Tag Archives: Halloween stories

October 15, 2015 · 11:43 pm

THE MALEVOLENT SEAMSTRESS

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend for Halloween Month.

THE MALEVOLENT SEAMSTRESS  

PlagueIn Boston in 1775, shortly after the Revolutionary War had broken out a mysterious old seamstress wandered into the rebel-held countryside. This woman always wore a mantel wrapped about her in such a way that most of her face was always obscured.

The gentle and apparently very aged woman would beg a night’s lodging in the homes she visited, offering to do any sewing work that needed done by way of paying her way. Many families were happy to take her up on that bartering offer.  Continue reading →

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October 14, 2015 · 11:19 pm

HORRORS OF BOON ISLAND

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend for Halloween Month.

HORRORS OF BOON ISLAND

Boon IslandBoon Island is located off the southern coast of Maine. Though it is now famous for its lighthouse it used to be a deserted island with no plant or animal life upon it.

In the late 1740’s the ship Nottingham went down just off Boon Island. The survivors of the shipwreck swam to the narrow, deserted wasteland and, losing hope of rescue, eventually turned to cannibalism. Continue reading →

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October 14, 2015 · 2:34 am

THE DALTON CHANGELING

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend in honor of Halloween Month.

THE DALTON CHANGELING

Dalton Changeling 2Anne Coleman was a feared witch in Lanesboro, MA in the 1780’s. She was suspected of causing storms that sank ships, bringing on diseases that killed cattle, making food go bad and other malevolent deeds.   

Eunice Dalton – a new mother – had told her husband Ezra and anyone else who would listen that she was certain that Anne Coleman had stolen their baby boy out of the crib and replaced it with a changeling. Ezra and others tried to assure her that the baby was her own but she continued regarding it with fear.

One day when Eunice was nursing the baby she shrieked with horror as she realized the baby had developed teeth and had bitten into her breast to suck out blood instead of milk. Ezra was convinced now that something was definitely wrong with the baby because of the sudden growth of teeth and the blood spilling down from his wife’s bitten breast. Continue reading →

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October 12, 2015 · 10:01 pm

THE GRAVEYARD IN SAINT PAUL’S

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend in honor of Halloween Month.

THE GRAVEYARD IN SAINT PAUL’S

Manhattan in the 1600s

Manhattan in the 1600s

This story dates back to around 1661, when New York was still New Amsterdam and the Dutch still controlled it, not the British.

A Dutchman named Dirck Van Dara would often drink and carouse in the taverns with his friend Jahn Rooney until late at night (for the time period). At eleven o’clock one night a tavern on what is now Wall Street was empty of all customers except Van Dara and Rooney (“Did ya ever notice how this guy always puts Rooney’s name after Van Dara’s?”).  

The two drinking buddies left and set out to find a tavern that might still be open. A cold autumn drizzle was falling and not even Broadway showed lights on in any of its establishments. The chill and the rain were even forcing the scattered guardsmen to seek shelter in doorways.  

Van Dara and Rooney decided to make for their homes on Leonard Street, a route which took them past Old Saint Paul’s. When they were directly across the street from the graveyard adjacent to Saint Paul’s they heard the unmistakable sound of screams issuing forth from among the tombstones.   Continue reading →

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October 8, 2015 · 11:21 pm

THE STRANGE ORMONDS (1833): GOTHIC HORROR

THE STRANGE ORMONDS (1833) – By Leitch Ritchie

Ormond HouseHalloween Month continues! The last neglected Gothic Horror tale I examined was Isabella of Egypt back on the first of October. Let’s dive back into them with this 1833 story set in England.  

The reader is informed right off the top that the Ormond family (no, not the same Ormonds who are beloved by all of us bad movie fans) lived in the north of England and were objects of mingled fear, suspicion, derision and horror. The story is narrated in the first person and the author pretends that he is concealing some info to protect the innocent. An unnamed doctor from an unnamed town was called in to attend the oldest living Ormond in his last days.

The doctor took his daughter with him to witness the death of one head of the Ormond family and the accession of another. The huge mansion of the Ormonds was as odd as the family itself. The building seemed to be composed mostly of additions added on during different decades – even centuries – and if not for the obvious wealth of the family would have been deemed ramshackle. Continue reading →

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October 7, 2015 · 11:52 pm

THE DEATH SHIP

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend in honor of Halloween Month.

THE DEATH SHIP

Death ShipEvery October 31st for over two hundred years Harpswell, ME was visited by a supernatural vessel. Sometime after dark a ship made of blood-red wood and with sails of purest white could be seen offshore.

Slowly but surely the ship would make its way into port. No crew members could ever be seen above or below decks. No one stood at the wheel, no one stood lookout in the crow’s nest. The ship would make its way in even against the strongest gales and the most violent seas. Continue reading →

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October 6, 2015 · 8:51 pm

THE FOUR-FINGERED HAND

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend in honor of Halloween Month.

THE FOUR-FINGERED HAND

Andover, NJ in the years just after the Revolutionary War was the setting for this macabre tale. Four merchants of the area would often get together in the evenings at various taverns for a meal followed by several drinks before staggering home for the night.

Their last names are all that is now known and those were Evans, Bailey and Hill, but the name of the fourth man is no longer mentioned for reasons that will become clear. This fourth man had lost the middle finger of his left hand to a musket ball during the Revolution.  Continue reading →

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October 5, 2015 · 8:54 pm

THE SORCEROR FRANCIS WOOLCOTT

Halloween Month continues as Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend.

THE SORCEROR FRANCIS WOOLCOTT

Francis WoolcottFrancis Woolcott lived in Copake, NY in the Berkshire Hills during the first several decades of the 1800’s. Always drawn toward dark and unwholesome studies, Woolcott deciphered markings on the side of a fallen meteor one day in his 30’s.

The markings formed the letters of an unknown alphabet Woolcott claimed, though they defied the efforts of others to understand them. Francis stated that the lessons he learned from the markings on the meteor empowered him with potent magic. Continue reading →

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October 4, 2015 · 9:08 pm

THE BLACK RIVER NUNS

Halloween Month continues as Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend.

THE BLACK RIVER NUNS

Black River NunsAlong New York’s Black River there stood an imposing mansion in between Carthage and Watertown. The home had stood unoccupied for decades until, during the summer that the War of 1812 broke out, four mysterious women arrived to take possession of the home. These ladies dressed all in black, kept their faces concealed behind veils and claimed to be Nuns but by all accounts seldom said they were  from the same order of Sisters twice.

Still, the women caused no difficulties and stayed completely isolated inside their new location. A large contingent of carpenters, painters and upholsterers restored the mansion to its former glory but the village gossips took note of the fact that all the workmen were from far away and could offer no new information on their reclusive employers. They also clucked over the high stone walls that were added, further cutting off the Black River Nuns from prying eyes.   Continue reading →

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October 3, 2015 · 4:42 pm

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 

Grand HotelThe 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. Continue reading →

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