Please note this blog post is sponsored by The Deep Sleep Inn.

Hey everyone, happy Monday and welcome back to the blog. I see questions in my Facebook group regularly about spooky tourism and spooky road tripping and today I wanted to take you guys along with me to do just that. Often I see mention of The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Sleepy Hollow in NY and the Conjuring House in RI. However, today I want to bring you with me about 2.5 hours north to The Deep Sleep Inn in Haverhill, NH.

The ride up was absolutely gorgeous. Super rural, rolling hills, farm land and grey skies. Perfect to set the vibe for a stay in a “dead and breakfast”.

We headed up on a weekend in September, which happened to coincide with the Haverhill History Day celebrations. They had vendors set up on the common across the street from the Inn and everyone was welcome to tour the entire property. We got to see every single room!

First – a little history of the property is definitely in order to give you context.

“The building, now called the Deep Sleep Inn at Gibson, was built around 1850 by Frederick Towle to replace the Towle Tavern which was destroyed by the first of Haverhill’s great fires, in 1848. An eclectic building, Gibson House is influenced by several architectural styles including Greek Revival, Gothic Revival and Italianate.”

(Look at that view! This is off the back of the property. Each floor has a huge porch with seating to take it all in.)

“The Towle family continued to operate the tavern for about 10 years; by 1861 the building was sold to Nathaniel Merrill Page (1818-1889) and his wife Hannah Merrill Page. The property remained in the Page and Sleeper families until 1930. Although the exact details are unknown, it operated as Gibson House in the late 19th and 20th centuries. During this period the building also housed a tavern, post office and store at various times. It is the only building on the west side of the Common to have survived the fires of 1902 and 1906.”

“The Lehman family acquired the building in 1939 from John H. Swift, a leader in Haverhill Corner’s renaissance in the 1930’s and 1940’s as a private residence. In 1996 the Lehman’s sold the building to local artist Keita Colton. Keita operated the building as a bed & breakfast and art gallery, reviving the Gibson House name. Today the Deep Sleep Inn presents itself as a dead and breakfast, maintaining the artistic elements of Keita Colton and embracing its structural elegance and deviating from the traditional bed and breakfast aesthetic.”

So, that brings us up to modern day.

“Where most B&B’s thrive on light, cheer and the comfort of life’s simple pleasures, The Deep Sleep Inn draws its inspiration from the gothic – the quiet beauty of decay, the romance of sorrow and the elegance found in the macabre. At its heart, the concept is a meditation on mortality. Rather than shy away from death, it embraces it with open arms. From creaking floorboards and timeworn chandeliers to rooms named The Witchy Room and Woodland Nights, every corner of the Inn is an invitation to reflect on the thin veil between waking and sleeping, life and death.”

“The inspiration came from turning tradition on its head. The cheerful floral wallpaper of old inns gave way to dark, deep, rich hues and antique furnishings hinting at stories half-remembered and guests long departed. Guests don’t check in – they cross over.”

“This wasn’t done to shock, but to evoke a deeper kind of comfort; the kind that comes from confronting the inevitable with a smile. The kind of peace that feels like curling up beneath a heavy velvet quilt while rain taps at the window and ravens gossip from the trees.”

“The Deep Sleep Inn invites guests to rest not just their bodies, but their burdens. In a culture that denies death, this inn gently reminds us that darkness can be beautiful, silence can be healing and sleep – true sleep – can be a kind of rebirth.”

So which room did we wind up staying in? The Room of Horrors. This room is horror movie themed, complete with a bloody bed set, Living Dead Dolls and horror movie posters on the wall.

This room is located up on the third floor with a lovely view of the Common. Despite the scary decor, it was very comfortable and cozy. My boyfriend wound up taking a nap in the late afternoon and I set up on the day bed with my laptop to write a ceremony for a wedding I am officiating in early October. I also wrote and scheduled out some newsletter content while he snoozed. Super productive!

I am sure you’re wondering by this point – was it scary? Did it feel haunted? Did I see anything spooky?

Nope. When I finally turned in for the night, I knocked right out. I was totally comfortable, even surrounded by Living Dead Dolls.

In the morning we woke up and wandered downstairs for breakfast. Honestly, I think the breakfast room is one of my favorite parts of the Inn! It was absolutely gorgeous.

My favorite detail of the entire property is the wallpaper in this room. Did you notice the “flowers” are actually teeth? 20/10 for that detail, I absolutely loved it.

My boyfriend had the skull waffles and I had an omelet. We each drank several cups of coffee from our Deep Sleep Inn at Gibson branded mugs (which I purchased and brought home with me!) and had a wonderful quiet morning.

I know I will definitely be back – I think next time I will bring some of my witchy girlfriends for an overnight getaway. What do you think? Would you stay the night here? Does it feel spooky or haunted to you?

All of the details of the Deep Sleep Inn can be found at DeepSleepInn.com and be sure you’re following them on social media @deepsleepinn! Thank you so much to the Inn for hosting me and for a wonderful stay.