Rehmeyer's Hollow (Hex Hollow)

OVERVIEW

A wooded valley near Winterstown in southern York County and the house in it where Nelson D. Rehmeyer lived. On the night of 27 November 1928 John Blymire, John Curry and Wilbert Hess came to the house believing Rehmeyer had cursed them, demanding his copy of The Long Lost Friend and a lock of his hair to break the hex; they beat him to death and tried to burn the house, which survived. The trial in January 1929 was reported worldwide as a witchcraft case. The house stayed in the family, and a descendant opened it to visitors in 2007.

HISTORY

Powwowing — braucherei — was ordinary folk medicine in the county; the case embarrassed it into decline. All three men were convicted; Blymire served until 1953.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The hollow has carried the name Hex Hollow since 1928 and the reputation that goes with it: lights, a figure at the house, the sense of being watched on the road. The documented event is the murder; the haunting is what the county has said about the place since.

VISITING

Private property with a security system; tours only as offered by the family. Do not go to the house uninvited.