THE GNOMES OF THE CATSKILLS

Halloween Month continues! Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror story. “Workin’ the Catskills” takes on all new meaning in this tale. 

THE GNOMES OF THE CATSKILLS 

The now-closed Grand Hotel stood in the heart of the Catskills Mountains at Highmount, NY. On either Monka Hill behind the hotel or on Slide Mountain facing the hotel across Big Indian Valley (accounts vary) was the location of the mystic camp of the Catskills Gnomes.

Those gnomes were short humanoids with long beards and eyes like pigs. The intelligent creatures were already considered ancient by the time Europeans arrived in the area. Like the legendary town of Brigadoon the camp of the Catskills Gnomes appeared on Earth only periodically.

In this case the camp materialized on Earth for roughly one week a year during the warm autumn period called Indian Summer. The Native Americans of the region believed that the supernaturally hot forges of the Catskills Gnomes were what caused the brief surge of warm temperatures for that week each year. 

In addition to the forges which the gnomes used in their metalworking the Catskills Gnomes were notorious for their eldritch ale. The addictive liquour was made from mountain spring water as well as various secret ingredients. The finishing touch to the strange brew (see what I did there) was the submersion of an ingot of the gnomes’ mystic metal in each tub of the beverage. 

Anyone who dared to visit the camp of the Catskills Gnomes during its brief visit to Earth each year would be welcomed to their nightly celebrations. Those Bacchanalias were fueled by the maddeningly intoxicating drink but, after the good times were over the guests would realize that, just like the Hotel California, you could check out of the camp of the gnomes any time you liked but you could never leave. 

The enchanted drink of the Catskills Gnomes would transform anyone who drank it into one of the short, bearded pig-eyed gnomes themselves. In addition those unfortunates were stuck in the camp forever, even when it disappeared back to whatever nameless, horrific dimension it existed in the rest of the year.

The most famous supposed victims of the mystic brew of the gnomes were Henry Hudson and his entire crew. This legend grew as an explanation for the mysterious disappearance of Hudson and his men on their final expedition up the Hudson River, an expedition they would never return from.

Guests at the Grand Hotel would periodically claim to have sighted the blazing forge fires of the Catskills Gnomes until the hotel shut its doors in 1966. Any disappearances in the area continue to be attributed to the mysterious beings from beyond. 

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