S2.E8: The Black Stag (Halloween Special Pt. 2)
Season 2, Episode 8 (Halloween Bonus 2)
When nights grow long and familiar paths suddenly lead you astray; when fog shrouds the coast in deathly gloom and strange lights flicker in empty bogs,
that’s the time when ghosts and ghouls explore this new found land.
Welcome to the Strange Truths & Tall Tales Halloween Special.
Title: The Black Stag
Time: 15 minutes
Locations: St. Brides, Point Lance, Elliston
Story: The Black Stag of St. Brides, The Ghost Dog of Elliston, and The Mudsucker
Listen:
About The Episode:
Halloween Bonus Episode Pt. 2
It’s October and the nights are getting noticeably longer. As darkness takes a hold. I’ve decided to embrace the ‘spooky season’ for some short Halloween episodes.
This instalment features an old folktale set near St. Bride’s, NL. It concerns a strange black Stag seen on the roadside and a series of unexplained deaths that plagues a family soon afterward.
Continuing on with the theme, I share is legends of other ghostly creatures from Newfoundland, starting with the headless ghost dog of Elliston.
Listening Options
You can listen to the episode here or on your favourite platform.
Credits
Tocatta & Fugue in D Minor (Bach) from orangefreesounds.com, Paul Pittman, public domain.
Thunder (bajko) from freesound.com, creative commons 0
Sources & Further Reading
The Black Stag of St. Bride’s, Product of Newfoundland
Home Before Dark, Product of Newfoundland
The Black Stag -- A Ghost Story, James McGrath, Newfoundland Quarterly, 1910
The Story of the Black Stag, New-Land Magazine, Spring 1965
St. Bride's, Decks Awash, May-June, 1990
The Black Stag of Distress, Off-Beat Mystery of Newfoundland, Michael Harrington, 1988
The Black Stag, Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador, Edward Butts, 2010
Ghost Dog, People of Elliston — Then and Now, Facebook
Mudsucker, Dictionary of NL English, word slip
Elliston, Encyclopedia of NL
In 1946 a comet crossing earth’s orbit lead to an unforgettable night in Griquet.
Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam
Where the moose and the caribou play?
In September 1775 a horrible hurricane hit Newfoundland, killing thousands of people and spawning ghost stories still told today.
In 1912 a deadly avalanche struck Tilt Cove, NL. Housekeeper Emily Day received fatal injuries while saving the life of a 3-year-old child.
A tale from Gaultois, NL of a mother’s daring rescue of her baby from the clutches of an eagle.
Nearly 200 years ago, two young men robbed a bank in England and found themselves hiding out in St. John’s, NL. They staged a daring prison break and left Newfoundland with a mystery that remains unsolved to this day.