From the Oct. 25, 1985 edition of the Gazette. It's almost Halloween.

Vineyarders needn’t look too far to find something going bump in the night. Take, for instance, the ghost who resides at the county jail.

In the nearly two decades since I’ve been writing about Island ghosts there are a few I’ve kept mum about. I did this for two reasons. The accounts were so scary they seemed implausible, and I also didn’t want to implicate people and properties. Even if I used pseudonyms and pseudo directions, these ghosts guaranteed that their hosts could never sell their homes or even invite anyone over for coffee.

What follows is an excerpt from Holly Mascot Nadler’s latest book, Vineyard Supernatural, True Ghost Stories from America’s Most Haunted Island.

The Island has more than its fair share of ghost stories — tales of haunted swamps, buried treasures, spiteful spectres and benevolent phantoms.

The night is dark. And it is Halloween.

You are driving home from a party in Chilmark near Windy Gates when your car's engine suddenly and unexpectedly dies on a dark, quiet road. Attempts to restart it prove futile, and with no cell phone reception, you are forced to search for help. A faint light far off in the dense woods signals a flicker of hope for salvation, so you grab your flashlight and head out.

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

It seems a pity to spoil a good ghost story, but it so happens the favorite story of my childhood was one of how my great grandfather, Lot Rogers, laid the Crying Swamp ghost. None of the neighbors would go near the place at night unless it were a matter of urgent necessity, so great grandfather decided to do something about it.

I do not know whether he took with him a Bible or a stout oak stick, but out to the Crying Swamp he went on one of the wild windy nights that the ghost seemed to favor.

There is not much to tell of the queer narrative of the winged angel who visited Lambert’s Cove once and has never been seen there since.

This story did not actually take place on the Vineyard, but its actors were Vineyard people and it has a simple explanation which makes it, at least, an established fact on the records of spirit lore.

To the Editor of the Vineyard Gazette:

The following, somewhat in line with the tales of the supernatural recently appearing in the Gazette, was told to the writer, a few years ago, by a resident of Gay Head, and is given for the benefit of others interested in the folklore of the Island.