Some nights you go to bed early.  Some nights you stay up for hours watching Supernatural and making your doll a pretty pink princess outfit.  At 2 in the morning, everyone is a pretty pink princess. ;)

The Haunted Vessel: Blue Mary

Grave of Mary Ritter Spaulding.

There are not a lot of local legends where I live that have ghosts attached, and even less that I will visit voluntarily.  Blue Mary is one surprising exception to this.

"Blue" Mary is a spirit that haunts Vale End Cemetery in Wilton, NH.  According to legend she appears as a blue light, and has caused any number of accidents, evps, creepy feelings, and supposed attacks.  I personally have never felt any malice in Vale End, or from Mary herself, but that's just me.  Most stories about her do suggest she is a vengeful and angry spirit, though when you hear her history it's no wonder.

In life Mary was known as Mary Ritter, or by her married name Mary Spaulding.  By all accounts she was a happy woman, marrying Captain Isaac Spaulding in 1795 and having eight children.  Some local folklore reports that Mary was a healer who specialized in using herbs, but there are no other sources to verify this information.

Uriel at Mary's grave.

Mary died in 1808 at 35 years old.  There is some mystery surrounding her death as well.  Some legends suggest that her husband was cheating on her with a younger woman (who he eventually married), and the depression and anger caused by this drove her to suicide.  Others agree with the infidelity, but say Mary wasted away on her own.  One word-of-mouth report I heard included Mary hanging herself in her home.  Whatever the case, Mary died young, leaving behind a husband and eight children.

It's traditional to leave offerings to appease
Mary. Note the pennies on her grave.

In 1809, a little over a year after his wife's death, Isaac married his second wife Mary Flynn Colburn.  Some reports suggest that this Mary was in fact the woman Isaac had been having and affair with.  When this Mary died, Isaac had her buried on top of his first wife.  It is for this reason that many people say Mary Ritter has returned to haunt Vale End.

I have been to Vale End a number of times, and have not experienced the terror that most reports insist is present.  I'm not sure exactly why that is, other than perhaps the fact that I really, truly, feel for Mary.  To me it isn't an attraction like a theme park, it's sad and unfortunate.  I like to go and talk "to" Mary, leave her little gifts as is customary, and often play her songs.

I haven't had any intense experiences, but the last time I was there I did experience something odd.  I brought my guitar along, and sat across from Mary's grave and played her songs for at least an hour.  I sang a number of covers, and then I delved into my own works, not all of which are particularly poppy or happy.  I found that when I sang my own music, I would feel a presence over my shoulder.  In particular when I sang a few songs that dealt with death, I felt the presence and the faint touch of something.

At first I thought the nearby trees were dripping on me, but this feeling occurred only when I was playing.  If I stopped playing/singing, it stopped.  There was no wind at the time, and I even moved out from underneath the trees to see if that was the cause.  However, as soon as I started playing again, the feeling return.  It honestly almost felt like tears falling on my shoulder, which is strange to say the least.

This time I went back with my sister and Uri, and we wandered around the cemetery for a while taking in the scenery.  Ghosts aside, it's truly a beautiful place to sit.  Hence why I come here so often with a book, guitar, sketch pad, etc.  I snapped some pictures of Mary's grave, and some f Uri with the grave, as well as some of the cemetery itself.

I should add that Vale End is also known for having at least two other spirits in residence.  One is an old man who wanders around near the cemetery gate.  Supposedly his daughter was buried in the grounds, but her grave was moved at some point.  The man returns and looks for his daughter's grave.


The second spirit is where most of the frightened reports come from.  According to local legend there is a Native American troll-like spirit that lives in or around the cemetery in some sort of den.  Apparently this area was the location of a massacre of Native American people by the Wilton townsfolk, and this creature is a punishment left in the wake of the violence.  I have never experienced either of these secondary ghosts, but that's just me.

Here are some more picture of the cemetery itself to give you a better idea of what the grounds look like.  It is really a beautiful place.

For more information on Mary and Vale End:

SPI's Website

Union Leader article

Ghosts of New England article

Hollow Hill article

FamilyPedia entry

Nashua Telegraph article

Upcoming

We have a really interesting Haunted Vessel post coming up this Friday.  Uriel and I went on a little road trip (okay so we drove one town over...) and got some pictures of a local haunted location.  I believe I've actually featured some photos of it here before as scenery, but I'm not going to reveal any clues.  You'll just have to wait until Friday!

It's that time of year...

I mentioned last week that Uri and I were off to do some "ghost hunting" at my sister's house.  She'd been experiencing some increasingly uncomfortable activity, and asked if I could come by and "work some mojo."  I took Uri along with me because he is my resident anti-ghost doll.  In general spirits won't mess with any of my dolls, but Uri is one that projects a very strong "go away" feeling around him.  So if I have him with me, the ghosts will generally stay a certain distance away.  

The activity seems to be consistent with what I had previously experienced when I lived there.  I believe it is the Civil War ghost I encountered last year that I discussed in this post.  She has heard the same kinds of footsteps and movement, coupled with an odd feeling of there being a male presence.  She has also most disturbingly heard a male voice when there is no man in the house, and heard our mother talking in her sleep to something that responds in that same voice.  My mother has no memory of these experiences, and pretty much dismisses the whole thing on principle.  However my sister was frightened and disturbed.

I took Uri and went through my normal process of cleansing and blessing the room.  I put Uri in the center and called to each element and my own deities for protection.  The moment I did that, the room went up at least ten degrees in temperature.  I had no recording equipment unfortunately, but I went from shivering to being hot enough to take off my sweater.  

I saged the room, and went about doing my blessing (private ritual).  The room definitely felt better afterwards, not only warmer but safer.  When I was done I stepped out of the room to leave, and I could feel a palpable difference just between the hallway and her room.  I retrieved Uri, and from then on walking was like stepping through thick fog.  The sensation of stepping through something not quite physical, but definitely present.  

Since then I've gone back to the house a few times to access some boxes I have stored there, and I can tell that the ghost is still present.  I was in the garage looking through boxes yesterday, and heard the distinct sound of footsteps on the driveway, and then across the leaves that were in front of the door.  I figured someone had come home without me hearing their car, but when I looked up nobody was there.  Further inspection revealed no cars in the driveway but mine.  That happened a couple more times while I was still in the garage, and the sound was very plainly someone walking.  

The button is still at my mother's house in storage, which is probably why the ghost is still active.  That and the facts that I'm no longer there to pay attention, and that my mother took down all the protective charms/etc. when I moved.  It took him a couple months, but he seems to be back in full swing now.  I told my sister to keep me posted on how she is feeling, and that I would try and figure out what to do with the button long-term.  

The Boys

Another Anime Convention Review!

Overall I had a good time, and was very pleasantly surprised at the size of the convention.  My little state isn't exactly known for putting on big cons, but this one was really well-attended.  I'm going to simplify this a bit and do a pro/con arrangement with a little explanation.

Pros:

• The con was actually pretty well run. Sometimes with cons that are just starting or smaller ones, you can find a lot of issues with the management.  This one however was well done, and nicely organized.  Con staff were positioned all over the place, almost at ever turn in the hotel.  They were ready to help you with just about anything from directions to fixing a broken costume.  They even had a "hotline" specifically for costume mishaps, including a text number.  Really convenient and nice people.
• Well attended, and awesomely costumed!  Seriously, there were so many amazing costumes.  
• Lots of fun activities, panels, and general craziness.
  
  There was a little rave, parasol and fan painting, video game lounge, various games going on in the hallways, a gong show, a hentai showing (hilairous!), and so much more.  I'm kind of sad I missed some of the earlier activities.  
• A wide-spread representation of fandoms in both attendees and presentations.  I saw a little of everything: Avengers, Superman, Sherlock, Loki, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Kuroshitsuji, furries, Firefly, Dr. Horrible, Doctor Who, Homestuck, and so many more.
• Really nice (if at times overeager) attendees.  It sounds silly, but not all conventions have that welcoming feeling.  This one though definitely had it from staff and attendees alike.  Everyone was more than happy to stop and chat, take pictures, discuss their costumes, etc.  People were also really good about offering help or advice if you found yourself lost or in need of something.

That being said, there were unfortunately a few problems (some big, some not) as well.

Cons:

• The vendor's hall closed early.  Really early.  My friend and I got there at 6ish, and it was already closed for the night.  I checked the schedule and apparently it was open in the mid morning until early afternoon, then closed, opened for a half hour, closed, opened for a half hour, and finally closed completely.  This meant I wasn't able to do any shopping. :(
• We encountered a few, rather rude members of the convention staff.  I try to give them some credit because I know conventions are never easy, and I'm sure they had to deal with a lot of crap.  However, there were a few interactions that were less pleasant than they could have been.
  
  For example...When we first arrived, we got our badges and went to enter the vendor room.  It was already closed which we were unaware of, we just saw a staff member at the door checking badges.  There were still people wandering around the vendor hall at this point, in retrospect I assume they were vendors closing up.  In any event, we get our badges and go to enter.  Rather than simply saying "It's closed," we get this interaction.
  
  My friend and I walk up to go in.  The staffer at the door jumps in front of my friend and pushes him back.
  Staffer: Where do you think you're going?!
  My friend: The vendor room?
  Staffer: No you're not.
  My friend: Because...is it closed already?
  Staffer: *big exasperated sigh* Obviously! You guys should have gotten here earlier.
• Creepy, creepy, creepy men. And staff/security not being watchful enough.
  
  I get that creepy guys are everywhere, and especially at cons they can be prevalent.  I also understand that you can't just kick people out or bar them for no reason but...
  
  There were a lot of older, very sleazy men hanging around the young girls of the convention (I would say 80% of attendees were under 18).  Some were just oggling, some were following them around and snapping pictures.
  
  I actually spoke to one of the staffers/attendees and she told me a very unsettling story.  She was at the front of the hotel outside, and a number of older men approached her asking how they could get into the party.  She asked if they were there for the convention, and they said no, they'd just heard there were underage girls in skimpy outfits and they wanted to come look.  They actually said this...
  
  Unfortunately there was also an issue with an older man who kept telling people he was the "official photographer."  Technically he had a staff pass, but he was using his position to get information like phone numbers, e-mail, and addresses from young female attendees.  He kept saying he'd send their photos if they told him where they lived/their number, but when asked by an older attendee he admitted he just wanted the e-mails to contact the women.  Ew.
• Finally, and most unfortunately...there was a lot of sexism, racism, and anti gay language in at least one of the panels we attended.  Now I'm no stranger to bad/offensive jokes, and I get that a con can have some pretty crazy behavior.  But to have a con-sponsored panel where the presenters yelled things like "lesbian!" as insults to the audience, and made racial and sexist jokes just wasn't acceptable.  

Overall I would definitely attend AAC again, and I think I would go for the whole weekend.  I feel like I missed out by only going for a day.

New eyes and...oops.

Got Uri's new eyes in the mail today and unfortunately they are way too small. :( Eyes are like jeans, every company makes the "same" sizes, but they all fit differently.  In this case it was a question of the white part of the eye, it was just too small to fit his eye holes.  The funny thing is that the pair he was wearing were also 16mm, and fit perfectly.  They are just way too dark for him.  So Arashi got a new pair of eyes instead. ;)

I think I'm going to go searching for his old metallic eyes as I missed those anyway.  They're somewhere in one of my moving boxes, so it might take a while...Poor eyeless Uri.