Labor Day Horror Tales

When we think of scary, we think of Halloween. It is said the veil between the living and dead is at its thinnest on All Hallows Eve. What if our bodies align more with the harvest? In the book Haunted Holidays: Twelve Months of Kentucky Ghosts Roberta and Lonnie Brown offer a foursome of spectral tales that provide evidence to our afterlife and its link to Labor Day.

Labor of Love is the opening salvo, and it touches on a common theme among the residents of Kentucky and Tennessee, hard work. A pair of boys have been laying low most of the summer and avoid their chores when it is time for the annual Labor Day parade their father sentences them to hard labor. Once they are finished, they are free to do as they wish. The boys get up early and find Milton Alley, father of their girlfriends, hooked up to his mule Old Ronald. He asks the boys if they need help and the trio proceeds to plow the field with time to spare. Several hours later, the boys return home angry at their father because they believe his work demands had ruined their chance to socialize with their ladies. In reality, the girls weren't attending the parade because their father had died a few days prior. Leaving the young boys to wonder who helped them plow their fields.

The Ghost that Hated Labor Day is a creepy tale about a family and their move to a new house. Fatima and her husband Ervin moved to a small house on the KY/TN line for Ervin's work. When they moved into the house, during July, they noticed a pair of old work shoes that didn't belong to anyone. A few days later, the shoes had disappeared. Leaving only a crumble of dust behind. Throughout the summer, strange noises, bumps, thuds, and choking noises prompted Fatima to seek answers. Going to her local library, she discovered that the occupant of the house had loved to garden. A year before his death, his health was failing, and he intended to have one last year in his yard before he moved on. All during the summer, Mr. Tucker, the previous occupant, toiled away in his garden banking on Labor Day and the harvest. As the days went down, so did Mr. Tucker's health. As he turned over the soil on Labor Day Eve, a colossal storm blanketed the area. Knowing that his deadline would pass cause Mr. Tucker to have a stress heart attack and he passed on. When Fatima heard this, she and Ervin began to tend the old garden. Once the soil was turned, there were no more occurrences with the ghost of Mr. Tucker.

Dare is my favorite of the stories featured. The Simpson family are a close-knit community that relies on each other for food, shelter, and love. The town thrives, with the help of their neighbors, and even supports a town drunk, Old Bunker. Josh Simpson is well known for his hunting dogs, especially Dare. Dare is a mixed breed female who is always at Josh's side. One night while they are out hunting behind Old Bunker's house Dare disappears. For days Josh searches, but nothing of his friend is found. One evening while Aunt Marie is home alone, Old Bunker draws a knife and tries to attack her. Out of nowhere Dare appears and chases off Old Bunker. When Josh returns home, he alerts the Sheriff, but the old drunk has flown the coop. Aunt Marie explains that Dare helped, but there is no evidence showing the dogs presence. Was Dare back from the grave to get revenge on Old Bunker?

The final story, Ridge Dancer gave me chills and is right on the line between hilarious and creepy. A family living in Kentucky notices a silent person dancing to a muffled drumbeat on their land. Each season this happens, they have a bountiful harvest. When the father begins his research, he unearths a sacred Native American ground that was used each Labor Day to predict the prospective yield. Each year on the spot, a medicine man would dance on the fertile soil and would divine the future crop.

Labor Day is a time of renewal. For those of us who were raised in farming communities, we understand the labor, love, and heartache of the harvest. It has an effect on our souls that could very well connect us to life after death.