"Creepy Hollow"

 Creepy Hollow - 
From the Daily Item 2014
"Cast in a certain light and using certain photographic filters, you can almost see where the spirits might be hiding in the shadows.  Can you identify these haunts in the Valley?"

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ANSWERS

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The 2024 Twelve Foot Skeleton Tour

The 2024 Twelve Foot Skeleton Tour

In and Around The West Branch of the Susquehanna Valley

Skeletons for Hope is a nationwide fundraising effort for St Jude's during the weeks leading up to Halloween, when individuals across the country use their haunted displays to raise money to support children and families impacted by childhood cancer. 

Since its conception in 2020, Skeletons for St. Jude has raised more than $400,000 for families with children battling cancer, with over 630 homes across the country participating.

Not all of the displays in our area participate, but several do!  

Octagon House, East Lewisburg See a video of the display at the Octagon House in East Lewisburg	St Jude's Participant 2800 White Deer Pike, Watsontown Video Clip
Main Street, Watsontown	Old Rt 15 just south of  the White Deer Pike

At The Watson Inn	Corner of 3rd & Cemetery St New Columbia, Pa
St Jude's Participant Sunrise Rd, Lewisburg Pa	500 Block S. Main Street Muncy Pa

Route 654 Duboistown

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FROM 2023:

Display South Main Street,  Muncy Pa	Montgomery,  about half a mile east of Thads & Weis
Faxon Circle, Williamsport	Musser Lane Display,  Watstontown Pa

East of Turbotville on rt 54	Center Street, Milton Pa
Pennsdale, PA	Sunset Drive,  Lewisburg Pa

John Brady Drive Muncy Pa Halloween Display	White Deer Pike
Video Of The Display No 12 foot skeletons- but here is a look at the Halloween display at 362 Hastings Street [rt 15 ] in South Williamsport.	Main street, Watsontown

 

 

Ghost Stories - An Index

 
An Index Of Ghost Stories In The Central Susquehanna Valley
If you look hard enough, there's a ghost story for every old structure in our area.  Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, an early Moravian missionary who explored this area in the mid-1700s, wrote in his diary that the area was given the name Otzniachson because “for it was here the Indians say the evil spirits have their seats and hold their revels.”

Here is where to find some of the tales, indexed by county:

The 2023 12 Foot Skeleton Tour

Where To See The 12 Foot Skeletons [And Other Halloween Displays]

Happy October!  The 12 Foot Skeletons have invaded the North Central Susquehanna Valley!  We've been going on Skeleton viewing trips this month - like going to see Christmas lights, but Halloween Displays instead.  Spotify has some great Halloween Playlists for the drive, and there are some INCREDIBLE displays this year!  If you know of others, please comment here, or on the facebook page for Valley Girl Views!

I'm going to list them first - if the location is linked, it will take you to a facebook post with more photos, or a video.  Then below the list,  I'll post a bunch of the photos from our tour so far

The Ride To Collect His Bones - Mad Anthony Wayne

Mad Anthony Wayne's Ghostly Ride To Find His Missing Bones

"One tale, dear to every yarn-spinner in these historical parts, tells of "The Rider of the Night," a shadow man on a shadow horse. Believers say the phantom is Mad Anthony Wayne, - brilliant Revolutionary War fighter, whose statue graces Valley Forge Park." It is said that the ghost rider gallops across Pennsylvania, between his two graves, looking for his lost bones.

The truth of Mad Anthony's two graves may be even spookier than than the fiction. 

Capering Ghost In Cemetery & The Headless Man, Debunked

 Capering Ghost In Cemetery,

 Headless Man Recall Old Days 

(Written for The Daily Item by Dr. Charles M. Steese) 

March, 1953

The Legend Of Jack Of The Lantern

The Legend Of Jack Of The Lantern

According to Irish legend, there was once a mean and stingy miser by the name of Jack, who, drinking too much one night at his favorite pub, started to leave his body.  The devil came to claim him, but Jack was in no hurry to join the devil in hell, so he tricked the devil into giving him money to buy more drinks.

When the devil claimed to have no money, Jack convinced him to turn into a coin.  Once he had done so, Jack placed the coin in his pocket beside a silver cross, trapping him. He then struck a deal with the devil - he would let him escape, if the devil promised to leave him alone for one year.

A year passed, and the devil once again came for Jack.  As they began their journey to hell, they passed an apple tree with large juicy fruit.  Jack convinced the devil to climb the tree to pick the biggest apple, and as he did so, Jack quickly carved a cross into the trees bark, trapping the devil in the tree.  He then bargained with the devil again, making him promise to leave him alone for ten years, and to never claim his soul.

A year later, Jack died. Refused at the gates of heaven, he made his way to the gates of hell, where the devil refused him also, keeping his promise to never claim Jack's soul.  The devil tossed jack a burning coal from the fires of hell, which Jack placed in a turnip as a lantern.  "Jack Of The Lantern"  continued to roam the earth, looking for his final resting place.

  Irish families would carve their own potatoes and turnips, placing them in the windows to scare the spirits, including Jack,  away.

During the potato famine of the 1840s, Irish immigrants flooded into America.  They found work here in central Pennsylvania, building canals, and working the mines, bringing their Jack Of The Lantern legend with them.  Here they found that the native gourd, the pumpkin was much easier to hollow out than a potato or turnip, and made a much better vessel for their lanterns.

Jack O' Lantern Trivia:

•  The term Jack-O-Lantern first appeared in print in 1750.  It referred to a night watchman carrying a lantern.
• "Jack" is the common British and Irish slang for a man.
• Before metalsmithing and glass-making became accomplished arts, hollowed out vegetable shells, most commonly potatoes and turnips, were frequently used as lanterns
• Pumpkins are indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, believing to have originated in North America.  Seeds from related plants in Mexico date back more than 7,000 years to 5,500 BC
• Pumpkins were completely unknown in Europe before the time of Columbus.
• Indians called pumpkins "isquotersquash".  The gourd was a staple in their diet.
• Colonists, once introduced to the pumpkin, sliced off the tops, hollowed them out, and filled them with milk, spices, and honey, baking them in hot ashes.  This is the origin of pumpkin pie.
• Today pumpkins are grown throughout the world, on every continent except Antarctica.  (Pumpkins are even grown in Alaska)

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From the Carlisle Valley Sentinel, 1880

"Our Mischief With Jack O Lanterns"

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Find More Local Stories & History Here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html

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READ MORE

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The Spooky Side Of The Susquehanna Valley - Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts & Grave Robbers

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-spooky-side-of-susquehanna-valley.html

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The Spooky Side Of The Susquehanna Valley - Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts & Grave Robbers

Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts & Grave Robbers
Local Legends, Lore, & History

When Pennsylvania Had Witch Trials - The Witch Of Ridley Creek

Eight years before the Salem Witch Trials, two women in Pennsylvania were tried for witchcraft. 

 In 1683, the cows near Ridley Creek, an area south of Philadelphia, were acting funny.  They weren't giving much milk, and livestock was dying at a faster than normal rate. 

 The Dutch and English Settlers, who had arrived to this area known as "New Sweden", were already disappointed to find  that the early Swedish settlers had claimed all of the best farmland.  And now their livestock was not doing as well as they thought it should. 

 Their frustration, and lack of communication with the Swedish settlers who spoke little English, led to rumors and accusations.  Before long, the communities traditional Finish Healer, a Swedish woman by the name of Margaret Matteson, was blamed for the troubles.  She was accused of "bewitching the animals", and was sent to trial for being a witch.  Mattson's neighbor, Gerto Hendrickson, was charged with the same crime.

William Penn was a man of wisdom, and he conducted the trial in such a way to avoid all of the hysteria that would later plague Salem.  The case was tried quickly, and the women were found guilty of  the crime of having the reputation of being witches, but not with the crime of performing witchcraft.  An important distinction.  The women's husbands were each charged a 50 pound peace bond, to be returned in 6 months as long as the women behaved and there were no further charges.

Where To Find The Halloween Parades In Our Area

By Town:

• Benton - Oct 30, forms at 6, moves at 7
• Catawissa - Oct 26 7:30-9:30pm
• Danville - Oct 24th 7pm
• Hughesville - Oct 31 6pm
• Montgomery  - Oct 31 6pm
• Muncy - Oct 31 5:30pm
• Northumberland - Oct 30 7pm
• Selinsgrove - Oct 15 7-9pm
• South WIlliamsport Mummers Parade Oct 19th 2pm
• Sunbury Oct 17th
• Watsontown Pa (Typically 5:30pm on the 31st - but no info published yet)

This year is the 112th Catawissa Halloween Parade

https://www.facebook.com/CatawissaHalloweenParade/

"In 1907 the Catawissa Military Band sponsored the first Halloween parade in Catawissa. The unique parade has lasted so long because all participants are paid. There are many bands and classic vehicles. Our marchers have some of the best costumes in the area."

The Mummers Parade is Celebrating the 80th anniversary of 

The Wizard Of Oz

For their parade theme this year

https://www.facebook.com/events/516089235812913/
(This parade is often 3 hours long - it is quite an event!)

By Date:
Oct 15 Selinsgrove

Oct 17 Sunbury 

Oct 19 South WIlliamsport Mummers Parade

Oct 24 Danville

Oct 26 Catawissa

Oct 30 Benton , Northumberland 

Oct 31 Hughesville, Montgomery, Muncy, Watsontown


More:
For more Halloween Happenings In Columbia County:
https://itourcolumbiamontour.com/local-halloween-happenings/

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https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/10/where-to-find-haunted-houses.html

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/10/where-to-visit-local-corn-and-sorghum.html

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/09/where-to-find-fall-festivals.html

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/10/where-to-pick-pumpkin.html