In Episode 256, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger take a week off, so they introduce you to an episode from the vault: Three Strange Beasts from the Woods of Maine, which originally aired March 5, 2020. In the woods of western Maine, we search for the Agropelter, the Billdad, and the Tote Road Shagamaw. These legendary creatures have haunted and hunted loggers for decades. Are they just tall tales told around the campfire at the end of the day, or could there be something more to it?
In Episode 255, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to the woods of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to search for some ghostly soldiers and scouts who plagued the town for weeks back in July of 1692. With the Salem Witch trials happening just a few towns away, and King William’s War raging to the north, everyone is on edge. Pretty soon, the people of Gloucester think these aren’t soldiers at all, but minions of the devil who can’t be shot or scared.
In Episode 254, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the town green of South Royalton, Vermont, searching for the memorial to Hannah Handy--the only memorial to a woman from the Revolutionary War in the state of Vermont. On October 16, 1780, Handy rescued nine children who were taken prisoner in a British raid. Her story was almost lost if not for a local historian who lobbied her town to raise funds for a monument.
In Episode 253, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Newton, New Hampshire, to explore the tragic story of Hannah Chase, who took her own life the day before her wedding in June of 1819. Her story and the pond where she perished may have been forgotten if not for the pen of Haverhill, Massachusetts, poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who immortalized the story and place. Chase’s story haunted Whittier as a boy.
In Episode 252, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger walk the roads of Hampton, Connecticut, searching for the story of the Darn Man, a colorful vagabond who wandered Windham County in the 1850s and 1860s wearing the coat he was to be married in, but his bride never showed. He gave different names to different families, he’d never talk about his past or origins, yet he became a local celebrity and the focus of many stories. But who was he really?
In Episode 251, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore Plain Meeting House Cemetery in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, searching for the lost grave of Nellie Vaughn. Some say she was a vampire. Others claim she was a witch. More believe her restless spirit still haunts this boneyard trying to right a wrong from decades ago. Could this be a case of mistaken identity?
In Episode 250, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger sail out to the Isles of Shoals, Maine, to investigate the infamous Smuttynose Island murders. On March 5, 1873, two women were brutally murdered on the island, while a third narrowly escaped with her life. Louis Wagner was hanged for the crime, but did they execute the right man? This crime still haunts the tiny islands.
In Episode 249, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hike up Mt. Nonotuck in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in search of the Eyrie House Ruins. The site was a once-popular hotel and resort in the latter half of the 1800s featuring live music, a menagerie of exotic animals, and incredible views. But a horrible tragedy took away owner William Street’s castle in a single night back on April 13th, 1901. There was a funeral pyre that went horribly wrong.
In Episode 248, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Sandgate, Vermont, to try and solve the mystery of a Norman Rockwell masterpiece painting called “Breaking Home Ties” that was proudly displayed in the Norman Rockwell museum between 2002 and 2006. The only problem is the museum painting was a fake. What happened to the original?
In Episode 247, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger try out stilts in Rye, New Hampshire, in search of a 19th-century eccentric legendary peddler known as Cling-Clang. Known to travel on stilts along the coast between New Hampshire, Maine, and even into Nova Scotia, this odd vagabond has some strange habits, he only slept outside, and left a mark behind that we can still see today. But who was this regional folk legend? Murderer on the run? Heartbroken noble? Something else?