Maine's "Wreck Island"

I love a great historical ghost story, and this tale from Maine is no exception.  Wreck Island is a small, uninhabited island located 4 miles SW from Friendship Harbor in Muscongus Bay.  Today, it is run by the state as a Wildlife Management Area.  However, it wasn't ALWAYS known as Wreck Island.

The island was originally known as False Franklin until that fateful night in 1768.  On December 4th, the Winnebec was en route from Boston when it was overtaken by a winter storm.  This was a time before lighthouses were built, and the ship smashed against the rocks, killing all eleven crew and passengers aboard.  Some local fishermen came upon shipwreck debris, and went to investigate, where they found the remains of the ship, and every soul on board dead.  Seeing as that the ship was still full of useful goods, the fishermen made seven trips out to retrieve any salvageable supplies they could. 

By the time the fishermen were done with retrieving the goods, another winter squall popped up.  The snow, ice, and high winds forced them to seek shelter on "Wreck Island" and spend a cold, miserable night.  The fishermen would soon learn that the elements would be the LEAST of their worries.

Fisherman Alan Page was the first to awake to a sensation of being strangled.  Through his half-frozen eyelids, he could see that his attacker was wearing the drenched clothing of someone who had been in the water...but bathed in a glowing white light.  One by one the other fishermen were awakened to a sensation of not being able to breath or being strangled...and each reported the same images of the drenched men glowing white.

Later on, it became popular theory that the fishermen were attacked by revengeful ghosts...the ghosts of the men THEY killed.  It was believed that the fishermen, short on supplies and cut off from access, saw an opportunity and took it, killing the crew and passengers of the Winnebec who were so close to death anyway, after their epic struggle with the sea and the elements.

Whatever the true history may be, the island is still a place of mystery.  It sees very little visitors.  Local lobstermen especially go out of their way to avoid the island, some refusing to even call it by its true name, instead, opting to call it Round Island, after the nearest town.  However, those who HAVE ventured to camp overnight at Wreck Island often report being awakened by the sensation of being strangled.