by Aaron Mahnke
When she returned, he was gone. She shouted for him, but no one answered. Overcome with panic, she called the authorities for help, and soon a whole team of rescue workers began to scour the woods there. It also might be worth pointing out that, like Welden, little Paul was wearing a red jacket.
But it wasn’t meant to be. Paul’s scent was followed by bloodhounds all the way to an intersection, where it vanished. The same intersection, according to some locals, where Paula Welden had disappeared a few minutes before the elderly couple arrived there. The Glastenbury woods, it seems, had claimed another life.
Later that same month, Frieda Langer and her family were camped on the east side of the mountain. Frieda was fifty-three, incredibly knowledgeable about the area around the mountain, and a skilled hiker. So when she and her cousin Herbert Elsner headed out for a hike on October 28th, they expected a good workout through some beautiful scenery, nothing more.
About ten minutes into the hike, Frieda slipped while crossing a small stream. She wasn’t hurt, but the fall had soaked her shoes and clothing, which she knew was not going to make for a comfortable walk. So she told her cousin to hold tight, and she ran back toward camp to quickly change.
After waiting for almost an hour, Herbert started walking back to camp. He wasn’t sure what was taking Frieda so long, but he assumed he would bump into her on the trail at some point. But he didn’t. And when he stepped out of the trees into camp, no one else had seen her either.
Over the decades since all of the disappearances occurred, there have been a lot of theories tossed around. Perhaps that creature witnessed in the rain that night near the Long Trail was still alive and active. Or maybe other humans are to blame, even a local serial killer. Some have suggested that after Henry McDowell escaped from the state asylum, he took up residence in the forest there, and was somehow still alive and healthy enough in the 1940s and 1950s to kidnap and kill people.
It’s all guesswork, though. What is clear is the historical record. Real people have stepped into those woods and vanished. People with lives and families and futures that all came to an abrupt end in the shadows between those trees. And all of that loss comes with its own fair share of real pain.
It’s a sobering thought: the one thing we wish would vanish into the woods—all of that loss and pain and grief—seems determined to stick around.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
The woods have always been a dangerous place. We can hurt ourselves there. We can get hurt by other things. It’s wilderness, after all, so it’s about as far from safety as we can get. But when you take all of the stories into account, it feels like there’s something more than dangerous about Glastenbury Mountain.
Some people believe that wearing the color red is a surefire way to guarantee your disappearance, as noted in some of the cases. But I can’t find any evidence that Frieda Langer had been wearing a red coat the day she disappeared. Same for Middie Rivers. Sometimes coincidence is nothing more than just that, random details that appear to line up in a neat row, when maybe they really don’t.
Our brains like to connect the dots, though. We look for patterns, like red coats or geographic epicenters. Patterns are like ruts in a dirt road, easy to slip into and hard to avoid. They feel significant, even though they often aren’t.
Rationally, all of these disappearances could be viewed as nothing more than pure coincidence. These are dense woods, after all, and hikers go missing all over the world every single day for a variety of simple reasons. They lose their way, they get hurt, or they encounter a wild animal. Whenever something like that happens, their chance of survival drops below 100 percent. The truth is a bitter pill: sometimes people just don’t come home.
Still, we whisper stories. Local Vermont folklorist Joseph Citro was the first to call the area the Bennington Triangle, drawing comparisons to the more famous triangle off the coast of Bermuda. But rather than ships and fighter jets, the Bennington Triangle just seems to be interested in people. And the name has stuck, probably because it feels like such a good fit.
Some people think it’s all because the mountain is cursed. Those enchanted stones, the ones the Abenaki claimed would swallow people whole, are like supernatural flytraps, and the hunters and hikers who encounter them can never return.
Interestingly, a number of small cairns—stone mounds or towers used to mark special locations—have been found on the mountain. The local Native Americans won’t take credit for them, and they’re too high up to have been built by the loggers and farmers who once inhabited the town below. No one knows where they came from. It’s just mysterious enough to make you wonder, isn’t it?
That wonder has a way of inspiring us. The legendary horror writer Shirley Jackson connected so deeply with the story of Paula Welden that she included elements of the disappearance in her 1951 novel Hansaman, and then again in a 1957 short story called “The Missing Girl.” To Jackson, there was a disturbing beauty in a life that was thriving one moment and completely gone the next.
Others, though, are drawn to the story of Frieda Langer. The thing that makes her disappearance so different from the others isn’t some small detail in what happened or how or where. It’s the conclusion of it all.
You see, long after the search-and-rescue teams had given up and gone home—after autumn and winter and well into spring—someone finally found Frieda Langer. Her body was discovered in a wide-open area that had been thoroughly searched by hundreds of volunteers seven months before, just lying in the grass in plain sight.
No cause of death could be determined.
For Mom and Dad.
You spent my whole childhood encouraging me to do what I love instead of whatever you might have dreamed up for me. Thank you for having the selfless love it takes to set your son free, and for giving me the courage I needed to fly.
Lore would not be alive today without the electrical surge that each and every fan imparts to it. So, whether you’ve been with Lore since the first podcast episode landed on your phone more than three years ago, stuck around after the television show caught your attention, or even just discovered it all for the first time today, please know that you are part of my team, and I’m so proud to have your support.
There are others, though. Chad, Carl, and Marcet are essential parts of my daily team. Susan keeps my publishing career on a smooth path. My wife and kids provide a constant source of laughter and support when things get stressful. And friends like Nora, Chuck, Myke, Pete, Helen, and Charles contribute equal parts encouragement and wisdom on a daily basis.
DARK IMPORTS
“Savannah Like Beautiful Woman with Dirty Face, Lady Astor Says,” Savannah Morning News, February 20, 1946, page 12.
“Savannah’s Great Fire of 1796,” Go South! Savannah, date unknown, http://gosouthsavannah.com/history/fire-of-1796.html.
Preston Russell and Barbara Hines, Savannah: A History of Her People Since 1733 (Frederic C. Beil, 1992).
“The Weeping Time,” The Atlantic, July 10, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/the-weeping-time/374159.
“Beneath the Surface,” Savannah Magazine, March 15, 2017, http://www.savannahmagazine.com/beneath-the-surface.
Alan Brown, Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Peach State (Stackpole Books, 2008).
Michael Harris and Linda Sickler, Historic Haunts of Savannah (Arcadia, 2014).
Walter J. Fraser, Savannah in the Old South (University of Georgia Press, 2005), 16–17.
“First African Baptist Church, Savannah, Georgia,” BlackPast.org, date unknown, http://www.blackpast.org/aah/first-african-baptist-church-savannah-georgia-1777.
“The Haunted Hamilton-Turner Inn,” Ghost City Tours, date unknown, https://ghostcitytours.com/savannah/haunted-places/haunted-hotels/hamilton-turner-inn.
A DEAD END
“Richmond’s Belle Isle and the Mixed Blessing of Water,” Abandoned Country, January 2013, http://www.abandonedcountry.com/2013/01/14/richmonds-belle-isle-the-mixed-blessing-of-water.
“Belle Isle Prison,” Civil War Academy, date unknown, http://www.civilwaracademy.com/belle-isle-prison.html.
“Where Raw Dog Was a Luxury,” Civil War Richmond, date unknown, http://www.mdgorman.com/Written_Accounts/National_Tribune/national_tribune_991882.htm.
“Hollywood Cemetery,” Colonial Ghosts, August 2015, https://colonialghosts.com/hollywood-cemetery.
“Richmond’s Urban Legends,” Richmond.com, October 2003, http://www.richmond.com/entertainment/article_85098414-d1f6-5aad-8945-cd08a0789cca.html.
“Richmond Vampire,” OddThingsIveSeen.com, April 2012, http://www.oddthingsiveseen.com/2012/04/richmond-vampire.html.
EVERYTHING FLOATS
“Voodoo, Ghosts, and Werewolves at Louisiana’s Cursed Swamp,” Mysterious Universe, January 2016, http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/01/voodoo-ghosts-and-werewolves-at-louisianas-cursed-swamp.
“The Difference Between Voodoo and Hoodoo,” Knowledge Nuts, December 2013, http://knowledgenuts.com/2013/12/26/the-difference-between-hoodoo-and-voodoo.
“Saint Louis Cemetery,” Haunted Houses, date unknown, http://www.hauntedhouses.com/states/la/saint_louis_cemetery.htm.
Carolyn Morrow Long, A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau (University Press of Florida, 2007), 60.
“The Sultan’s Palace,” About Travel, December 2014, http://goneworleans.about.com/od/ghostsandhauntings/a/The-Sultans-Palace.htm.
Troy Taylor, Haunted New Orleans (History Press, 2010), 101–106.
DOWNRIVER
“Welcome to Europe’s ‘Most Cursed Town,’ ” Daily Mail, May 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3076473/Witches-evil-eye-unexplained-calamities-Welcome-Europe-s-cursed-town-feared-Italians-dare-not-speak-name.html.
“Lafayette Fires, Setting the Record Straight,” New Lafayette, date unknown, http://www.newlafayette.org/lafayette-history/lafayette-fires-setting-record-straight.
“An Ax Murder, a Hanging, and a Curse,” New Lafayette, date unknown, http://www.newlafayette.org/lafayette-history/an-ax-murder-a-hanging-and-a-curse-in-lafayette.
Troy Taylor, Mark Moran, and Mark Sceurman, Weird Illinois: Your Travel Guide to Illinois’ Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (Sterling, 2005), 49–50.
“Students, Residents Battle Flood Threat to Historic Kaskaskia Island,” Chicago Tribune, April 5, 1973, 6.
“Curse of Kaskaskia,” Prairie Ghosts, 2000, http://www.prairieghosts.com/kaskaskia.html.
“Curse of Kaskaskia,” Jonesboro Gazette, March 2, 1901, transcription here: genealogytrails.com/ill/kaskaskia/news_curse.html.
A WAY INSIDE
S. G. Drake, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2 (1848): 290.
“Haunted Guide to Granary Burying Ground,” Ghosts and Gravestones, date unknown, https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/boston/granary-burying-ground.php.
Renee Mallett, Haunted Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts (Arcadia, 2013).
“Bizarre Boston: Ghosts of the Parker House Hotel,” Spare Change News, December 2015, sparechangenews.net/2015/12/bizarre-boston-ghosts-of-the-parker-house-hotel.
“Haunted Guide to the Omni Parker House Hotel,” Ghosts and Gravestones, date unknown, https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/boston/omni-parker-house.php.
“Charlotte Cushman, Cross-Dressing Tragedienne of the 19th Century,” New England Historical Society, date unknown, www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/charlotte-cushman-cross-dressing-tragedienne-of-the-19th-century.
“The Women Who Fought in the Civil War,” Smithsonian, April 2011, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-women-who-fought-in-the-civil-war-1402680.
“Lady in Black Ghost George’s Island Folklore,” Celebrate Boston, date unknown, www.celebrateboston.com/ghost/georges-island-lady-in-black-ghost.htm.
“Fort Warren’s ‘Lady in Black’…Debunked?,” Historical Digression, October 2012, https://historicaldigression.com/2012/10/17/fort-warrens-lady-in-black-debunked.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
“Triangle Fire’s Haunted Brown Building,” Seeks Ghosts, 2014, https://seeksghosts.blogspot.com/2014/03/triangle-fires-haunted-brown-building.html.
“Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire,” Untapped Cities, 2011, http://untappedcities.com/2011/03/12/remembering-the-triangle-shirtwaist-fire.
“Second Old Burial Vault Found Beneath Washington Square Park,” ABC7NY.com, November 2015, http://abc7ny.com/news/photos-second-old-burial-vault-found-beneath-washington-square-park/1068922.
“Beware of Zombies: The Grim Origins of Washington Square Park,” New York Public Library, March 2011, https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/03/10/grim-origins-washington-square-park.
“Terror on 10th Street,” New York Post, October 28, 2012, https://nypost.com/2012/10/28/terror-on-10th-street.
“The Manhattan Well Mystery,” Murder by Gaslight, December 2010, http://www.murderbygaslight.com/2010/12/manhattan-well-mystery.html.
“William Axtell,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, date unknown, http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/view?exhibitionId=%7Bba1dd6f3-fcbc-4918-81ec-27f8b5fd3e3c%7D&oid=13338.
“A Flatbush Legend,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 22, 1884, 9.
F. L. Perine, “A Long Island Homestead—Melrose Hall,” American Magazine 7, no. 3 (1888): 323.
“Walkabout: The History and Legend of Melrose Park,” Brownstoner, June 2013, http://www.brownstoner.com/history/walkabout-the-history-and-legend-of-melrose-park-part-1.
ECHOES
“Ice Pick Lobotomy Anyone? Take a Ride on the ‘Loboto-mobile,’ ” CCHR International, March 2013, https://www.cchrint.org/2013/03/18/ice-pick-lobotomy-anyone-take-a-ride-on-the-loboto-mobile.
Katherine Anderson and Robert Duffy, Danvers State Hospital (Arcadia, 2018).
Carla Yanni, The Architecture of Madness: Insane Asylums in the United States (University of Minnesota Press, 2007).
SOUTHERN DRAMA
“The Myrtles Plantation: Legend, Lore, and Lies,” American Hauntings Ink, date unknown, https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/myrtles.
“The Slave Girl of Myrtles Plantation: Louisiana Ghost Story,” The Moonlit Road, date unknown, http://themoonlitroad.com/slave-girl-myrtles-plantation-louisiana-ghost-story.
BEHIND THE DOOR
“The Mistress of Death,” Prairie Ghosts, date unknown, https://www.prairieghosts.com/lalaurie.html.
Victoria Cosner Love and Lorelei Shannon, Mad Madame Lalaurie (History Press, 2011).
“A Portrait of Cruelty,” Vice, March 2015, http://www.vice.com/read/a-portrait-of-cruelty-madame-marie-delphine-lalaurie-982.
A BAD SPIRIT
Michael Norman and Beth Scott, Historic Haunted America (Macmillan, 2007), 111–113.
“Haunted Libraries: Peoria Public Library,” The Witching Hour, June 2013, https://4girlsandaghost.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/haunted-libraries-peoria-public-library.
Mark Leslie, Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries (Dundurn, 2014).
STEAM AND GAS
Rebecca F. Pittman, History and Haunting of the Stanley Hotel (23 House, 2011), 60–61.
“Freelan O. Stanley, Motor Car Inventor,” New York Times, October 3, 1940, 25.
“Stanley Hotel Ghost Story Supported by Evidence of Room 217 Event,” Estes Park News, March 2014, http://www.eptrail.com/estes-park-news/ci_25288538/stanley-h
otel-ghost-story-supported-by-evidence-room.
IN THE BAG
“Solitary Confinement,” Prairie Ghosts, 2003, http://www.prairieghosts.com/eastern.html.
Paul Kahan, Eastern State Penitentiary: A History (History Press, 2008).
“Eastern State Penitentiary: A Prison with a Past,” Smithsonian, September 2008, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-daring-escape-from-the-eastern-state-penitentiary-180947688/.
“Timeline,” EasternState.org, date unknown, https://www.easternstate.org/research/history-eastern-state/timeline.
“Is Eastern State Penitentiary Really Haunted?” NPR, October 2013, http://www.npr.org/2013/10/24/232234570/is-eastern-state-penitentiary-really-haunted.
IF WALLS COULD TALK
“A Real Knockout,” Doctor’s Review, August 2012, www.doctorsreview.com/history/real-knockout.
“Dorothea Lynde Dix,” History.com, date unknown, www.history.com/topics/womens-history/dorothea-lynde-dix.
Kim Jacks, “Westin State Hospital,” master’s thesis, West Virginia University, 2008, UMI: 1458739.
Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Big Book of West Virginia Ghost Stories (Stackpole Books, 2014), 178–180.
“Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and the Haunting Enigma of Lily,” America’s Most Haunted, July 2016, www.americas-most-haunted.com/2016/07/01/trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum-and-the-haunting-enigma-of-lily.
