In the summer of 1878, eighteen-year-old Esther Cox was assaulted at gunpoint by a male acquaintance, leaving the Nova Scotia teenager traumatized and afraid. In the days that followed, Esther and those with whom she shared a house in rural Amherst began to notice unusual things occurring around the house including knocking on the walls and floors, objects flying around the house, and Esther suffering frequent seizures without any apparent cause.

In the months and years that followed, the “Great Amherst Mystery,” as it came to be known, was investigated by various clergy, scientists, and paranormal investigators, all intent on proving or disproving the poltergeist activity. While none of the investigators were ever able to identify the origins of the haunting in the Cox house, the attention made Esther a prominent national figure in spiritualist circles until several bad experiences led her to flee Canada for good several years later.

Thank you to the incredible Dave White for research and writing assistance!

Allen, Alexander. 1970. "Strange to relate." Windsor Star, August 22: 32.

Bird, Will R. 1932. "The Great Amherst Mystery." Star Weekly (Toronto, ON), November 19: 28.

Hamilton Spectator. 1878. "Spiritualism or diabolism ." Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, ON), November 22: 4.

Hubbell, Walter. 1916. The Great Amherst Mystery: A True Narrative of the Supernatural. New York, NY: Brentano Publishing .

Moncton Dispatch. 1879. "The Amherst mystery." Moncton Dispatch, June 18: 1.

Ottawa Daily Citizen. 1878. "The Amherst mystery." Ottaway Daily Citizen, November 23: 1.

Prince, Walter. 1919. "A Critical Study of 'The Great Amherst Mystery'." Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 89-130.

Smith, Emma. 2022.

The haunting of Esther Cox is still a mystery in Amherst.

October 20. Accessed October 7, 2025.

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Weirdos! It's our SECOND BONUS EPISODE!!! This month, Ash is ready to give you a dose of corpse medicine! From mummy dust & king's drops to blood jam & human fat poultices, this month's bonus covers the weird remedies of yesteryear that will make you PRAISE modern medicine!

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On the evening of January 27, 2001, Roxana Verona arrived at the Etna, NH home of her friends Half and Susanne Zantop for a dinner the couple had planned with friends that night. When no one answered the door, Verona entered the home and found the brutalized bodies of Half and Susanne, both dead from multiple stab wounds.

The murder of the Zantops shocked the tiny community of Etna and the faculty and students of Dartmouth College, where the couple worked at the time of their deaths. The murder baffled local police, who had very little experience with violent crime, much less murder. The first few weeks of the investigation were hampered by an overwhelming number of unhelpful tips from the public and considerable time was wasted on chasing false leads. When investigators finally caught up with the killers nearly a month later, their identities were not at all what anyone was expecting, and their motive for the murder made even less sense.

Resources

Belkin, Douglas, and Lois Shea. 2001. "Slayings cast pall over Dartmouth." Boston Globe, Janaury 30: 1.

Belkin, Douglas, and Marcella Bombardieri. 2001. "A faculty couple at Dartmouth slain." Boston Globe, Janaury 29: 1.

—. 2001. "Officials won't discuss motive or how evidence led to pair." Boston Globe, February 18: 1.

Bombardieri, Marcella, and Tom Farragher. 2001. "1 NH suspect to be arriagned today." Boston Globe, February 21.

Butterfield, Fox. 2002. "Teenagers are sentenced for killing two professors." New York Times, April 5.

Eddy, Kristina. 2001. "Town jholted by death of two professors." Concord Monitor, January 29: 1.

Hookway, Bob. 2002. "Zantop killing was randon." Valley News, February 20: 1.

Lehr, Dick, and Mitchell Zuckoff. 2003. Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Mooney, Brian, and Kathleen Schuckel. 2001. "Bid for a ride via CB trips up NH suspects." Boston Globe, Febraury 20: 1.

New York Times. 2002. "Youth dreamed of adventure, but settled for killing a couple." New York Times, May 18.

Storin, Matthew. 2001. "To our readers." Boston Globe, February 21.

Tillman, Jodie. 2001. "Dartmouth College reacts." Concord Monitor, Janaury 29: 8.

Zuckoff, Mitchell, and Shelley Murphy. 2001. "Love affair eyed in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 16.

—. 2001. "Love affair eyed in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 6.

—. 2001. "Vt. youth sought in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 17: 1.

Zuckoff, Mitchell, Marcella Bombardierri, Douglas Belkin, and Rachel Osterman. 2001. "Zantops were close, but a study in contrasts."

Boston Globe

, February 16: 1.

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