Read Online Great Australian Ghost Stories by Richard Davis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Richard Davis
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a ship more than 1000 kilometres from land.
While scientists puzzle and country folk speculate, the sightings continue. Tourists report the light following their cars and campers put the kettle on in readiness to offer a cuppa to the rider of the motorcycle they think is approaching. A group of station hands on horseback claimed they cornered the light one night a few years back and played phantom polo with it!
The Min Min has also proved good for business in Boulia in recent times. The town now hosts the âMin Min Light Big Sky Festivalâ every September and during the tourist season visitors can view the âMin Min Encounterâ, a high-tech display in the townâs centre.
If the reader feels inclined to go Min Min Light â watching, I suggest you take the Kennedy Development Road from Boulia. Cross the Hamilton River, then just west of the boundary between Warenda and Lucknow is the site of the old Min Min Hotel. The old coach road is about 500 metres north of the present thoroughfare; and thereâs not much left of the ruins, just a scattering of broken glass and some rusting rails around the cemetery. Itâs not the most pleasant place to be after dark, but your perseverance just might be rewarded with a glimpse of the legendary light.
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Something most Australian âghostâ lights, including the Min Min, have in common is that they give rise to curiosity rather than fear. By and large, those who witness their transit across the landscape feel privileged rather than petrified â but not all. A light which appears in the Burnett region of Queensland has been dubbed âThe Blairmore Ghostâ because local legend has it that this mysterious light has enshrined the tormented spirits of a succession of murder victims.
The Blairmore Ghost first appeared on Christmas Eve about ninety years ago, the day after a mailman met his death on Blairmore station. When the unfortunate mailman was buried, rigor mortis had not set in and the local Aborigines believed he was still alive and would return as a debil debil . It seemed their prophesy came true when the mysterious light appeared. Many people have seen the light since including Jim Matheson JP, former Government Stock Inspector and Brisbane City Councillor, who published details of his encounter with the Blairmore Ghost in 1957. It makes spine-chilling reading.
Matheson was driving along the boundary road of Blairmore station on a humid, stormy night when his car became bogged in a wide patch of mud. Unable to free the vehicle, Matheson settled down in the back seat to sleep until morning. Minutes later another car came along the road travelling fast and, before Matheson could give warning, ploughed into the mud up to its axles. The second car contained a commercial traveller and his wife. The three chatted for a while then returned to their cars to sleep.
Matheson was just dozing off when he heard distant pitiful cries of âHelp! Help! Help!â He scrambled out of his car and cupped his hands behind his ears. The cries seemed to be coming from the middle of a nearby paddock. Matheson hastily pulled on his boots and set off in the direction of the cries,which were still coming at brief intervals. Before he had gone ten paces Matheson recalls there was âhalf a stoneâ of sticky black mud clinging to each of his boots, but he struggled on. Then he saw the flickering light. It wasnât any shape you could put a name to: it swirled and changed, swelled and shrank, like a formless, luminous blob of jelly.
When Matheson moved towards the light it began to dribble towards him like a fat, phosphorescent slug. The cries for help grew louder and seemed, Matheson recalled with lingering horror, to be all around him and inside him, entering through the pores of his skin.
âI was absolutely terrified,â Matheson admitted. âI couldnât move ⦠my legs seemed to be frozen, but worse, I couldnât
While scientists puzzle and country folk speculate, the sightings continue. Tourists report the light following their cars and campers put the kettle on in readiness to offer a cuppa to the rider of the motorcycle they think is approaching. A group of station hands on horseback claimed they cornered the light one night a few years back and played phantom polo with it!
The Min Min has also proved good for business in Boulia in recent times. The town now hosts the âMin Min Light Big Sky Festivalâ every September and during the tourist season visitors can view the âMin Min Encounterâ, a high-tech display in the townâs centre.
If the reader feels inclined to go Min Min Light â watching, I suggest you take the Kennedy Development Road from Boulia. Cross the Hamilton River, then just west of the boundary between Warenda and Lucknow is the site of the old Min Min Hotel. The old coach road is about 500 metres north of the present thoroughfare; and thereâs not much left of the ruins, just a scattering of broken glass and some rusting rails around the cemetery. Itâs not the most pleasant place to be after dark, but your perseverance just might be rewarded with a glimpse of the legendary light.
Â
Something most Australian âghostâ lights, including the Min Min, have in common is that they give rise to curiosity rather than fear. By and large, those who witness their transit across the landscape feel privileged rather than petrified â but not all. A light which appears in the Burnett region of Queensland has been dubbed âThe Blairmore Ghostâ because local legend has it that this mysterious light has enshrined the tormented spirits of a succession of murder victims.
The Blairmore Ghost first appeared on Christmas Eve about ninety years ago, the day after a mailman met his death on Blairmore station. When the unfortunate mailman was buried, rigor mortis had not set in and the local Aborigines believed he was still alive and would return as a debil debil . It seemed their prophesy came true when the mysterious light appeared. Many people have seen the light since including Jim Matheson JP, former Government Stock Inspector and Brisbane City Councillor, who published details of his encounter with the Blairmore Ghost in 1957. It makes spine-chilling reading.
Matheson was driving along the boundary road of Blairmore station on a humid, stormy night when his car became bogged in a wide patch of mud. Unable to free the vehicle, Matheson settled down in the back seat to sleep until morning. Minutes later another car came along the road travelling fast and, before Matheson could give warning, ploughed into the mud up to its axles. The second car contained a commercial traveller and his wife. The three chatted for a while then returned to their cars to sleep.
Matheson was just dozing off when he heard distant pitiful cries of âHelp! Help! Help!â He scrambled out of his car and cupped his hands behind his ears. The cries seemed to be coming from the middle of a nearby paddock. Matheson hastily pulled on his boots and set off in the direction of the cries,which were still coming at brief intervals. Before he had gone ten paces Matheson recalls there was âhalf a stoneâ of sticky black mud clinging to each of his boots, but he struggled on. Then he saw the flickering light. It wasnât any shape you could put a name to: it swirled and changed, swelled and shrank, like a formless, luminous blob of jelly.
When Matheson moved towards the light it began to dribble towards him like a fat, phosphorescent slug. The cries for help grew louder and seemed, Matheson recalled with lingering horror, to be all around him and inside him, entering through the pores of his skin.
âI was absolutely terrified,â Matheson admitted. âI couldnât move ⦠my legs seemed to be frozen, but worse, I couldnât
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