Odd Things & Luminous Women in Winterport

This is an article that appeared in the Bangor Daily News back in December. Thanks to the Haunted Maine mailing list for pointing it out! Here's an excerpt from the article; click on the "Source" link below to read it in its entirety.

New venue's goal: to be a favorite haunt
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Bangor Daily News

When Rick Glencross and Jenny Murphy tell you they serve fine food and spirits at The Fountain House, their restaurant on Main Street in Winterport, they bring a whole new meaning to the word spirits. The restaurant is housed in an old funeral home, which is creepy in its own right. But it’s also one of the oldest houses in Winterport, dating back to the mid-1800s. Capt. John Atwood, a seaman, lived there for many years with his family before James Foley opened a prominent funeral home there in the 1920s.

The mortuary closed in 1992, and the place had fallen into disrepair by the time Murphy noticed it and peeked through its windows. "I fell in love with it," she said. "Initially, we were not going to mention the funeral home history, but then, when we got into the place and odd things happened, it became a thing."

Odd things?

"Yeah, you know, like objects moving in the kitchen, lights going on and off, footsteps in an empty room, voices talking. You name it," Murphy said.

And then there was the luminescent woman who walked by Rick Glencross one night when he was upstairs eating dinner on a TV table near the restaurant kitchen, which is on the second floor.

"You mean Mehetabel?" said Glencross, using the name he has given the vaporous form that walked past, looking neither left nor right. "I’m 54 years old, and I’ve never seen anything like that. I knocked my TV table over to go take a look."

It’s not as if Glencross and Murphy are trying to play down the spooky angle either. The restaurant décor includes posters of pop culture’s most nefarious and in some cases lovable characters, such as the team from "Ghostbusters," Elvira, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Herman Munster of the 1960s TV comedy "The Munsters" and Barnabas Collins, the vampire from another 1960s classic, "Dark Shadows." Black roses, Ouija boards — ghoulish kitsch of all sorts humorously ornament the walls.
...
Every night but Monday, when the restaurant is closed, Glencross either performs — he’s a guitarist and singer — or presents musicians in an adjoining room called the "haunted pub." Its centerpiece is a glass coffee table containing a Victorian wicker viewing casket.

One elderly diner approached Glencross one night and pointed to a parquet section of the wooden floor where caskets were once displayed during visitation hours. According to Glencross, the diner had a rush of memories. "My mother and father were both laid out right here," he said, pointing to the floor. "This was a sad place then, and I want to thank you for making it into a happy place now."[Source]

The Fountain House, which is open at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, is located at 44 Main St. in Winterport. Dinner is served until 9 p.m. weeknights, 10 p.m. weekends. The haunted pub serves bar food beginning at 4:30 p.m. and stays open until after midnight on weekends. Dining reservations are recommended. FMI, call (207)223-4051.