There is a tale – urban legend, if you prefer – about a phantom skater who terrifies children if they don't go straight home from a day of ice skating.

Sounds silly, doesn't it? 
Maybe to the point of absurd?
Was it made up by parents who got sick and tired of their kids coming home past their curfew?

It takes place in the town of Buchanan, in Berrien County in southwest Michigan.

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Here's the gist of it:
In past winters, kids would go ice skating on Hickory Creek; but to get their kids home on time, parents would tell them if they weren't home by curfew, the 'Phantom Skater' would get 'em. According to the Southwest Michigan site, he was described as “an enormous figure clad in black tights and a skull cap.” His skate blades “flashed green sparks and blue flames” and he would “leap over bridges while giving out shrieks of eerie, horrifying laughs“.

Made up? Or did some parent dress up as this 'Phantom Skater' just to scare the straggling kids? If it was a parent, how could he leap over a bridge?

One man, Harvey Seasongood, said when he was a kid he encountered this spectre. He says he and a bunch of other kids were on the creek skating and didn't notice what time it was. Then they heard the sound of scraping skate blades. The kids all scattered but Harvey wasn't so lucky to get away - he got caught in a barbed wire fence. Unseen by the Phantom Skater, Harvey remained quiet and got a good look – the skater was exactly how it was described, with the addition of cloven hooves instead of feet and no shadow.

Harvey died in 1964.

The Phantom Skater legend must have simmered down, as there doesn't seem to be much more written about him.

One thing that bothers me about this – where the heck is Hickory Creek? There is a McCoy Creek that runs through Buchanan and the St. Joseph River; but no sign of a Hickory Creek on Google Maps. So where is it? There is a Hickory Creek Winery ten miles northwest of Buchanan, but no actual creek. Does anyone know?

Vintage Photos of Buchanan, Michigan

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