An evening stroll down a picturesque alleyway with a peculiar figure called The Collector promises to be a curious experience.
Maybe even a little spooky.
“Unforeseen Creatures: A Collector’s Tales” is an immersive theatrical walking tour that blends history and folklore. It’s storytelling in a storybook setting that begins at the entrance of The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. The first show is Thursday.
Conjure up images of sea serpents and mermaids; the will-o’-the-wisp and the half-bird, half-reptile snallygaster with razor-sharp teeth.
Michelle Smith created the 40-minute fall program, which will be offered during select evenings this month. The plot revolves around a collector from the 1830s rolling into town with objects and specimens.
“He’ll have his curated traveling collection that sparked different stories of different folklore creatures throughout Virginia,” said Smith, manager of the Hennage Auditorium at Colonial Williamsburg, who co-creates programming for The Art Museums.
Much of what The Collector shares relates to the museums' collections. She encourages a daytime visit to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum for a self-guided tour formatted as a "cabinet of curiosity."
That tour actually includes a miniature cabinet of curiosities from 1834 with various hidden and surprising compartments.
“You can go around the museum and find your own cabinet of curiosity,” Smith said.
The Collector’s stories center on land, air and sea creatures. Many of the favorites from folklore have ties to Virginia, including the mermaid.
While mermaids are among the cultural symbols of Hampton Roads and its maritime history, the supernatural beings with the head and torso of a person and the tail of a fish date back to 1,000 B.C. and the ancient Syrian god, Atargatis.
Rather than focus on one monster or one story, the tales are a culmination of “all the spooky influences we have all around us,” Smith said.
One of them, named Ogua, refers to the 20-foot-long alligator snapping turtle-like cryptid weighing 500 pounds. Legend has it that it snatched a 12-year-old boy, who disappeared into the water, never to be heard from again.
The snallygaster differs in appearance depending on the storyteller. The bird-like beast often gets credit for those stories of something creepy going bump in the night.
Another from The Collector is the impundulu, which originated in South African folklore and was passed down in stories among the enslaved in Virginia. The lightning bird, said to cause thunder, was considered vampiric, sucking the blood of its victims until they perished.
“We’re digging into tales that didn’t necessarily originate here, but we’re a collision of different cultures,” Smith said. “These stories landed here from all sorts of places as the area was colonized."
Smith is reluctant to give away too many spoilers about the experience, which is suitable for adults and children 10 and older. There’ll be an ongoing bonfire, magic lanterns and fireside treats from local food trucks each night.
Tickets are available for time slots between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.
“Imagine you’re around a campfire as a kid, hearing about the local monster,” Smith said. “This is not a haunted house, but it will have an eerie tone.”
Visit colonialwilliamsburg.org for tickets and more information.