By: Moaner T. Lawrence
Springtime has arrived, and with it returns the opportunity to scare oneself in the great outdoors. A noteworthy venue of indulgence is The Bar Harbor Ghost Tour, located on the postcard paradise of Mount Desert Island, Maine. Convening nightly from May to late October in front of the Abbe Museum’s courtyard located on 26 Mount Desert Street, the walking tour is USA Today’s third-highest ranked ghost tour in the United States and features exploring Bar Harbor’s haunted Criterion Theatre as well as Wabanaki ghost stories.
Guiding the masses through the town’s terrors and supernatural hot-spots are tour leaders Audrey Pictou, Axis Fuksman-Kumpa, and owner Jennifer Pictou. A venerator of tradition and feminism, Pictou ensures that each tour is led by a lady garbed in Victorian-era gowns worn by New England’s female assistant undertakers, and dons a top hat in tribute to the Penobscot Nation’s Molly Molasses.
This year the The Bar Harbor Ghost Tour company will also be offering new adventures for you to try including a 2.5 hour “Island of the Dead” tour is a small group van excursion (up to 5 people). Total climate controlled comfort in a brand new van and completely narrated, as well as a “Haunted Pub Crawl” offered during the Happy Hours of 4-6PM on Thursdays which will take one into the old speakeasy of the Criterion Theatre. Thanks to an embarrassing incident caused by a malfunctioning pumpkin spice latte, I had the pleasure of taking the tour twice, and can vouch that the tour every bit as good as advertised.
