Halloween 2010 events - round 1!

Listings below are chronologically arranged (i.e., earlier events at the top, later in the month further towards the bottom). This is the roster so far, folks! We'll do another post if anything else... SPOOKY... pops up.


Red Cloak Haunted History Tours of Damariscotta, Wiscasset, Camden, and Boothbay Harbor
Now through October 30, 2010

Come with The Lady in the Red Cloak as she tells local tales of ghosts and history, spirits and mystery. Appropriate for all ages. Occasional special tours, such as walks including the Maine Ghost Hunters Society. Location: downtown areas; see website for details. Time: 7:00 p.m. Cost: adults, $10; children 5 - 12, $7; under 5, free. Information: 207-380-3806 or visit www.redcloakhauntedhistorytours.com.

-----------------

Ghost Lamp Tours
Tour Dates
Tuesday, October 5 @ 7:00pm
Thursday, October 14 @ 7:00pm
Thursday, October 28 @ 7:00pm

Are you a history buff? Or maybe someone looking for fun in the Bangor area? Look no further than Downtown Bangor. The Bangor Museum and Center for History is hosting Ghost Lamp Tours in October.

As you walk through Bangor, imagine yourself at the meeting of the Kenduskeag Stream and the Penobscot River in the 1800s—ships filling the river and the banks of the stream alive with activity. Taverns and brothels, shops, businesses, and warehouses vying for your business, and the nearby Bangor House hosting famous and infamous people of the time. Do you see presidents, gangsters, and ghosts as you tour historical Bangor?

The tour starts at the Waterfront Parking Lot, next to the Sea Dog Restaurant, and takes you on a journey through Bangor's history. $5 for non-members; Free to BMHC members and children under 12.

For more information visit Bangor Museum and Center for History's website.
http://www.bangormuseum.com/html/toursandactivities.htm
Private Tours- We are happy to provide personal tours for your family, business or group. Minimum fee: $30. Please call (207)942-1900 to schedule a tour or for more information.

----------
The United Volunteers of Maine haunted house
Friday, Oct. 8, opening @ 6:30 p.m.

The spook‐tacular event of the year is located within the Marketplace at Augusta in the former Circuit City building. The cost is $10 per person, with special pricing of $8 per person on opening night and both Thursday shows. The dates for the other haunted house shows are Oct. 9, 15, 17, 21, 24, 28 and 31. There will also be a matinee on the 31 from 1‐4 p.m.

The United Volunteers of Maine Haunted House is a tradition in the area, helping to raise tens of thousands of dollars for area schools, non‐profits and community organizations. The kids who raise money by helping with the Haunted House are involved in the process from start to finish, including designing the skits, building props, helping assemble the structure, staffing the various rooms when we’re open, and even helping take everything down when we’re done.

--------------

Halloween Music with Dan Blakeslee, a.k.a. Doctor Gasp
October 13, 2010 @ 8:00pm

Doctor Gasp is paying a house visit at the Green Hand Bookshop! Doors open at 7:00, and Dan Blakeslee will tune up and be ready to shake his chains at you by 8:00! Who knows what disguise the doctor will be wearing this year?

This event is free, although donations will be appreciated. The Green Hand Bookshop is located at 661 Congress Street, near Longfellow Square in Portland, next to Joe's Smoke Shop.



Event page is on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152106608150278&index=1

--------------

Haunted Woods Walk
October 15, 2010 to October 16, 2010

Walk through the woods at Aroostook State Park before Halloween. Beware the spooks and spirits that are celebrating the season. Make sure you take your flashlight and lots of courage. Enjoy snacks and hot refreshments provided by various service organizations. Location: Aroostook State Park, State Park Road, Presque Isle. Time: 6 - 9 p.m. Cost: $5. Information: 207-764-6561 or visit www.pichamber.com.

For the kids:
PIACC and Momentum Aroostook are co-hosting the Haunted Kinder Walk Saturday, October 16 at Aroostook State Park. This event starts at 10:00 am and ends at 1:00 pm. There will be games and activities for children. Tickets for activities will be available, $5.00 for 12 tickets. Most games will require 1 ticket.

----------------

15th Annual Haunted Hayride at the Cathedral Pines Campground
October 16th

It is time again for the 15th Annual Stratton PTC Haunted Hayride at the Cathedral Pines Campground in Eustis, Maine on Saturday, October 16th. The evening begins with a Family Festival from 5:00-6:00 pm, including face painting, games and prizes for everyone who comes dressed in costume. The Haunted Hayride takes place from 6:00-9:00 pm and admission is $4 per person.

The Drop Dead Café will again brew up homemade soups, drinks and lots of “spooktacular” goodies starting at 5:00 pm. To donate food items, please contact Lynn Clark at 831-4662.

Spooksters are still needed, so please consider getting your family or friends together to join us and set up a site! There is no cost to set up a scary scene, though adult chaperones are required at all sites. Electricity and fireplaces are provided at each site. To volunteer or for more information, please contact Sarah Strunk at 246-2002.

The money raised from this event helps the PTC support the Stratton Elementary School’s steel drum band, college & athletic scholarships, support of school sports, yearly donations to teachers, and the Boston Museum of Science trip for the 4th, 5th & 6th graders taken once every three years!

http://rangeley-maine.com/rangeley/announcements/15th-annual-haunted-hayride-at-the-cathedral-pines-campground-on-october-16th/

-------------------

Walk Among the Shadows is Back!
October 21-23 & 28-30 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm
First-come, first-served

Please join us for Walk Among the Shadows III, 6 evenings of tours through the Eastern Cemetery in Portland, Maine. From October 21st to 23rd, we are pleased to welcome actors from Acorn Productions who will portray the interred. Hooded specters will lead groups from person to person, stopping to listen to the stories of the dead on the way.

From October 28th to 30th, we're excited that Portland Playback actors will bring the dead to life in the same spooky manner — with a mix of eeriness and fright for young and old.

Tours are first-come, first-served (so get there early as there are only 5 tour groups allowed through each night). Admission is $10 and $5 for children 12 and under.

This is the largest annual fundraiser Spirits Alive (http://www.spiritsalive.org/) has to help keep the cemetery active and open all year long, please bring your friends and family for a spooky night of history.

-------------------

The Junkins Haunted Estate
October 21, 2010 to October 31, 2010

October 21-24 and 28-31. Experience the largest non-commercial Halloween event in New England; take a stroll on the old family estate, get scared, have fun. Location: 87 Wilson Road, Kittery. Time: October 21 - 24, and 28 - 31, 6 - 9 p.m. Cost: free. Information: email hauntedestate@aol.com.

-------------------

Fright at The Fort -- Prospect, ME
October 22, 2010 to October 30, 2010

Visitors are led through the dark passageways of Fort Knox where indescribable things lurk in the shadows, creating screams of fright. Location: 711 Fort Knox Road, Prospect, ME just outside of Bucksport. Time: Fridays and Saturdays, 5:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. Cost: $5. Information: 207-469-6553 or for directions, etc go to www.fortknox.maineguide.com. Check out Fright at the Fort's own website at http://fortknox.maineguide.com/fright/!

-------------------

Ogunquitfest
October 22, 2010 to October 24, 2010

Join the fun at the 7th annual OgunquitFest, a fun-filled weekend of fall-themed events. Activities include pumpkin and cookie decorating, costume parade, classic car show, craft bazaar, haunted house, high heel race, bed race, ghost tours, wagon rides, storytelling, and a scarecrow contest. Location: Main Street, Ogunquit. See website for schedule and various event fees at www.ogunquit.org.


-------------------

Tommyknockers and More Bus Tour
October 24, 2010 @ 2:00pm - meet beforehand at 40 Harlow Street, Bangor, ME

Join the tour guide as he takes you through the sites and sounds of Stephen King's Bangor. Visit the places that inspired King's books and movies. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Location: tour begins at 40 Harlow Street. Time: tour leaves at 2 p.m. Cost: $20. Information: 207-947-5205.

------------------

Embalming and Edgar Allen Poe for Halloween
October 29 and 30 @ 7:30pm

Come learn about Victorian funeral practices and enjoy a spooky reading at the Thomas A. Hill House, 159 Union Street, on October 29 and 30.

The evening program will begin with an exhibit of antique funeral objects loaned by Brookings Smith Funeral Home and a presentation about Victorian funeral practices and early embalming techniques. Next, Ben Layman, Penobscot Theatre Company, will present a dramatic reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s short horror story, “The Premature Burial.”

Many believe that Samuel H. Dale, former owner, haunts the Thomas A. Hill house. Dale died in his home in late 1871 under a cloud of suspicion about missing funds that were intended for the victims of Chicago’s Great fire. His death was thought to be a suicide.

The Bangor Museum and History Center is hosting this program in collaboration with Bangor Arts. Doors open at 6:30 with the program scheduled to begin around 7:30. Admission is $10.00. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Please call 942-1900 or email curator@bangormuseum.org with your name, number attending and phone/cell number.

------------------

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ballet
October 29, 2010 to October 30, 2010

Portland Ballet presents the premiere production of this famous Washington Irving tale, with choreography by Nell Shipman and newly commissioned music by Kirt Mosier. Location: John Ford Theater at Portland High School, 284 Cumberland Avenue. Time: Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. Cost: adults; $30 in advance, $35 at the door; students, $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Information: 800-838-3006 or visit www.portlandballet.org.

------------------

Gleefully Grim Ghost Stories at the Green Hand Bookshop
October 30, 2010 @ 7:00pm

Join storyteller Lynne Cullen amid the shelves of old books as she shares her darkest folktales in the shadow of the Crookston Bigfoot, at the Halloween Eve event "Stories from the Dark."

For details, contact proprietor Michelle Souliere at michelle.souliere@gmail.com or visit greenhandbooks.blogspot.com

This event is free, although donations will be appreciated. The Green Hand Bookshop is located at 661 Congress Street, near Longfellow Square in Portland, next to Joe's Smoke Shop.

------------------

All Souls' Walk and Dinner
October 30, 2010
All Souls' Walk - continuous tours offered beginning at 1:00PM, with the last tour departing at 4:00PM
All Souls' Dinner at 7:00pm

Begin at the Museum (117 Main Street, Kennebunk) for a narrated walk with costumed interpreters through Hope Cemetery to visit the graves and hear the fascinating and sometimes tragic tales of Kennebunk residents from the past three centuries. Featured stories include ones about ill-fated sea captains, a Kennebunk Civil War soldier, a spinster and her namesake ship, and a tragedy in the White Mountains. The tours conclude back at the Museum for light refreshments and for viewing the portraits in the galleries of many featured on the walk. Not too spooky, it's perfect for the whole family!

Cost is $5/person (cash/check/Visa, MC, Discover); no advance reservations are required unless for large groups. This event occurs rain or shine, as we do have the capability to run an "indoor version" as an illustrated talk.

Consider extending your All Souls' experience by attending our all-new All Souls' Dinner that evening (see below).

Keep the All Souls' experience alive just a little longer by attending the All Souls' Dinner at the Nonantum Resort (95 Ocean Avenue, Kennebunk), rumored to have a friendly ghost all its own! The Nonantum's ballroom will be decorated in its Halloween finest and will feature a hearty harvest buffet dinner. In the ancient All Souls' tradition, an empty seat will be left at each of the banquet tables in honor of the dearly departed, and the historical figures from the Museum's All Souls' Walk (see above) will make guest appearances to mingle with the diners.

This event is great both for those who want to spend more time with our costumed characters and those who may not have otherwise been able to attend the All Souls' Walk.

The cost is $25/person with proceeds to benefit the Museum; advance reservations are required by calling Tim Ames at the Nonantum Resort at 207.967.4050, ext. 651.
FMI: http://www.brickstoremuseum.org/

Sea serpent window shopping?

Courtesy of Herb Adams, who found the story while looking at microfilm for other information! This appeared in the January 12, 1895 issue of the Eastern Argus, a Portland newspaper, on page 2.

A Fossil Sea Serpent

In the show window of Ira F. Clark & Co.'s clothing store is what purports to be the fossil remains of a sea serpent unearthed along the coast of Labrador or somewhere in that locality. It represents a monster of genus reptile. It is 10 feet long, with web claws like those of a dragon. It is a rare species of saurian that perhaps not over two or three of our citizens have ever seen. It is a wonderful and odd-looking creature, looking more like a pre-historic animal than any existing today. It is surely one of the wonders of the deep and when alive no doubt weighed hundreds of pounds.

coffee break!

In all this iffy weather, why not duck in at your favorite coffeehouse? Maybe there's a fine bucket of java on hand and ready for your consumption!

In this photo, taken on February 25, 1956, Maine's state checker champions are taking their coffee breaks, as they limber up at the Portland YMCA.
Pouring the coffee is Paul Levesque, at left is Nate Cohen, and at right is Ray Gould- the state checker champion at the time the photo was taken.
Your move!

Photo from the Portland Press Herald Still-Film Negative Collection, Portland Public Library.

BREAKING NEWS: Self immolation in Portland

So far as I know, not since 2007's self-immolation in Kittery has someone in the state intentionally set themselves on fire. This time it has taken place in Portland, at Longfellow Square. According to an eyewitness, the man had a miserable look on his face, set down his backpack, and the next thing he knew, the man was a pillar of flame. He ran screaming out into the intersection of State Street and Congress Street and collapsed. Emergency crews rushed to the scene as smoke filled the street -- everything seemed to happen faster than most people could react to what was going on. No word yet on who the unhappy man was.

Emergency vehicles and traffic swarm around the scene just before 12:30pm.

UPDATE:
The Press Herald has released more info, though the man's name is still being kept private until family has been contacted. The man was apparently a resident of 675 Congress Street, where he doused himself with gasoline in his apartment before going out to the square and setting himself on fire. He is 24 years old.

More here: http://www.pressherald.com/news/portland-maine-man-sets-himself-on-fire-in-longfellow-square.html

Loren Coleman interviewed some witnesses, and has dug up some odd historical coincidences attached to the date and location at his blog:
http://copycateffect.blogspot.com/2010/09/immolationme.html

ZOMBIE KICKBALL: back from the dead!

Zombie Kickball has NOT left the field! The 2010 game will commence on Sunday, October 10, starting at 1:00pm and shambling about until around 5:00pm on Portland's Eastern Promenade. It's their 5th birthday! Hooray!!! Better late than never!

Here's the Facebook event page to RSVP and/or get more info as it becomes available:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=162955510384646

Hankering for a flashback? Here are some past years' photos:
ZKIV 2009: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkbrilliance/sets/72157621253523326/
ZKIII 2007: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkbrilliance/sets/72157600273730393/

And on the 5th anniversary, it is only right and proper to revisit the start of it all, the genesis of Zombie Kickball in Portland, via video:

Maine's cloaked crusaders

Back in June, Kathryn Skelton of the Lewiston Sun Journal caught up with two members of the Real Life Superhero Project (http://www.reallifesuperheroes.org/) that live and patrol in Lewiston. The full-length interview is extensive and well worth reading, especially in light of the current Guardian Angel recruiting efforts in Portland:

Weird, Wicked Weird: Maine's Real Life Superheroes. Yup, for real.
By Kathryn Skelton, Staff Writer
Published Jun 05, 2010 12:00 am | Last updated Jun 04, 2010 11:10 pm

Her mom thought she was doing drugs, slipping out at night, wandering the streets.

Mom didn’t realize her little girl was actually busy atoning and avenging.

As the self-styled superhero "Dreizehn" (that’s the number 13 in German), she’d slip out and look for trouble, interrupting drug deals and vehicle break-ins. Think “Kick-Ass,” but in real life. Sometimes it worked, sometimes the teenager got beaten up, badly.

Dreizehn moved to Maine from a big city outside New England a few months ago to join her similarly self-styled superhero boyfriend, "Slapjack." Several nights a week they walk Lewiston-Auburn for hours on end as roving Good Samaritans, looking for trouble.

The streets here? Much less mean, in her limited experience.

Most nights their foot patrol means giving bottled water and granola bars to the homeless and maybe yelling at a graffiti artist, all the while costumed and armed with batons, knife-proof protective wear and brass knuckles electrified with Tasers.

Dreizehn and Slapjack are in their 20s. Their parents? They still have no clue.

“You kind of have to be a little unstable to do it,” Dreizehn said. “Going out at 2 a.m. with a mask on and thinking you’re going to save the world, it says a lot about you.”
[...]

Read full article with photos here:
http://www.sunjournal.com/city/story/844777

EVENT: Gunnar Hansen is Portland-bound

Gunnar Hansen, author, poet, portrayer of Leatherface, and Maine resident, will be in Portland tonight for a special guest appearance at a screening of Texas Chainsaw Massacre!!! Sorry, you must be at least 21 years old to attend.

Available for purchase at the event will be specially designed limited edition silkscreen posters, which you can have Gunnar sign when you meet him!  Hot diggity.

WHAT: Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie screening with special guest Gunnar Hansen
WHEN: TONIGHT! Monday, September 27th, 2010, doors @ 8:00, movie plays @ 9:00
WHERE: Geno's, 625 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101
COST: $20 per ticket (only 100 available), can be purchased in advance at the Fun Box Monster Emporium, 656B Congress Street
FMI: call 329-5385

The Fun Box sez: We will be presenting the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, uncut, with an introduction and q&a with Leatherface himself, Gunnar Hansen, followed by a signing. Tickets will be on sale at The Fun Box Monster Emporium. There are only 100 tickets available and no more! 20$ per ticket, 21+.

Mowing 'em down in Winterport

Well, Maine has all sorts of innovative(?) racing sports to pick from. Now you can add lawnmowers to the list (if you haven't already). The Winterport Dragway lets riders rip loose on a regular basis. Next race? That would be Saturday, October 2nd, 2010, when they host the 9th Annual Fall Car Show, Drag Race, Gassah Guys (Flag Start), Hot Rod Lawn Mower Shoot Out, ATV/Quad Challenge, Swap Meet, Camp Out Weekend, AND MORE!! http://www.winterportdragway.com/

As usual, the Bangor Daily News was fast on the draw back in June, and covered the story:

'It's fun': Hot rod lawn mowers compete at Winterport Dragway
6/12/10 05:57 pm Updated: 6/14/10 12:22 pm
By Heather Steeves, BDN Staff

WINTERPORT, Maine— While hundreds of people were at the Winterport Dragway on Saturday to see fancy car after fancy car, for five drag-racing friends, it was all about lawn mowers.

During a car show Saturday, five souped-up lawn mowers competed in the Hot Rod Lawnmower Shootout.

Peter Gould of Corinna may be the one to blame for all this. He built three of the racing mowers, including a purple one for his daughter.

“We built it just to race it,” Gould said of his orange Case tractor.

To build it, Gould bought a generator so he could rip out the engine and install it in his racer.

“The kids started doing it and, of course, the adults got into it, too,” he said Saturday as he sat waiting for his race.

So maybe Gage Reynolds, 17, of Bangor is really the one to blame.

“We used to pick on him. Now he is kicking our butts,” said fellow racer Lenny “The Viper” Voisine of Waldoboro.

Voisine said they’re a competitive bunch. He has a red Craftsman stick-shift lawn mower he calls “Bad Attitude.” The five of them all race for points. At the end of the season in October, a Hot Rod Lawnmower Shootout champion will be named. For now, they race for points to earn that title.

“It’s just a bunch of guys acting crazy,” he said at the dragway.

A bunch of guys and a 12-year-old girl, that is.

Kassey Gould, 12, of Dexter drives the small purple tractor she helped her dad build from scraps.
[...]
“[At school] they think I’m weird because I’m the only girl who drag races. No boys at school do. It’s fun,” she said.
[...]
For $12, anyone with a riding lawn mower can cruise down the runway for trophy prizes. The sport has evolved in its time at the Winterport Dragway.

“We started this six years ago for the kids to ride real lawn mowers,” said track president Bob Reynolds, stressing the word “real.” “Look at what it has become.”

Bob Reynolds, who is Gage’s grandfather, said that when the lawn mower races started, they ran them only halfway down the dragway.

“When we started this they were so slow that it reset the timing system before they reached the finish line. They dialed in minutes — not seconds,” Bob Reynolds said.

Bob Reynolds said his grandson’s lawn tractor now can go as fast as his Chevy pickup — but it might not be as reliable.

“A lot of them break. They have a tremendous amount of mechanical errors,” he said.
[...]
For information, call the dragway at 223-3998.

Full article here: http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/145876.html

Here is one of many Winterport mower races posted on YouTube:

Next time, DON'T call a cab.

Yet another one for the books -- Bangor Daily News reported on a July bank robbery during which a woman had a cab driver unknowingly ferry her getaway car -- until he caught on and tipped the police to her location!

Driver 'furious' about use of taxi by alleged bank robber
By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff
7/7/10

BANGOR, Maine - There was nothing unusual about the three women Ace Taxi owner-operator Yehoshua "Josh" Mizrachi picked up Tuesday morning for a ride to a downtown bank. In fact, the cab driver said the trio were regular customers, and he already had transported them once that morning.

Mizrachi wasn’t even concerned when one of the women, later identified as Matisha Pitts, 25, of Bangor, asked him to park in front of Bangor Savings Bank on State Street while she ran inside at around 9:30 a.m.

"That's not unusual," he said Wednesday morning at a local coffee shop.
[...]
Mizrachi then took the trio of women to Market Street, where he said Hall [Ariel Hall, 19, of Bangor] went inside an apartment for a minute or two and then returned to the cab.

After leaving Market Street, the cab was taking the women to Kenduskeag Avenue when a Bangor police officer called him.

"He wanted to know if I picked up anybody on State Street," the driver said. "All of a sudden, it gelled in my mind about what was going on."
[...]
"The minute I realized what was going on, I was furious," Mizrachi said. "I was furious at [Pitts'] audacity to use my cab."

read full article here:
http://www.maineville.com/detail/148229.html

Mystery midcoast meat men?

How I missed this story when it broke back in late June, I'll never know. And who knew this was enough of a problem to prompt a tri-state law enforcement coordination effort? By the way, great headline, Bangor Daily News!  I figured it deserved a custom illustration, do enjoy.

Police say be wary of rogue meat sellers
Unscrupulous peddlers turn up during summer
6/30/10 08:27 pm Updated: 7/1/10 09:26 am
By Heather Steeves, BDN Staff

ROCKLAND, Maine — The Police Department is warning midcoast residents to turn away unauthorized door-to-door meat salespeople this summer.

“Every year we get complaints of people selling meat out of the backs of their trucks,” said Rockland Deputy Chief Wally Tower. There have been no specific complaints yet this year, but Tower emphasized that “a lot of these people are convicted felons.”

In an effort to get a handle on the scope of the problem, police agencies across Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts have been sharing information on the issue, Tower said. In Massachusetts, there have been cases in which the meat sellers stole purses from houses, he said.

“That seems to be a common [mode of operation]. Once they are in the house, they steal,” he said, citing law enforcement information bulletins. Tower did not cite any recent theft cases in Maine related to meat sellers.

Regardless of that, Rockland police advise people to shut their doors to the salespeople and call police immediately.

“The trucks are marked,” Tower said. “The ones in Rockland are beat-up pickup trucks with placards on the side.” He said the trucks typically have freezers in the back.

The Better Business Bureau also advised against purchasing from unlicensed salesmen. According to the bureau, door-to-door meat salesmen tend to start making their rounds in the summer.

The bureau receives complaints against these sorts of companies — some in Maine — including health concerns about the meat.
[...]
Maine’s Department of Agriculture licenses some vendors to sell meats out of their trucks. The Department of Agriculture’s Dr. Henrietta Beaufait advised anyone purchasing meat from a door-to-door salesperson to ask to see the vendor’s license and then make sure it is current and the license plate number on the license matches the vendor’s car.

She said customers also should check the boxes of meat, which should be cold. Every box should be labeled with safe handling instructions, a net weight, the company name that cut the meat, and a USDA certification sticker with a number inside it.
[...]
She said problems can arise when unlicensed people start selling meat.
[...]
Rockland resident Andrew Williams said a meat salesman approached him about six months ago. The salesman got out of his white pickup truck, which had a freezer in the back, and offered him a box of T-bone steaks and Angus beef burgers for about $56.

“It was the best meat I’ve had in a long time. It was weird, it was better meat than I get at any grocery store,” Williams said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I don’t know where the meat came from, but I didn’t get sick after eating it.”

Williams described the salesperson as a “shifty guy” who didn’t offer his name, nor did he give Williams a receipt. Nonetheless, he bought the meat, which he said was a good deal.

People with questions about purchasing meat can call the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-674-6854. Rockland police ask anyone who encounters one of these salespeople to call the department immediately at 594-0316.

[Full article here: http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/147584.html]

I think we can safely file this under the "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm" category.

Wiscasset's hidden marvels

Down East Magazine's Virginia Wright has posted a wonderfully intriguing article about Wiscasset, the self-titled "prettiest village in Maine."

Or how about the fanged bloodworm capital of the world? Not to mention all the ghosts.

Read the article here, and find out more about what makes Maine's typical beauty spots so atypical!
http://www.downeast.com/magazine/2010/august/what-about-wiscasset

Pictured below is Wiscasset as seen across Sheepscot Harbor during a 2008 sunset (photo (c)2008 by Michelle Souliere).

MONDAY: New Hampshire vampire movie!

WHAT: Fun Box at the Movies presents: God of Vampires
WHEN: Monday, September 20, 8:00pm - 11:00pm (Doors open @ 8pm, film starts @ 9pm)
WHERE: Geno's, 625 Congress Street, Portland, ME
COST: Suggested Donation of $5 to support the film maker, Rob Fitz
FMI: Call the Fun Box Monster Emporium at (207)329-5385
God of the Vampires website: www.godofvampires.com

This flick looks awesome, especially if you've been a fan of the old school Hopping Chinese Vampire movies in the past -- this is the new breed!  Come support independent New England horror cinema!   If you'd like to read more about it (warning, there may be spoilers), there's a great write-up over at Dread Central:
http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/god-vampires-2006

Synopsis: Professional Killer, Frank Ng, has been contracted to murder a Chinese crime lord. The routine hit goes awry when Frank discovers his mark is actually a vampire.

Suddenly, the tables have turned. The professional killer – the hunter – has become the hunted. This is no ordinary vampire of myths and legends, however. Frank has come face to face with the vengeful Kiang-Shi (Chinese vampire), and it vows to inflict upon Frank such unbearable pain that death will be his only sanctuary.

Cursed, Frank is condemned to helplessly witness the horrific and merciless deaths of those he loves, everyone he knows, and anyone he merely brushes by. His anguish intensifies when he dooms his younger brother to this terrible fate.Enlisting the help of a Chinese herbalist, knowledgeable in the ways of ancient lore, and an unlikely team of vampire hunters, Frank strikes out in a final battle against the Kiang-Shi and his minions of the dark.

Tonight, Frank Ng will discover that to destroy the monster, one must become the monster!

View the Trailer at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN_GiaxVCkQ



Facebook event page

SAT: Fort Knox looking for spooky help!

The Friends of Fort Knox are once again looking for volunteers to assist with their annual Fright at the Fort haunt attraction.

Volunteers are being recruited to help haunt the fort or lead guests through the twists and turns of the Fright course. Groups of volunteers are encouraged as the haunt is arranged area by area throughout the fort, making it easy to assign volunteer groups to each area. An orientation session for all Fright volunteers will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, at the Fort Knox Visitor and Education Center in Bucksport.

Interested volunteers may contact Leon Seymour, executive director of the Friends of Fort Knox, at 469-6553 or e-mail him at FOFK1@aol.com

See below for directions.

One of Maine's largest Halloween events, Fright at the Fort will creeeep from the grave to scare all you happy campers on four nights in late October:
5:30-9:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, Saturday, Oct. 23, Friday, Oct. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 30
FMI: http://fortknox.maineguide.com/fright/ has more info, including the volunteer application form

Readers will remember how the Fort impressed me in broad daylight. Imagine the same setting at night! Guests are guided through the shadowed passages of the early Victorian-era granite fortification, where imaginatively terrifying scenes and spirited spooks await them.

Proceeds help the Friends of Fort Knox with ongoing restoration efforts. The organization's mission is to preserve Fort Knox and enhance its educational, cultural and economic value for the people of Maine. Fort Knox is a Maine State Historic site managed by the Maine Department of Conservation's Bureau of Parks and Lands on behalf of the people of Maine.

Directions:
From Belfast: Proceed north on US Rte 1, through Searsport and Stockton Springs, immediately before crossing the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, take a left onto Rte. 174. Fort Knox will be approximately 1/4 mile up on your right.

From Bar Harbor: Follow US Rte. 1 south across the Penobscot Narrows bridge, immediately adjacent to the town of Bucksport. Once over the bridge take a right onto Rte. 174. Fort Knox will be approximately 1/4 mile up on your right.

From Bangor: On Rte. 1A South....follow Rte 1A South through the towns of Hampden, Winterport, Frankfort and Prospect. In Prospect Center, take a left onto Rte. 174. Follow Rte 174 approximately 4 miles. Fort Knox will be on your left. On Rte 15 South....follow Rte 15 South through the city of Brewer and the towns of Orrington and Bucksport. In Bucksport, take a right onto US Rte.1 South and proceed over the Penobscot Narrows bridge. Immediately upon exiting the bridge take a right onto Rte. 174. Fort Knox will be approximately 1/4 mile up on your right

Monsters in our midst

There's a great post about Maine's own International Cryptozoology Museum over at OTIS (Odd Things I've Seen), which is a tasty teaser for J. W. Ocker's newly published book, The New England Grimpendium:
http://www.oddthingsiveseen.com/2010/09/new-england-grimpendium-international.html

Tons of cool photos, some fun descriptions of some of the museum's featured items, and a great jumping off point for Ocker's blog, which covers enough intriguing New England things to make you want to jump in your car and go see them yourself!

Vegetable boat report

When I first saw the article title "The Vegetable Boat," the first thing I thought of was the Maine tradition of using giant pumpkins as boats. Well, the story is actually much more normal than that, but still interesting!

Mainers are aces at finding footholds for non-traditional markets to sell their wares. From coolers left deep in the woods to sell trekkers ice cold sodas, to unexpected caches of unique handmade items tucked into the shelves of local convenience stores, to global marketing of innovative inventions, we've done it all.

The Vegetable Boat is reported on by the folks over at the Spoonandshutter blog, who sampled its wares at Pratt's Island dock this summer.

See their full post, with tons of great photos, here:
http://spoonandshutter.com/2010/08/02/a-unique-maine-tradition-the-vegetable-boat/

BREAKING NEWS: Congress St 7-11 truck crash

A truck from DS Foundations Incorporated carrying metal racks full of heavy plywood foundation wall forms crashed into a parked car and the corner of the brick building at 696 Congress Street just before 9:00am on Sunday, September 12, 2010. Previously the truck had lost a portion of its load at the end of Valley Street, near the Veterans Bridge between Portland and South Portland, which as late as 11:40am was being supervised by a Portland Police vehicle after it was abandoned at the side of the road.

People at the scene stated that witnesses of the crash apprehended someone exiting the truck when he attempted to flee the scene.

At the scene, fire officers and police officers had strung caution tape around the 7-11 convenience store, and were supervising the removal of the truck and the bulk of its load of plywood foundation forms, which had toppled off the truck bed along its path to destruction.

Above, fire and police personnel consult near the scene of the accident. Concern was expressed over the worrying possibility that the structural integrity of the Congress Street apartment building had been compromised by the impact.

More photos from the scene are available for viewing here on my Flicker site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkbrilliance/sets/72157624815359789/with/4983339276/

Above, the DS Foundations truck is towed away. A number of heavy duty trucks from Stewart's Towing were on the scene, as well as a smattering of trucks from other towing companies, as the wrecked truck's cargo had to be parceled out due to its heavy weight. You can clearly see where the truck impacted the building and crushed its fender at the center. The windshield is also cracked.

UPDATE:

WCSH-6 was on the scene, and reports that Arthur Lariviere of Portland was put into custody at the Cumberland County Jail after stealing the truck from a construction site on Danforth Street. "Lariviere crashed into a car in the parking lot of the 7/11 on Congress Street in Portland around 8:45 AM Sunday. The truck pushed the car forward, then veered off and slammed into another car. The second car was crushed - pinned between the truck and the building at 696 Congress street."

[Source: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=127688&catid=2]
Video and photos available on the WCSH website as linked above!

Third time's a... chum?

Okay, the first time a bait truck dumps its load in your front yard, it stinks. The second time it happens, it stinks again. The third time, it stinks even more, and you start to wonder...
a) Do the bait truck drivers have it in for you?, or
b) Has the local cat population developed a cunning plan that the rest of us don't know about?

The Bangor Daily News reports:

Truck overturns in Whiting, spills load of herring
7/31/10 04:02 pm Updated: 8/2/10 09:03 pm
By Sharon Kiley Mack, BDN Staff

WHITING, Maine — A truck carrying herring overturned on a sharp curve near the intersection of Routes 189 and 1 in Whiting early Saturday, spilling its cargo and injuring the driver.

According to Maine State Police Trooper Andrew Foss, the driver of the truck blew a tire as he drove through the curve, causing the truck to flip onto its side.

About 22,000 pounds of lobster-bait herring tumbled out alongside the road, and the truck owned by D.C. Airfreight of Winter Harbor had $25,000 in damage.
[...]
This is the third time a fish truck has dumped its load in Esther MacLaughlin’s front yard, her daughter Robin McPhail said Saturday.
[...]

Read full article & see photos at BDN site:
http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Downeast/Truck-overturns-in-Whiting-spills-load-of-herring,150197

Homeless park or ...?

Recent events in Skowhegan after a local man was denied the ability to build on his property have the town in a tizzy. The full Morning Sentinel article with photos is available online:

Homeless park draws concern: Land owner Bruce Obert rejects claim he's allowing it out of spite
By Doug Harlow, Staff Writer
August 24, 2010

SKOWHEGAN -- There are a picnic table, a portable toilet and blankets on the ground in woods at the edge of Coburn Avenue, near downtown.
[...]
There also is a banner stretched across the trees saying: "Nature Park, Nature Trails for the Homeless People of Somerset County."

On Friday, the site got its first visitor since landowner Bruce Obert, a developer from Norridgewock, laid it out earlier this summer. Obert said he was just trying to give underprivileged people a place to go and in no way was trying to spite the town or the Coburn Avenue neighbors.

Eighty-four-year-old Rod Rodriquez and his Rottweiler have set up camp on the property -- and the neighbors on the otherwise quiet, residential street are unhappy.

No laws have been broken, town officials said Monday. Police Chief Michael Emmons said he takes full responsibility for moving Rodriquez to the site, as he and town officials look for a place for the man to stay.
[...]
[Neighbor Pam] Nixon and others said they remember reading about Rodriquez a few years ago when he set up a blanket camp behind Empire Grill, off Water Street in Skowhegan. Rodriquez in September 2006 had a Great Dane with him. Before Skowhegan, he had been in Farmington, Waterville and Madison. Residents complained about his sudden outbursts, and said he often appeared verbally confrontational, according to published reports at the time.
[...]
An attempt to interview Rodriquez on Monday while he was having lunch behind the police station was not successful because of the presence of the dog.
[...]
Contacted by phone Monday afternoon, Obert said he is not trying to spite the residents of Coburn Avenue or the town.

He said homeless people, such as Rodriquez, can visit the site any time they want, but cannot live there.

"It's a useless piece of land to me," Obert said. "The town told me that I can't build on it because of the set-back rules on a little stream, which doesn't have a name and is dried up at this point now. So I thought I'd make it into a little park and let the unprivileged people get a chance to have a place to sit and use the picnic table and enjoy the fresh outdoors. He should be able to come and go as he pleases."

Read full article with photos here:
[Source: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/homeless-park-draws-concern_2010-08-23.html]

In addition, WABI-5 TV has a videoclip up on their site with further coverage: http://www.wabi.tv/news/13788/new-homeless-park-has-neighbors-upset

Eliot farmhouse ghost generates book

The Canton (MA) Citizen just featured an article about Maine resident Helen Goransson. Goransson has written a book that emerged from research she did into her old farmhouse's history when it became apparent it was haunted. (Be sure to click on the link to the Canton Citizen below to read the full article, which contains an excellent interview.)

Canton native Helen Goransson exorcises ghost with her recent book
By Jeffrey Pickette, Citizen Staff
September 2, 2010

She heard stomping footsteps when there was no one upstairs; she heard music playing and other “funny sounds” when it should have otherwise been silent; she would turn on a light, only to find it mysteriously turned off a short time later; she would find doors that should be locked suddenly swung wide open.

These were just some of the odd occurrences that took place from time to time at Helen (Gerzon) Goransson’s farmhouse in Eliot, Maine. The Canton native bought the house with her husband Paul, also a Canton native, 25 years ago.

“We always thought the place was a little bit creepy,” Goransson said. “And then we had some strange things happen that were sort of inexplicable, so we said it must be ghosts, half jokingly; we’re too smart to believe in ghosts. And over the years it just became more and more insistent that these are not all coincidences if you have hundreds of them.”

If you suspected that there was a ghost haunting your house, maybe you would consider hiring an exorcist or may even consider moving. Instead, Goransson got to know her ghost and wrote a book about him, Views from Rosemary Hill, published this August.

After moving into the house, Goransson found an old plaque that belonged to Sylvester Bartlett. She went to the local library to research this man and found out he used to own her farmhouse. However, over time she determined that her ghost was not that of Sylvester’s, but rather that of his son, Ralph Bartlett (1868-1960), a successful 20th century lawyer and socialite.
[...]
Goransson describes the book as a “history, mystery, ghost story, and love story.” It’s autobiographical in a sense as well, since she and her husband are the young couple that buy the farm in the book (just like they actually did in 1985), but she changes their names, like she did with many of the modern day characters in the book. However, she did not alter any of the historical character’s names, and the events drawn out in the book are true, based on years of primary source research.
[...]
She has been married to Paul since 1975, and since then the two have lived everywhere from Northern Africa to South America to Mexico, before settling in Maine. Together they have two children, ages 27 and 25.
[...]
For those interested in purchasing the book, contact Helen Goransson at heleng@bondgarden.net or visit Amazon.com. Part of the proceeds will go to the Eliot, ME Historical Society (www.eliothistoricalsociety.org).

Read full article here:
[Source: http://www.cantoncitizenonline.com/090210/goransson.htm]

Readers may also recognize the Goransson name in connection with husband Paul's exposure during his climb of Vinson Massiff, a peak in Antarctica, back in 2005 in the company of his son. Article here: http://cs.armstrong.edu/antarctica/fosters011405.php

Wood Island lighthouse ghost tour!

This photo is the earliest known photo of Wood Island (c. 1858).
 Source: http://www.woodislandlighthouse.org

Join author and paranormal investigator Ron Kolek and members of the New England Ghost Project for an overnight investigation of Wood Island Lighthouse, Biddeford, on Saturday, Sept. 11th, 2010.

Ghost Hunt at Wood Island Lighthouse with the New England Ghost Project
http://neghostproject.com/
September 11th-12th

Have you ever wanted to go on a ghost hunt? Now is your chance! On the night of September 11th and the morning or the 12th, join author, radio personality and paranormal investigator Ron Kolek and members of the New England Ghost Project for an overnight investigation of Wood Island Lighthouse. This lighthouse was featured in their book Ghost Chronicles and has a history of unusual occurrences.

Former keepers, Coast Guard personnel and others have witnessed strange events associated with the island and lighthouse. In 1896, a tragic murder-suicide took place on the island. Do their spirits still inhabit the island? Or is it that of a former lighthouse keeper? Or is it something more sinister?

Join Ron and the rest of the NEGP crew for an unbelievable night as they attempt to unravel the mystery of Wood Island. The price of this overnight investigation is only $100. The Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse will be providing free transportation to the island. (All funds will be donated to the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse for preservation of the facility).

Do you have what it takes to become a ghost hunter?
Sign up and find out! CALL 207-468-8057

In addition, the New England Ghost Project will be offering two tours of the lighthouse on Saturday, September 11th, at 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM. The cost will be $20/person. FOWIL will be providing free transportation. Reservations are required. Call our reservation line 207-286-3229

Readers may also be interested in "Maine Open Lighthouse Day," September 18th, 2010, when FOWIL will once again be participating in the 2nd annual Maine Open Lighthouse Day. Weather permitting, FOWIL will host tours of Wood Island Lighthouse. This event is sponsored by the State of Maine, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the American Lighthouse Foundation. Reservations are required and may be made after October 1st by calling the reservation line at 207-286-3229.

For information about the other Maine lighthouses participating in this event, go to http://www.visitmaine.com/attractions/sightseeing_tours/lighthouse/lighthouse-day/

---------
The New England Ghost Project (http://neghostproject.com/) is based out of Dracut, Massachusetts. This paranormal investigation group is led by Ron Kolek, their Executive Director/Lead Investigator. According to their website:

Ron Kolek is the founder and lead investigator of The New England Ghost Project. With a degree in Environmental Science, he was the ultimate skeptic. However, a near death experience changed all that. No longer blinded by his skepticism, he now uses scientific background to seek the truth about the paranormal. In addition to hosting Ghost Chronicles on Ghostvillage Radio and ITunes, he hosts a weekly internet radio show on Toginet.com, and writes monthly paranormal newspaper columns in The Stateline Review and Food and Spirits.

[Source: http://neghostproject.com/team.htm]

The group also releases two regular podcast series: Ghost Chronicles and Ghost Chronicles International.

Rob all night? Time to pay

The Portland Daily Sun (portlanddailysun.me) ran a story by Matt Dodge a week ago that had the entire early morning coffee gaggle agog. The funny part? The story starts out normally enough, detailing the multiple charges of robbery, etc., levied against Paul Schlosser, 25, of Standish. It's not until you read the last line on page 1 that you have a clue there might be more interesting details on page 3... "'He's well known to Portland police,' said Portland Police Chief James Craig, who also said that Schlosser's crime spree was likely fueled by drug use, based on behavior witnessed by the arresting officers." What behavior, pray tell?

Schlosser started out by robbing the Cumberland Farms store on Pine Street. Officers were able to identify him from the surveillance camera tapes from the store. Then over the next couple of hours, there was a bunch of muddling around involving previously stolen cars and attempts to steal other cars, possibly an ambulance, etc, at Maine Medical Center.

By 3:00am, Schlosser had found his way to the Circle K on Commercial Street, where he committed another robbery at knifepoint. A few hours later, at 6:00am, the McDonald's on St John Street put the police back on Schlosser's trail after he robbed them as well. This is where it gets interesting.

Police learned that the suspect, again identified as Schlosser, entered the restaurant with a knife and demanded money from the register. The employee refused, and Schlosser came behind the counter to pry open the drawer.

Police say that as Schlosser tried to force open the register, a McDonald's employee threw hot coffee on the suspect.

Craig said that while he commends the McDonald's employee for their part in deterring the suspect, “I don’t recommend anyone attack an armed suspect.”

Schlosser reportedly recovered from the hot coffee, and left the restaurant with the cash register. As Schlosser attempted to extract cash from the register, officers say, police saw him fleeing the location.

Schlosser then attempted to enter the passenger side of a stopped, occupied vehicle and was taken into custody by Portland police.

[Source]
Read full article here: http://www.portlanddailysun.me/cgi/story2.pl?storyid=20100826047021000198

I can only imagine what a news crew on the scene would have made of the last moments of the chase (oh, if only we had news crews that actually investigated real news!). Here's this guy who's been up all night, covered in hot coffee and hauling a heavy cash register, running down the street and then trying to get into someone's car as the police are closing in on him.

Again, here's to Portland's not-so-bright criminal population. Thank heavens you make it so easy to thwart you!

Another interesting tidbit from the article is mention of how Portland deals with crack cocaine: "I recently learned that possession of [personal amounts of] crack is a misdemeanor," Police Chief Craig is quoted as saying. "That is not acceptable. That’s a felony anywhere else in the country."

Another local news website, myfoxmaine.com, reported Craig as mentioning that Schlosser had been arrested 30 times over the past five years for an assortment of crimes.

Interview via the Sun Journal

I don't think I ever got a chance to post this on the blog last year, and thought some of you might have fun reading it, especially those of you who are recent additions to the blog subscribers. Definitely one of the lighter and more entertaining interviews I've done, thanks to the adept skills of Mark LaFlamme.

Face Time: Michelle Souliere, Chronicler of all things strange in Maine
By Mark LaFlamme
Published Jun 28, 2009 12:00 am

Freaks. Weirdos. Unmapped roads.... So begins the intro to the increasingly popular blog by the name Strange Maine. It was launched in 2005 by Michelle Souliere and for the past two years was named the very best by the Portland Phoenix. If it's strange and happening here, you can bet it will be covered at Strange Maine, not to be confused with Strange Maine the store or Strange Maine the book. Here, Michelle answers some questions about how she got to be the local authority on strange.

What is Strange Maine?
Strange Maine is a lot of things. It is made up of people, places and things that exist here in the state of Maine and perhaps nowhere else in the world. It is the feeling you get, which in some of us causes an almost giddy delight, when you stumble upon a pocket of this strangeness. It matters not whether the discovery is of a cache of weird items at someone's yard sale, a roadside museum that the world seems to have passed by but which has continued growing regardless, or a story that someone tells you about a weird house from their hometown that freaked them out as a kid. It's out there, and when you find it, it's darn good.

How did you come to create this site?
Honestly, I have a hard time remembering. I think I had spent a few months doing research on anomalous phenomenon, and perhaps stuff like whether downtown Portland is riddled with tunnel passageways, and other Maine- and New England-related weirdness. It baffled me that there was no single destination on the Web that collected this stuff to any real effect, especially as it related to Maine. So in a moment of insanity, I thought to myself, "I should do something about this!" and pressed that big orange button on Blogger.com that says "Create A Blog," thereby sealing my fate. It wasn't until later that I stumbled upon the New England Anomaly Web site, and realized I had neighbors as crazy as I am.

Why is Maine so freakin' strange?
I'm still trying to hash that one out. I can say "There's just something about it..." until the cows come home, but while it's a pleasingly ephemeral statement, it does nothing to clear up the puzzle. The real question is, do we actually want the riddle to be solved? My instinct says we don't. Part of the spell that Maine weaves is the fact that despite the best efforts of L.L. Beaners and tourist bureaus over the last century-plus to nail down and brand Maine to be sold like some rugged designer perfume to people from away, the best way to appreciate Maine is to find a spot here where you can just sit by yourself for a moment and absorb it.

I've tried to trace the element of strangeness to the wildness of Maine, its isolation, its sparse population and the tendency it has to attract and retain both the oddest and most wonderful of people (sometimes they are one and the same). It just doesn't add up. There has to be some weird synergistic effect, some alchemy at work, because the sum is greater than its tangible parts. Whatever it is, a crucial component in the recipe is the land itself, in all its Maine varieties — and, quite possibly, a lot of it has to do with being a borderland: a place on the border of wild and urban, on the border of the great Atlantic ocean, a place on the border of the U.S.-Canada line.

If you adopted the Turner Beast and gave him a name, what would it be?
For pure silliness, it would have to be Fred. If I wanted to freak people out, though, he'd be officially named "He Who Walks Behind the Trees" or "Fred the Terrible."

What do you have coming up?
The very tardy Spring '09 issue of the Strange Maine Gazette will be in print by July, which is pretty exciting for me, as I never thought I'd get it done after breaking my wrist in May. I'll be bringing copies of it to Zombie Kickball IV, here on Portland's Eastern Prom on Sunday June 28th, and then to the Paranormal and Psychic Faire at Fort Knox on the weekend of July 4th and 5th. I'm thrilled to be setting up at the Faire, after having heard about it for the last few years. I've never been to the historic Fort Knox site, which is supposed to be gorgeous, as well as very haunted, and it's an area of Maine I haven't explored yet, which is always a big bonus. I'm also working with a great group of local artists on a Strange Maine themed art show that I'll be curating at Sanctuary here in Portland, which will be on exhibit for the month of October. Never a dull moment!

[Source: http://www.sunjournal.com/node/20518]

Ghosts of islands past

I found an interesting short glimpse of the ruin of Little Chebeague island in a set of photos over at the Maine Island Kayak Company's blog (http://maineislandkayakco.blogspot.com/) in a post dating back to Halloween of 2008 titled "Island of Ghosts." The photos are well chosen and haunting, yet lovely.

For anyone who has the opportunity to boat out to the island, it looks like it is well worth the trip.

To quote the blog:

The Abenakis left shell middens here dating back thousands of years. More recently there was a large hotel and small community lasting from the mid 1800s until it was taken over by the Navy for use as an R&R facility and firefighting training. Once the Navy left in the 1940s, no one else came. Now the once proud "clamshell walk" is getting taken over by the bittersweet, the structures are uninhabitable and the only footfalls are made by the deer.

[Source]

According to Wikipedia,

The nearby island of "Little Chebeague" is accessible on foot, via a sandbar that appears at low tide. Being that there are many fresh-water underground springs and rivulets, low-tide exposed sandy areas such as the sandbar, or coves, often have "quicksand" zones that must be noted with caution. Little Chebeague, approximately 3/4 of a mile long, is uninhabited and mostly dense shrub and forest. Owned by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, it is an undeveloped park where picnicking, camping and swimming are allowed, but no facilities are provided.

[Source]

Ferry service to the larger Chebeague Island is available through the Casco Bay Lines ferry (cascobaylines.com).

Microhorror in Maine

We've all heard of horror novels, and horror short stories. But have you heard of horror microfiction? The website Microhorror.com defines microfiction thusly:

Microfiction is also referred to as flash fiction or short-short stories. The general goal of a microfiction author is to tell a story, set a mood or depict a scene in as few words as possible. There is no official limit on how long a story can be before it no longer qualifies, but on MicroHorror.com, you will find no stories longer than 666 words.

Much to my delight, I found a very brief homage to Stephen King's Maine on the site, in the form of an entry by author Jeff Ryan (http://www.microhorror.com/microhorror/author/jeff-ryan/), titled "Far From Yoknapatawpha."

Rod became interested in fictional places as a student of William Faulkner, whose Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi was a weird and wonderful place. But that love of the imagined made him unable to visit a place without also seeing what was imagined to be present there. That was why his trip to the New England coast was so dreadful...

Read the full story on the site. [Source]

Enjoy! Maybe a few among you have some microfiction of your own to submit...?

Illustration (c)2007 by Michelle Souliere.

TONIGHT: Ghost hunting tour in Bath

Investigators from the Maine Ghost Hunters Society will join “The Lady in the Red Cloak” for a special Haunted History Tour in Bath on Tues., Aug. 24.

The special Haunted History Tour with the Maine Ghost Hunters Society investigators will be on Tues, Aug. 24. The tour is by reservation only by calling (207)380-9912 or redcloaktours@gmail.com. Once a reservation is made, the starting time and location will be given out. “We do this so that we’re able to control the number of our guests so that everyone will have a fun and comfortable experience,” Lobkowicz said. The cost of the tour is $17.50 per person, a portion of which is donated to the Maine Ghost Hunters Society.

The ghost hunters will come equipped with specialized equipment used to test areas on the tour for the possible presence of paranormal activity.

“We’ve had plenty of unusual things show up in photographs taken by guests on our Haunted History Tours over the past 4 years that we’ve been in business,” said Sally Lobkowicz, Director of Haunted History Tours. “These include ‘orbs’, bolts of light, strange mists and more, but all that we’re really able to say about them is that we can’t explain why they appear in the photos. We’re researchers and story tellers – not paranormal experts.”

That’s where the investigators from the Maine Ghost Hunters Society come in. “This is a great group of people with a solid background in paranormal research dating back to 2007, and the ability to use equipment to enhance their investigation,” Lobkowicz said. “They have just completed an in-depth investigation of the former AMHI mental hospital, and their work has been widely published and televised. They have just started their own show, Maine Paranormal Radio on Maine Public Radio.”

The Bath special tour will be the first time that Haunted History Tours has conducted a collaborative effort with the Maine Ghost Hunters Society, which Lobkowicz feels is appropriate since 2010 is the first season for Haunted History Tours in Bath. “What better way to introduce something new than on our newest tour?” Lobkowicz asked. Haunted History Tours with “The Lady in the Red Cloak” already have venues in Camden, Damariscotta, Boothbay Harbor and Wiscasset. Special tours with the Maine Ghost Hunters Society will also be scheduled in those areas in the coming weeks, according to Lobkowicz.

Both the Maine Ghost Hunters Society and Haunted History Tours are hoping that the special tours will provide guests with an educational experience. “Watching the investigators use their equipment and explain how it all works will just be the first part of the experience,” Lobkowicz said. “Following the special tour, they will post the results of their investigation regarding that tour area on www.maineghosts.org.”

Julie Velez, co-founder of the Maine Ghost Hunters Society agrees. “Education is a primary part of our mission,” Velez said. “We look forward to introducing people to our investigation methods, and perhaps better understand what we do.

To help accomplish this, the Maine Ghost Hunters Society will provide a two-person team for the special tour comprised of a Lead Investigator and an Investigator equipped with devices that help see the unseen, whether by image, sound, or even electromagnetic activity.

First on the equipment list are two items that are sensitive to electromagnetic activity, which is associated with things both seen and unseen. In the everyday world, most living things generate an electromagnetic signature, as do (of course) electronic devices and wires that carry electricity.

What’s unusual is when the devices pick-up electromagnetic activity where it shouldn’t be. To observe this, the investigators from Maine Ghost Hunters Society will carry a K2 Electromagnetic Field (EMF) device that registers the activity on an LED meter. According to Velez, this device is particularly noteworthy in that it can instantly record changes in the EMF, which sometimes appear to be responsive to spoken questions and other input.

A second EMF device, the Electromagnetic Field Detector, will provide investigators and tour guests with a much more sensitive device for recording EMF signals. However, this instrument has a read out with a needle, making the K2 EMF device a more immediate and visual instrument.

Use of both these devices at once literally provides the “best of both worlds” to record any potential paranormal activities, according to Velez. The two devices, working simultaneously, tend to corroborate each other’s EMF observations.

The Maine Ghost Hunters Society will also carry two pieces of equipment well known to most of the public – a digital camera and a digital sound recorder. The digital camera will be used to record scenes for later examination, as sometimes things will appear in the images that were unseen by the human eye at the time that the image was recorded. Likewise, the digital voice recorder has the ability to pick up on sounds that cannot be heard by the human ear.

For more information on Haunted History Tours (and photos taken by guests of unusual phenomenon) check www.RedCloakHauntedHistoryTours.com (there is also a page on the website discussing orbs under “Ghostly Sightings”). For more information on the Maine Ghost Hunters Society check www.maineghosts.org.

EVENT: First Friday Artwalk "Relics" opening

The Green Hand is very pleased to present "Relics," a series of digital and traditional photographs depicting industrial decay, anachronism, and forgotten places around Portland and Southern Maine, as captured by the intrepid Eric Pomorski.

WHAT: First Friday Artwalk opening of "Relics" by Eric Pomorski
WHEN: Friday, September 3rd, 2010 from 5:00-8:00pm
WHERE: The Green Hand Bookshop, 661 Congress Street, Portland, ME
FMI: (207)450-6695 or see the Facebook event page http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=101655499895193

Fans of urban exploration, abandoned mill buildings, and other remnants of Maine's past will be especially interested in this show. A wide range of Eric's work is posted on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/epomorski/

We are very excited to have his work on display throughout the month of September!

TONIGHT: Adelle - Maine horror film showing

Come check out the latest version of Adelle, new ending and all, at Geno's tonight, August 16th, 2010. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm, admission by donation, must be 21+.

WHAT: Screening of Maine indy horror film Adelle, part of the Fun Box at the Movies series
WHEN: TONIGHT! Monday, August 16, 2010. Doors @ 8:00, showing at 9:00pm
WHERE: Geno's at 625 Congress Street, Portland, ME
FMI: The Facebook event page for RSVP is here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=141561715877058&ref=mf, or call the Fun Box Monster Emporium at 329-5385

Adelle tells the tale of a young deaf girl who is left in the middle of nowhere by her parents in the 1930′s. Adelle is forced to try and survive based on her very limited life skills. Along the way, her voyage turns into a very dark, horrifying trip.

The film echoes the dark themes presented in stories like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, and presents a visual smorgasbord for viewers. “We set out to make a very trippy, scary film from the perspective of the child. We came out of production very happy with the work we accomplished.” said co-writer/director Andy Davis.

Adelle was written by children’s poetry author Sandy McKeon and horror filmmaker Andy Davis. Adelle marks the seventh film for Davis as director. Strange Maine readers may remember our extensive coverage of some of his prior films, including the zombie apocalypse movie 2 (see production photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkbrilliance/sets/72157594554822363/). The main body of Davis's work with Emptyhouse Film was collected in the DVD set "Twisted Tales from Maine" which we reviewed back in February 2009 (here). Adelle has the proud honor of being slated for release and distribution by Elite Entertainment very shortly.

Grafitti archive interview

Graffiti art behind the Asylum's main graffiti wall, Portland ME. April 2007.

Portland is well-known by locals as a haven for graffiti art, which generates both controversy and support in the community. Aubin Thomas has begun recording some of this transient and ephemeral art on her photoblog, http://freezetagging.wordpress.com/, where she posts photos of past and current work, and encourages others to submit their own photos via email. The Portland Daily Sun did a great article about the subject this past weekend:

Street SmART

In some ways, Aubin Thomas simply runs a simple art history blog. Just don’t expect oil paints and canvas — spray paint and cement walls are more the focus here.

Thomas documents street art around Portland, and combines her interest in art with her passion for preservation at freezetagging.wordpress.com.

But the site is also part of a local trend of providing a transition zone of sorts, a place somewhere between often-illegal street art and gallery openings. And while the debate over street art – especially illegal graffiti – continues, there’s little doubt that the work is steadily edging onto Portland’s cultural consciousness, with two movies screenings, several gallery shows and even an college art exhibit of a famous street artist happening just this month.

“I have a big issue with things being forgotten,” explained Thomas, a one-time Maine College of Art student and current tour guide at the Victoria Mansion. “And even though it’s not my art, I want there to be a record of it.”

Thomas said she had long noticed street art while traipsing across the city, but came up with the idea for the blog after helping to deconstruct the installation by New York graffiti artist Swoon at SPACE Gallery last winter.

“It made me really sad, because she made all these hand-drawn wheatpaste pieces, and we had to scrape them off with a paint scraper,” she said.

For Thomas, the blog is also a way to get people to think about graffiti in a new way by decontextualizing the work. “If it’s in a gallery, some people will accept anything, but if it’s on the street, they instantly hate it,” she explained.

The term “street art” encompasses a broad range of art forms, from spray-can-applied graffiti tags to stencil, stickers, wheatpastes, knits and some perfectly legal, often promotional, posters. Generally, “street art” is used to describe any work developed in a public space.

There are also a few less generous terms that can be applied to the practice.

Read the full article here: [Source]

http://www.portlanddailysun.me/cgi/story2.pl?storyid=20100813027201000172

Photo by Michelle Souliere.

EVENT: Irish settlers in Western Cemetery

Via Ed King of the West End News:

Early Irish Settlers to be Honored at Western Cemetery

The Ancient Order of Hibernians will honor more than one thousand early Portland settlers with a Mass and a ceremony at the Western Cemetery at 1:00pm on Sunday, August 15th, 2010. The event will also mark the 11th anniversary of the dedication of the Memorial Stone, which memorializes the early Portland Catholics, mostly Irish, who are buried in the cemetery's 'Catholic ground.'

The settlers, most of whom are buried in unmarked graves, came from Ireland during and after the 'Great Hunger' in Ireland in the 1840s, which resulted from the potato crop failure. The annual Mass will be followed by a reception at St. Patrick's Church on Congress Street. In case of rain, the Mass will be held at St. Patrick's.The Western Cemetery is located at the corner of Danforth and Vaughan Street in the West End.

For more information, contact James Avjian at 799-3606.

Maine's son of horror coming to town!

Joe Hill will be appearing in Portland on Saturday, August 14!

New York Times Best Selling Author Joe Hill will be in Portland on Saturday, August 14th, for a book release event and signing at Casablanca Comics (downtown at 151 Middle Street) from 4:00-6:00pm.

Joe Hill will be signing copies of his new graphic novel "Locke and Key: Crown of Shadows" and the first issue of his newest comic book series "Locke and Key: Keys to the Kingdom." Joe Hill's previous novels include the best-selling "Heart Shaped Box" and the recently released "Horns." His short story collections include "20th Century Ghosts" and "The New Dead."

FMI: http://www.casablancacomics.com

New cult film series launches!

Robert Deveau happily encounters friendly horror folk Garou and Penny Dreadful here in Portland!

There's a great article by Chad Pennell over on the fledgling local "Maine Observer" which sets the stage for a new ongoing film series that started in Portland the other week. Yow! Watch out!

‘Lost Skeleton’ ushers in cult films at Geno’s

An actor, a witch, and a werewolf walk into a bar. That’s not the beginning of a joke, it’s the first sight I saw at “The Lost Skeleton Returns Again” at Geno’s last Monday.

Read the full article here: [Source]
http://thesignal.maineobserver.net/2010/08/02/

Future showings of note include a late September showing of Texas Chainsaw Massacre featuring an appearance by the one and only Gunnar Hansen, a.k.a. Leatherface!

Shilling Shockers "Trio of Terror" portrait by Peter Pereira

If you missed the July 26th Maine premiere showing of "The Lost Skeleton Returns Again," and simultaneous appearances by star Robert Deveau, plus Penny Dreadful and Garou (our New England horror host favorites, hosts of TV's "Shilling Shockers"), be sure to keep your fingers on the Fun Box Monster Emporium pulse, as rumors of new showings pop up periodically!

Watch out, Maine! Things are happening in Portland!

Robert's report on the event can be found here:
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/robert+deveau