Season 2, Episode 8 (Halloween Bonus 2)
When nights grow long and familiar paths suddenly lead you astray; when fog shrouds the coast in deathly gloom and strange lights flicker in empty bogs,
that’s the time when ghosts and ghouls explore this new found land.
Welcome to the Strange Truths & Tall Tales Halloween Special.
Title: The Black Stag
Time: 15 minutes
Locations: St. Brides, Point Lance, Elliston
Story: The Black Stag of St. Brides, The Ghost Dog of Elliston, and The Mudsucker
Listen:
About The Episode:
Halloween Bonus Episode Pt. 2
It’s October and the nights are getting noticeably longer. As darkness takes a hold. I’ve decided to embrace the ‘spooky season’ for some short Halloween episodes.
This instalment features an old folktale set near St. Bride’s, NL. It concerns a strange black Stag seen on the roadside and a series of unexplained deaths that plagues a family soon afterward.
Continuing on with the theme, I share some legends of other ghostly creatures from Newfoundland, starting with the headless dog of Elliston.
Listening Options
You can listen to the episode here or on your favourite platform.
Credits
Tocatta & Fugue in D Minor (Bach) from orangefreesounds.com, Paul Pittman, public domain.
Thunder (bajko) from freesound.com, creative commons 0
Sources & Further Reading
The Black Stag of St. Bride’s, Product of Newfoundland
Home Before Dark, Product of Newfoundland
The Black Stag -- A Ghost Story, James McGrath, Newfoundland Quarterly, 1910
The Story of the Black Stag, New-Land Magazine, Spring 1965
St. Bride's, Decks Awash, May-June, 1990
The Black Stag of Distress, Off-Beat Mystery of Newfoundland, Michael Harrington, 1988
The Black Stag, Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador, Edward Butts, 2010
Ghost Dog, People of Elliston — Then and Now, Facebook
Mudsucker, Dictionary of NL English, word slip
Elliston, Encyclopedia of NL
Newfoundland has some place names that sound like they belong in a ghost story. This Halloween, I’m exploring some of the island’s creepiest names and the curious stories behind them.
In October 1794 a shortage of sailors aboard a naval ship in St. John’s harbour set off a chain of events leading to the gallows… and a grisly post-mortem punishment.
According to one newspaper, Torbay was gripped by a ghostly disturbance in 1877. Night after night, Moses Power’s home was under attack…
In 1894, a painter from St. John’s was exhibiting her work in Paris. Margaret Campbell Macpherson built an international career — and somehow became a nearly forgotten Newfoundland story.
After years of illness, a Newfoundland nun left the island praying for a miracle. She returned convinced her prayers had been answered.
Something was killing sheep near Little St. Lawrence in 1958. Then a strange, five-foot-long animal was captured. Its skull was sent to St. John’s for identification…