The Mary Celeste Mystery: A Mini-Essay

     In November of 1872, the one-hundred-ninety-eight-ton Mary Celeste left New York with a load of alcohol bound for Italy. Although it was his first voyage aboard this vessel, Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs was an experienced mariner and he hired a crew of seven skilled sailors.[1] The voyage promised to be routine and uneventful and Briggs viewed it safe enough to take along his wife, Sarah, and their two-year-old daughter, Sophia. On December 4, Mary Celeste was found three-hundred miles west of her last charted position.[2] For the crew of the brigantine Dei Gratia who stumbled upon her, the entire ordeal was surreal and unnerving. Mary Celeste was discovered yawning erratically in the Atlantic. After boarding the ship, the men noticed the tattered foremast sail, the untended wheel, the abandoned foul-weather gear and personal belongings, the form of a sleeping child imprinted in one of the bunks’ mattresses, several broken and leaking barrels of alcohol in the cargo hold, and the logbook which detailed a normal and unexciting voyage.[3] There were no signs of serious water damage or any hint of struggle which would have prompted the veteran captain and his qualified crew to abandon ship, but the lifeboat was missing. The crew of Dei Gratia were perplexed and, as details of their encounter with the ghost ship reached both sides of the Atlantic, much of Europe and the United States shared that bewilderment. Over the following months, theories emerged: pirates had abducted the crew, a mutiny aboard the ship had gone horribly wrong, the entire incident was a botched insurance scam, and Die Gratia’s sailors had pillaged the ship and killed those aboard.[4] In 1884, conclusions went from semi-plausible to irrational when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle penned a fictional account of the doomed voyage and twisted the facts, including the presence of Mary Celeste’s untouched lifeboats.[5] Since then, the details continued to blur – hot meals found on the galley’s table, for example – and the hypotheses grew wilder, incorporating aliens, government conspiracies, the Bermuda Triangle, and a family curse.[6] Bizarre weather anomalies and space/time wormholes aside, what really happened? Although we many never wholly know, historian Brian Hicks presents a plausible argument which shows the event may have been far more tragic than supernatural.
     Drawing on the report by the American consul in Genoa, Hicks reveals that Mary Celeste had taken on ballast at Hunter’s Point a week before her sailing, nine barrels of alcohol had broken open at some point during the voyage, every hatch, door, and window were found open, and the halyard was discovered snapped and trailing behind the ship.[7] Viewing this information as pieces of a puzzle, Hicks assembles what he believes is the most likely scenario. At the time Mary Celeste docked in Hunter’s Point, Long Island City was home to several refineries and factories which were dumping methanol and formaldehyde into the water. It was these chemicals that were unknowingly brought aboard as Mary Celeste collected ballast in her bilge and these chemicals which interacted with the alcohol (450 gallons of it) as it poured from the nine broken barrels.[8] The chemical combination would have had physiological effects on the crew, causing light-headedness and nausea, and, most likely, they opened all of the ship’s doors, hatches, and windows to air out the vessel. It proved useless and, as Hicks theorizes, they took to the lifeboat, but not to abandon ship. Realizing it would take time to rid Mary Celeste of the vapors, they fastened the halyard to the boat and used it as a tether to trail behind the vessel at a distance safe enough from the fumes but close enough to reel themselves back in once everything had abated.[9] They were planning to return shortly after the air became hospitable, Hicks argues, which is why they left behind their belongings. What they did not plan on, though, was the halyard that served as their lifeline snapping and their desperate efforts to row back to the ship proving useless. As Hicks states, “they drifted to their death, leaving behind a world that for more than a century would ponder their fate.”[10] 

Works Referenced

Hicks, Brian. Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and her Missing Crew. New York: Ballantine Books, 2004.
____________________
[1] Hicks, 7.
[2] Hicks, 5.
[3] Hicks, 4-5.
[4] Hicks, 8.
[5] Hicks, 8-9.
[6] Hicks, 9.
[7] Hicks, 238-242.
[8] Hicks, 240-241.
[9] Hicks, 242-247.
[10] Hicks, 247.

Carnival Signs

$15 - $20 (based on 2017 prices)

Makes four signs

Zombies and clowns are the two themes, in my opinion, which have been overdone in yard haunts and professional attractions. Because of this, I was a little leery when my office selected a demented circus theme for 2017. To tackle the challenge, I decided to focus on the twisted carnival idea and draw inspiration from turn-of-the-century travelling shows. I wanted something that looked vintage and did not relying too heavily on clowns.

• Two 20” x 30” foam boards
• Two rolls of colorful wrapping paper (roughly seventeen square feet per roll)
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in nutmeg*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One deck of large playing card (roughly 3.5” x 6” in size)
• At least four tablespoons of dark roasted coffee grounds
• One pan large enough to soak the cards
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in cherry cobbler*
  

1. Cut the foam boards into four signs that are thirty inches long and ten inches tall. You can make them simple arrows to direct visitors to specific areas of the haunt or more elaborate markers to distinguish rooms or props.

2. Brush a light layer of glue onto each sign and cover them with wrapping paper. For visual interest, I decided to use two different patterns. You, though, are free to use one or many based on your preferences. To make the paper appear worn, crumple it prior to adhering it to the boards and tear holes into it.

3. To add additional age and distress, dust the signs with a light coat of nutmeg spray paint. To give the appearance of dirt, hold the can over twelve inches away from the sign’s surface and make quick flicking motions. You can also apply a flecking of black paint and smears of brown paint to enhance the weathered appearance.

4. Begin the distressing process for the cards by roughening their surfaces and removing parts of the print with sandpaper. Once this is done, boil enough water to completely submerge them and pour it into the pan. Add the coffee. The longer you allow the coffee to brew, the darker the stain will become. Likewise, greater amounts of coffee will produce a richer stain. Submerge the cards in the coffee mixture and soak them until they reach the color you desire. I soaked mine for one day and scattered the coffee grounds over the tops to add spots. You may have to work in small batches if you cannot find a container large enough to hold all of the cards at once.

5. Once the cards have dried, glue them to the signs. You will want each card to represent one letter in the words you would like displayed. It helps to plan this out ahead of time and play with the positioning beforehand. For visual interest, do not center each card on the sign and switch between using the fronts and backs.

6. Use cherry cobbler paint to write the letters on the cards. You want the wording to be haphazard. To achieve this, exaggerate curves, create sharp points, and elongate certain aspects. You could also write letters backwards and deliberately misspell words. Keep in mind, though, that the signs need to be readable, so try not to overdo your artistic flairs.

7. If you plan to display these props on a wall or other surface, consider making hanging loops with steel wire on the backs.

8. To amplify the creepiness, you could smatter bloody handprints on the signs, dangle severed ears or fingers from their edges, or adhere clusters of crawling insects.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.

“Another to Bring in the Witch” (A Poem)

In 1647, Robert Herrick composed a two-volume tome of over 2,500 poems which put into verse the faiths and superstitions of rural England. From charms to incite love and protect livestock from malicious spirits to rituals to ensure bountiful crops and the rising of bread, Herrick’s compilation, Frederic Moorman highlights, reveals how, even in the seventeenth century, English folklore was still steeped in pagan practices and the ceremonial customs of ancient Rome.[1] Below is a spell, which involves the baking of a cake made from flour and urine, used to summon a witch.

To house the hag, you must doe this:
Commix with meale a little pisse
Of him bewitch, then forthwith make
A little wafer or a cake;
And this, rawly bak’t, will bring
The old hag in: no surer thing.[2]

Works Referenced

Herrick, Robert. “Another to Bring in the Witch.” Hesperides. Vol. 2. 1647. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1875. 116.

Moorman, Frederic. Robert Herrick: A Biographical and Critical Study. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1910.
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[1] Moorman, 205.
[2] Herrick, 116.

Floating Candles

$10 - $15 (based on 2016 prices)

Makes eleven candles

I have seen this project done with PVC pipes. In an effort to save both money and time, I created mine using paper towel rolls. It achieves the same effect without the hassle of cutting piping. Plus, the low cost offsets any disappointment if the props are damaged or stolen. As always, you can modify the color to fit your haunt’s needs.

• Seven paper towel rolls
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One hot glue gun and glue sticks
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat white
• One spindle of white thread (at least eighty yards)
• One package of battery-operated LED tea lights (at least eleven)
  

1. Cut the rolls into eleven candles that vary in size. To give them more of a melted appearance, cut their tops to form dips.

2. Using hot glue, pipe drips of wax onto the tubes. You may want to play with the design on scraps of cardboard first, toying with the pattern before applying the final version. I found that pumping the glue along the tops of the rolls and allowing it to naturally run down their sides creates the best results.

3. Once the glue has cooled, arrange the rolls onto a sheet of cardboard and, using tacky glue, paste them down. This will create a base to hold the candles in place while you paint them.

4. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, spray white paint onto the pillars. I used three coats; however, you may want more or less depending on your desired coverage.

5. After the paint has dried, cut each candle from the base, trim the excess cardboard, and spray paint it white to match the pillars.

6. Poke holes in the tops of the candles and thread the string through. The length depends on how low you want the candles to hang. I cut mine into twenty-four-inch sections (the excess gave me room for error). Also, I elected to use white thread rather than fishing wire. After experimenting with the wire, I discovered that, when underlit, the light reflected more on the wire than the string.

7. Use clear tape or tacks to hang the candles from the ceiling. You want them high enough that visitors cannot see the strings, but not too high that they become lost with the other decorations. Use creepy cloth to help conceal the tape and/or tacks.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.