returned disgusted. They did not enter the crooked house as the old woman received them outside. Despite this, they said there was evidence that the old woman was what many feared, and worse ... One of the men, Turner, even suggested that he had seen a kind of imp peering out of the thick glass window of the cabin. The hideous thing, according to him had wicked and bright eyes. The witch laughed saying the thing was just her pet.

The officials decided to return later, accompanied by soldiers armed with swords and muskets. They gathered the men of the militia, and when they arrived, they found the old woman waiting for them on the porch, sitting in her chair. She had a defiant look and immediately agreed to accompany them to an interrogation in Arkham jail. She warned them not to enter the hut while she was away, but when the men informed her that the place would be searched, she did not try to dissuade them.

At first they thought Keziah Mason was simply insane. Everything about her suggested that. Those who interrogate her were worried when she talked to herself and looked at things only she could see. Her arrival was an event for inhabitants of the village. Curious, the people stopped their chores to see closely the feared old hag they had heard so much. They were not impressed by the sight of the stumpy, hunchbacked old woman being pulled by the arm by one of the militiamen. The old woman was taken before a Judge and he asked several questions, informing Keziah Mason that she was being accused of witchcraft. Unlike most accused of such a treacherous crime, the old woman remained calm and only opened her mouth to ask who had accused her. The Judge said that the identity of the informant would be safeguarded, and asked her how she declared herself.

Before she could answer, the meeting was interrupted by an exhausted young soldier, who had frightened news about the search they had made in the house. The boy said that while they searched the shack, they found hideous things that should not be in the possession of a God-fearing person. In the unhealthy basement, the men came upon an iron cauldron, a series of mysterious-looking vials, and a ghastly statuette of a devilish barrel-shaped thing. Worse than that however it was the discovery of several bones buried.

The old woman confronted by serious accusations was absolutely calm and composed. The Judge demanded the witch to confess her evil deeds, and she began to talk wildly about her offenses and all manner of blasphemy. She confessed, among other things that the Devil had revealed the secret name of Nahab and had taken her to isolated places where she performed rituals in His honor. She had also enchanted children, used the infants as a sacrifice in the most hideous rituals to satisfy the hunger and lust of demons. She said that the Black Man was a frequent guest in her house and God was not welcome there. The Black Man in exchange for her servitude had given wonderful visions that included glimpses of the past and future. He also gave her artifacts, the secret to produce all kinds of potions, and the knowledge of black magic that allowed her to live forever. He also taught her how to lay curses, including the most terrible of all curses, she confessed to having cast over the late Brown Jenkin. When questioned about it, she just laughed and said that he served her now with the devotion of a pet.

The interrogation had begun when the sun was high and it was concluded when the dawn was already gone. One of the notaries fainted and another official began to cry like a madman. The Judge ordered all notes to be destroyed. He delivered the sentence with no more consideration. To support his decision, the Judge explained that "the witch's words should not be heard by anyone else."

He decided that Keziah Mason should be executed on the gallows and that her body should later be burned to ashes. While the preparations were being made, the old woman was taken to the prison below the guardhouse. There, three accused begged to be transferred to another place, so much they feared the presence of the old crone. In an unprecedented decision, the Judge upheld the request and all the accused were moved to another location, leaving the dungeon exclusively to be occupied by Mason.

Preparations for the execution ran fast. A gibbet was erected on the outskirts of the neighborhood that today corresponds to French Hill. The wooden structure was erected by local carpenters who also provided a sturdy rope. However the execution never occurred.

The jailer opened the cell and found the place empty. There was no sign of Keziah Mason, she vanished. One of the guards said he had heard the old woman ruminating alone all night, but that he did not want to approach to hear clearly what she was saying. The only sign of her stay were several mysterious drawings scrawled with blood and excrement on the wall. The sinuous symbols looked like letters from a strange alphabet, and they blended with zodiacal symbols and other follies. Similar symbols were found on the walls of her hut and appeared to be a kind of unknown language.

To some of Arkham's residents, the incident was a terrifying demonstration of the devil's power. Others, however, were pleased that the sorceress had disappeared without a curse upon them. The terror of having to keep the sentence and kill the witch tormented the good citizens of Arkham who imagined what this action would entail. The Judge was summoned to Boston to explain what had happened, and in the presence of his peers, he reported the incident and then simply resigned himself from his extensions.

A new Judge was appointed to preside at Arkham. The honorable Wallace Boyd arrived at the settlement determined to fulfill one of the direct orders given by his superiors: to destroy the sordid house. The order, however, was never fulfilled. The Judge suffered a massive heart attack and died while inspecting the site. After that, the inhabitants of Arkham refused to put the hut down. Possibly to avoid any curse, the people made a request to leave the place alone.

The abandoned hovel remained closed for decades, one of Arkham's most haunted places, known henceforth as "The Witch's House." Nobody heard about Keziah Mason. The witch disappeared without a trace. The people supposed she still returned to the house where she lived for so long. To support these conjectures some say that smoke rose from the stone chimney and that greenish lights shone inside. No one dared explore the house.

For a long time the place remained untouched. It was not visited by anyone until the middle of 1830 when the City of Arkham began to grow toward the banks of the Miskatonic. Simple constructions emerged around the property, east of Pickman Street, which became its official address. The first dwellings were erected by ex-slaves who did not have much choice where to live. Then, when they left, the immigrants arrived to settle in the decadent neighborhood. The house remained empty until 1880, when someone decided to build an annex and transform it into a townhouse for rent. The property was then dismembered, leased to the many German, Polish, Spanish and Ukrainian immigrants who barely spoke English and who were also unaware of its history.

Some of these residents complained to the landlord, they said the house was unhealthy: old, cold, and decrepit. Those who could move after a few weeks, the more impoverished lasted longer. They confided unpleasant dreams with a hideous-looking old woman and an equally hideous brown animal lurking in the corners, scratching and screeching behind the walls.

In the 1920s, the decadent house was shared by several immigrant families. Shortly afterwards, the young Walter Gilman, a brilliant math student at Miskatonic University settled on the estate. Gilman claimed that the house had a unique architecture and that at certain angles there were engraved glyphs corresponding to complex hyper geometry formulas. The student was hoping to conduct a survey of the house and its strange geometry, but he became ill and suffered a nervous breakdown. Gilman died a few months later in mysterious circumstances, plagued by hallucinations that drove him mad. Dreams are supposed to have provoked his delicate mental state. But for the truth, "if dreams brought the fever or if the fever brought dreams", nobody knows. Not even Walter Gilman.

After these tragic events, the house was emptied and the county demanded its closure due to the alleged presence of large rodents. In March 1931 a gale damaged the House of the Witch and part of its roof collapsed. Despite protests from the Historical Society, the city council finally decided to demolish the centennial house. That happened in mid-December and at the time the workers would have found access to an old part of the basement used by Keziah Mason. Inside it were discovered some strange items donated to Miskatonic University.

The occultist Morgan Smith later leased the area in which the house existed, hoping to explore psychic energies which, he said, abounded on the spot. The land has been abandoned since the 1960s and once the area where the house became one of the least valued, no one else tried to build anything there.