Anything Else Out There?

Once you have reached a certain point in your life, it becomes a little inappropriate to don a plastic politician mask or Disney princess dress and knock on strangers’ doors, opening a paper bag from the grocery store and shouting, “trick-or-treat!” It’s a sad and difficult transition for some, missing out on all that candy, organizing it on the living room floor, trading five Tootsie Rolls for a mini box of Nerds with your costumed companions.

But Halloween isn’t just for the kids. Let’s remember the core theme of the holiday – scary stuff, and that means scary movies, scary stories, and that all around creepy feeling that seems to pervade the Midwest once the leaves are all but scattered on the ground and the air is consumed with a chill. Door County, my friends, is a famed peninsula of scary stuff – scary folklore, scary history, and a number of reported, sometimes scary, ghosts.

I have heard rumors of a boy named Jason, Al Capone’s illegitimate son some say, appearing in the attic windows of Shipwrecked in Egg Harbor, the place he was discovered hung – an act of suicide or murder. On Washington Island, there are tales of a famed prohibition bartender, Tom, who once served bitter-shots and now inhabits the Nelsen’s Hall Bitters Pub – doing unseen, ghostly deeds, maybe moving furniture or creating sounds. Yet, the rumored ghosts of Door County appear in more than bars. There are bed and breakfasts, hotels, cemeteries, and a coastline claiming more than 200 shipwrecks (ever heard of Deaths Door?) providing enough creepy lore to keep anyone busy with ghost hunting.

So, after tossing the last of the “fun-sized” Snickers bars in the trick-or-treaters’ open bags or setting your pointy witch hat on the countertop, you may still feel a restlessness, a sense of curiosity that Halloween (and Door County) seems to provoke. Is there something else out there?

Let’s face it – some of you are going to wander to a graveyard come October 31. Some of you are going to sit around a Mattel Ouija Board. Some of you braver thrill-seekers are going to wander to a graveyard and sit around a Mattel Ouija Board, while others cuddle up with a blanket and watch Ghost or Halloween and feel they have participated in the holiday.

But for you more adventurous types, remember: bring a flashlight, wear reflective gear, do not trespass, (if you feel a certain pull to a location, gain permission before entering) and for the sake of research and a good laugh, bring a video camera.

To learn or experience more regarding the ghosts of Door County, read The Ghosts of Door County, Wisconsin by Geri Rider, visit http://www.ghostsofdoorcounty.com, which contains information about an upcoming documentary focused on Door County hauntings, or join the Door County Trolley Tour for “Trolley of the Doomed,” featuring haunted sites and scary stories (visit http://www.doorcountytrolley.com or call 920.868.1100 for more information).