While most people attribute Maine’s spookiness to the home of the “King of Horror” himself, Stephen King, many may not realize how scary the state can actually be. It would seemingly make sense, considering the King’s fictional town of Derry, in It was inspired by Bangor, Maine. The renowned author even addresses the fact on his official website: “Derry is just Bangor masquerading under a different name.”
However, according to Action Network, Maine ranks No. 1 as the state with the most reported ghost sightings, with 58.1 reported sightings per 100,000 residents, which is 811 in total. Long before the fictional horrors King created haunt people’s nightmares to this day, people in Maine have reportedly claimed to have encountered the supernatural. Local legends also add to the state’s iconic ghost-sighting lore.
For example, you have Fort Knox, a military fortification with a reputation for paranormal activity, and one of its best-known ghosts is Sergeant Leopold Hegyi. The man died in 1900, but many people attest that his soul still wanders the place, patrolling the fort and making its presence known with creepy footsteps. It’s an incredibly popular place for ghost hunting and paranormal investigations, with people still organizing groups to this day to seek ghost sightings.
Then there’s the legend of Nelly Butler, a woman who’s been labeled as “America’s First Ghost.” Butler’s is the first documented ghost story that came about near the start of 1800, with claims that people heard her voice from a home’s cellar even though she’s been dead for years. Nelly Butler’s lore goes beyond a simple ghost sighting, as historical accounts claim that, in a wild turn of events, she helped arrange her widower’s marriage. According to the Sullivan-Sorrento Historical Society of Maine, “over one hundred people witnessed the apparition,” including one evangelist, Abraham Cummings, who allegedly recorded 37 eyewitness accounts, plus his own.
Fans of The Lighthouse with Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe might appreciate Maine’s local legend of a lighthouse keeper’s wife who played the same piano tune over and over, as it was the only tune she knew. However, this repetition made her husband lose his mind, resulting in him killing his wife and then himself. Yet, to this day, people claim they can still hear her ghostly piano music around the area where this alleged murder occurred. Though Spectrum News reports that lighthouse historian Jeremy D’Entremont found no evidence of the murders.
Stories like these three paint a clear picture of how Stephen King didn’t create Maine’s ghost culture: he simply capitalized on the paranormal culture the state has had for generations. And with Action Network’s findings that the state has the most alleged ghost sightings, it’s no wonder the place has garnered a reputation for being iconic for its horror stories.
