'Tis the season to gather around a dimly lit fire and listen to stories of dark and stormy evenings, foggy twilight romps through a cemetery, and long-abandoned properties inhabited by the spirits of the dead and creatures of local lore. Did you know that the telling of ghost stories was originally a custom around Christmastime? The telling of ghost stories around Christmas became a tradition during the Victorian era in England, and logically was tied to the holiday lying within the darkest days of the year, a time when many cultures across the Northern Hemisphere believe the spirit and physical world overlap.
In the United States, 鈥渟pooky season鈥 began to be associated with Halloween thanks to waves of immigrants from Ireland, Scotland and other Celtic nations who brought with them their celebration of Samhain, a day recognizing the midpoint between the fall equinox and winter solstice, and the origin of the day we now know as Halloween. The festival originally involved feasting through the night and the appeasement of spirits and faeries, and as it became integrated into the American tapestry the U.S. became the bastion of spreading Halloween across the globe in the 20th century.
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Here in Cayuga County, we are no strangers to ghost and monster stories. For much of the 19th century, Cayuga County was at the center of a Christian-rooted religious movement known as Spiritualism, in which individuals (usually women) known as 鈥渕ediums鈥 would communicate with the dead for their paying audiences through seances. The movement sprang to the public eye in March of 1848 when the Fox sisters, of Hydesville, reported that a spirit in their house was communicating with them by knocking. An account in The Genesee Courier on Friday, Oct. 20, 1871, details a seance in Moravia held by the Keeler family: "The door is shut and fastened with an air of the gravest solemnity. The medium takes a seat directly in front of the partition, and beneath the window. She folds her arms and sits motionless, with a funereal aspect. Up to this time the incredulous spectators have joked very freely, and seem to regard the affair in the light of fun. Suddenly impressed 'Phs' are heard coming from the females present, and the room becomes totally dark. ... A few moments elapse, and the audience experience disagreeable sensations. A scintillating speck of light resembling a star flies through the darkness. Several stars quickly follow it, and darting hither and thither make a fine pyrotechnic display. Large and small lights dance about the room which resemble the St. Elmo's phosphorescent gleams that are often seen by sailors at night.鈥
The article goes on to describe the appearance of spirits, and that a growing number of people were flocking to Moravia to experience seances at the Keeler residence. In 1888, the Fox sisters admitted to deceit, leading more people to take a critical look at the so-called spirit communications during seances. Many of the leading Spiritualist mediums were eventually discredited and their tricks exposed, but the movement survived to the modern day as part of the new age Spiritualism of the '60s and '70s.
In addition to the prominence of Spiritualism, reports of ghost and monster sightings were reported to the papers of the day. On Aug. 19, 1896, in the 鈥淩ecord of Current Events from May 13, 1894 to May 12, 1901,鈥 one account states, 鈥淭he latest sensation in Weedsport is a ghost 鈥 a real live ghost. It has been making nightly appearances for the past two weeks. The spook has been seen by several villagers who describe it as a tall, broad-shouldered figure draped in black, clinging garments which completely envelop the body. Several people have had the courage to attempt to waylay the ghost but have not been successful, as the apparition has proved a good sprinter. Consequently some weak doubters maintain that it is not a ghost at all, but a creature of real flesh and blood.鈥 A later report in the record states on July 7, 1899: 鈥淎 sea serpent described as about twenty-five feet long and a foot in diameter has made its appearance in OwascoLake, according to the statements of several persons who claim to have seen the creature. Please do not take these statements seriously.鈥
In most cases, these accounts were proven false in their day, but the popularity of stories of hauntings and lake monsters continue to inspire authors, residents and tourists alike across central New York.
Geoff Starks is the director of development and outreach at the Cayuga Museum of History & Art and Case Research Lab at 203 Genesee St., Auburn. His responsibilities include fundraising and marketing, including the maintenance of the museum website. In 2022, he oversaw the “100 Years of Sound Film” celebration at the museum, which included an in-depth look at the legacy of the Case Research Lab through a series of online exhibits that can still be explored on the museum’s website. For more information, contact the museum at (315) 253-8051 or .