{"id":579,"slug":"former-bentleys-restaurant-woodstock-vermont","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Bentley's is the anchored — the '42 years' that's the village's run, the 'landmark called' that's the corner's claim. The 'three deaths' is the died — the 'bankruptcy first' that's the '13 close, the 'revived' that's the second chance, the 'lease lost' that's the '19 end. The 'haunted whispered' is the told — the 'Seven Days' that's the reports filed, the 'off record' that's the owners' keep.","The 'concerts farewell' is the closed — the 'April shows' that's the goodbye played, the 'legend ends' that's the owner's words. The 'corner waits' is the held — the 'key spot' that's the village's need, the 'out-of-state' that's the landlord's hand. Bentley's is the missed — the 'synonymous' that's the town's say, the 'papered windows' that's the empty's sign.","The file keeps Bentley's: the anchored corner, the three closings, the whispered ghosts, and the waiting space.","Bentley's is the archive's Vermont file — the landmark that died three times."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Bentley's is the archive's Vermont file — the village anchor that closed, revived, and closed again.","A restaurant keeps its corner — the file's suggestion being that Bentley's hold is the repeated: the 'three closings' that's the luck's run, the 'whispered haunt' that's the owners' keep, and the 'landmark waits' that's the corner's want."]}],"name":"Former Bentley’s Restaurant","aliases":["Bentleys Restaurant"],"type":"RESTAURANT","type_label":"Restaurant","cats":["HAUNTING"],"groups":["hauntings","lodging"],"desc":"Former restaurant whose ghost stories include airborne objects and a disappearing child.","full_desc":"Former Bentley’s Restaurant is a restaurant in Woodstock, Vermont. Former restaurant whose ghost stories include airborne objects and a disappearing child. The restaurant closed April 19, 2019 after lease difficulties, according to local coverage. Local lore holds that Tourism relays stories of flying glasses, chairs and money, plus a girl disappearing from a stairway.","address":"3 Elm Street","city":"Woodstock","county":"Windsor","state":"Vermont","postal":null,"region":"Northeast","lat":43.62344,"lon":-72.513003,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"CLOSED","access":"UNKNOWN","access_notes":"Bentley’s ceased business in 2019; present tenant and any visitor access remain unverified.","ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":2019,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":null,"research_notes":"Discovery/enrichment pass; geographic coordinates and current visitor conditions remain to be independently verified. Evidence confidence refers to attribution, not paranormal reality.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":55.6,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.85,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.6,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":444,"type":"OBJECTS_MOVING","description":"Tourism relays stories of flying glasses, chairs and money, plus a girl disappearing from a stairway. Former Bentley’s Restaurant's file is the sort restaurants and bars collect over decades — staff sightings, closing-time sounds, the building after hours. The claim is neighborhood knowledge — retold locally, verified nowhere. 'A haunted history: Vampires in Woodstock village' carries the account. Nothing here would make headlines alone; together the reports make a pattern.","evidence":"LOCAL_FOLKLORE","evidence_label":"Local folklore","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.65,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"A haunted history: Vampires in Woodstock village","url":"https://www.woodstockvt.com/a-haunted-history-vampires-in-woodstock-village-other-tales/","publisher":"WoodstockVT","type":"TOURISM","authority":3},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The restaurant closed April 19, 2019 after lease difficulties, according to local coverage. An old restaurant with its history on record gives the dossier a verified foundation. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. Sources including 'Bentley’s Restaurant Has Closed After 42 Years' carry the record. The record keeps it — history, not lore.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Bentley’s Restaurant Has Closed After 42 Years","url":"https://www.greateruppervalley.com/2019/05/16/199972/bentley-s-restaurant-has-closed-after-42-years-of-serving-woodstock","publisher":"GreaterUpperValley.com","type":"LOCAL_JOURNALISM","authority":3}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"Tourism relays stories of flying glasses, chairs and money, plus a girl disappearing from a stairway. Former Bentley’s Restaurant's file is the sort restaurants and bars collect over decades — staff sightings, closing-time sounds, the building after hours. It circulates as local folklore — the kind communities keep rather than verify. The report is preserved in sources like 'A haunted history: Vampires in Woodstock village'. It's the version the place will be remembered by, whether or not it's the true one.","earliest":null,"evidence":"LOCAL_FOLKLORE","source":{"name":"A haunted history: Vampires in Woodstock village","url":"https://www.woodstockvt.com/a-haunted-history-vampires-in-woodstock-village-other-tales/","publisher":"WoodstockVT","type":"TOURISM","authority":3}}],"entities":[],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Access details are unverified; research before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"A haunted history: Vampires in Woodstock village","url":"https://www.woodstockvt.com/a-haunted-history-vampires-in-woodstock-village-other-tales/","publisher":"WoodstockVT","type":"TOURISM","authority":3},{"name":"Bentley’s Restaurant Has Closed After 42 Years","url":"https://www.greateruppervalley.com/2019/05/16/199972/bentley-s-restaurant-has-closed-after-42-years-of-serving-woodstock","publisher":"GreaterUpperValley.com","type":"LOCAL_JOURNALISM","authority":3}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":1,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":0,"sources":2}}