Halloween Tour: Dawn in Stephen King's "Derry"

A structure in the Barrens

Something is wrong in Derry, something is off.  A feeling of despair hangs over the city, much as a fog of industrial exhaust clouded the city's skies years ago.  Now, for the most part, the industry is gone, but the screams of the old machinery linger in dark corners, waiting to terrify all who happen upon them.

We've avoided Derry for years; too many deaths, too many disappearances, too many innocents lost.  But Halloween is upon us, and it was time to tackle the scariest waters of Maine; Derry's Kenduskeag River and the stream that runs through the Barrens.

We were lucky that the road to Derry was open. The previous night, as we listened to WKIT, the evening DJ reported on an experiment gone wrong at Derry's military facility.  But this morning, there was a new report assuring us everything was okay and we should just go about our normal lives.  The voice giving the report was a little mechanical, and didn’t sound like the normal crew, but WKIT soon launched into “Something in the Air” by Tom Petty followed up by Anthrax and Poison songs before playing the all-clear notice again. It's great to have a locally owned and operated Rock Station, they can play whatever they want.

We awoke early for this trip.  Just after sunrise is the best time to visit Derry, the night denizens have gone back into hiding and the daylight specters have yet to awaken.   Our goal was to launch at the Kenduskeag, paddle up to the stream, explore the Barrens and get out again quickly.