Rapid Fire - May 2020

 Eyes open, MMers!

This week, we've got a ton of smaller, one-hit stories, we've gathered from our loyal readers. We're coming at you rapid fire! Let's dive right in.

• Tina up near Presque Isle spotted a UFO flying over the Walmart on Route 163. It was a cluster of three lights, moving in erratic motions in the sky. It moved too fast to be a plane or a helicopter, darting first left, then right, then up. She  watched the craft for about five minutes before it suddenly stopped moving completely. It stayed for just a second before flying off. "It moved so fast it practically disappeared," Tina writes.  Definitely fits the mold of a typical Tri-clipper. Any else spot this space craft? Let us know.

What did Tina see?

• Bruce spotted a large, hairy creature in the woods around his camp in Whitneyville. He was out hunting when he heard some strange grunting and growling sounds that he couldn't identify. He followed a trail that led to a stream. There he saw the remains of an animal he identified as a deer. It had been ripped apart, as if by an animal. He spotted the creature he believed had killed the deer. It was "large, bigger than a man, and up on two feet." Sure sounds like Bigfoot to us. Keep your eyes on the woods up in Whitneyville!

• Clara, who only wanted to be identified as living in Franklin Country, sent us the story of the grave of an unknown soldier from the War of 1812. The grave is in a small family plot on Clara's property and every spring she heads out to clear up the little cemetery. For the past five years, she's talked about some sort of stain on the stone that is spreading. No matter what she does, how she scrubs it away, it always comes back a little bigger. Well, this year she was finally able to make out what shape the strange shape was forming. Turns out it's a gentleman's hat. The strange part? Clara tells us that int he early part of the Nineteeth Century, there was a haberdasher (that's a hat maker for you laymen) located on the property where she now lives. Connections? We'd say yes.

  

  How about a close up next time, Clara?

  
  

• We had another sighting of Saco River Sara. That's the fifth one this year. Maybe someone should head up Fryburg and burn some sage. 

• Have you ever heard of a ghost bridge? We hadn't either. That is until Don from Turner sent us this curious story. He claims he was driving along a stretch of Route 4 one foggy evening. Don tells us he's driven that stretch dozens, maybe hundreds of times, but this night was different. All of a sudden, Don felt like he had no clue where he was. "Nothing look familiar," Don writes. "It was like I was in some stretch of road I'd never been to before." Suddenly, Don drove over a bridge - and not just any bridge! He said it was wooden, an old fashioned style, he remember growing up as a kid in the 1950s. Don said he slowed down, suddenly unsure if the bridge was safe for his truck. He soon crossed the bridge, and though quite freaked out, kept driving. Soon the fog parted a little and he recognized the road again. He was home in no time. The next day he went out to check for the bridge, but it was nowhere to be found. He swears he never left Route 4 and in the weeks since, he can't find that stretch of road or that wooden bridge anywhere! Eerie!

  

  Artist's interpretation. NOT the actual bridge!
  
  

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.

Black Tarot Part II

Update, MMers! Back in March we ran a story about a series of disturbing tarot cards appearing in random people's mailboxes. We spoke to four individuals who received these cards with no explanation. You can read about it here. Well, since then we've heard from two more Mainers who have received these packages.

Up first is Brenda Williams. Brenda is the head librarian at the Madison Public Library. Three days ago she received the now familiar to our readers, black envelope addressed to her. Again there was no return address, no stamp. It was as if the envelope just appeared in her mailbox.

The envelope Brenda received

Inside were five cards from the deck we're calling the "Black Tarot." Brenda received The Shaman, the Queen of Wands, the II of Sigils, the V of Blades, and the Knight of Blades. Again, we're unsure of the meaning of these cards or the purpose. We don't know who is sending them or why, but state police have determined that these cards are indeed just paper cards. There are no harmful substances on them and no one has been harmed because of these cards. Still, they can be quite unsettling.

Brenda Williams' spread

"I don't like them," Brenda said. "I don't know who sent them or why they thought this was a good prank. It's not funny to terrorize people. These are disgusting and whoever is doing this is disturbed."

The other set of cards was sent to Kerri Delong in West Paris. Much like the other recipients, her cards showed up mysteriously in the mailbox over night. "I check my mail every day," Kerri told us. "One morning they were just in there, waiting for me." Kerri also sent us a picture of her cards:

Kerri Delong's spread

 "I don't like touching them," she said. "They're... they're not slimy, but they feel wrong. Like cold, somehow. But not paper. They feel like... like cold skin. I mean, I know they're not. It's obvious they're just paper, but still... something about them just creeps me out."

We also have an update on our original four recipients. To a person each of the original four - Larry Gilbert, Sharon Messina, Dominic Stoddard, and Sara Burgess - all of them now claim their cards have disappeared. 

"It's the craziest thing," Larry Gilbert said over the phone. "I left them right in the envelope in a drawer. When you contacted me about them, I went to check. The envelope is still there, but the cards are gone. No one would have taken them. I didn't throw them out. They're just gone, like they melted away."

The other three also confirmed similar stories. The cards are gone, but the envelope remains. We reached out to Brenda Williams about taking possession of her cards and she was more than willing to oblige.

"Get them out of my house," she said. "I never want to see them again."

We now have her set of Black Tarot cards in our possession here at our office. We will monitor them every day and give any updates we may find. For now, we'll keep you updated and stay safe out there, Maine.

Midnight Magic

 Abra Cadabra, MMers! Did anyone else see the ads for the midnight magic show in Topsham last night? Apparently there was one, and one of our intrepid readers actually got a ticket. Ray from Topsham shared his thoughts on Malachai Blackstone, the Midnight Magician.

Did you see these plastered around Topsham?

Hey Malevolent Maine,

Did you guys catch the magician, Malachai Blackstone, last night at the Turvy in Topsham? It was a midnight show, which I thought was pretty cool. You also needed a password just to buy a ticket. You could only get the password by following some clues around town, like a scavenger hunt. It's probably safe to tell you the word now, "hierophant." Anyways, the show was pretty good. I had never heard of Blackstone before, but I thought it would be something cool to do. The guy came out in an almost old-school look, black pants, black tie, red cape. He didn't have a top hat, but just about. His magic was insane though! It was so good. I can't figure out how he did any of his tricks. AT one point, he had four people from the audience go up and tie him all up. They each held onto one end of the rope, in each of the four corners. Then all of a sudden, the ropes started wiggling up and down, like that thing those crossfit guys do in the gym. The ropes were pulled right out of their hands and untied themselves. It was crazy. There was another one where I'm pretty sure a sword went right through his heart. It was wild! Anyways, I love your blog and thought that maybe this guy might fit the bill for the unexplained.

Well, Ray and anyone else who went to the show, we didn't make it, but it sounds pretty cool. We did some research into this Malachai Blackstone. He's apparently a traveling magician, though so far he's only down shows in New England. No one knows too much about him, but according to one interview he did for Magic Monthly, the trade magazine for magicians (who knew it even existed), he's been practicing his craft for the past twelve years and considered one of the best, if strangest, up and coming magicians.

Have you seen Malacha
i Blackstone?

Not exactly normal MM kind of stuff, but a little deeper digging revealed some interesting things. No one is quite sure who books Blackstone. No one is even really sure he's performing until the day before the show. He doesn't have an agent, and he only takes his portion of the door sales in cash. No one knows how the pamphlets for his shows get distributed, no one knows who hides the clues over town. He doesn't have a website, email address, social media, or phone number. He's completely off the grid. Oh, and he always performs at midnight. 

Strange, right? Ray had one last thing to tell us:

I have to tell you about his last trick. It was crazy. So he stood in the middle of the stage, almost all of the lights were dim, so he was just standing there. He kind of looked like a ghost in his black clothes. I'm not afraid to admit that at that moment I sort of had the feeling that I was looking at a ghost, like this whole show had been a haunting of some kind. Crazy, I know. Anyways, he looks out at the audience after standing still for a really long time. I thought for sure he was looking right at me, but the couple of people I talked to said the exact same thing. It must have been a trick of the stage or whatever. Anyways, after standing there for five minutes or so, he says something like, "This world is not enough. It is too small, too contained. There are tremendous and treacherous things beyond. The end is not the end. There is the infinite." Then, and I swear to God this is true, he like rippled. Like when you hold two corners of a piece of paper and make it bend. He distorted and stretched. I wanted to look away because I thought he would burst, but I couldn't. I couldn't even blink. His voice was all around us but he wasn't talking. He was moving through space right in front of me, but he hadn't left the stage. Then he simply vanished. Not like on TV or something, I can't really explain it. He just disappeared. Strangest thing I ever saw. I wanted to cry for some reason, but I didn't. I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Blackstone. It was the greatest magic trick I have ever seen. 

And it was terrible.

Well, there you have it, MMers. Anyone else catch Blackstone's midnight show? Anyone know where he's performing next? Shoot us a message if you have any info!

Stay safe out there, Maine.

Baked...Brains?

Good Morning, MMers! We had a disturbing report today from Ralph LeBlanc out in Westbrook. Ralph's wife died of brain cancer and his two kids live out west these days. Sitting down for his normal solo dinner, Ralph went into his pantry and grabbed a can of Maine's own B&M Baked Beans. You know, the big plant on the water right off of Interstate 295.

B&M's Factory

Anyways, Ralph was excited to have some beans to go along with his pork loin and mashed potatoes. But, when he opened the can, he didn't smell the normal pleasant scent of bacon and onion he was accustomed to. We reached out to Ralph to get some more information.

B&M's Famous Baked Beans

"When I opened the can, I just...I can't fully describe the scent. I guess it was a metallic smell mixed in with the scent of the beans. And it was mixed with...well, those those chunks certainly weren't bacon..."

Ralph, being a former member of the Westbrook Police Department, reached out to a buddy of his to check it out. Ted Blankenship, Ralph's longtime partner, came by to see it for himself. Here's what he had to say...

"Those beans? No. Those weren't normal beans. Ralph and I poked around, and I'd bet my paycheck that those were brains in there. No doubt about it. The most messed up part about the whole thing is that his wife died of brain cancer, ya know? That's messed up. "

Was this a some sort of gruesome mixup at the factory? Was this someone playing a prank on Ralph? Who's to say? All we know is that the next time you get a can of your favorite beans from Maine, make sure to check what's in that tin can. 

Stay safe out there, Maine!

The Androscroggin River People

Heads up if you're thinking of traveling to the Androscroggin River this summer, MMers. This is an old story, one you probably know if you've been around the bend a time or two here in Maine, but it's a good one, and one worth repeating for the newer generation. We're talking, of course, about the Androscroggin River People.

This story, believe it or not, dates back all the way to 1754, during the French and Indian Wars. British Corporal Eustis H. Gardner was leading a group of soldiers up the river to engage with French troops when he says they encountered a strange creature swimming alongside their boat. This is an excerpt from Corporal Gardner's journal:

T wast the regular size and rough shapeth of a sir though t wast cov'r'd in blue-green scales.  Its hands and feet w're massive, did shape liketh an oar, tipp'd with raz'r sharp claws.  Its eyes, though beneath the wat'r burn'd crimson.  T did swim 'longside our boat f'r five full minutes bef're t did swim off.  I, n'r any of mine own men, has't nev'r seen aught liketh the beast.

A woodcut inspired by Gardner's journal

Famed New England explorer, Bernard Pollack, claimed he encountered a similar creature in 1789, while mapping out the Androscroggin. He claims that while he and his Native American guide, Moxus, were canoeing the river, a fish-man swam up along side them. It leapt out of the water like a fish, before diving back down, hardly making a splash. Pollack claimed that the fish-man seemed to be leading them down a smaller river that branched off from the Androscroggin. Pollack and Moxus followed the fish-man until he lead them to a small village on the shore of the river, where he counted no less than seven of these fish-people. It should be noted, however, that Pollack was a bit of a braggart, known to exaggerate his own exploits to fill his pockets.

Sightings of the Androscroggin River People continued into the modern era. Randy Kramer, a Boy Scout leader, claimed to have encountered one in 1973 while taking a group of boys on an overnight canoeing trip. This is from an interview Kramer gave in 1980 to Boys Life Magazine:

Could this be what Randy Kramer encountered?

"I got up in the middle of the night and left my tent to relieve myself. I took maybe ten steps out towards the riverbank when I heard something I thought might have been a snake, but could have just been the tall grass moving. I looked up and I saw a pair of red eyes staring back at me. I froze, and realized I was in real danger. I could tell the thing was about to pounce, but then the clouds drifted away from the moon. In the moonlight I could see what it was - it was...and I know how crazy this sounds, it was a fishman. I knew right what it was. We'd even told a campfire ghost story about it that night. It was one of the River People. Quick as an eel, it dove back into the river and swam off. I don't think I slept a lick that night."

No one knows quite what the River People are. They appear to be some sort of fish/man hybrid. Whether there is more than one or how long these creatures can live is unknown. Many people believe there could be generations of these fishy creatures living up and down the Androscroggin River. 

One last interesting note is that the word Androscroggin comes from Abenaki tribe and it translates to "deep-dwelling river." Could this name refer not to the depth of the river itself but the name of the creatures that live in it? Noted author of weird and horror fiction, H. P. Lovecraft is known to have often visited this area of Maine. Is it any coincidence his stories are filled with a race of fish-people known as Deep Ones? 

Did Lovecraft know?

Hmmm.

Stay safe out there, Maine!

Announcing Rapid Fire

We just want to take a minute to thank all you MMers out there, without you we wouldn't be able to share the truth about the odd happenings around Maine with the world! Keep those stories coming, and we will keep putting them out. Always remember that WE. BELIEVE. YOU.  

We are running into a good problem to have here at Malevolent Maine, and that is we have too many stories to put out! So starting next month we are going to have a new type of post around here. Get ready for.... THE RAPID FIRE. In these posts we will be FIRING off several stories at once, odd sightings and phenomenon from around the state, shared by everyday Mainers like you! Look for posts with these headers to catch up on all the weird sightings people report from around the state.

Stay safe out there, Maine!

The Wells of Lucifer

Here's a creepy one for you, MMers. Over in Hiram, the locals report a phenomenon that defies explanation. They call it the Wells of Lucifer and the citizens of Hiram will warn you away if you ask about it. 

The Wells themselves are a series of three holes in the ground, arranged in a loose triangular configuration. Each one is about three feet in diameter, about the size of an old well. Hot air seems to rise out of the holes. No one is quite sure how far they go down, but at least three hundred feet is the most current guesstimate. The origin of the wells is unknown, the landowner claims they just appeared one night in 1974. 

One of the Wells of Lucifer

But the appearance of these devil holes isn't what makes them terrifying; it's the sounds that emanate from the wells.

Their screams can be heard on the surface

Multiple visitors to the Wells have noted that screams that rise up from the depths. The stories claim that these are tortured souls, screaming from the bowels of hell. These strange sounds are no mere myth either, they have been reported and recorded  multiple times. However, the twisted screams seem to have physical reactions in the people that hear them. The most common is a feeling of slight nausea and sinus pressure. One visitor claimed it was like his brain had suddenly swelled and was trying to push against his skull. The longer a person stays and listens to the screams, the more adverse the reactions become. To date, the longest a person has stayed, leaning over the wells, hearing the screams has been just under five minutes. That person was hospitalized and later released.

We talked to several people who have visited the Wells of Lucifer and all of them agreed that the area had an eerie aura to it. They felt as if someone were watching them. They all agreed the screams, which start low, seemed to get louder and louder, the longer they stood there. In the end, each one of them stumbled away, feeling disoriented and sick.

We also visited the Wells, and can confirm their supernatural nature. We were able to lower some recording equipment down into the hole, about two hundred and fifty feet down. We were only able to record a few seconds of audio before our equipment broke. We've posted the audio below. Listen at your own risk, MMers, this is pretty scary stuff.

The Wells of Lucifer

Stay safe out there, Maine.