WIGHT HOLLOW

The House on Cottage Street

It was a weekend in late July 1989. I was sixteen, and it was a typical afternoon at 960 Cottage St NE, Salem, OR 97301. I still remember that old Bungalow style house. I think it was built in 1925 or something like that.

DISCLAIMER: Don't harass anyone living there now. I don't know them and haven't lived in Salem Oregon for over 16 years at the time of this post!

A few of my friends, guys like myself, usually hung around, but they weren’t over that day. I was mostly focused on the TV, watching MTV back when it actually played music videos instead of a bunch of crappy game shows and "reality TV." Prince’s "Batdance" had just come out—it was a weird track, and honestly, not one of his better ones in my opinion. I was more into things like Great White’s "Once Bitten,…

“Cursed ground” stories: In some tellings, the broader mid‑Valley (including the Salem area) is described as spiritually “thin,” where old curses, bad luck, and hauntings cluster more than elsewhere in Oregon.​

Local lore pegs historic Salem structures (theaters, government and heritage buildings) as haunted—phantom footsteps in empty hallways, doors slamming, and unseen “patrons” in balconies after closing.

Some of Salem's ghost stories explicitly tie apparitions or a general sense of dread back to the older Kalapuya goblin tales, as if Chuchonnyhoof’s presence lingers under the city.​

Urban Legends and Local Rumors

• Real bones in attractions: A recurring story says at least one Salem‑area haunted‑house/park once used a real human skeleton in its display; parents sometimes passed this around as a dare or warning.​