What follows is a loose bio of Creighton Northgate, based solely upon the information I have managed to gather over the last two years through interviewing those who've met him or hired him, scraps of info from sparse news reports, various messages sent to him through by those hoping he can help them, and a healthy portion of rumor. Portions of what follows originally appeared in an article I did for my newspaper, but it's been heavily revised since that time.
"They say he can talk to the dead." "They say he drove a demon out of a little girl in Augusta last June." "They say he faced down a ghost that was trying to drive a family crazy down in Mobile." "They say he stopped a monster from killing the livestock in Franklin a couple of months ago."
All of this and more has been said about Creighton Northgate. He hails from a small town tucked deep in the mountains near the North Carolina/Tennessee border, but for the last decade he seems to have been on the road, like a nomad...or a fugitive. Few people agree on just what he can do, but all of them agree that he's unlike anyone they've ever met in their life.
That he has some form of power is almost without question among those who have seen him work. They say he talks with the knowledge of someone who has lifted the veil between this life and the next and taken a good, long look. But "they say" has never been much of a source, and cold, hard facts are much more difficult to come by. Here's a short list of what I do know for certain about Mr. Northgate:
*** He left his hometown shortly after his brother Martin vanished. Martin's truck was found in the local river, but no body was recovered. The nature of Crate's departure is open to conjecture, with many claiming that he disappeared just like his brother before him. Others say that his father simply kicked him out of the home although none can give a good reason for it.
***His life afterwards has been a bit of a blur and has grown into the stuff of legend. He seems to live out of his vehicle, moving from town to town. No one I have talked to was willing to give me a description of the vehicle he drives, or even a physical description of Mr. Northgate himself.
***He charges a modest fee for his services, although he has no marketing or networking plan set up. Word of mouth seems to be enough to keep him busy.
***I'm unsure as to how he maintains a cell phone account. I suspect he uses a prepaid model. His email account is a basic Gmail address, and I'm unsure as to whether he uses a smart phone or actually has access to a computer.
***His exact services aren't discussed that much, even by those that he's helped. Very few are willing to talk about what he did for them. He seems to specialize in dealing with the paranormal and the supernatural, although I have found references to his dealing with local legends such as the Skunk Ape and something referred to only as "Taily-Po". It is almost certain that he is able to see or communicate with the dead.
Beyond these basic facts, I admittedly know little about the man who is rarely seen but who seems to have become an almost mythical figure himself over the last few years, whispered about in most southern communities with a quiet reverence. They know of him in Tallahassee and New Orleans, in Atlanta and Raleigh. And they know of him even moreso in the thousands of small towns that dot the landscape of the southeast. And despite all those rumors and stories, few seem to actually know more than what I've just listed.
So for now Mr. Northgate, it seems, is an enigma wrapped in shadows. I hope to unwrap at least a few of those shadows at some point someday.