Victorian Mansion of an Occult Author Near the Canadian Border
Fort Covington, NY
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Private property; exterior viewing from public roadways only.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Public road shoulders in a rural hamlet near the Canadian border.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1900 · Victorian Architecture · Occult Literary Heritage · Canadian Border Hamlet
Fort Covington is a hamlet of roughly 800 residents in Franklin County, New York, sitting directly on the Salmon River and the Canadian border about 20 minutes north of Malone. The town's name refers to a War of 1812 fortification.
The Dupree House is a Victorian mansion within the hamlet, locally referred to as Dunwich Manor in reference to its most famous twentieth-century resident. Gerina Dunwich, an author of more than two dozen books on Wicca, witchcraft, and folk magic published by Citadel and other trade imprints, moved into the house in December 1993. While in residence she ran a small shop on High Street called The Country Witch, later renamed The Calico Cat Whatnot Shop, which sold antiques, curios, and occult supplies.
The property includes a carriage house older than the main residence. Local folklore claims the carriage house once connected to underground tunnels running toward the Canadian border, an architectural detail that has not been independently documented. The house remains a private residence and is not open to the public.
Sources
The most cited account at Dunwich Manor concerns a small attic room. According to Fort Covington folklore, a woman with mental illness was confined there in the early 1900s and died in the room, leaving bloodied handprints on the walls and ceiling. Subsequent owners reportedly required several coats of primer and paint to cover them. The same room is described as containing a cold spot and has been the focus of séances aimed at contacting whatever remains.
Visitors and former occupants have reported additional phenomena: thumps from the attic at night, glowing lights moving through the cellar, and a felt presence in the upstairs bedrooms. The carriage house, which predates the main house, has its own reputation. Witnesses describe moaning sounds from its second floor.
These accounts come from regional travel writing, paranormal databases, and the Akwesasne TV series Spirit World, which featured the property. The Dupree House remains a private residence; the legends are documented from a distance rather than through formal investigation, and visitors are asked to respect the property line.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Drive the streets of Fort Covington, a hamlet 20 minutes north of Malone near the Canadian border, to glimpse the Victorian mansion once owned by occult writer Gerina Dunwich. The house is private property; do not approach, enter the grounds, or contact occupants.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Amityville, NY
The address 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, was the original number of the Dutch Colonial home where the DeFeo family was murdered on November 13, 1974, and where the Lutz family briefly lived in late 1975 and early 1976. The street address was renumbered to 108 Ocean Avenue in 1977 after the publication of Jay Anson's The Amityville Horror brought sustained tourist traffic to the property. The house itself was not relocated.
Amityville, NY
On November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed his parents and four siblings as they slept in the Dutch Colonial home at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. The Lutz family purchased the property in December 1975 and departed after 28 days, generating the claims that became Jay Anson's 1977 book The Amityville Horror and a long-running film franchise.
Ballston Spa, NY
The Crandall House was constructed in the 1800s as a Victorian mansion for Sylvester Crandall, an unsuccessful stockbroker, and his wife Julia. On a winter night in 1887, Crandall murdered Julia's mother and stepdaughter with a shotgun, fatally shot his wife, and then walked to the cupola where he shot himself. The building now operates as an apartment complex.