At the turn of the twentieth century, newspapers loved a good ghost story, especially when the haunting came with witnesses, crowds, and just enough absurdity to make readers wonder what was really happening.
In New Haven, Connecticut, the excitement centered on Mapledale Cemetery, where a supposed “spook” was said to appear after dark and dance among the graves.
This was no ordinary sheet-draped specter drifting mournfully between headstones. According to the report, the ghost preferred lively ragtime steps and graceful waltzes, turning the cemetery into its own moonlit ballroom.
The story quickly drew attention. Night after night, crowds gathered at the cemetery gates, eager to catch a glimpse of the dancing apparition while remaining safely outside the grounds.
Two skeptical young men decided they would expose the haunting as a fraud, but when the ghost appeared at midnight, their bravery vanished. They ran from the cemetery without waiting to learn whether the figure was flesh, spirit, or prank.
Real Graveyard Spook
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut. — A spook that dances ragtime steps and can waltz gracefully also is playing a two-weeks’ engagement in Mapledale Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut.
The ghost walks occasionally, but it prefers the spirited dash of ragtime measures or the languorous movements of the waltz. Also, it seems to seek out graves for its saltatory exercises.
Large crowds gather nightly at the cemetery gates to see the spook, but few dared to venture within.
John Bertram and George Backmailer heard of the specter and scoffed it. They said it was a fake, not the real thing in spooks, and that they’d sit up and catch it.
When they entered the cemetery, the crowd at the gate cheered them. The ghost appeared at midnight. The young men didn’t stop to learn whether it was a fake or not, but took to their heels and ran wildly from the cemetery.
Several spiritualists say they’re going to try and hold converse with the spook, which, they say, is seeking for someone it had wronged during its earth life.
Source: Waterbury Evening Democrat. Waterbury, Conn. May 28, 1900.
