Boo!

I know I know, it’s Monday and I don’t post on Mondays. So what’s the deal? Have I lost my mind? Well, not quite yet – but I’m getting there. No, it’s Halloween of course, and as such I thought I would shamelessly cash in on the occasion with a couple of sinister stories from the annals of Island history, stories that are sure to scare the pants off even the most intrepid and steely-nerved amongst you…

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O.K., I may  be overselling the scare factor a bit. But still, there’s no denying that the tales I’m about to share with you are a real walk on the dark side, and whether or not you know them already, they’re sure to put you in the mood for the spookiest day of the year!

Leading off is a story no doubt familiar to readers from the Island’s ‘Down East’ region, and quite likely even beyond. It’s a true tale out of 1859 Lyndale (then known as Orwell Rear), and revolves around the notorious, unsolved murder of a local woman, a murder that gripped the community and which, even 157 years on, continues to cast a dark shadow. As recounted by Roy and Maida Campbell in the Spring/Summer 1977 issue of The Island Magazine, here’s The Murder at Goblin Hollow.

Next up is a classic of the haunted house variety straight out of 1850s Marshfield. It certainly created a buzz when it finally went public thirty years later, and even made it all the way across the Atlantic to no less an organization than the English Society for Psychical Research. Get all the spooky details – if you dare – courtesy of Dr. Edward MacDonald and his article A Real Ghost: The Binstead Haunting Re-visited, in the Spring/Summer 1988 issue of The Island Magazine. 

*And now for the eerie cacophony of thunder and lightning, pelting rain, wailing wind, doors creaking, chains rattling, witches cackling, disembodied voices and so on and so forth. You know, all that sinister, Halloween-y stuff*

Cheers,

PEI History Guy

P.S. – I’m dedicating this post to my mother, who is, and has always been, Halloween’s most ardent supporter – that is, if ‘ardent supporter’ meant to hate something with every fibre of your being. (Thanks for reading, Mom.)

P.P.S. – This post may (or may not) replace Wednesday’s post for this week. We’ll see how it goes. If not on Wednesday, check back on Friday!