Phantom Team of Horses

[doomsday_disco]

About two miles from the village of Canton, Me., is a cosey, old-fashioned farm-house which is located directly opposite a graveyard, with no other house in sight. From the window of this little house nothing can be seen except the graveyard with its gleaming stones, and the hills and mountains round about.

 

The family that has been occupying the house moved out not long ago, declaring that they could not stand it any longer, that they were wellnight distracted by the demonstrations. When they told their story a former resident, who now lives in Hartford, announced that he had known for years that the place was haunted. He had not told any one for fear of the ridicule of his neighbors.

 

The demonstrations were not only in the house, but in the barn and around the premises. Regularly every night at 12 o’clock a team of horses rushes from the direction of the village, rumbles over the little bridge at a slashing gait, and then disappears. It never reaches the house. Instead, ghostly voices address the members of the family who have the temerity to live there, the voices coming from all parts of the house, but never so clearly that they can be located.

 

On one memorable night a member of the family went to the barn just at dusk without a lantern. A figure stood at the corner of the building, and he ran to learn what the straggler wanted about the place. The figure silently and mysteriously melted into the shadows and was gone.

 

The Buffalo News, April 20, 1904

 

A spectral cacophony of shimmering, translucent dun sandalwood, grey amber, and wraith-chilled chestnut galloping through the mist-cloaked shadows of time, a clattering of clove and black pepper, and a crack of phantom leather.

[Darkersolstice]

Oh, look, it's Sols being drawn in by black pepper and leather and clove again! What a surprise!

 

This is a nicely masculine scent profile, nothing too sweet about it to go sugary (as so many scents do on my skin). While there are spices in the scent profile, it is neither spicy nor spiced, and the leather is not, I think, BPAL's black leather or red leather note. It's giving dangerous mystery man in slightly-damp leather armor, which is absolutely a vibe I can rock.

[ghoulnextdoor]

Through mist and gloaming, phantom hooves prowl and roam - a nutty-woody-resinous haunting that refuses to settle into silence. The wood whispers like morning fog, barely there; a subtle saltiness clings to the chestnut's echo, while grey amber broods beneath it all, murky as twilight in forgotten hollows. Like those ghostly horses that never quite reach their destination, these notes circle and hover, their spectral stampede more whisper than thunder, more shadow than storm.

[RoseThornAndOak]

Well, I was hoping for more Sleepy Hollow vibes and that's what I got. Yet, this is hard to describe. I smell dried grasses in autumn, a bit of sandalwood, and I could swear there's a rogue fruit note, which could be the chestnut or clove. The leather is there, far off in the background. I'm not getting anything too ozonic or misty, although there is a subdued shimmer to it. Yet, I do agree, there is more shadow than storm. The shimmer is like fairy glitter on wood in moonlight, yet there is an eerie darkness to the whole composition. I'm not getting anything too tack shop or barn, it's more spectral and spooky horses and riders than the real deal. I do wish the grey amber showed up more, but there is a softness enshrouding the woods, dried grass, and hint of leather (undermined type. I'm not reading Rogue leather or sharp black leather). 

 

As this sits on the skin for quite a while, the clove and black pepper show up more, both in equal messure. They are both very prominent from bottle sniff, die off quite a bit on application, then come back, seems like. This is giving Headless vibes somewhat, less firey and red w/ gunpowder, more sweet and woody. I think the sandalwood is starting to go slightly sharp on me, though, so I like Headless more. However, I think this would layer well with the Headless Hearseman atmos. I'll stick with Headless on my skin (that's a completely weird sentence out of context, lol. 😂 ).

 

This is settling into mysterious Sleepy Hollow woods and black Autumn spices, shrouded in darkness and moonlit glimmers, with a hint of leather. 

Edited May 22 by RoseThornAndOak