Creepy Season in Cape May

I had to visit my dentist recently and, as soon as I opened the outer door, I was greeted by a deep voice that beckoned me to “come closer …” and it wasn’t my dentist. The waiting room itself was without lights, except for that glowing from the eyes of the unsavory creatures that filled the room, including two skeletons plucking the banjo duet made famous by the movie “Deliverance.”
To say that Dr. Lozier and his staff are “into” Halloween would be the understatement of the year. Not that we’ll be far behind here at the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). Strange critters are starting to appear in the Physick Estate’s third floor office of Barbara Oberholtzer and Anna Leeper. Barbara gives up her tour operations title at this time of year and becomes the Decorations Director for Cape May’s original haunted house and Anna can be found lurking in Scarecrow Alley, a project that she shepherds each year.
Admittedly, Halloween has never been my favorite holiday. I still remember one trick or treat night as a youngster where my brother and I visited a really old guy who lived nearby. To our greeting of “trick or treat,” we got only a puzzled look, and then he invited us to come in, and sat us down to some stale cookies and tea. I don’t know how long it took us to gracefully (or not) get back on the trail, but it wasn’t the Milky Ways we were hoping for and probably scarred me for life.
Maybe it’s the haunted atmosphere of Cape May and around the grounds of the Physick Estate that has helped me to come around a little and get into the “spirit,” so to speak. It’s hard not to with people like Barbara and Anna leading the charge.
Although I admit that there’s “more of gravy than the grave” to what happens to the Physick House at Halloween, even the historical purists might admit that it’s interesting to see the house in a spectral light. After all, it became a local “haunted house” for lots of youngsters growing up in Cape May in the mid-20th century. This once stately mansion had fallen into disrepair, waiting for the visionaries who started MAC back in 1970 and brought the house back to life. Hey, even that’s in keeping with spooky Halloween lore, isn’t it?
This year, the popular Phantoms of the Physick Estate Tour will once again take visitors through the house, in two versions, including an afternoon tour with a little less scary stuff than its evening counterpart. Every wall, every corner, every fireplace mantel of the house has something. It’s hard to call them decorations, which is sort of synonymous with something pretty; these fall into the gross, disgusting and downright ugly categories, at times, and that includes the staff. But in the Physick House, it all works.
The Halloween Tour of the Judson Bennett House, right here on Washington Street, also returns. Owners Mark and Sharon Bostrom have decorated their beautiful Victorian home to look like a Halloween party is in progress and you get to come and watch. Be glad you’re only looking and not participating in this party … by the looks of some of the party-goers, you might become the main course!
There’s plenty more, including ghost trolley tours to get you into the spirit and maybe arouse the otherworldly residents of Cape May, so, ask yourself: Do you dare come to Cape May? Bwahahah!
— Barraclough is director of publications and website at Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC)