Home Before Dark
It’s Halloween — the perfect time for creepy tales.
The following six spooky stories didn’t wait for Halloween. They were told year-round in different corners of Newfoundland. They weren’t told so much to entertain as to create fear.
They were told to keep children from doing things that might be dangerous. Some of them were told to keep children from venturing too far from home, others to encourage them to be home before dark.
They are all creepy.
I have assigned a ‘Scare Factor’ rating to each tale; a sort of estimate of how frightening I think I’d have found the story as a child. The higher the rating the more likely i’d have taken the advice.
It’s entirely subjective, of course.
I’d love to hear your take.
The Headless Ghost Dog of Elliston
A ghost dog, generated by Bing AI
Would you get home before dark if it meant escaping a headless ghost dog? Parents of Elliston, Trinity Bay bet their kids would.
According to legend, the ghost of a Newfoundland dog can be seen running toward the community each night at dusk.
People say the dog once lived in Elliston with a man named Welcher (or Wiltshire). The animal was Welcher’s faithful companion, annd accompanied him on many hunting and fishing expeditions. One tragic day, while working alongside his master, the dog was killed.
Not just killed — it was decapitated.
Some say it happened when the dog fell through some rapidly shifting ice; others insist it died in a schooner wreck.
Regardless, since the dog died its ghost has been trying to make its way home. Every night, just about sunset, the spectre of Welcher’s dog can be seen racing toward the town, trying to return to his master.
It’s a task made more difficult for the poor animal — it can’t see where it’s going. For whatever reason, the ghost of the dog has spent eternity without its head.
It’s a story that sends shivers down the spines of the kids of Elliston — and why not? Who wants to turn around and discover they’re being chased by the ghost of a headless dog?
Scare Factor: 9/10
I’d have been home long before the sun set. If my parents’ told me about a headless ghost dog descending upon my town, my imagination would have run wild.
I might not have left my house at all.
The Webber, Stephenville
Something lurking in the shadows, Generated by Bing AI
Many dangers lurk in the woods, some real and some imagined.
The Webber — a strange creature that’s said to occupy the wilderness near Stephenville — is a case of the later, I hope.
There are a lot of stories concerning the Webber but generally it’s described as a murderous half-human creature. Some say it was the offspring of man and a bear, others a feral child that grew webbed-feet and reptile-like characteristics adapting to its woodland environment.
According to legend it stalks human prey at night, leaving behind webbed footprints.
In some ways it reminds me of stories of The Jersey Devil.
Near Gull Pond, Stephenville (one of the Webber’s favourite haunts)
Scare Factor: 7/10
It’s a scary story, for sure, and as a kid, I imagine I wouldn’t have ventured far into the forest before I began imagining I was hearing sloppy, web-footed steps coming toward me in the trees.
The Mudsucker Beneath The Bog
A face beneath the mud, generated by Bing AI
Bogs can be dangerous places. They are slippery, full of sunken trees and surprisingly deep holes. It would be entirely possible for a child to fall in a bog, drown and be swallowed into its peaty depths.
Naturally, parents wanted to dissuade their kids from going to the bog.
One tactic they used was the ‘mudsucker.’
The mudsucker was a mysterious creature that lived beneath the bog where it waited to pull a victim under.
The only part visible at the surface?
The pitcher plant — the marsh-loving provincial flower of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Scare Factor: 3/10
As a kid I was fascinated with carnivorous plants like the pitcher plant. In fact, I’m still fascinated. I have a Venus Fly Trap I’m keeping on life support.
The thought of some Audrey II like creature lurking in the bog next-door would not have kept away.
It might have drawn me in.
If they really wanted to keep me out they need only have told me of bog bodies. That would have creeped me out.
The Little People/ Fairies
In some parts of Newfoundland the woods are reputed to be full of fairies. Not the benign winged-fairies of Disney movies, but troublesome creatures. Exactly what fairies were thought to look like and behave varied from community to community but they were to be avoided if possible. Fairies were said to lead travellers astray and make it so that familiar places became strange and confusing.
They were especially dangerous during berry-picking season. Probably not because they were more active, but because people were apt to wander further into the woods foraging… and got lost.
Children were encouraged to stay close to adults so that the fairies wouldn’t take them. In truth, many adults were/are plenty concerned about ‘the little people’ too. Superstitions like wearing a coat inside-out and carrying bread in your pocket are thought to ward them off.
These remedies were practiced by old and young, alike.
Scare Factor: 5/10
I lived in St. Mary’s Bay for a short time. While I was there I met people who seemed legitimately concerned about being led astray by fairies. Some assured me they heard the laughter of ‘the little people’ in the woods.
Listening to their accounts was, I’ll admit, a little chilling.
Jacky Lantern
Jacky Lantern is a nocturnal figure seen as a ghostly, glowing light moving over marshes, ice or open water.
Like the fairies, he is said to lead people astray.
In the book If You Don’t Be Good researcher John Widdowson records instances of Jacky Lantern being used in the Bonavista/Elliston area to keep children safe. Parents would warn their children to keep off the marshes/ice because Jacky Lantern would ‘get’ them.
I’m not sure what he would do if he did catch them. I’m sure most people weren’t keen to find out, either..
A mysterious floating flame, Bing AI
In some ways Jacky Lantern seems similar to weather light phenomenon.
I remember hearing stories where I grew up (Eastport area) of a ghostly ‘weather light’ moving across the water.
I don’t remember any sinister story connected to the light, but I do remember thinking that an unexplained glow was pretty creepy.
Scare Factor: 7/10
I think this one especially scary because I’m sure people saw unexplained lights with relative frequency. It must have made the threat of a supernatural being seem much more possible.
Red Eyes at the Old Mill, Glovertown
The Old Mill, Glovertown
A little more than a hundred years ago the Terra Nova Sulphite Company started construction on a pulp and paper mill in Glovertown. Part way through the project, funding fell through. The mill was abandoned.
Glowing red eyes, generated by AI
Now, a century later the concrete shell of the mill still remains and has become a bit of a landmark in Glovertown. If you'd like to visit, you'll find it on Angle Brook Road.
Be aware, however, the mill is supposedly haunted by a malevolent spirit known as Red Eyes.
At least that’s what people tell youngsters who are tempted to explore the site.
As the legend goes, Red Eyes is the ghost of a construction worker who was supposedly encased in the concrete during a construction accident. At times his glowing red eyes can be seen at the Old Mill. Even when no eyes are spotted, visitors sometimes report a feeling of being watched.
The legend seems to have done little to deter people. As anyone who’s ever visited the Old Mill can attest, it is covered in abundant graffiti.
Scare Factor: 6/10
I’m not the bravest person but I felt perfectly un-haunted when I visited the site. That said, it was full-on daylight. I probably wouldn’t go after dark. I have friends who recount teenage stories of night time visits — they managed to terrify themselves, thinking of the story.
Tell Me Your Stories?
Newfoundland has lots more of these kinds of tales.
I’d love to hear some of your favourites —what stories did your parents and grandparents tell you of supernatural dangers lurking in the shadows.
Did you believe them? I’d love to hear.
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Mudsucker, Dictionary of NL English, word slip
The Webber Cycle in Western Newfoundland, John Ashton, Contemporary Legend, 2001
If You Don’t Be Good, John Widdowson, 1977
Ghost Dog, People of Elliston — The and Now, FaceBook
Strange Terrain: The Fairy World in Newfoundland, Barbara Rieti
