Once upon a full moon

Our torches made little impression in the darkness as we followed the faintly flickering light of carefully spaced luminarias down the deeply shadowed trail until we reached luminous skulls mounted on the gate posts.

A ghoul directed us into the school room where we were met by Miss Belle and her assistant.

We paid our entrance fee to Death and walked out to join the others around the campfire.

After a brief introduction the Preacher led us off into the darkness, endorsing us to stay close and warning us that a ghoul would bring up the rear to ensure no-one got lost. Although, he added, we might keep an eye out for the two people they lost last year.

We left Fairbank town site and followed the Preacher along the trail into the darkness. A little way along an axeman was tussling with his latest victim, further along the trail cowboys rushed past us in the darkness pursued by something we couldn’t see.

The darkness of the trail closed in around us again as we continued on our way, even with a full moon our flashlights shed little light in the intense blackness.

A faint keening sound reached our ears as the ghouls of ladies of the night tried to entice some unlucky guy to spend an eternity in their arms.

Further into the darkness, we reached the side trail to Fairbank Cemetery where a grave digger was carefully digging up graves to steal any valuables buried with the occupants.

The Preacher called us together and told us that this was a place of reverence and we were to respect those who were buried here, he’d lead the way we were to follow single file around the cemetery.

The night was clear and as we climbed from the darkness of the trail below the full moon brightly lit the cemetery and the surrounding area with ghostly shadows.

At the top of the hill a trumpeter was playing hymns so we walked around the cemetery listening to ‘Rock of Ages’ and ‘Abide with me’.

As we returned along the trail we again met the ghouls, the grave digger still looking for loot. The ladies of the night were singing ‘London Bridge is falling down’ and made us each walk under the arch created by their arms, wondering what was going to happen we very dubiously did and much to our surprise came out unscathed on the other side.

I don’t know what happened to the cowboys all that was left was a hat on the ground.

The axe murderer seemed to have been despatched by his intended victim, as she was now sharpening the axe.

Arriving back at Fairbank safe and sound we had soda in the school room and then once again followed the luminarias back to the dark car park where eventually we found the car and came home.

It was a fun evening and in the company of lots of other people we enjoyed our ghost walk, but nothing would get me along that trail in the dark any other way.

The only strange thing was I was sure I took a lot more photographs but some of them came out completely blank, now why is that I wonder?

Have fun, we are!