Passing Strange: True Tales of New England Hauntings and Horrors by Joseph Citro

Author:Joseph Citro [Citro, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781576300183
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

When the Devil Came to Provincetown

TO MISQUOTE ALBERT K. BENDER, "WE'VE GONE INTO THE FANTASTIC...."

But have we come back with an answer?

Probably not. But before we escape the mysterious land of Men in Black altogether, let's take a little detour to one of New England's more popular vacation spots, Provincetown, Massachusetts. There, in 1938, the puzzled citizens played host to a black-clad phantom who seemed to combine the most sinister qualities of the MIBs with the superhuman capabilities of a comic-book hero. In fact, someone dubbed him with a name worthy of such a hero; they called him "The Black Flash."

He, she, or it seemed to come out of nowhere, worked its pranks, then magically eluded all serious attempts at capture. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

To many, Provincetown—located way out on the nail of Cape Cod's beckoning finger—may seem like part of a surreal world during the height of the tourist season. But back in 1938, the busy season was a little less busy, and during the off-season the area couldn't have felt much more desolate and remote.

In any region as isolated as this, stories accumulate. And storytellers who entertain and challenge their listeners do a lot to ease the passing of long winter months. Local yarn-spinners are a venerable part of the New England heritage.! hey tell of ghost ships, haunted houses, and strange beasts that come from the sea. But there was nothing in the folk tradition or history of the area to prepare the population for the arrival of Provincetown's "Phantom Fiend." And everyone who saw him described him the same way: he was gigantic, swift, and ugly. But perhaps most relevant here is that he was always dressed in black: his clothing, the hood covering his head, and the long cape that flapped like hideous bat wings as he sprinted across the sand dunes or vaulted impossibly over 8- and 10-foot barriers.

Starting around Halloween of 1938, people began talking about the phantom. Mostly, the tales originated with children who had briefly spotted something black and reptilian far off among the dunes or peering at them from behind trees or big rocks. The children were frightened, but their parents tended to toss it off, saying it was just some Halloween prankster or eccentric summer tourist who'd stayed around after the season ended. It was easy to dismiss what the children said about pointy ears and glowing silver eyes. After all, children do imagine things, don't they?

By the second week of November, townspeople were forced to reevaluate all the assurances they'd given their children. That's when Maria Costa had a run-in with the phantom right in the middle of town. She was on Commercial Street, near the Town Hall. As she prepared to cross the road toward the coffee shop, something caught her eye. Sure enough, some large creature was moving about in the shadows outside a closed-up shop. Maria stared, but the thing didn't vanish into the gloom. Instead, it jumped right at her as if it were on springs, spreading its cape like vast black wings.

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