Famous Ghost Stories

In recent years, Selcoth has gained a reputation for its haunted history. Mystery, tragedy and the unseen seem to permeate through the decades of Selcouth's existence. Here are some of the most famous.

Pottersfield Museum

Dubbed a "tourist trap" by locals, the Pottersfield Museum capitalizes on the mystery surrounding the missing Pottersfield Settlement of 1632. This museum tells a dramatized version of the history of the settlement and contains the artifacts remaining from the site. Artifacts including the three remains that were found. These remains are displayed within the museum, a decision that caused a lot of controversy in Selcouth.

Nicknamed Placidia, the spirit of an older woman wanders the remains room, sometimes accompanied by a young girl. They appear as silent apparitions, but sometimes a child's laugh has been heard in the artifacts room. Many believe this spirit is attached to a small toy in the artifacts room, because the glass holding the toy gets covered in small handprints, even after cleanings.

The Lumber Mill

After the fire in 1904, the Lumber Mill, which had been around since 1811, was demolished and rebuilt. It was too badly damaged, and the memory was too painful. While the building changed, however, the land remained the same, and several spirits have been known to haunt the Lumber Mill. The two most famous are Matthew Brown and the Screamer.

Matthew Brown was a worker who went down with the Lumber Mill during the fire. His body was never found, assumed to have burned up with the building like many others. He has been seen in the basement of the new lumber mill, wearing his workers uniform with an arm raised. Some report that he mouths something before disappearing.

The Screamer is a voice that workers have reported hearing all around the Lumber Mill. Some have even heard it outside and around the mill. Perhaps a victim (or victims) screaming in pain from beyond the grace.

The Abandoned Asylum

While the first American mental asylum was built in Williamsburg, VA, the second was built in Selcouth, Massachusetts. In 1840, it gained the name "Mirror Lake Mental Institution", its first name being lost, unintentionally or otherwise. After decades of alleged abuse, mistreatment, and intimidation, the asylum was shut down in 1953. Locals tend not to discuss the details with outsiders.

Since the asylum was shut down, bodies continue to be discovered within. These bodies are handled with strict confidentiality, but many believe that they were brought there by someone or something. Possibly murder?

The most notorious spirit of the asylum is known as Florence, her last name has been kept secret. She was admitted in 1842 for "hysteria, novel reading, rumor of husband's murder, deprivation of male company, and superstition". She died in 1850. It's said that her spirit wanders the asylum at night, lashing out at orderlies and shouting in the hydrotherapy room. She seems to be the most hostile towards men.

Margaret Harris was admitted in 1943 on account of "hysteria, homosexual tendencies, and adultery", and is also known to haunt the asylum. It's rumored that she had frequent conversations with the spirit of Florence in the hydrotherapy before her death in 1949, due to a failed lobotomy. Many have reported seeing her spirit with Florence.

An alarm whistle has been heard through the third floor of the asylum, believed to be the whistle of a spirit named The Warden. The Warden can be heard stomping, and has been known to rush investigators.

Unsolved Murder of Veronica White

In 1957, Selcouth resident Veronica White was found brutally savaged by her husband in her home. Details have not been released, but rumors have spread about the ghastly murder scene. While her husband, William White, was suspected, he was eventually let off on lack of evidence. Many still think that he was the one to kill her.

The White Family home was abandoned and left to rot in the 60s, but some claim to hear radio music playing from the old property.

McFarlane House

As Selcouth's most recent, and most famous, mystery, the McFarlane house has been looked into more closely than most. According to records, the land has been settled since 1823, with rumors of witch activity going back to the 1750s. Much of what has happened on this land has been lost, either on purpose or accident, but it is known that locals steered clear of the land. The house built on the land was most often occupied by outsiders, most of whom left as quickly as they came. In 1982, the McFarlane family moved into the residence. The family seemed to settle well into life in Selcouth, but rumors spread of hauntings in the house. The McFarlanes, however, decided not to speak of it. In 1986, however, the family disappeared without a trace. This mystery continues to shock both people outside of Selcouth, and residents.

A Dark Energy seems to exist within the McFarlane house, which has been known to scratch at investigators, growl, and taunt. Some theorize that this entity is the reason that the McFarlanes went missing.

There have also been reports of women crying in the upstairs bedrooms, and a child's footsteps running through the downstairs hallway before closing the closet door in the downstairs bedroom. An investigator came back with the names Delilah Reeves and Marianne Luster, but no records exist in the area under those names.

We strongly advise exercising caution when exploring the McFarlane house.

The Shakers in the Selcouth Woods

Nobody knows what the shakers are. Some say they are the spirits of those lost to the woods, others say they are cryptids like the Massachusetts Stalker. On the other hand, what is known is that the Shakers, as their name suggests, shake trees and rattle branches. They seem to show as small, purple-ish white lights.

Umbrawnring Cat

Similar to the Argentinian Dog of Death, this cryptid manifests as a large feline beast that likes to prowl in areas with high concentrations of death. It is rumored to be a familiar of a witch in the 17th century, long forgotten after her execution. Unlike most of the other cryptids, it seems to have no fear of urban areas, and there have been sightings in the urban alleyways of Selcouth. Most of the sightings are concentrated around the Mirror Lake Asylum, the Selcouth Town Morgue, and the Amity Crossing Cemetery. The Umbrawnring Cat is rumored to be a guardian of lost souls, a harbinger of death, or even a warden of the damned. On the 31st of October, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, some of the locals like to leave out casual offerings of food, bones, and the occasional cat toy (the last mostly as a joke).

Massachusetts Stalker

The Massachusetts Stalker is a cryptid found in the forests of Massachusetts. This creature is described as tall and lanky, almost 8 feet tall, with pitch-black skin pulled tight against its bones and glowing yellow eyes. It is said to follow hikers, watching them from afar. They are known to knock on trees, as a way of luring people into the woods. Some report them to be malevolent, some report otherwise.

The Jersey Clump

While stories of the Knocker, Umbrawnring Cat, and Shakers, have existed since the early days of Selcouth, the Jersey Clump is a relative newcomer. Some believe that it was a clump shot off of the Jersey Devil, others believe that it's a new cryptid entirely.

The first reported sightings of the Jersey Clump were made in the Pine Barrens in the 1980s. Hunters told stories of finding killed woodland animals, with clumps taken out of their flesh and a black residue left in the wounds. Only one human death has been attributed to the Jersey Clump, a John Doe who was so badly mutilated that he could not be identified. The body was covered in black residue and was almost entirely hollowed out, yet somehow there were no external wounds aside from the ones on the face. Worst of all, the corners of his mouth were torn, making it look like he was smiling. Some theorize that a murderer took inspiration from the Jersey Clump stories, but no killer has been found.

An article on the murder was written for the Pine Barrens Tribune.

After this incident, the Jersey Clump seemed to disappear, with no more incidents of mutilation in South Jersey. In 2005, however, new stories of Jersey Clump activity began cropping up in Selcouth. No human deaths have occurred, but a few animals have been found with telltale flesh wounds and black residue. Could this be a copycat, or has the Jersey Clump moved to Selcouth?