One of the great traditions of summertime is the campfire. Atop the rocks leading down to the sea, surrounded by the crash of the waves and the ocean breeze, the fire-pit is ideal for campfires. Gathered round a fire, outside, in the night we become something more than simply a group of individuals. The fire draws us in, away from the dark, and we feel simultaneously the safety of the light, and of the group, while also maintaining a corner-of-the-eye awareness of the surrounding shadows. It's the perfect setting for a round of ghost stories!
This past August that's exactly what happened. Ellie, Andrew, and a number of our guests gathered around the campfire, armed with sticks and marshmallows...and stories. Ellie started the night off with a localized variation on "The Return of Hate Evil", an old tale that tells (fictitiously) of the ghost of the original owner of the Inn. In the story the old ghost was angry and fed of the hate he felt in life. On nights when there were few guests at the Inn he would appear in parts of the Inn, sometimes in the shadowy corner of a room, sometimes a form half seen from the corner of an eye, footsteps on stairs where no living person walked. Items would disappear from the Library for months, only to reappear in the exact spot they vanished from. Guests woke at night to feelings of terror.
Andrew followed with a story about a couple scuba diving off of Popham Beach. They became separated and, while the woman was on her own, she saw a figure drifting downward through the water. She swam quickly towards the drowning figure, and as she got closer it became clear it was a young woman sinking down with her back to the diver. She reached out, turning the woman and flinched backward. The face of the drowning woman was smooth, empty skin. As the figure turned it started to fade, disappearing completely as the woman diver watched. The origin of the ghost is believed to be a young woman who was brutally murdered in the 1800's. Her blank face is attributed to the removal of her head during the murder.
Once Ellie and Andrew had told their stories guests began to jump in. One boy told a story set in the backwoods. Hikers would hear cries for help coming from the woods off the trail, and would make their way towards the source. When they got close the cries would cease and they would find a skeleton chained to a tree.
These and several other stories were shared around the fire, along with the marshmallows. Everyone enjoyed themselves and, as they left, paid a little more attention to the shadows than they had before. Below are some pics. Enjoy!
