Let's Talk Horror: It's Acadia After Dark
Reverend Redbeard brings the delightfully terrifying to a podcast
BAR HARBOR—Bar Harbor’s Reverend Redbeard has a new venture and it’s all telling us about the scary stories, tales, and people who focus on them.
Scary things and Maine seem to go hand-in-hand, a phenomena that began even before famed horror writer, Stephen King.
There is no shortage of material on Mount Desert Island either. There are ghost tours, books focusing on hauntings, cryptid creatures, and unidentified flying objects. There are stories of hauntings on the Compass Harbor trail, of the Ledgelawn Inn, and the Reading Room. Strange lights have appeared in Bass Harbor, Tremont, Trenton, and Southwest Harbor, hovering over the ocean, zipping off, returning and plunging into the depths.
And there are also social media posts.
All of it fascinates Reverend Redbeard and all of it can be fodder for his podcast, which explores what can’t easily be explained, what might scare his listeners or intrigue them.
“Acadia After Dark is a horror podcast,” Christian Leathers aka Reverend Redbeard intones into the microphone.
On his podcast Reverend Redbeard explores the hidden corners of Maine with a calming influence even as he delves into the terrifying. The podcast began near the end of 2024 and since then has “thrilled, chilled, and captivated” others, gathering 25,000 views just on YouTube as he explores Acadia's nocturnal mysteries.
“Keep your lantern lit, stay safe out there and remember—some stories are best told after dark,” he advises.
Horror might be about folklore, about bodies, about reality, about violence. It can be about the shadows in the forest or in the psyche or the house next door.
It’s social commentary and reflection.
“The genre of horror specifically reflects the fears and anxieties our society holds. From the escapist stories of early horror to the macabre movies of the 70s, the world’s best horror classics wouldn’t exist without the influence of unnerving current events,” Frankie Wallace once wrote for The Review Geek.
The Reverend Redbeard knows all of that and he brings that sensibility to his work.
We were lucky enough to get a chance to talk to Reverend Redbeard, who grew up in the Bar Harbor area and still lives nearby. The interview is below.
THE INTERVIEW
Acadia After Dark is a fantastic name. And it’s all about?
Like a lot of kids who grew up in rural Maine I spent a ton of time in the woods around here and one thing I think everyone here has experienced at one time or another that never really gets spoken of is how different the woods are at night. You can be on a familiar trail but once that sun goes down, it takes on an entirely different atmosphere, which, when coupled with the amount of stories/ legends of weird stuff in Maine, makes you look at things a little differently. The idea that we have these natural wonders and beautiful scenery that becomes a shadowy parody of itself has intrigued me for a long time. It’s transformative in a way and I wanted to capture that with the show.
Can you tell us if you’ve always been into spooky stories? Do you know when that started and why?
Basically since my first memories I was always into things people would consider spooky. I grew up watching Unsolved Mysteries and X-Files which definitely contributed to my fascination with those sorts of things, but I also heard a lot of stories growing up in the area.
One book I found in my school library in like second or third grade that ended up being pretty pivotal was about UFOs and aliens. I remember coming across a chapter in it that was about an abduction here form the 70s and something about it taking place in my home state made it feel much more personal. As I got older, I started getting more curious and began researching stories, myths, legends, unexplained occurrences, whatever I could find to read.
So, why did you turn that passion into a podcast?
A part of me has always been about entertaining people. In high school and through my twenties I played music. More recently since the pandemic I have been doing some radio broadcasting but podcasting is relatively new territory for me. I guess what gave me the idea for Acadia After Dark originally was when I attended a local Paranormal Fair at Fort Knox a few years ago. Seeing how many people here in Maine were interested in the same things I have spent so many years studying and learning about was eye opening. I knew I wanted to do something with that knowledge I had and the passion I felt but didn’t fully know what until last year when I started Acadia After Dark.
Does podcasting feel easy to you? Hard? As a medium for storytelling does it feel right for you?
It’s very new to me and it’s been a lot of learning, but actually it has started to feel much more natural and yes in a way it is easy. It’s so much work and since I don’t have a team helping the production process is all on me. From researching and writing, to recording, then promoting, it has been a lot of work, but I thoroughly enjoy it.
As far as a medium for storytelling, I think it is becoming one of my favorites. When I first started the show I had a pretty narrow vision in mind but after a few months I started finding more opportunities to experiment and layer elements to enhance the stories I told in ways I couldn’t with just writing.
The podcast is growing and evolving along with me as a storyteller and who knows where that could end up going.
Oddly enough, people have said that they find my show to be relaxing in a way due to the tone of my voice and the sounds incorporated into the production. That’s honestly one of my favorite compliments I’ve ever received.
You delve into pop culture and news events in the horror world that’s beyond Maine, too. Do you prefer those kinds of stories compared to the delving into Maine events?
As an individual I have a lot of interests and those things tend to bleed over, but I look at it as a positive that it gives people a sense of my personality aside from the “Spooky Maine” identity.
Being in the age of social media, there’s a little more room for that, but I do always try to relate things back to home in some way because I feel like it’s my center.
One thing that has been happening nationally, which I talk about a lot, is the plight of our forests and parks, so I will often speak on these subjects because I think nature is an important part of the stories I tell and I want to use my platform to show appreciation for that. Truth be told, when I first planned on doing Acadia After Dark,it was going to talk about all of New England, but I realized pretty quickly I feel a lot more attached to the stuff closer to home.
Do you have a favorite podcast episode? A favorite creepy story?
I think my favorite so far is the episode about a creature of Wabanaki origin called the Kiwakwa. The story itself is terrifying, visceral and ancient, yet it's also not one people commonly hear, which is always fun.
When making the episode, I got to experiment with a few different things that I have since incorporated more into my storytelling and I feel like it had a lot to do with the current direction of my work.
I enjoy so many stories that it’s hard to pick a favorite but probably one of the most impactful I’ve heard is the story of Lucretia Douglas, a little girl who tragically passed away in Acadia National Park but is said to haunt an abandoned section of trail to this day.
For Maine people who are into the paranormal and horror and stories, what are some resources that you would suggest them checking out?
Great question! It depends on your level of interest but Maine has an abundance of opportunities to learn about these subjects.
If you’re into hearing things that go on in the state and engaging with people online there’s a Facebook group called “Unexplained Maine” where people post their stories and experiences from around the Pine Tree state. There’s also several paranormal and horror-themed conventions this year which I’m super excited about.
I also have a lot of guests on my show who are local experts, authors, and researchers. I try as often as possible to platform the people who have been doing work in the field for longer than I, because while I cover a wide range of topics, I don’t really claim to be an expert in any one.
You’ve recently broken out the podcast into four shows. Can you tell us a bit about those and why you’re breaking them apart a bit?
There’s a couple of different reasons that contributed to the decision to split the show up, but I think the stand out factor for me was that when I went back and listened to the first six months or so it felt like it lacked focus. I had the structured and scripted "Acadia After Dark"series and then a more informal podcast but it lacked consistency.
That’s part of growing as a creator is learning what works and what doesn’t.
I started with a fairly simple idea in mind but after I dived deeper into research it was like peeling back layers of an onion. Each story I told started to feel like it was part of something bigger and that was what made me come up with the new direction for Acadia After Dark. My vision is for it to be a multifaceted Maine Horror platform and so each show will fill in a different place in that structure.
For topical content, interviews and a more typical podcast format we will have the “Official Podcast” as a weekly show.
The next show is a fun little series talking about creatures from Maine legend in short format that I call “Fearsome 5,” which is just a joy to write honestly. This is more of an informational series meant to be a sort of introduction to themes you may see in other stories I tell.
The third and a brand new series is going to be called “Campfire Stories” and will premiere in April. If you have heard the early Acadia After Dark episodes, the format will feel pretty similar. I will tell a local story and then explain some of its origins for a bit deeper dive.
The biggest project is going to be an anthology horror series. I was always a fan of the old radio dramas and this will essentially be my tribute to that style of storytelling.
Without giving away too many details, it will take place entirely in Maine/Acadia and will touch on different eras throughout Maine’s history from its earliest indigenous settlers to stories that take place in our current time.. This first season is going to be called “Acadia After Dark: Painted Red” and I can’t wait for people to hear the prologue episode soon. Fans of horror and historical fiction will hopefully enjoy where this journey will take us.
Where can people find the podcast?
Acadia After Dark is currently on Youtube, Apple podcasts, and Spotify.
My linktree will lead you to all of my social medias as well as anything Acadia After Dark related.
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Acadia Brochures of Maine.
Follow us on Facebook. And as a reminder, you can easily view all our past stories and press releases here.
If you’d like to donate to help support us, you can, but no pressure! Just click here (about how you can give) or here (a direct link), which is the same as the button below.
If you’d like to sponsor the Bar Harbor Story, you can! Learn more here.