Haunted Stockertown: The Widow’s Tavern & Grille

The story goes something like this:

Way back when, a couple hundred years ago, the restaurant currently known as was an inn and stagecoach stop.

A man who worked at the inn, Marvin, fell in love with a woman who also worked there. The owner forbade their relationship, and Marvin was fired.

A short time later, Marvin was found hanging in the entrance to the servants' quarters. Whether he hanged himself or was hanged was never known.

But what they do know is -- he never left.

Even the owner of The Widow’s Tavern & Grille isn’t 100 percent sure how old the tavern is, but the fact that it was once a stagecoach stop puts it at more than 200 years old, which is perhaps why the place has attracted so many paranormal investigators over the years.

Experts agree that there are at least four spirits roaming the floors of Widow’s, but the most active -- and physical -- is Marvin.

Two employees of the restaurant claim to have seen him, both saying that he stood at the top of the stairs looking down at them. Although the owner, Jody Stahley, hasn’t laid eyes on him herself, she’s experienced plenty of bizarre occurrences firsthand.

“He likes to play with the TVs,” Stahley said. “He’s notorious for turning them on and off.”

Other reports include turning doorknobs, locking doors, knocking signs from the walls, flickering the lights, and occasionally breaking a glass or bottle.

“Things fall off the shelves, but like they’re pushed… I think he’s a jokester,” Stahley said.

Backing up Stahley’s theory is bartender Felicia Brunner, who had a few amusing stories about Marvin’s antics. She said that he likes to tug waitresses’ ponytails, and occasionally, pats or grabs a rear end.

“One day I was here and I was talking to someone, and I felt something poke me in the butt,” Brunner admitted with a smile. “It’s happened twice! Apparently, he’s a butt man.”

Others have claimed that Marvin has grabbed their shoulders, or they’ve heard him stomping around on the second floor.

“More things happen on the second floor,” according to Stahley. “Some people are afraid to go to the upstairs bathrooms.”

These occurrences happen three or four times a week at Widow’s -- it has become a part of the business. While some people are spooked by the specter, others get used to having him around.

The precise location of Marvin’s death, which was once a staircase up to the second floor, is now a storage closet. Open the closet door, and you’ll see a plastic skeleton hanging there.

According to Stahley, the skeleton has been there since she took over, and she’s never moved it, leaving it as homage to their resident spirit prankster.