Beyond the South End

 

 



 





Scary Halloween Stories

Scary Halloween stories. Who doesn’t like a scary Halloween story?

In today’s world there is no end to visual horror stories whether you find them on T.V., the big screen, or any number of digital options. There is a wide source of Maine mystery and horror stories to be found in Maine. We’ll explore one such story called the Purrington Murders. We’ll also explore how we got our scary story fix in the South End in the 40s and 50s?

We also have a master storyteller of scary stories in the person of our own Steven King. We’ll talk a little about his contribution to the genre.

The Purrington Murders

 

One Captain James Purrington, lived with his family in Augusta in 1805 after moving from Bowdoinham, which is in Sagadahoc County on the west side of Merrymeeting Bay. The reason for the move is unknown.

The family became friends with the Ballard family who had a large role to play later on in this story.

In July of 1806, Capt. Purrington killed his wife and six children, and then committed suicide. One daughter, Martha, lingered from her injuries for three weeks before she died. One son, James, escaped and survived with minor injuries. What must his life have been like after such a traumatic event in his life?

Martha Ballard was a midwife in the area and her well-known diary, A Midwife’s Tale, makes for fascinating reading. I have mentioned her before. Here is one entry pertaining to the Purrington murders that appeared in her diary in July 1806, the date of the horrific murder. The grammar and spelling of the day was a lot different than what we are used to today and is challenging to read, but I found it fun to try to figure it all out. See how well you can do with it.

“Cloudy, raind aftern. my husband and I attended at the Sollom funeral of James Purington & his famely which he murdered. there was a Prayer made by Revd mr Stone, a Discoarse Delivd by A mr Taylor from Prov 25 C 28 V, he that hath no rule over his own Spirit is like a city broken down and with walls. there were a vast number of people attended, the performance was on a Stage which was Erected before the meeting h^s. the houses near were Crouded, the Streat Crouded & y^e tops of Buildings Covered with people. Said Puringtons remains were Lodged in the Porch with the ax & raisor which he made use of to Deprive his famely & him Silf of life were on his Coffin. his Dear wife & 6 Childn^s remains laid in the ally before the Boddy Pews. a Sollam specttacle to behold. may we all learn a profitable lesson from this Dreadful Scein and may it pleas the God that rules Sanctify this affliction to the Surviving retalives and to us all. the funeral proseeded from the meeting hous, went over kenebeck Bridg then turnd and went up the hill South and Down Second Street, turnd at the Jail & went to y^e grave yard. he was intered without the [walls].”

Pretty gruesome story, right? Do you take the last phrase “he was intered without the walls” to mean that his body was not allowed to be interred within the graveyard itself with the rest of the family because it was sacred ground and he had killed himself in the process and therefore could not be buried within the confines of the cemetery but must be buried outside the cemetery itself? Plus the fact that it was such a gruesome murder that perhaps the citizens of that area buried him elsewhere out of respect for his wife and six dead children.

True Detective

 

The boys in my South End neighborhood of the 40s and 50s were all true believers of True Detective magazine and its derivatives. They all enjoyed the stories they heard on the radio like “The Shadow,” “The Creaking Door,” and “Inner Sanctum,” and the horror movies they saw at the Strand or Park Street Theaters; but there was something exciting about getting the latest edition of “True Detective.”

It was a step up from comic books; and as they entered their teen years they especially enjoyed the usual pictures of sexy women on the cover, similar to this one. True Detective was a precursor to Playboy for them.

If they dug into their penny candy fund they could get a new magazine for around .25 cents, like the one pictured here.

It was a magazine he and his friends all gathered around and read together and they were often hidden away from the prying eyes of their mothers. My brothers were included in the mix.

The pull of this magazine included the fact that all the stories were true. Right? Maybe the ones you find online today are real, but we seriously had our doubts about those my brothers read even though they would swear up and down that they were indeed true. However, there did seem to be a formula for these stories. I suspect that some of the stories were about as true as some of the stories you find in The Enquirer today.

The true crime genre began with Bernarr Macfadden in 1924. Originally it was called True Detective Mysteries and was renamed True Detective in 1939. There were many imitations of this magazine over the years. It ceased publication in 1995. In 1950, editions of True Detectives and Master Detective began publication in Britain and Ireland. With the advent of television the genre eventually petered out in the U.S.

You can subscribe to a number of such magazines such as True Crime, Master Detective, True Detective, and Murder Most Foul from a London site: www.truecrimelibrary.com

You can read an excerpt of a story in the October edition of True Detective on their Facebook page of the same name. Tell me if you think the murder of 13-year-old Kaylene Harris is a true story or not.

 

 

Steven King, Master Storyteller

 

This book by Brighton David Gardner and reviewed by Sandra Scholes at

www.sfsite.com/ooa/fm406.htm explores the literary influences on King’s writing, namely H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Bloch and Ray Bradbury; and the influence King himself has had on the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres.

Gardner has spent years researching the world of Stephen King. He is a frequent contributor to www.talkstephenking.blogspot.com.  

I went to the blog site and found it very entertaining. If you are a King fan, you might want to check it out. Did you know that the car “Christine” is for sale?

No one can deny the influence Steven King has had on the scary stories we love to read and see on T.V. and in the movie theater. I particularly loved the latest treatment of his book, Under the Dome that ran on T.V. recently.

He has even influenced T.V. advertising. One ad turned IKEA into the set of “The Shining.” This video gave me a chuckle or two:

I hope you had fun exploring murder and mayhem with me in the State of Maine past and present. May your Halloween be uneventful in this respect. Don’t eat too much of your kids’ candy!

Thanks for listening.

(See the separate blog of things to do in Maine to celebrate the holiday)