Ghost Stories of Maine
My name is Nakita Floyd and I graduated from Champlain College with a professional writing degree. As a freelance writer, I have a passion for fiction and social media as well as many genres of writing. This blog is a collection of paranormal stories told to me by residents of the state of Maine. I couldn't think of a better state to focus on than my home. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed collecting and writing them.
Creepy Cryptid
Like many people in Maine, Paul's father burned brush. The pile of ashes and chunks of things that didn't get completely burned sat untouched on their lawn after the fire was put out. Inside the fire was the burned body of some odd looking creature.
Seeing the creature reminded the man of a rumor of an unidentified animal stalking the town. It was said to have the tusks like a boar, weird looking, but with fur like a dog. When Paul's father realized the animal must have been what was around town he sent it to a specialist for testing. The results came back DNA of some type of mutated dog.
This story isn't the only one of it's kind. It isn't uncommon for animals to be found, only after death, and do not look like the creature their DNA matches. Some say it means a dog bread with something else, something cryptozoology would call a Cryptid or unknown animal. Others would say it's just a dog with a weird disease. I guess we'll never know.
Phantom Light
On a dark night, a Man named Chris is driving toward home on a bumpy dirt road. The only thing he can see is the headlights and taillights emanating from his own car. As he drives, he sees a flash of light through his rear view mirror. He remembers there is an Army base nearby, but can't think they would be allowed to fly that low.
When the light began following him, trained onto his car, he knew it wasn't a plane. It felt as though the light went through him, inside him, through his car. It lights up everything he sees, and he is drawn to it. Then after a few seconds it disappears, he shakes it off and drives the rest of the way home, slightly confused and troubled.
Lights like this are a common instance of what people associate with seeing a UFO. The account of being drawn to lights that seem to follow you wherever you go is considered to be a UFO trademark. Although it is also said that light anomalies don't always belong to UFO's. There are also creatures like Whil'O Wisps that are said to emanate light. Whil'O Wisps are known to be seen late at night by travelers near bodies of water.
Phantom Light
On a dark night, a Man named Chris is driving toward home on a bumpy dirt road. The only thing he can see is the headlights and taillights emanating from his own car. As he drives, he sees a flash of light through his rear view mirror. He remembers there is an Army base nearby, but can't think they would be allowed to fly that low.
When the light began following him, trained onto his car, he knew it wasn't a plane. It felt as though the light went through him, inside him, through his car. It lights up everything he sees, and he is drawn to it. Then after a few seconds it disappears, he shakes it off and drives the rest of the way home, slightly confused and troubled.
Lights like this are a common instance of what people associate with seeing a UFO. The account of being drawn to lights that seem to follow you wherever you go is considered to be a UFO trademark. Although it is also said that light anomalies don't always belong to UFO's. There are also creatures like Whil'O Wisps that are said to emanate light. Whil'O Wisps are known to be seen late at night by travelers near bodies of water.
The Kindly Spirit
In Peru Maine, about an hour northwest of Augusta, a motherly spirit watched over the young girl living in the room her twins used to inhabit. Jason Haynes reported accounts of ghostly activity in his cousin’s childhood home. The history included the death of its female occupant who suffered a heart attack while living in the building. The family needed to keep a light on during the night to keep the spirit satisfied. If the light failed to be left on they would turn on and off, slowly, of their own volition. “The spirit was also evidently not a fan of strangers being in the room without my cousin," Jason stated. "The lights would flicker rapidly regardless of if there was already a light on.”
As a mother would tuck in their young child, sometimes late at night blankets would be pulled over her as she slept, even when no one was home. The girl reported that in a dream, she witnessed the heart attack the old owner suffered. She could also recount how the home looked while the women lived there before the building was renovated. Jason says that she was a “ very kind spirit” and she was “just doing what she did when she was alive.” He doesn’t know why the spirit stayed in the house, and his family no longer lives there. The room where his cousin lived is now vacant.
Knowledge from Greg Latimer, author of Ghosts of the Boothbay Region
Greg Latimer, author of Ghosts of the Boothbay Region, and Mysterious Destination Magazine, also spends time investigating places for spirit activity. His wife and business
partner, Sally, is the
Lady in the Red
Cloak who does the
When giving
advice to someone
wanting to be an
investigator he
stresses the need to
take caution. Latimer advises that spirits or ghosts aren't something to mess with unless you know what you are doing. And don't ever investigate your own house.
He has been back to places more than once, but doesn't go anywhere the activity seems to be harmful or malicious. Over his time he has had a few interesting encounters, as have some of the people that accompany him on the investigations.
A young couple that went one night had one such experience. The women had a nose piercing, a small stud in her nostril. On regrouping after they had finished the woman looked distraught, and she recounted what had happened to her.
During the events of the night, her nose ring had disappeared from her nose. She hadn't noticed for a while and went to look for it. Some time later, she reached her hand into her pocket and found the stud that she had not placed there, nor removed from her nose. When she put the stud back in her nose it went in with resistance. She noted, that the resistance showed it couldn't have just fallen out. And how would it have ended up safely in her pocket?
Stories like this are common when talking about possible haunted locations. Objects disappear and show up in a location that had been checked already. You can lose jewelry, keys, your ID, or wallet. Latimer has a theory. He thinks that some entities have the ability to disintegrate and reintegrate objects at will. He says, "has anyone seen these objects floating across the room? No." They have to go somewhere. This seems like a very plausible theory.
Black Magic
The religion Wicca has a lot of negative connotations to it, a view unwarranted if you know the truth behind it. Like all things, rituals or practices performed under the Wiccan title hold no intentions of their own, only that of the practitioner. And in some cases, the negative intentions of a book or object finds it's way to an unsuspecting practitioner.
After visiting a bookstore in the town of Boothbay a man named Aidan purchased a book on black magic. The book contained information on rituals, spells, and also curses. He had no intention of doing any of the things in the book, only wanting to read and learn.
Aidan and his family stayed in a cabin next door to friends from home. Around one in the morning he was awake as his sister slept in a bed across the room from him, his parents in the room across the hall. As he sat in his bed he heard loud slamming coming from the wardrobe in the room he shared with his sister. It sounded like something was trapped inside, trying desperately to free itself. The black magic book was sitting on a bench next to the wardrobe.
The next day he and his family were leaving, but his family friends were staying an extra day. Aiden, thinking the banging related to the book, asked the friends to take it back to the store and return it. A few days later both families were back home. His friends were telling him that during the only night the book was in their house, they too had odd experiences.
They explained that through the night they heard noises from upstairs. Footsteps walked back and forth across the empty room as if someone with heavy boots was pacing above them. After the book was returned Aidan never read up on black magic again.
Tragedy in the Northwood
*Trigger Warning*
In the Northwoods Ben and his family spent summers in a cabin on a lake. The community there was always very close, hosting parties for holidays every year. They were like a family that lived in far away places, coming together for a summer of parties and fun.
The fun was cut short when the news came to Ben that his friend Russel had committed suicide. No one knew why there was no indication of what was to come. "He was always the lighthearted one, cracking jokes and playing pranks on everyone..." Ben noted that after the tragedy weird things began happening.
Russel's mother was home alone a lot and reported hearing footsteps in the boy's room. She said things around the house would go missing and turn up in places she never would think to put them. Ben said that Russel was obsessed with seagulls. Not long after his death a seagull began to frequent their home in the wood of Maine, near the Canadian border.
One summer Ben started working on a 7,500 piece puzzle. By the end of summer, he was one piece away from the end. Only, the piece was gone. Annoyed, he thought he must have knocked it to the floor. He searched all around the table and came up with nothing.
When he had stopped looking he returned to the table noticing a stain he hadn't seen before. "It was funny because it was shaped like a puzzle piece. Just out of sheer curiosity, I traced it onto a piece of paper, and put it under the puzzle where the missing piece was; It was an exact match." Ben said it was probably just a coincidence but he likes to think it was Russel, pulling one last prank to say goodbye. "The stain has faded since then, and I can still see it if I look hard enough."
Since Russel's death, his house in the Northwoods of Maine has had a seagull come to visit every summer since.
Time, Temperature, and the Dead
In Portland Maine, there is a famous building called the Time and Temperature building. The fourteen-floor high-rise is accentuated with an electric billboard that shows what time it is and the temperature
outside. The
building itself
is filled with
radio stations
and businesses
alike. And
apparently, the
dead.
In the building, there have been reports of a female ghost that roams the halls and has an interest in elevators. This brought the attention of Wicked Walking Tours, a ghost walking tour company in Portland. After adding Time and Temp to their stop list the media picked it up as a Special Report.
My father and I decided to take a trip to the building to talk to people in person. Upon arriving there, around five in the afternoon, almost all of the shops were closed. One store all the way in the back of the building was just getting ready to close up. Appropriately named Little Ghost Vintage, the proprietor of the shop had a lot to say.
She had been a witness to the elevator accounts herself, reporting to see them open and close by themselves and move when no one has called them. Not only that, but she has had experiences in her shop. Hearing people walking, or even hearing the door open and close on its own. She told me that a few days before a woman came in the back entrance to her shop. Claiming to be a psychic, the woman told her of a female spirit that wanted to be acknowledged.
Excited from the story I thanked her, collected my father, and started to leave. On the way out we thought to take some pictures of the building. Dad held up his camera phone and snap, snap, snap. I asked him why he was taking so many pictures, and he said he wasn't. As we stood there, in the empty building his camera phone took picture after picture on its own.
Ghosts, Aliens, and Bigfoots, Oh My.
Interview with Debbie from Coastal
Maine Paranormal Society
Q. First of all, what do you consider a paranormal event or thing? So many people have different opinions about what is or is not paranormal, like aliens or bigfoot. I'd love to hear different perspectives. Also, is there anything you don't believe in?
A. I consider ghosts/spirits, ESP, and telekinesis paranormal. Although I do have {an} interest in aliens, Bermuda Triangle, bigfoot, other folklore, etc. I like to keep an open mind.
Q. When you and your team enter a location to do an investigation what process do you take? Is there an order to what you do? What do you need to make sure is done before, during, and after an investigation?
A. Usually, we are contacted by a client via e-mail so the first thing the team does is check if they are on social media to do a little background check. The next step is to interview via phone or visit and fill out a questionnaire and ask them what they expect from an investigation. After the interview, the team decides if this is a case we want to take on. We may do more research on the property and the residence depending on the case. Safety is important to us so we may even do a background check . The day of the investigation we meet, check our equipment and assign duties to everyone for set up, investigation, and break down. We decide who will be analyzing the video and audio from the DVR system so they have it at the end of the investigation to take with them after the investigation. When we arrive at the client's site we assess the area for safety and then have the client walk up through, note any claims, and ask them what are the concerns. After the walk through the team meets and confers about the best plan to address all concerns, take pictures, baseline reading, diagram site, note weather, etc. As a team, we decide where to set up base and where the IR cameras will be placed and proceed to set up. We have a checklist to follow and send usually one pair at a time(one female, one male) to investigate. We always have 2 people watching the monitors to note times and places investigators are and anything that is unusual. We rotate teams through and break to discuss any changes that need to be made or places that need a second look. Once we feel that we have addressed all the claims we break down the equipment. We always have a digital voice recorder recording the entire investigation even when we are breaking down. We have checklists for all equipment to ensure we leave nothing behind. One person is in charge of putting each channel from the DVR on USB drives and the digital recorder that went along with the video and giving them to the assigned person for review. Each of us carries our own digital voice recorder and/or camcorder and is responsible for review. Typically we spend 6 hours on site. We review the evidence individually and save audio and video clips to share at a meeting usually 2 weeks after the investigation. We go down the checklist of claims and share any audio or video we have. We then decide if any evidence we found it without a doubt paranormal. We then make an appointment with the client.The last thing we do is have two team members present the evidence paranormal or not to the client in person. If there is something we cannot help them with we provide them with other resources. The client is told they can contact us with any questions.
Q. There are so many different shows about this on TV now, do you watch any of them? What are your opinions on them?
A. Of course, I watch them LOL. I have always been interested in the paranormal so I love to watch. I take them with a grain of salt, reality TV is for entertaining. I do like to watch to see what equipment and techniques they use and the places they investigate. I took a Paranormal 101 class with Kristyn Gartland from Ghost Hunters at TAPS in RI and also spent a weekend at the Spalding Inn, the Inn that Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson ran, so I do watch Ghost Hunters.
Q. Have you ever had a personal experience? Goor or bad?
A. I have not had any personal experiences, but all of my team members have.
Q. What is something that sticks out to you the most about being an investigator? Do you think that it's something anyone can do?
A. I have a science background and I am lucky to be on a team that is like minded. My goal is to help my clients feel safe in their homes and maybe catch something paranormal in the process.
Q. What got you started doing this? Do you consider it a hobby? Do you have a "day” job?
A. My Grandmother was a huge influence on me and perking my interest in the paranormal. She would share books and stories with me and talk about her experiences. As a child, my sister and I would use the Ouija board and it was a fascination to me on how it worked. In 2009 my sister approached me and asked if I wanted to start a paranormal group, she had experiences as a child and wanted to join a group but could not find one that was science based. No, it is not a hobby to me. I am an educator by day, all the team members are professionals.
Q. Has your personal life ever been affected by an investigation?
A. Yes, investigating is stressful at times, we only have one night to get it right. Also, we are trying to help people feel safe in their homes and we feel that the faster we go through the evidence, the faster we can help the client. That means hours of listening and watching {the} video so sometimes I miss family events.
Q. Do you do research on the property? Before or after?
A. Yes, we do research before. We like to have a little background, we just did an investigation in a town that had a lot of turmoil in its history. We try to do a much as we can online, but sometimes we have to go to historical societies to find information. We also encourage the client to do the same. We also use ancestry.com.
Q. Has your group ever worked with psychics or sensitives as part of an investigation?
A. We have an empathic on our team who wants to go in that direction so she is starting her own group. She still investigates with us when she can. Our team is science based but sensitives tend to make clients feel comfortable during and after an investigation.
Q. Is there anything else you want to tell me or think that I should know?
A. I am the skeptic of my team, everyone else has had experiences as children and some still are experiencing thing to this day. I have no reason to believe that what they have experienced did not happen to them.
Cryptozoology and the Legend of Bigfoot
Jason, a member of a group called the Crypto Crew, studies cryptozoology. Cryptozoology is the investigation of animals unknown by science,
such as the Loch Ness
Monster, Champ, or
even Bigfoot. His
primary subject is
looking proof of the
existence of the
creature known as
bigfoot.
The primary objective of Jason's efforts is the safety of the animals he studies. When talking to Jason about his passion he pointed out that he didn't want to be famous or get rich off some discovery, his real passion is saving the animals by raising awareness and gaining proof of Bigfoot.
Jason had always been interested in unknown animals, especially Bigfoot. He watched the forest closely, hoping someday to catch a glimpse of this famous creature. He might have gotten his wish in March of 2012. Jason told me his story.
"1:45 pm... I was walking my dog on a very rural road in the town I live in, and my dog froze, trembling. I looked in the direction he was looking, and after a couple seconds, I saw
movement about 100
yards from the road,
at which point, I took
out my phone and
took a photo. A few
more seconds went
by, and the dog was
whimpering, obviously very frightened. The figure that I saw moving then stood up, turned away, took a few steps on 2 legs, turned back around and looked me right in the eye. t then continued to walk away through the trees. As it was walking away, I saw its head bump a tree branch, and I made a mental note. After taking the dog home and returning to the site, I went to the limb that I saw move after the subject brushed it with its head. I had a tape measure on me when I came back, and measured the limb. It was 9' 4" from the ground. That places the figure that I saw at about 9' 6" by my estimation."
After that experience, he found himself using every minute of free time in the woods or learning everything he can about this creature. Jason joined the Crypto Crew not long after his experience in the woods and since has had some interesting findings. "I went on to win several paranormal awards, including researcher of the year, investigator of the
year, and photo of
the year. I have
appeared on local
radio, internet radio
shows, and I was at
the taping of an
episode of Animal
Planet's 'Finding Bigfoot.'"
He stresses that he doesn't want to come off as bragging, but just to show that people in the Bigfoot community support his findings as legitimate.
"My belief is that Sasquatch is NOT the 'missing link' but another branch of primate evolution altogether. It is not, in my opinion only, related to a race of prehistoric apes called Gigantopithicus. These were 10 foot + tall giant gorilla-like primates that lived perhaps as far back as 9 million years ago up to as recently as 100,000 years ago. My belief is that it's closer to human than ape, considering it's lack of an opposable big toe, as apes have, it's general upright way of locomotion, and it's ability to make a home in varied environments. The giant ape was found only in bamboo forests of Asia..."
Jason says that biologically speaking, the creature has high chances of being more closely related to humans than apes, but so far there is a need of more proof.
(All info reported evidence, photos and video used are the property of Jason and the Crypto Crew. Copying or use of pictures is forbidden unless under express permission by Jason or the Crypto Crew.)
Tale from a Tired Tour Guide
The Longfellow house, located in downtown Portland, housed one of Maine's most famous Poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Built in 1785, the last occupant, Longfellow's sister lived in the house until 1901. Now a Maine historical site, it is also rumored to be haunted. Even though they don't know who the spirit could be, there have been many claims of unexplained events taking places inside the old house.
A tour guide that works in the house when it is open in the spring and summer months had one such experience. Although he doesn't like to assume it's paranormal, and blames the late hour and being tired. The guide stated that his nightly routine is to secure the house and close the interior shutters, latching them before leaving. One night, he specifically remembers going through each room and doing just that before leaving. When he returned in the morning he went through all of the rooms finding the shutters closed, but unlatched.
Even with this experience, he doesn't like to claim the building haunted. He chalks it up to pure exhaustion. He said that he has heard stories of the alarms going off or lights turning on when no one is in the building, and although he explains his experiences, he offered no explanation for that.