by Sally
The haunted farm house--complete with frightening Jack-o-Lantern.
Rocky and I have the best hog’s-eye view of our favorite event on the National Colonial Farm: Twilight Tales. The freak snowstorm that blew through Maryland last weekend postponed the annual event, which celebrates Halloween with a haunted farm house and frightening encounters with ghouls, ghosts, and otherwise lost souls from Colonial Maryland. But what a night it turned out to be!
My finely tuned ears picked up the sounds of songs and stories from the fishing pier, just as the sun set over Mount Vernon. My only request to fabulous storyteller Ann Ramsey—which she honored—was that her spooky stories not include any references to hog killing or pork barbecue. When I saw the boiling cauldron hung over the fire pit near the field that we call home, I got a little nervous. Fortunately, nothing went into the pot (nothing earthly, that is).
Just one of the lost souls that haunts Colonial Maryland.
Visitors seemed in a hurry to leave the haunted farm house, and I can’t blame them. I heard tell of scary sounds coming from the attic and closet, a ghostly little girl who laughed to herself in the corner of the hall, and an animated corpse who sat straight up in bed! But when visitors arrived at the tobacco house, they lingered, as one strange character after another emerged from the barn to discuss just how and why they were executed. When these ghosts began to search for dance partners in the crowd, everyone scurried away, only to be spooked by a woman locked in a gibbet, begging to be let out. (My boyfriend, Tim “Cute Blacksmith” Buckley, made the very cool—if a bit frightening—gibbet). Then, out of the Tavern of Lost Souls, burst Matt Mattingly as two-time murderer-turned-innkeeper, tasked with the chore of introducing the “soul”mates he is stuck serving. The candlelit trip down Cedar Lane wasn’t entirely absent of ghosts, but we were able to make it back to reality. It was a squealin’ good time—although next year, I want a starring role.