Well really not that absurd!Weird, Wicked Weird: What a year.
By Kathryn Skelton and Lindsay Tice, Staff Writers
Published: Dec 05, 2009 12:04 am
Some things can nag when left unanswered too long.
Like, whatever happened to that mom with the maybe-haunted kitchen closet? Or the couple who turned their wedding into a super hero theatrical extravaganza? Joy? Regrets?
We wondered, too. So we updated five stories that kept us guessing.
Kick back, uncork a little marinating king cobra and enjoy. May 2010 be half as wicked weird.
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Author back with more Maine lore, more mayhem
After tackling tales about ax murders and an unsolved decapitation, Bucksport librarian Emeric Spooner has written a new book.
This one features some very old Maine urban legends.
Oh, and a couple of murders.
"Because that's what I do," he said.
Author of the self-published and Weird, Wicked Weird-profiled "In Search of Sara Ware" and "A Return to Smuttynose Island: And Other Maine Axe Murders," Spooner has now written "In Search of Maine Urban Legends." Also self-published, the book is on sale at Amazon.com.
His latest book features among other stories, the supposed curse of Bucksport's founder by a witch, a white whale found swimming in the Penobscot River and a pair of nuns who were attacked by a creature with glowing red eyes, as well as two stories about female serial killers from the 1800s.
All were tales that had caught Spooner's attention over the past 20 years as he researched other works.
"These are the stories that are passed down from generation to generation," he said. "At the heart of them is a truth that needs to be searched out."
Some of the tales — such as the woman who killed her four children, first and second husbands and one stepson — are gruesome enough to seed the plot of a modern horror movie. Others — such as the elephant that got away from a circus train and spent four days roaming Bucksport and swimming in the local lake — are almost too absurd to be believed.
Spooner doesn't believe in the curse of Bucksport's founder or the evidence so often pointed to: the image of a leg dancing on Buck's gravestone.
"It's just a flaw in the stone," he said.
Still, with that story and others, Spooner tries to stay neutral. Maybe it's a curse. Maybe not. He lets the reader decide.
(Not to leave my friends from Strange Maine out, or Uncle Loren for that matter, I also include the next part, that was of course printed first in the original article. )
Bigfoot at home on Congress Street
A few people have been halfway through the tour when Loren Coleman says they've looked up and realized, "Oh, you're the guy on ‘MonsterQuest.'"
In November, Coleman opened the International Cryptozoology Museum and most days, he's the one running the show.
The museum is laid out in a single 500-square-foot room at 661 Congress St. in Portland, reached through The Green Hand Bookshop. With decades' worth of Bigfoot, Loch Ness and other strange paraphernalia, the cryptozoologist says he plans to rotate part of the exhibit four times a year. It all used to be kept, by appointment only, in his home.
Museum-goers are already bringing in their own finds, like a Yeti's Best produce box from Whole Foods and Vietnamese wine with a king cobra inside. For the latter, Coleman said he Googled and found that it's the Asian equivalent of tequila with a worm at the bottom. Into his collection it went.
He has a three-year lease on the property, with an option for three more, and plans to expand to the building's second floor.
Museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m., closed Monday. Admission is $5 per person.
For the entire article please check out:
http://www.sunjournal.com/node/511034/
