Elmore tours get up close and personal with ghosts and ghouls

ELMORE - The Village of Elmore is known for its haunting headless motorcycle rider that Richard Gill attempted to chase down in 1968, but the village has many more screams to offer on this weekend's Ghost Walk Tours.

The Harris-Elmore Library is giving tours Friday, Saturday and Sunday to guests interested in getting up close and personal with spirits in the village's business district.

The tour is sponsored by the Friends of the Elmore Library and Schedel Gardens.

Library director Jennifer Fording said the village has a rich history of paranormal activity and has even been featured on "Paranormal Investigators," a TV show that researches haunted areas of the country for ghost activity.

"This will be the third tour we've done," Fording said. "We've gotten between 70 and 80 per day in the past."

The walking tour stops at 15 locations along the village's business district with a tour guide providing information along the way.

Fording said the headless phantom motorcyclist in Elmore is not part of the tour because of proximity to the rest of the haunted areas of town, but she said a booklet the library passes out  on the tour does provide a map to the phantom rider.

The phantom's legend is as dramatic as a daytime soap opera.

According to the story, the rider returned home from World War I to see his girlfriend and discovered she had become engaged to another man.

In anger, the rider drove off on his new motorcycle around a sharp curve, lost control as he crossed Mud Creek bridge, and crashed into a ravine.

In 1968, Gill, an avid ghost hunter, sought evidence, attempting to record video of the bridge, looking for any signs of the phantom.

Gill and a friend continued seeking clues of the phantom rider's existence. Gill had his friend stand in the middle of the Mud Creek bridge. and suddenly saw light beams approaching.

After the lights was gone, Gill's friend did not return. Gill found his friend lying in the ditch, badly beaten.

Gill reported that the man did not know what hit him, only recalling that he had seen the light approaching him.

For more information call the Harris-Elmore Library at 419-862-2482.

cshoup@gannett.com

419-334-1035

Twitter: @CraigShoupNH