The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

A good Halloween story is one that ends like no one ever suspects it is going to.

A case in point is the dreadful Christler murder where Rev. Christler was shot dead by his girl friend in front of his wife at the church rectory where they were living.

There were always stories going around about that murder for several reasons. Many people wondered if Rev. Christler’s wife had anything to do with the murder and others knew that the church rectory was haunted from that day forward.

That Rev. Christler had a girl friend was well known around town. In fact some old ladies reported to me that when they were young and in high school, they would get a back booth at the Dutch Shop Café to see what Rev. Christler and his girlfriend were doing in their booth.

I think what verified the story most was the fact that the strange house next to the Episcopal Church on Third Avenue was so odd. There were strange pentagon shapes and hex signs drawn all over the basement walls. In the second floor of the house, there was a bedroom that had a small stage connected to it. All very strange! No one could ever figure out why that stage off the bedroom or what kind of shows were run off that stage?

Of course the house had to be haunted. It could not be haunted. When the house was empty for a period of years, many kids would spend the night there just to see if they could see a ghost or two maybe cavorting around the stage. No cavorting was ever reported to me but there were definitely things that went bump in the night.

All very spooky.

Imagine the shock and stunned awe when one person actually did some research about the Christler murder and found out that at that time the Rectory was located at 831 Third Avenue, not beside the church at all if memory serves.

All off a sudden no murders, no ghosts, just a very weird house with a much undeserved reputation.

Happy Halloween!