Rehmeyer's Hollow

By Crusader1307

 Found nestled in the heavily wooded locale of The American State of Pennsylvania – lies a small hamlet just outside of The City of York. It is named Rehmeyer's Hollow. Not much of this ''Town'' is news worthy. It was a hotbed in 1928. The following tale merges folktale and witchcraft into a very hard to believe narrative. But it happened as such.......

Rehmeyer's Hollow was so named for the local Founders who came to area first, possibly in the 1850s. A ''crossroads Town'', it was devoid of any real professions. People either farmed or hunted for food. The ''big City'' (York) would maybe be ''visited'' one a month (maybe longer). These were ''simple folk''. As such, if someone was ill or needed medical attention, they relied on folk remedies – and magic. It was said that The Rehmeyer Family were accomplished Warlocks and Witches. They weren't feared....but they were avoided as needed. Time would pass..... In the early 1920s, Nellie Moll moved into The Hollow. Moll was by trade a ''healer and Herbalist'' (aka Witch). She found out quickly that Nelson Rehmeyer was the Town's ''expert'' Healer. As such, Moll didn't get much business. She grew angry and sought revenge, especially when Nelson would not even ''talk with Her'' about ''sharing'' The Clients. In 1928, a local man came to Moll, claiming headaches and pain He had never had before. It is unclear why He went to Moll as opposed to Nelson.

Moll quickly examined and assessed the situation. She determined that the Man had been ''hexed'' by Nelson, and the only way to remove such a spell, was to either find His spell book or outright kill him. Moll was – as we are seeing, attempting to ''remove'' many of Her ''business'' problems with a fell swoop. The Man took Her advise and recruited two others to ''help'' him. Breaking into Nelson's home, a simple wooden structure, they could not find his Witchcraft. They did however find Nelson. After a brief fight, He was brutally stabbed repeatedly. He died. Nervous as to what would happen next (many in The Hollow somewhat liked Nelson), the conspirators decided to set The House alight. Dowsing every square inch in kerosene, they set their fire – hoping the flames would destroy Nelson's body. At best, the Trio could create an alibi and most probably would simply think it was an accident. But something odd happened. Try as they might (for several hours it was told), they could not get any form of flame to light. More and more kerosene was poured, more and more fire was applied, still without even a sputter! The Trio ran from the scene and hid.

Days later Police found Nelson, and remarked on how the entire Hollow ''smelled of fuel''. So dangerous, The Volunteer Fire department was called to neutralize the fuel, seen as having a great risk of catching fire. In fact, several trees nearby were found burned as were large patches of grass. But The House......untouched. Police found evidence of Nelson's killers and they were captured, tried and executed for their crime. Moll left soon after, and no one is clear as to just why She did. Relatives came by Nelson's House to collect Family keepsakes and keep the house in order. It was said they found Nelson's ''secret'' Spell Book after all (well hidden). The Book was turned to a particular page which told a Witch ''how'' to protect One's home from attacks by fire. Since 1928, Nelson's Home is somewhat of a Tourist Attraction, with people coming by from far and wide to see ''The House That Cannot Burn''............