Missing in Acadia

A lot of the stories we write about on Malevolent Maine are pretty dark, but this one is spooky for a lot of different reasons. So be warned, MMers, this one may disturb you.

Maine is a beautiful state with many scenic places to go visit. There are thirty-two state parks in Maine. There's only one National Park however: Acadia National Park. Our story starts there, but as we soon found out, it didn't end there. 

Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island

On June 12th, 2003, seven year old Nicholas Adams disappeared from his campsite. Nicholas was camping with his parents, Jim and Robin, and his aunt and uncle, Cathy and Sam Ferguson, and their two children, Billy, 6, and Amanda, 9. They were staying at the Blackwoods campground in Acadia National Park, hiking, swimming, and enjoying nature. 

Nicholas Adam, 2003

The kids were playing together while the parents relaxed around a small campfire. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon and they had recently come back from a hike. The kids were playing hide and seek with one another. Nicholas was the "seeker" and both of his cousins could hear him coming through the woods just behind the campsite.

Little Nicholas never found his cousins, and soon afterward, they both gave up and trudged back to the campsite, complaining about their cousin. Soon after the adults began to worry. They quickly searched the area around the campsite, shouting for Nicholas. They called 911 and Search and Rescue teams were soon dispatched. Over one hundred people searched for three days with no sign of Nicholas. Bloodhounds got two different scent trails but both of them led nowhere. Nicholas had vanished.

He remained missing until just last week. For eighteen years no trace of Nicholas Adams was ever discovered. There were no scraps of clothing, no bone fragments, nothing to indicate Nicholas had ever even been in the area. That changed last week when on July 19th hikers discovered some remains on Sargent Mountain, about six miles away from Blackwoods campground. The hikers found the remains in a rocky area, a stretch of the mountain that is quite steep and a moderately difficult climb.

They found one of Nicholas's sneakers partially hidden by a rock, the torn remains of his pants, and a single human tooth. Forensic scientists are still working to determine whether the tooth belongs to Nicholas Adams, but there is no denying the clothing is his: his initials had been written on both the tag of his pants and his sneaker. There were no traces of blood or DNA on the clothing. There is also very little wear and tear on the clothes. They do not look like they have been sitting on the side of a mountain for the past eighteen years.

The investigation remains ongoing and we'll update you as we learn more.

In our research for this blog post, we uncovered some interesting statistics. Every year in Maine about one hundred people go missing. California, on the other hand, leads the nation with over 2,000. The Adams disappearance isn't the first case of a missing person in Acadia National Park. There have been two other missing persons cases from Maine's only National Park and both of, though separated by over fifty years with Nicholas Adams' disappearance are strangely similar.

On August 20, 1983, three year old Bret Walker disappeared while hiking Cadillac Mountain with his parents. They were taking an easy trail, not taking the hike too seriously, just going as far as they thought they could with little Bret. At one point, both parents took their eyes off their son, just for a minute or two. They soon realized Brett was gone. Again, a search was conducted, no trace of Brett Walker was found. His parents were considered prime suspects but were later cleared by police. Bloodhounds were called in and led rescuers to a certain section of Cadillac Mountain, but then would go no further. According to reports, both hounds laid down on the ground and whimpered. They had to be dragged off the mountain. No trace of Bret Walker was ever found.

Anthony Stearns, right, 1956

Again, in July of 1956, five year old Anthony Stearns went missing while fishing with his grandfather near Bubble Pond. As with the other cases, Anthony simple disappeared. A fisherman several yards from where Anthony and his grandfather, Michael Stearns were fishing, told police that he saw the boy right around the time he disappeared. He didn't have any fishing gear and he asked the man if there were any bears in these woods before walking off in the opposite direction from where he had come from. That man was the last known person to see Anthony alive. An extensive search and rescue operation was undertaken, with over fifty volunteers combing the area where the boy was last seen. Nine months later, Anthony's body was discovered two miles from the shore where he had been fishing, in an area that would have proven difficult for a five year old to climb to, but one that had been searched multiple times by the rescuers. There was no apparent cause of death - Anthony had sustained no injuries of any kind. The National Parks Service deemed his death an attack by a mountain lion, though there was never any strong evidence of this.

Allan Dwight (middle) in 1995 with cousins after his rescue

There was one other case we found while doing our research and this is the one that began to turn us onto this really being a Malevolent Maine story our readers would want to know about. This one is pretty similar to the other three. In 1994, Allan Dwight went missing while hiking with his parents on Pemetic Mountain. Fairly similar to Bret Walker, in '83, his parents' attention drifted away for a moment or two and they realized that Allan was no longer behind them. They began a frantic search involving the park service and local authorities. Thirty hours later he was discovered, alive, tired and hungry, a mile and a half from where he had first gone missing in difficult terrain that would have proved all but impossible to a child. Again, this was a place rescuers had scoured earlier.

When asked what happened, Allan Dwight told police that he had seen someone who looked like his grandfather who had told the boy to follow him. They hiked off the path for what felt likes miles tot he boy until they came to a cave or a room of some kind, Allan wasn't quite sure. The boy claimed there were machines all over the floor that looked to him like, "broken spaceships or robots" and he saw weapons on the walls, though when pressed for more information about these weapons or what they were, he could provide no other information. 

He claimed that inside the cave or room the person he thought was his grandfather turned to him, and now his eyes began to glow, "like there was a lightbulb inside his head." The boy realized the person wasn't his grandfather and started to get scared. He claims the man told him not to worry, that he had been chosen, and that "though he had grown in his mother's womb, he was not destined for this world." Those are exact words that five year old Allen Dwight told investigators, not the typical fare for five year old boys in the 90s. 

Furthermore, Allan told police that the man had placed his hands on Allan's shoulders and squeezed really hard. That was the last thing Allan remembered and when he woke up he was alone in the woods just before he was discovered by the rescuers. Allan did have scratches of some kind on his shoulders, but investigators believe it was from a tree or a branch or perhaps something that Allan climbed beneath.

Police determined that Allan's grandfather, who was along on the trip but had remained back in the campsite, could be ruled out as a potential suspect. The grandfather had been in the camp the entire time, talking with someone in the neighboring campsite. Though he did tell investigators that the night before Allan went missing he had gotten up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. He said he felt a man's hand clamp down on his neck and whisper something in his ear, though he couldn't understand the words. Then he was gone. The grandfather assumed it was just someone who had too much to drink, but he did have a bruise on the back of his neck.

So what is stalking young children in Acadia National Park? Could it be a coincidence? Over active imagination and wild animals? Could it be purely human predators? Perhaps, but here's where things get even darker.

It turns out that hundreds of people, most of them young children, go inexplicably missing from National Parks each year. In fact, there are over 10,000 unsolved missing persons cases just from National Parks all over the country, places that many consider to be safe, family-friendly places, maintained by the U.S. government. Many of the stories are similar to the ones we uncovered from Acadia. Some eerily so. Researcher David Paulides, in his book series, Missing 411 (of which at least documentaries have also been made), details many of these cases. In fact, the disappearance of Bret Walker is documented in his book, Missing 411: Eastern United States. These books are a little hard to come by, but any intrepid researchers can find them on Amazon, though be prepared to pay a hefty price.

In many of these cases, including the ones here in Maine, the police seem cagey, almost flippant about their investigations. They seem to latch on to the simplest theory and run with it, despite lack of evidence to corroborate said theories. Often times in these cases the FBI or the military is called in to help with an investigation. These are duties regularly scheduled for National Guardsmen, but in plenty of these cases armed active Green Berets have been called in. What might these authorities know that they're not saying?

As Paulides alludes to in his books, it appears that something paranormal may be preying upon children in our National Parks. Could it be that something has been here, maybe has always been here and that it or they roam our National Parks, occasionally taking children for some nefarious purpose? Perhaps - and this is pure speculation on our parts, here - perhaps that is why the National Parks were first established, as a way to contain and track whatever it is that is taking the children.

What is taking children at our National Parks?

Sobering thoughts, MMers. To date, the National Parks Service does not maintain a list of missing persons, something repeatedly called for by the families of the missing. Perhaps if the data were readily available, people might reconsider their next family vacation.

Stay safe out there, Maine.

Rapid Fire - June 2021

Welcome to summer MMer’s, check out these stories, it's another Rapidfire!

• Body in the Gravel: With all the road work going on right now to fix all those damn potholes, there are gravel trucks everywhere. One road crew led by Larry Ouellette reported to us that they had an awful scare. As they were spreading out the gravel they uncovered what looked like a human arm sticking out of the pile, it was covered in scrapes and cuts as if it had been through the blender, “we all took a few minutes to settle our nerves called our supervisor” Larry told us, “but when we went back to dig out the rest of the body, there wasn’t nothing there at all, like it got up and walked off on its own.” Was this some prank from a fellow road worker, a body that someone dragged off, or something more sinister, something undead?  Either way be on the lookout for strange things as you pass road work this summer

The model of table Bernie owns

• The Bonebiter: Bernie is a massage therapist in Lewiston, he booked a new client a few weeks ago and he has major regrets about that. The man seemed normal enough at first, said he had thrown out his back a month or so ago and really needed some massage for pain relief. “He said he was nervous cause he had never gotten a massage before, asked me if I would just stand by him for a minute or two before I started and hold his hand. So here I am sitting in this guy’s living room holding his hand, when he leans over and sinks his teeth into my forearm.” Bernie immediately drew back from the man and pushed the massage table over, catapulting the man onto the floor, the man quickly grabbed his clothes and ran from the house, as Bernie ran to his car locked his doors and called the police. “I gave them the guy’s information but, they couldn’t find any record of him and it wasn’t even his house, it was up for sale but he had apparently removed the for sale sign before I got there.” Bernie went to the ER after and had his arm treated, he complained of deep pain in his arm so they did an X-ray, apparently the man’s teeth had actually sunk into the bone, and left it full of micro-fractures. Bernie is still recovering, “first I had to fight the infection off, now I  have to wait for the bones to heal. The whole time I have just felt terrible, I have no energy, I’m tired all the time. I just wish I had avoided that client.” If you are a massage therapist in the Lewiston Auburn area, please be careful as you book clients, this man is still at large, we can only hope that he has stopped biting bones!

A photo of Emily from last month

• Girl from Nothing: We need your help MMers! This story comes to us from Emily Thomas who was raised in the Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers in Waterville. Emily, like most people who grow up in her situation, is trying to find her biological family. However the weird part is, no one who works or who has worked previously at the Children’s Home has any recollection of how Emily came to be there. There are no documents that show when she arrived or who dropped her off. The state has no record of her parents or even a birth certificate for her, she has never been issued a social security card either. Officially she doesn’t exist and yet she is a living breathing human being. We will include a picture here of what she looks like now but there are no pictures of her as a child, but all the employees remember that she has been in the Children’s Home since she was four years old. If you know of any children dropped off at the Children's Home in Waterville around 16 years ago, please get into contact with us. 

• Homeless Prophet: Multiple people have reported that there is a man roaming around Portland talking about fate. Everyone who reports interacting with him says he doesn’t seem drunk, or under the influence in any way, he speaks eloquently and doesn’t display any odd behaviors, all he does is approach people and talk with them. His favorite topic is how time is fixed, that people will always make the same choices, the future cannot be changed, fate is inescapable. He tells people that he was always meant to live a vagrant life, he tried to have a family, a job, a home and it just wasn’t meant to be. He says he has seen his own future, and as long as he spreads his message of fate being set, something good will happen to him. If you are in Portland and want to hear more of his message, seek him out, buy him a meal and settle in for the philosophy of unchangeable fate. 

• The Mad Splicer: A sharp eyed reader named Trevor has made a connection between several stories we have published. He pointed to our stories Arctic Cat, The Pamola, and Specimens in the Shed, and said there were similarities between them. In an email Trevor laid out his theory, “It was the jars in the shed that was the connection, the feather, antler, and finger, couldn’t that be related to the Pamola? The things on its back could have been wings that had died and shriveled up. Then there was another jar with a cat’s ear, and a few bolts, that was the Arctic Cat! Whoever owned the shed was doing crazy experiments combining things, and some of his creations are still walking around!” Trevor went on to label this unethical scientist, the Mad Splicer, and we can’t think of a better name ourselves. If you have information on this man or have run into one of his creations, please reach out to us, we will keep you all updated with any further developments in this story. 

Is this a sketch of the Mad Splicer?

As always, MMers, if you encounter something spooky, something unexplainable, something supernatural or otherworldly, send it to us. Who knows, your story might just make the blog?

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!

Cinema Nocturna

Okay, MMers, this one is weird even by our standards. It comes to us from a reader named Chen from Biddeford. He told us about a secret movie theatre somewhere in Biddeford or Saco that shows rather, odd arthouse films. 

Downtown Biddeford, ME

The way Chen tells it,  he had a buddy, Abraham were out drinking in Biddeford. They had gone to a few bars and sometime between 11 pm and midnight, the two found themselves walking to their next destination. 

"To be honest, I'm not really sure where we were. We were somewhere around the bridge, but we'd had a few and everything got a little blurry after that. We stumbled around for a bit, down some side streets. There's all these old brick buildings that have been turned into cafes and shops and stuff."

Chen and Abraham found themselves outside of a brick building with no windows and a dark purple awning. There were steps that led down to a thick metal door with a wire mesh window in the door.

"I remember it because that cover over the door. It was purple - like a real dark purple - and I don't think I'd ever seen something like that before."

Thinking it was another bar, maybe one of the speakeasies that have opened in a lot of southern Maine cities, the friends went down to the stairs and knocked on the door. They saw a pair of eyes peer out at them from the window for a second, and then the door opened.

According to Chen a tall, thin man dressed in a tuxedo stood in the doorway, holding a lit candle. "It was an old style tux. He looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie." The man's face was pale and thin, with deep shadows beneath his eyes. "He told us he had been waiting for us and was glad we had arrived."

Artist's rendition

The man ushered Chen and Abraham into a hallway and then into a room. At first, they couldn't see anything because it was so dark. "But as our eyes adjusted we saw that it was like a movie theatre. It was small, maybe not much bigger than like a classroom or something. There were old wooden seats set up in rows and we could there were people scattered around the room, sitting in small groups of twos and threes."

The patrons all seemed to be wearing black or dark clothes and we staring up at a blank, dark screen. The tall man ushered Chen and Abraham to some empty seats and told them to get ready for the show. He was back a moment later, offering the men glasses of what appeared to be wine.

"We were looking to hit up one last bar, but we found this little artsy movie theatre. We were just drunk enough to think this whole thing was pretty funny, and besides, we got some free wine. It was pretty bitter and didn't taste like any wine I'd ever had, but we thought whatever, right?"

All of a sudden the light on the projector came on and the room was filled with a pale light. The tall, thin man was standing in front of the screen.

"Welcome to the cinema nocturna!" the man said. "We are ever so glad you could make it. What you are about to see is an original creation. I hope it will grab you as it grabbed me."

Then he clapped his hands twice. The theatre went dark for a second and then the movie began.

Chen described the film to us.

"There were all of these creepy images."

"It was black and white. It was a bunch of random shots. Like, there was a a shot of a fox slinking through the woods. There was another one, like one of those time-lapse shots of a mountain like crumbling or eroding or whatever. There were lots of real random stuff. I remember there was a skull. There was a fire that died down, and then I think they reversed the video and it sprang back to life. I can't remember a lot of it. But there was this awful music playing. Like screeching violins kind of. Maybe some sort of weird flutes. And, here's the crazy thing, that music sounded like it was coming from inside the room. There wasn't a band or anything, but it sounded like it was right next to me."

Chen began to feel dizzy. Maybe it was the alcohol or the film or some combination of the two, but he started to feel sick. "My head was swimming. I felt like I was outside of my body, but also deeper inside than I had ever been. It was like... like being high, but not in a good way. Not going to lie, I started to get pretty freaked out."

Chen looked around, but everyone else seemed entranced with the film. He tried to get Abraham's attention, but his friend stayed focused on the movie. "I remember looking down at the wine glass and it looked like... it looked like blood. I pout it down on the chair beside me and stood up."

Chen told Abraham he was going to be sick and he needed some fresh air. His friend made some noncommittal response, and then Chen lurched away. He thinks he remembers seeing the tall man staring at him questioningly, but he admits that could have been a false memory. He staggered his way out of the cinema as the images continued to flash on the screen and the music kept blaring.

"The images were getting more and more disturbing. And that music just drilled down into my brain."

Finally after what felt like a long time, Chen crashed through the door and up the steps. He leaned against the cold brick building and breathed in the fresh night air.

"I don't know how long I was out there. I must have passed out or fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew it was morning."

But here's the real kicker, MMers, the brick building with the purple awning was gone. Chen was in an alley behind a coffee shop and a law firm. 

"I figured maybe I just wandered off. Like I said I was pretty drunk. But I've gone all over Biddeford and Saco looking for that building. It's a purple awning, right? How hard should that be to find? I can't find it anywhere. It's like it never existed. I've asked everyone I can about that place and no one has ever heard of the theatre or the cinema nocturna."

As for Abraham, no one has seen him since the night they wandered into the movie theatre. There's security footage of Chen and Abraham walking out of a bar at 11:17. Street cameras have them walking up Main Street. They turn off onto a side street, and that's the last anyone has seen of Abraham. At the time of this writing Chen has been cleared as a suspect, but the whereabouts of his friend is unknown. If you have any information about Abraham Baldwin, please contact the Maine State Police.

Abraham Baldwin, missing since May 16, 2020

We asked around and we have heard some rumors of an underground theatre, the cinema nocturna, popping up in other towns. Westbrook, Auburn, and Bangor have all had unconfirmed sightings of the underground arthouse. Several witnesses remember the tall, thin man, and one person, who wished to remain anonymous, experienced similar symptoms as Chen. Who or what this obscure theatre is and what its true purpose is, remains unknown at this time.

Stay safe out there, Maine. 

Secret Cypher?

Here we are, MMers. We're back with another strange story. This time from Norway... Maine that is, up in Franklin County. Anyways, let's dive right in. So, Charlotte was cleaning out her dad's house about ten years whens he came across something strange taped to the back of his computer. Charlotte's father worked for years at National Semiconductor and in the last decade of his life worked for the government, though he was never too clear on what department, exactly. 

"Dad died unexpectedly on the job. They couldn't tell me a whole lot because it was classified," Charlotte told us. "They did let me know it was an unfortunate accident and that my dad was an exemplary employee and man. There was a pretty large severance too, which was nice."

Charlotte wound up inheriting her father's home and with all the expenses paid, she all but forgot about it for a few years. She finally found the motivation to sell the old place, but before she did that, she had to clean it all out. "I wouldn't say my dad was a hoarder or anything but he didn't like to throw out anything that was still useful in his eyes. Different parts and pieces of tools and machines. He always thought he'd be able to fix them back up. Why, I don't know; it's not like he needed those things or couldn't afford new ones. That's just Dad for you, I guess. I was cleaning out his computer room - what kind of electrical engineer still had a computer room in 2012, right? and he had this big, boxy desktop computer. I went to unplug it, figuring it was all trash. That's when I found it."

Taped tot he back of the computer tower was a piece of paper folded into quarters. It was old and had been mended with tape in a few places. Written on the paper were the words, "For when I'm gone," in her father's handwriting. "I about freaked when I saw it," Charlotte said. "I mean, who knows what it could have been. And sitting there this whole time?"

What it was, however, was another matter entirely. When eh unfolded the piece of paper she saw that it was a series of numbers and letters arranged in groups. "It looked like nothing to me," Charlotte said. "Like some sort of weird code or something." Charlotte thought it might be some sort of serial number or password, but something about it just seemed odd to her: "The way it was written. All those numbers and letter jammed onto the page? It just didn't feel like my dad. There's a pattern there, but I can't figure out what is."

Whatever the strange message meant, Charlotte hung onto that piece of paper for ten years, trying to solve the riddle. It wasn't a serial code, not to anything that existed in the public world. It wasn't a password to any of the electronics her father had. Charlotte thought it might be some sort of coded message, but no amount of deciphering has made any sense to her. In frustration, she reached out to us at Malevolent Maine."

"Look, I know my dad did some top secret work for the government, but I don't really know what he was into. Maybe this is something to do with his work. But the message on the back... 'For when I'm gone,' that tells me that Dad knew something could happen to him, and he wanted someone, the right someone to get one final message. I just wish I knew what it was."

So how about it, MMers? Charlotte sent us a pic of the strange message and we've posted it below. What could it be? Some technical code? A secret cypher? Is it related to his mysterious death? Get sleuthing, and stay safe out there, Maine.

What could this coded message mean?

The Insubstantial Earth

We need your help MMers, to solve the strange and tragic disappearance of Owen Avery. Owen was ten years old in 2010. He was just your average 5th grader, he loved Transformers, Pokemon cards, and Beyblades. However, towards the end of the school year he started to become more withdrawn and nervous. His teacher and the school counselor quickly suspected something was wrong at home, however the family had already put two children through school and there had never been any issues with them. When the counselor was granted permission to do a home visit by the parents themselves, they could find nothing wrong. The family was perfectly normal if not loving. 

Madeline Hopkins was Owen’s councilor, “The family was welcoming and warm, they seemed to care deeply about Owen” she told us.  “They were concerned with his recent personality change too. Finally we all sat down with Owen and he told us what he was so worried about.” 

Owen had recently watched several movies that featured quick sand including The Princess Bride.

Princess Bride Quicksand Scene

He was growing increasingly worried that he would be sucked down into the earth, never to be found again. “We all tried to comfort him”, Hannah Avery, Owen’s mother, said. “We told him that only happened in movies, that quicksand wasn’t real and that he didn’t have to worry about the ground he walked around on. But he just kept crying, it breaks my heart knowing that he was so scared, I just miss him so much.”

For the next few weeks Owen kept confiding in anyone who would listen that he felt the earth wasn’t solid. Bruce Avery, Owen’s older brother was one of those confidants, “I always thought he was messing with me, Owen always had an active imagination. He said that every step he took the earth would move a little, either shake like jello or  try to suck at his shoes. I didn’t believe him, thought it was just a game he was playing.”

School ended and summer began for Owen and his siblings. Owen's parents still had to work but their children were old enough to fend for themselves over the summer. Owen was still afraid fairly often, but being out of school and around his older brother and sister he seemed to be getting better, and braver. “We played outside a lot,” Bruce said. “We started to forget all about Owen’s fears, and he seemed to be happy. Every once in a while he would be following us and we would look back and he would be stopped or pick his next steps very carefully, but we didn’t think anything of it.”

Owen went missing on July 8th 2010, “We were going to go swimming in the pool,” Bruce said. “I was changing but I told Owen he could go out to the pool, but not get in until I was out there too. I went out to jump in, looked for Owen but he was nowhere in sight, the gate to the backyard was closed and the only thing out of place was a large spot of disturbed dirt like a big mole hill. I never saw him again.” The Avery house was pretty close to the road but the backyard and pool are completely enclosed by a fence. Could Owen have been abducted? Could he have been right all along, did the earth open up and swallow him whole, did he fall right through? Either way no one has seen Owen since that day in 2010. 

Computer render of what Owen would look like at 20

If you have any information about Owen, or the phenomenon he said he was experiencing please reach out to us at malevolentmaine@gmail.com. 

Watch your footing and stay safe out there Maine!

The Night at Crannog's Field

Crannog's Field in Unity has always been known as a bit of an odd spot. Owner, Sebastian Jenkins tells us that the big field has often been a gathering spot for hippies, college kids, and the occasional coven of witches. That's right, witches.

Crannog's Field, Unity, ME

"There's a group of witches, or as they like to be called, practitioners of wicca, and they come out every couple of full moons," Jenkins told us. "They dance around, do some chanting. No big deal. They also come out once every turn of the season during the day. They tend to dance in the nude, but, no offense to those ladies, no one really wants to see that, if you catch my drift."

Crannog's Field is a big clearing in the middle of the woods. You might not even know it's right there off the Waterville Road if you were driving through. The locals know, however. The story goes that it was in this field that the original Quaker settlers hanged three women accused of witchcraft. Ever since then the spot has been one of the more interesting locations in the town. "It draws a pretty eclectic crowd," Jenkins says, "but they're all pretty harmless. A little dancing, maybe a little drinking or other extracurricular activities, if you know what I mean. For the most part everyone just sorta leaves everyone else alone."

But this isn't a story about Quakers or middle-aged wiccans. It's a story about six people found in the field twelve days ago. June 5th was a full moon, but according to Sebastian Jenkins, the local wiccans weren't there that night. "The ladies had the night off," he laughed. "I don't know who was out in the field that night. I don't always check - like I said everyone's very respectful."

The morning of June 6th, the six people, four women and two men, stumbled out of the field onto the stretch of Route 139 known as the Waterville Road. They were naked, confused, and had no idea where they were.

The monolith discovered in Crannog's Field

"So far the six individuals discovered in Crannog's Field have been unable to tell us anything about their identity or why they were out there," Police Chief Bret Carson told us. "We believe they are telling the truth but at this time, we have no idea what happened in the field that night."

The six people all appear in their late twenties to mid-thirties. They do not remember their names or any personal information. No personal items were discovered in the field to identify them. In fact, the only thing discovered in the field was a giant stone monolith. The stone is nine feet high and appears to have sprouted from the ground. Both Jenkins, the field's owner, and several locals we spoke to agreed that the stone had not been there before. It is as if it appeared over night.

The rock was covered in soot as if it had been in a fire, but there was no trace of a fire anywhere. Written in the soot, near the top of the monolith was one word: Az'azouzis. This does not appear to be a word in any language and there are no matches on the internet for it. At the time of this writing, the meaning of the word is unknown.

The six people did not recognize the word, but according to Chief Carson, they all had a visible reaction upon hearing the word. "They shivered," he told us. "Like they were cold. It's June. It was 75 degrees that morning, but when they heard that word, they acted like they had just walked into a blizzard."

Who are these six? What were they doing out in the field that night? And what or who is Az'azouzis? If you have any information, you should contact the Maine State Police.

Do you know any of these people?

Stay safe out there, Maine.

Desert of Bone

Good evening MMers! We hope you all have sweet dreams tonight, unlike several of our readers have been having lately. Normally weird dreams aren’t something to write to us about, but we have been getting reports from all over the state of people having the same strange dream. 

“It starts with me waking up in a desert,” Katie from Freeport told us. “The sky is grey, the sand is this really deep red and feels really scratchy. All over the sand are these white trees, or at least they look like trees that are this bleached white color. I feel like I walk for hours in this dream and never get to where I am supposed to be, and the whole time I just feel scared.”

The desert and trees have a similar feel to this

Joe from Standish has reported a similar dream, “Its been happening for a few weeks now, I go to sleep and almost immediately wake up in this freaky desert. The sand is coarse and gets everywhere, and there are these white pillars everywhere. At first I thought they were trees, but when I got close they were bleached bone. And not regular bone, it was covered in these tiny spurs almost like there was something wrong with whatever died and left them.”

What does Javier see in the distance?

Javier from York reported that he has had these dreams for months now. “I get a little further towards my goal every time. I have no idea what ‘the goal’ is, but I feel like I’m getting very close. I saw something in the distance last night, but the heat coming off the horizon kept it obscured, whatever it was was dark and huge.”

Whatever this dream is, it seems to be affecting a large amount of people, we can only hope it is something innocent and not a portent of something dark looming on the horizon. If you or anyone you know is experiencing these dreams please write to us. Stay safe out there Maine!