By Suzanne Davis

Nov. 9, 2022: Bronxville’s beloved hilltop ghosts returned to the village on the evening of Friday, October 28th, after three years in hiding. The Ghosts of Bronxville (GOB) 2022, which included five famous former residents from the late 19th century and several teenage apparitions, appeared just as the sun set. The popular event was open to children in first through fifth grades and chaperones. More than 200 tickets sold out in minutes.

GOB 2022 featured the new addition of ghostly guides clad in red velvet capes, who led the attendees through the hilltop neighborhood. The groups of kids and their parents listened as spooky specters shared haunting tales from five hilltop homes. As the visitors wandered across the winding brick roads, they encountered junior ghosts in period costumes.

Each group also stopped at a ghostly jamboree set up at the hilltop’s “Northern Triangle.” The jamboree was a new addition to GOB and included large old-fashioned games, a coffee truck, and a selection of treats. The area was illuminated with string lights and offered visitors a chance to refuel before their next eerie experience.

Graduate theater students from Sarah Lawrence College played the five primary “speaking” ghosts, with Megan Hamm in the role of artist Mary Fairchild MacMonnies Low; Zee Hanna in the part of architect William Augustus Bates; Maegan Murphy as William Van Duzer Lawrence; Red Guhde as Edmund Clarence Stedman; and Laurie King as Harriet Hubbard Ayer (cosmetics tycoon). In addition, high school students were cast as wandering ghosts. This year’s GOB added the true story of the “Leatherman,” a nameless leather-clad man who roamed throughout Westchester County in the 19th century.       

GOB 2022 was produced and sponsored by Bronxville’s Historical Conservancy (BHC), and it was the fifth time that the ghosts appeared since 2013. 

The BHC was founded in 1998 to record and preserve Bronxville’s history and to celebrate culture and life in the village today. For more information about the BHC or to become a member, please visit bronxvillehistoricalconservancy.org.

Enjoy photos from the event below!