Weird Western Maryland

C onfederate Colonel Luke Tiernan Brien, whose ghost supposedly haunts his old home in Urbana, Frederick County, also has the distinction of showing up as a fictional character in a popular alternate-history novel. How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove, published in 1997, won that year’s Sidewise Award for alternate history. One of countless fictional speculations asking, “What if the Confederacy had won the Civil War?” – a speculation that entertains mostly White men – How Few Remain is the first novel in Turtledove’s 11-volume “Southern Victory” series. The not-yet-spectral Colonel Brien appears on Pages 77-78, still a loyal aide to Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and fighting the Union once again, this time in the Second Mexican War of 1881: Most of two decades of garrison duty had laid a heavy patina of routine over the dashing young trooper he’d once been, but, like a lot of the other veteran officers in Stuart’s force, he was starting to shine up once more. … Colonel Brien...

Historic Landon House in Urbana, Frederick County, is allegedly haunted by a bewildering variety of ghosts, depending on the source consulted. To put it another way, many popular beliefs linked with ghosts have come to be associated with Landon House, for example: Anomalous sounds. At Landon, these include a little boy’s voice; adult screams, prayers and cries of anguish; and the barks, pants, whimpers and snuffles of dogs. Anomalous sensations. At Landon, these include cold spots, taps on the shoulder, and the feeling of being watched. Physical anomalies. At Landon, these include doors that close by themselves, rocking chairs that rock by themselves, and lights that move without a visible source. Apparitions. At Landon, these include a woman with a lantern, a woman (perhaps the same one) who haunts the rooms of children, various Civil War soldiers, and an old man in the basement who sometimes is visible as only a torso and head. Several of these are referenced, apparen...