Specimens in the Shed

Imagine you are eleven years old, you and the kids from your small town are out exploring the woods because there isn’t much else to do. In your journeys you come across an old shed and curiosity gets the better of you. What is inside leaves you so unnerved that as soon as you can you move away from the place your family has called home for over 100 years. This is exactly what transpired when Adelaide McPherson, Addie for short, and her friends stumbled across an old shed in the woods nearly forty years ago.

Garfield Plantation in Northern Maine

Garfield Plantation is a tiny town in northern Maine, the population as of the 2010 census was a whopping 81 people. As you can probably guess it is a place that appreciates a slower pace, one where you can lose yourself in the natural beauty of our state. Addie remembers her time growing up in Garfield Plantation fondly. Except for what she and her friends discovered in the woods all those years ago.The children of Garfield Plantation formed a close bond, they would always ride the miles between their houses and meet up to play in the woods. Addie walked us through what it was like “Its not like kids are today where they are always on their iphones, or playing nintendos, we made our own fun. We girls would pick flowers, and bake ‘mud pies’, one time Jimmy Erickson chipped a tooth on one cause it had a rock inside it. We laughed a lot when that happened.”  

The shed was on the border of the property of the Erickson family she told us, and they didn’t even like the kids playing back there. “They were worried about us playing on the rusty old farm equipment that was parked out beyond the back field in the tree line, but I think deep down they knew that something else was going on out there.”  The kids stumbled upon the shed one day in mid-summer, and were quickly intrigued by it, “Jimmy didn’t even know about it, or why it was there, and it was basically on his family’s property” Addie told us. “Carl who was the bravest of us, probably the dumbest too, but no one minded cause he was the one who dealt with all the gross stuff, nests of snakes, big old cobwebs, and the like. Well Carl he runs right up to the shed and tries to open the door, it had this big iron door, which was odd, but it was basically rusted right to the frame. So he goes around to one of the windows, they were this thick tinted glass, like thicker than the bottom of an old fashioned coke bottle, and peeks inside.” The kids quickly gathered around him and what they saw inside the shed was shelves up shelves of jars, filled with liquid and all sort of odds and ends that were hard to identify through the thick tinted glass. 

The door was rusted shut, like this

“We hatched a plan right then” said Addie. “Carl and Jimmy were going to grab some tools from their dads and the next day we were going to get into that shed and see what it was all about. On the way home the boys wouldn’t stop talking about it, guessing what the shed was for, the top theory was it was an old moonshiners shed, and they were thrilled at the prospect of getting a taste of moonshine from one of those jars.” 

The next day the kids all gathered together, “Jimmy had brought a hammer and a screwdriver, hoping to pop the hinges off the door. Carl had brought a crowbar, so he could try to pry it open, or worst case break a few windows and climb in.” But when the kids reached the shed the door was already ajar. Slowly, one by one, with Carl in the lead they entered the shed and gawked at the shelves upon shelves of jars. 

Addie says the jars were similar
to this type

Each was about three quarters filled with “a thick green liquid” Addie said. But the contents besides the liquid in each jar were completely different. “Lots of parts and pieces from animals and things. I shiver just thinking about it. Little tiny eyes, bones, tufts of fur. But there was bigger stuff too. This one jar had a big piece of antler, a long white feather, and what looked like a finger, but I really hope it wasn’t. Another was a bit odd as it had a metal bolt in it, what looked like the ear of a wolf or a big cat, and an eye that looked just a little too human for my taste.They boys were in awe though, they couldn’t stop oohing and awwing, one would pick up a jar and slosh it towards the other, and the other would push them away, and it would start all over. Jimmy was about to scare Carl with one particularly nasty jar full of what looked like teeth, but he dropped it and it shattered all over the floor. After that we booked it away from the shed, I never wanted to go back. I didn’t want to think about the kind of person that would have a shed like that, why would they collect all those things?”

Addie never felt comfortable in her home town again, not knowing if a neighbor she knew and loved was the one collecting weird trophies, or if there was some madman who lived in the woods. “The boys went back to the shed a few times after that but they said by the end of the summer all the jars had been taken from the shed, the only evidence they had ever been there was the stain the green liquid had left and little shards of glass.” 

Is there a mad scientist, or scientist wanna be in the woods of northern Maine, was it a disturbed neighbor, a naturalist who didn’t like visitors? Who can say what it was, but it is definitely odd. If you have stories similar to Addie's please reach out, we would like to know if this phenomenon continued. Stay safe out there, Maine!

My Daughter the Telekinetic

Calling all MMers, we have a reader who needs our help! Everett from Saco has written to us that his daughter has been exhibiting some strange phenomenon.  Everett says that his daughter Clara is three years old and for the first couple years of her life everything was completely normal, but lately some strange things have been happening in their home. 

Who wouldn't want some Oreos?

We called Everett and he told us his concerns, “The first time I noticed it was with the cookies. We keep the sweets up high so she can’t sneak any, I mean this shelf is up there, my wife has to stand on a chair to reach it. And one day I just see Clara walking around non-chalantly with this huge family pack of Oreos. We know she didn’t climb on a chair because…”  Everetts wife Vicky who was listening on the line as well piped up at this moment. “We know she didn’t climb because not only would she not be able to reach the shelf by standing on the counter but to even get on the counter she would need to pull a chair into the kitchen all the way from the dining room. And when we moved we specifically bought heavy oak chairs so the kids couldn’t move them around too easily.” 

“But the cookies were just the first thing, I brushed if off, maybe the cat had knocked them down or something. But last week during our bedtimes after we had read a few books I kissed Clara goodnight and shut the light off and closed her door gently. As soon as the door was closed the light popped back on. There is no way she instantaneously got out of bed, ran over to the light and flicked them on. She had to have done it from her bed.” 

At this point Everett and Vicky got quiet, and I heard a sniff over the line as if someone was trying not to cry. “So you think she has some sort of ability that lets her move things with her mind?” “Yes,” Vicky said. “She seems to have some sort of telekinesis, we had to look it up, the word for it I mean. Its a rare thing but according to a few Facebook groups I found, it is possible.” 

What is the human mind capable of?

Everett took a deep breath and then said “We were just hoping you could put this on your blog, so maybe some other readers could see it and spread the word, or even if one of them knows how to deal with this sort of thing, you could put us in contact with them? We love Clara to death, but this kind of ability is terrifying, we just want to make sure she has a normal life, and to do that we have to figure out what to do with this thing.”

If you or anyone you know has any sort of experience or expertise with psychic abilities or telekinesis please write to us here at Malevolent Maine and we will pass on your contact information to this distraught family. We need you MMers, stay safe out there, Maine!

Reed Music

Eyes open, MMers!

It's that time of year, and we thought we'd pass on a curious story we had sent to us here, at Malevolent Maine. This one involves those swampy, marshy places that seem to pop up all over the place for the few months of mud season, sorry, Spring, but are gone by summer. Here's, Terry from Newfield:

"Those little swampy spots have always freaked me out, ever since I was a kid. My old man told me there were water moccasins in the water and quicksand. He told me about a kid he knew when he was a boy who got stuck in a quicksand pit and died. But that's not what freaks me out. That's just common sense. No, it's the reeds that gives me the willies."

That's right: the reeds. Terry recounts how as a boy he was out playing near one of those swampy patches that formed along the river behind his grandparents' house. He was staying well back from the actual water, remembering the lessons his dad taught him, when he sense something watching him. He looked to the reeds, thinking that would be a great place for someone, or something, to hide, but he couldn't see anything.

That's when he heard it. High-pitched, thin flute-like sounds floated faintly towards him. His first thought was that it was the sounds of the reeds blowing in the wind. But there was no wind; it was a totally calm day. Terry went back to whatever he was doing. Soon he heard it again, coming from another cluster of reeds. Again, he felt like he was being watched.

"It was like being stalked."

"It was like a song," Terry told us. "But not. It was like a madman's idea of what a song should be. It was like one of those backwards played song."

The song kept fading and coming back, always from a different cluster of reeds. It lasted for maybe twenty minutes, and the entire time Terry continued to feel like he was being watched. Finally, he ran back to the house.

He thought nothing of it until ten years later when he was out fishing along a marshy stretch of river. "I heard it again. Same weirdo music, same feeling of being watched." Terry heard it a third time when he was out hunting when he was forty-five. He never saw anything, but the overwhelming sense of danger always made him leave the area quickly. 

"It was like being stalked," Terry said. "Like one of those lion shows on tv. Except I wasn't the lion, I was the deer or whatever. And that music... I've never heard anything like it. It's... it's hard to even explain, but it didn't sound like it came from this world. Like it was something from another world or whatever."

And here's the part that really freaked us out, MMers. 

"It doesn't make any sense, but that weird flute music... it sounded like a growl."

What was hiding in the reeds?

Stay safe out there Maine!

Beware the Portly Man

As we near the summer months and the tourists begin to arrive, I feel the need to remind you all of the strange encounters many people have had over the years with the Portly Man. Each summer at least one or two people, native Mainers and tourists alike, report long unwilling roadtrips with a rather rotund, older gentleman. Whatever this being is, they don't seem to be malevolent, everyone even though they don't agree to go on the trip reports having a grand ol' time. However they are gone for days or even weeks at a time and at the complete mercy of the Portly Man. They say he takes them to wine tastings, art exhibits, small arthouse plays, and antique shops. Once he has had his fill of their company the Portly man often drops them off somewhere in the Old Port, and they soon regain their faculties and find their way home. Most people are uninjured and genuinely feel a strong connection to the old man, but they never see him again.

So if you are are spending your summer vacation in Maine this year please be aware of the strange danger/opportunity the Portly Man represents. He will not harm you but you will be away from friends, and family for an undetermined amount of time, while he takes you on his little adventure. If you would like to avoid the Portly Man, these are the types of locations he typically appears at:

1. Amateur Plays (Schools, Small Productions)
2. Yard Sales
3. Breweries and Wine Tastings
4. Portland Museum of Art (and other similar locations)
5. Antique Stores and Pawn Shops

An artists rendition of the Portly Man

The vehicle the Portly Man drives

Stay safe out there, Maine, avoid the Portly Man, unless you feel like having the trip of a lifetime!

The Pamola

Broccoli field in Northern Maine

Raul is a fairly accomplished hunter and outdoorsman, he's hunted all over the state of Maine and even taken several trips out west to hunt various game out there. Never in his life has he seen anything like what he saw on a grey Tuesday afternoon last October. Raul was out in the broccoli fields of northern Maine, he had discovered several years ago that it was where moose liked to spend a lot of time, and that was exactly what he was after.

It was getting towards dusk and Raul just wasn’t having much luck, he had seen a small bull but he really wanted to fill his freezer this year. But just as he was about to give up he saw a pair of large tracks leading into a nearby thicket of saplings. He quickly followed them, but as he did an uneasy feeling settled into the pit of his stomach, something wasn’t right about these footprints. The pattern of the footfalls was wrong for a moose, whatever this creature was, it only walked on two legs. Raul laughed to himself and was fairly certain another moose hunter was pranking him, or maybe these fake hoofprints were meant to steer novice hunters away from the prime real estate. Either way Raul felt like he had been duped. 

But luck still seemed to be on his side, he heard something large rusting through the brush nearby and when he looked up he saw the large antlers of a moose weaving in and out of the saplings just up ahead. The antlers were pretty high up and had a great spread, Raul guessed it was big enough to fill a couple freezers, and he began to stalk the beast, until he could get a good broadside shot on it. 

There was a clearing in the thicket as it opened into the path to the broccoli field and Raul hoped that the big bastard would wander its way out there. He kneeled down near the end of the thicket and got ready for when the moose made its exit. What he saw next was unexpected. There was the head, large, black eyed, with a towering set of antlers. But attached to that head was the long gangly torso and legs of a human man. Out of the back of this creature their sprouted two long blackish brown protrusions that hung limp all the way down to its knees. To the top of its antlers the creature was probably close to nine feet tall. 

A tattoo design based on the Pamola

Raul held his breath, lowered his rifle, and waited for the thing to pass. “It was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever seen, it was unnatural, I don’t know how many times I made the sign of the cross after it left” Raul said. “As much as I wanted to forget it, I couldn’t, I remembered its black eyes, I remembered it swaying back and forth as it walked, I remember those dead things sticking out of its back. I still dream about seeing it, and everytime I wake up in a cold sweat.” Raul’s obsession led to him researching sightings of this creature, and slowly he remembered his time in the boy scouts, when he and his troop had climbed Mt. Katahdin. “We climbed up Pamola Peak, and I remember as we stopped for water one of the dad’s told us all about this ancient Abenaki myth about a man with the head of a moose and the wings of an eagle. It was a Pamola, an ancient guardian of the land. I don’t know if what I saw in the woods was it, or some creepy imitation, but I don’t want to see it ever again.”

We did some research and we confirmed the mythology behind this sighting. It is in fact an Abenaki legend, although it is usually tied to the area around Mt. Katahdin, and where Raul sighted the creature was quite a few miles away from there. There is also the fact that the creature Raul saw had no wings, or at the very least its wings had decayed past the point of use. 

Either way, be on the lookout for the Pamola, and stay safe out there Maine!

Ticks, Black Flies, and Witches, OH MY!

It's getting to be that season MMers, ticks and black flies are out in full force. But are the pests accosting you just part of the natural season cycle or are you being targeted by disgruntled neighbors, coworkers, or ex’s? Reports have reached us here at Malevolent Maine that there is a coven of witches operating somewhere in Southern Maine. This coven in order to make enough money to pay for exotic supplies is taking orders for hex totems that draw pests such as ticks and black flies to unsuspecting homes. 

What a totem could look like

We interviewed someone who was a new potential member of this coven who ultimately decided against joining. She told us her name was Talia, but also said that wasn’t her real name. “Well I’ve always been super into the occult and alternative lifestyles, but once I was actually in with these people I realized how weird they were.” Talia told us about strange initiation rituals where they had to kill small animals such as squirrels and rabbits, and make trinkets and totems out of their bones. “It was pretty icky” she said, “I was really uncomfortable the whole time, but some of the other people were really into it.” Some of these totems would then be used to hold the hexes that bring pests down on unsuspecting people.  

What a totem could look like

The leader of this coven was known simply as the Betrothed. “When I asked why she was called that, I was told it was the highest title of the coven. It meant she was like literally engaged to marry the devil, like satan you know? And that sketched me out.” Talia said that after a few weeks she started trying to figure out how to get out of the group. “Eventually I told them that I couldn’t participate anymore because my dad was sick. He wasn’t, but it was the only way I could figure out how to get out of all that. They offered to heal him but it would take more than a few little animals, but I declined.” 

Talia says that if you are experiencing any sort of curse or hex be sure to look around your home/property for small totems made of sticks or bones, tied with hair or strips of leather. This is most likely the source of the misfortune befalling you. She also warns against joining any sort of occult group “It seems fun at first, and sometimes you feel powerful, but eventually they will ask you to do something you aren’t comfortable with. It isn’t worth it.”  

Check your house for these totems, avoid occult groups, and stay safe out there, Maine!

First Crinkle Face Sighting in Maine

Sorry to start the week with such bad news, but we at Malevolent Maine have been informed that the nationwide phenomenon known as Crinkle Face has made its first appearance in Maine. A University of Maine student returning from Spring Break has been taken to a mental health facility in Augusta after experiencing symptoms of the Crinkle Face Phenomenon. For those of you who are unaware, Crinkle Face is a phenomenon of unknown origin, it easily spreads from person to person, and eventually causes a psychotic break down which can lead to violent behavior. The person infected begins to see their reflection in a distorted way (we will include an artists interpretation below), then they begin to see others the same way, until eventually they snap and commit heinous crimes. It is unknown if the student at the university spread Crinkle Face to anyone else, but we will continue to monitor the situation.

Signs to be aware of if you think someone you know might be developing Crinkle Face:
1. Complaining about seeing odd things out of the corner of their eye
2. Avoiding mirrors or other reflective surfaces
3. Increased agitation or paranoia
4. Violent outbursts
5. Mutilation of their own face.

If anyone you know develops or displays any of the above symptoms please do not go near them and immediately report them to the authoritiies. Stay safe out there, Maine, don't get Crinkled!

Artist interpretation of what a person experiencing the Crinkle Face Phenomenon sees.