Phantoms, fun, and fall food await you at Fort Fright event

Tread carefully as you traverse the sandy lakeshore path to the dark, palisade walls of Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City the evenings of October 8 and 9. Stay close to your costumed guide. After all, at Fort Fright lutins (goblins) and loup garous (were-wolves) are watching you, edging closer to you, and perhaps even right behind you. From 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. during these two October evenings, feel the spine-tingling chill of eighteenth-century French-Canadian folklore come to life at this Fort Fright event. With trembling hands, your guide leads you to one of the many campfires glowing along the Lake Michigan shoreline, illuminating the frigid water, where a voyageur tells eerie tales right before you're led farther down the path to the guarded gates of Colonial Michilimackinac. But your guide, who carries a lantern for added light in the blackened, cloud-covered night, won't go much farther. You're now on your own to enter the wooden palisade, a frightening world of fun and phantoms wrapped into one. There's a reason your guide refuses to venture inside the gate. He believes the voyageurs tales, and for good reason. You'd be wise to do the same. British Redcoats of a different order patrol the wooden fort. Look up to see them marching in unison. Look closer to see that they're not men. They're solider skeletons, bony fingers curled tight around their eighteenth-century, wooden-handled muskets. More campfires glow inside the fort, but there are friendly faces around these. You feel immediate relief. French fur traders and voyageurs, dressed warm in their capotes for the chilly night, are telling more tales, singing songs played to traditional music of the 1700s, and visiting with guests.One campfire in particular is quite appealing. A large, black, cast-iron pot of apple cider simmers over the flames as a colonial woman ladles it into cups for visitors warming themselves by the fire. This is also the safe spot, where no goblins, were-wolves, and other scary creatures of the night are allowed. These mythical creatures prefer other places anyway, like the upper stories of the wooden buildings where they throw open shutters and cackle or where they prowl slowly and deliberately around the palisade catwalk. ''The majority of the activities at the Fort Fright event will be suitable for the entire family,'' said Steve Brisson, Mackinac State Historic Parks chief curator. ''But we'll also have a ?terror-ible' haunted house designed to appeal to older children and adults.'' If you tour the large haunted rowhouse, custom designed for just this occasion, you will not easily forget it, the horrific creatures who lurk inside, or the seasoned popcorn handed out to you afterwards. In other wooden buildings within the fort and fur trading village, colonial ladies serve warm autumn treats like homemade bread and taffy, and others play music on historically accurate instruments. In yet another building, learn about death and burial in the 1700s, and feel for those who were lost over 250 years ago. In addition to creatures, colonial men and women with friendly faces roam the village, following the lantern-lit paths that wind throughout the fort, creating a majestic ambiance available only on these two nights. Treat bags, sponsored by PNC Bank, are handed out to children as well. ''The event is not just held to scare you,'' said Katie Cederholm, Mackinac State Historic Parks curator of education. ''There's an eerie but real background to the event, which stems from French-Canadian tales that were passed on from person to person as voyageurs and other people traveled, and so there's a strong oral tradition behind Fort Fright.'' The characters that roam Fort Fright, such as were-wolves, lutins, and Le Dame Blanche, meaning White Lady (Ghost), are drawn from a book called Were-Wolves and Will-o-the-Wisps: French Tales of Mackinac Retold by Dirk Gringhuis. The collection of short stores, published by Mackinac State Historic Parks, is based on French-Canadian folktales brought to Mackinac by the voyageurs during the height of the French fur trade. ''The tales at Fort Fright are all wrapped around this book,'' said Kate Arbogast, Mackinac State Historic Parks Michilimackinac Interpretation Supervisor. ''We're evoking a spooky atmosphere with these characters, all seen through the shadows of lantern and hand-dipped candle light, but at the same time the event is appropriate for children. It's not gory; it's fun for the entire family, and it's based on the tradition of storytelling.'' Priced at $6.00, the book is sold during the event and can also be purchased prior to Fort Fright at the Colonial Michilimackinac Visitor's Center or by calling 231-436-4100. Admission to Fort Fright is $18 family, $6 adult, $3 children, and free for children 4 and under and Mackinac Associates members Friend Level and above. Pre-purchase your family's tickets beginning October 1 in the Colonial Michilimackinac Visitor's Center or become a Mackinac Associates member ''Friend'' level and above, and you'll enter through the shorter line, indicated by the ''Mackinac Associates and Pre-Paid Tickets Here'' sign. Last admission on both nights is at 8:30 p.m. Call 231-436-4100 for more information. Copyright © 2010 State of Michigan Published: Thu, Sep 30, 2010

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