Overcast skies with scattered drizzle - perfect weather for exploring the rich lore of Island ghosts and haunted houses. Author Holly Nadler, whose pursuit of all tales strange and supernatural has earned her the title, "The Ghost Lady of Martha's Vineyard," is set to begin her ghost tour of Vineyard Haven.
The pied piper of ghosts, Holly Nadler leads a ghost tour along the streets of Edgartown. Photo by Whitney Lasker
A number of huddled families, umbrellas in hand, gather close as Ms. Nadler lights her lantern and explains that the bank doorway is the most negative vortex on the Island. "Vineyard Haven has been the trickiest of the Island towns to research," she says in her airy musical voice. "For reasons you'll see in a moment, a negative vortex surrounds the area all along Main Street. The protective spirits seem to have fled, and the evil remain. If you start to feel an unnatural chill, just imagine yourself surrounded in white light."
Initial reaction is scattered. Many of the adolescents seem to take the words with skepticism. Some of the younger children seem to be bracing themselves, and their parents give reassuring smiles, as if reveling in the fun aspect.
And she tells the tale of the cruel Rodolphus Crocker, who built his harness shop in 1872 where the Bank of Martha's Vineyard now stands. By 1880, his factory employed more people than any other business on the Island. It is a matter of record that he got many of his young workers from an orphanage in New Bedford, and exacted long hours of hard labor, his whip often striking a lad's back. In the fall of 1882, two of his young workers attempted to run away from the factory by stowing away on one of the whaling ships docked in Vineyard Haven harbor. When the boys were found and returned to the factory, they were subjected to a harsh whipping.
Less than a year later, on August 11, 1883, Mr. Crocker's harness factory went up in flames. The fire consumed 32 dwellings, 26 stores, two stables and 12 barns. A Boston Herald article published a week after the blaze stated that there "...could not have been a more perfect conjunction of unfortunate circumstances."
Ms. Nadler drops the suggestion that the abused orphans might have sparked the fire, explaining that on her very first Vineyard Haven Ghost Tour, she brought along a medium, who saw two teenage boys, dressed in antiquated clothing, running up Main Street away from where the bank now stands. "Perhaps if the abuses of Rodolphus Crocker are better known, then the spirits will find rest," she says lightly.
The petite Ms. Nadler keeps the tour moving. As darkness descends, she tells her stories within their context, pointing out houses and locations along the way. She does not resuscitate old stories so much as she relates the stories that have quite literally refused to die. Relying on no shock value, Ms. Nadler slowly slips unease into the skeptics. Her confident, easy delivery seems to say that it is the spook skeptics, and not the believers who are detached from reality.
Her matter-of-fact approach to the supernatural combined with her engaging storytelling keep the crowd drawn close as the tour progresses. Gradually, the certainty with which she describes the presence of the departed takes hold on the crowd. Even those disbelievers seem to cede the point that there is some form of unexplainable presence.
Apart from the ghosts, Ms. Nadler's tour is full of interesting tidbits about the history of Martha's Vineyard. She thinks of history as an unclosed book, events of the past are not necessarily dead and gone. Her research is methodical, and though some on the tour expressed quiet skepticism with the first person reports from which she gathers her stories, they listened just as raptly as the rest.
The tour also flutters around issues of philosophy, discussing the possible paths that the departed may take. "I believe it is a bit unnatural for a spirit to remain in this realm," Ms. Nadler says. "They usually stay in places that they had a strong connection to in life. So rather than finding a ghost in a graveyard, they are more likely to haunt a house, or even a specific location, such as a staircase."
By the end of the hour, the thought that ghost stories are just the fancies of their teller has been all but eroded. Still, Ms. Nadler does not seem to instill fear, in fact, she reduces her audience's threshold for being spooked. She delivers history with a certain impetus, making the group wonder about how actions and lives will reverberate into the future.
As the families head off, she offers one last piece of advice. "Don't be ashamed to sleep with the lights on. Heaven knows I have. Many, many times."
Holly Nadler's Ghost Tours: Meet Tuesdays, Edgartown Books, Main St.; Wednesdays, Oak Bluffs at The Secret Garden, Circuit Ave., Thursdays, Vineyard Haven Bunch of Grapes. All tours, 8 pm. Adults, $10. Children under 8, $5. 508-274-2329
Ben Williams is a regular contributor to The Times.
The pied piper of ghosts, Holly Nadler leads a ghost tour along the streets of Edgartown. Photo by Whitney Lasker
