Fort Fright

Mark your calendar for Fort Fright 2013 - October 11 and 12.

     

Event Summary

View Fort Fright Video

October 11 - 12, 2013
6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Last admission at 8:30 p.m.
Prices: Family $18, adult $6, Youth (5-17) $3, free for children 4 and under and Mackinac Associates friend level and above.

French voyageurs tell eerie tales by campfire as you pass down the trail of lantern lights.  Werewolves howl over the palisade fort as you enter the gate patrolled by skeleton Redcoats.  Get goodies from colonial fireplaces, hear spooky stores, and if you’re a brave soul, enter the haunted rowhouse.  Children receive treat bags, sponsored by PNC Bank.  Experience Michilimackinac at night like you never have before.

The Frightening Details

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 and 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 deputy director. “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 Mallory, 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 Craig Wilson, Mackinac State Historic Parks museum historian. “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.

Much of Colonial Michilimackinac has been reconstructed based on archaeological excavations, including its 13 buildings and structures, many of which will be open and featuring special activities during Fort Fright. The fort and fur trading village was founded by the French in 1715 and is depicted today as it was in the 1770s when occupied by the British.

Tickets for Fort Fright can be purchased at the Colonial Michlimackianc Visitor’s Center before the event beginning October 1, or when arriving at the event.  Admission is gained until 8:30 p.m. on the nights of the event. Prices are $18 family, $6 adult, $3 children, and free for children 4 and under and Mackinac Associates Friend Level and above.

Call 231-436-4100 for more information.

Photo Story

Take the "Fort Fright" photo tour below to prepare yourself for next year's spine-tingling event. 

A group gathers outside the fort to hear introductions by a French Voyageur (center, holding a canoe paddle). They learn about the creatures said to be lurking inside the fort walls.		The group is guided to the fort, but the guide (with lantern) won't go inside. Find out why...
The group approaches the fort.		Someone, or something, is watching them. The guide says he'll go no further. They must enter by themselves. There are creatures inside...
What is it?		Loup Garou! Werewolf! He howls at the group as they approach. Do they still dare to enter the fort?
Still willing?!?		The brave souls move forward. As they enter through the fort's water gate, something else is watching them.
The fire by the water gate is a safe haven from the creatures of the night. They aren't allowed here.		Warm youself by the fire and drink hot apple cider from the cast iron kettle.
As darkness sets in, campfires provide needed light. Storytelling by French voyageurs continue around these warming fires.		But don't get too comfortable. Something nearby is watching you. In the window! What is it?
Look closer...		Closer still...
Le Dame Blanche (White Lady/ghost) strolls through the fort. She attempts to get you to follow her, and then melts away into water.		Inside the Commanding Officer's House, the fort doctor is busy at work.
A more approchable person inside the Commanding Officer's House sings by candlelight.		Take a break inside the Priest's House for apple cider, served to you by these friendly colonial women.
Back outside...		...you have to put your guard up again. Creatures are still roaming.
They're everywhere!		In the Church of Ste. Anne, learn about 18th-century funerals and burial rituals from the priest.  This is just one of many offerings inside the fort's 13 authentically reconstructed buildings. Inside another building, eat toffee. In yet another, try pumpkin bread that was baked over an open hearth fire. A fiddle player demonstrates her skill in the Northwest Rowhouse, and inside the Chevalier House is a fortune teller.  The entertainment is endless!
ENTERING THE HAUNTED ROWHOUSE! Take for example the spectacular haunted house inside the upper story of the Southwest Rowhouse. Are you brave enough to enter? The Nain Rouge, or Red Dwarf, is watching you.		Creatures lurk everywhere inside.
The deathly British Redcoat is busy, but then he sees you come along and so...		...he looks up and smiles at you.
In another section of the haunted house, a colonial woman eats finger soup. She's behind a sheet that darkens to blackness, and then lightens to reveal her. She doesn't look as friendly as the women serving apple cider!		Yikes!
You exit the haunted house to a yummie surprise...popcorn!		Enjoy, and get ready for next year's event!

VIEW PHOTOS from the "Fort Fright" event.