"A lot of the old houses in the area have a ghost," said Town Historian Dan Cruson. Having been established in 1705, Newtown has had more than 300 years to gather spooky tales of hauntings.

Despite calling himself a skeptic, Mr Cruson shared some of the most popular ghost stories he has heard of just in time for Halloween.

Hillbrow 

The house at 74 Main Street is called "the blue house" by many people. Others, who are more familiar with its history, call it "Hillbrow" or "Head O' Main Street," but to Richard Mulligan it has been called home for the last 42 years.

Beyond those years though, lies the origin of one of Newtown's most notorious ghosts.

The house was built in 1715 by Ebenezer Blackman and remained in the Blackman family for several generations before being sold out of the family.

During the American Revolutionary War, a Tory (better known as a Loyalist) resident lived there. There were many Tories in Newtown, because of its strong Anglican faith.

Mr Cruson explained, "The minister John Beach was a very charismatic personality. When he came back to found the Episcopal Church here in the early part of the 18th Century, he attracted members away from the Congregation Church. As a result, during the American Revolution he remained loyal and many of his followers did as well."

Supposedly, two of those followers included a husband and wife who lived at Hillbrow.

The story began when French troops, led by Count de Rochambeau during the Revolutionary War, came to Newtown. They had traveled by foot from Providence, R.I., and were marching through on their way to New York to meet with General George Washington.

Mr Mulligan explains that the soldiers were said to have set up camp where St Rose is currently located and planned to rest up for a couple days. While they were there, some of them took it upon themselves to wander around town.

It was then some hungry soldiers smelled an alluring aroma of freshly baked bread coming from a nearby house. When they knocked on the door to demand the food be shared, a woman answered the door.

Seeing their uniforms and realizing they were visiting French troops, she slammed the door in their faces and ran upstairs to where her elderly husband was lying sick in bed.

Enraged, the French soldiers pushed their way in and ran upstairs after her. They wound up dragging the husband out of bed, still in his nightclothes, and chased him around the town square. Eventually, after terrorizing the elderly man, they brought him home. Despite surviving his suffering ordeal in the moment, the exhausted man died soon after from the effects of the scare.

Mr Mulligan said, "His ghost is roaming around here."

Mr Mulligan and his wife, Dorethy, did not know about the haunting before purchasing the house. They were drawn to the building, he said, because his wife thought it was one of the most beautiful houses in Newtown.

Mrs Mulligan picked out the blue paint for the outside color and designed many rooms inside. Even with renovations, the Mulligan family has respected the house's rich history and preserved the original floorboards, giant fireplace, and narrow stairwell.

The staircase next to the entryway of the front door actually has a mural on its wall memorializing the scene when the Tory resident died.

Local resident Daniel Duffy painted the mural, which is dated October 12, 2001. It shows five soldiers walking away from a man who is collapsed on his knees and leaning on a post out of exhaustion. A woman looks out from Hillbrow's front door with a lantern and appears to be calling for him. In the mass of smoke emanating from the building's chimney there is the outline of the man's face, symbolizing his death.

Mr Mulligan explained that Mr Duffy "was a portrait painter, so all the soldiers have different looks on their faces."

The mural has been inaccurately painted to depict wintertime, but the season choice was done to make it aesthetically pleasing with the pop of red on the soldier's winter coats.

During tours of his house Mr Mulligan would joke, "I checked some records that show on that particular day was the earliest snowfall ever recorded in Connecticut."

Mr Mulligan's sense of humor and laid back demeanor might explain why it was not such a big worry finding out his home was haunted. When the previous owners closed the deal on the home they revealed the Mulligans had inherited a spirit along with the house. They assured him "don't worry, it's a friendly ghost."

He says that throughout the years he has never felt fearful or threatened by the lingering spirit. "He's a gentle ghost. Once and a while I feel a warm breeze passing by me," he explained.

Beyond unusual air currents, there have been a number of unexplained instances that lead the Mulligan family to believe the house is haunted.

One key piece of evidence is when they had a Great Dane dog, their pet appeared to be very sensitive to the spirit's presences, even though no one could see a visible apparition.

The dog would look as if its tail was being pulled and would swing around in a panic. The only way to stop the act from happening would be when Mrs Mulligan would scold the ghost for teasing the dog.

Mr Mulligan recalled, "My wife would say to the dog, 'Stop, go lay down,' but the dog would keep doing it. Then finally she would just turn and say [to the ghost] 'Would you just leave my dog alone?' and it would stop." The dog would then lay down and curl up completely relaxed.

Other strange circumstances include the disappearance of household items (spatulas, pot holders, car keys) and the feeling of being watched.

"My wife was the first one to notice when things weren't as they should be," Mr Mulligan said. "[The ghost] seems to be friendly enough. He's never done anything bad, except tease the dog and tease my wife."

Effie of Seven Chimneys

Similar to Hillbrow, there is a house called "Seven Chimneys" on Gelding Hill Road that has a mischievous ghost targeting its animal tenants.

Mr Cruson says the house has gone through a number of owners, including the 1950s comedian Wally Cox, who was famous for his show Mr Peepers. Mr Cox lived in the house while he was acting in New York.

Owners have ruled out Mr Cox being the ghost, as he died in California in the 1970s, but its identity is still a mystery.

"The former president of the historical society, Sally Meffert, lived there," Mr Cruson said. "She had told me on a number of occasions her cat would go crazy and things would be moved in the kitchen."

The cat would frequently arch its back in fear toward an invisible tormentor. In those instances, when Ms Meffert felt that a ghost was present, she would look at where the cat was giving its attention and say, "Effie, stop it." Then just like that, the cat would be fine.

Mr Cruson explained, "The cat was not named Effie. That is what she named the ghost."

After doing a house history and tracing the genealogy of the families that had lived there, Ms Meffert discovered Effie was the name of one of the women that lived there. There were no supporting records discovered to say she died in the house, but nonetheless Ms Meffert named the ghost accordingly.

Despite the occasional inconvenience of her cat being irritated, Ms Meffert learned to live with the presence of the ghost.

Mistress Of Palestine Road

A visible apparition that has been sighted in Newtown haunts an old building called "the Angel House" of Palestine Road.

A past owner of the home, Larry Miller, who has since died, told Mr Cruson his haunting tales of a ghost occupying his house.

Mr Cruson said, "He told me on a number of occasions he'd hear someone coming down the stairs and go over and there would be nobody there."

Mr Miller was adamant it was not his imagination. He did not know exactly who it was, but he suspected the ghost was part of the infamous affair that took place in the home.

According to Mr Cruson, Adlai Stevenson II, a politician who twice ran against Dwight Eisenhower "had lived in the house for a while. He had an affair with a woman in the neighborhood."

Mr Miller told Mr Cruson that he had found an old back door to the house. On it was a picture of an angel drawn in chalk, which was Mr Stevenson and his mistress's sign for where they would meet for their liaison in the house.

Whenever Mr Miller would read about Mr Stevenson and the liaison, a ghost would appear and walk down the steps in the house.

Ghost In The Garden

On the corner of Sugar Street is an 18th Century house that Mr Cruson says Ellie Bancroft used to live in. Ms Bancroft owned a bookstore in town during the 1970s, before leaving Newtown.

Before she moved, she told Mr Cruson very matter-of-factly that she frequently saw apparitions.

Mr Cruson said, "She had a young girl who used to come out periodically from the woods and go up and down in the garden then go back into the woods again."