Inquiry: Elyssa East: DOGTOWN: DEATH AND ENCHANTMENT IN A NEW ENGLAND GHOST TOWN

Dogtown is a New England “ghost town” nestled in the center of the island of Cape Ann. It is a dramatic example of a terminal moraine, the former abode of several people thought of as witches, a place where American modernist Marsden Hartley painted some of his finest works, and the scene of a recent horrific violent murder. “There is something different about Dogtown” as one Gloucester resident put it. It is a place both beloved for it’s lonely natural beauty and feared for its eerie sense of gloom and foreboding. Writer ELYSSA EAST started out to write about Harley’s experiences in Dogtown and soon got swept up in the weird and wild history of this very unusual spot. Her book DOGTOWN: DEATH AND ENCHANTMENT IN A NEW ENGLAND GHOST TOWN is a complex book.  It is by turns a chilling murder mystery, a wildly arcane New England history, an investigation on how a strange geographic location can inspire artists, and a sensitive portrait of one of New England’s great coastal communities. If you are interested in New England history, don’t miss this show.