News: The Bay's Oldest Resident Dies

Winston Pistole, owner of the Smoking Hole Gun Club and Sinner's Bay's oldest resident, died of natural causes early this morning. He was 105.

Though Pistole lived his entire life in Sinner's Bay, few people knew him well. To most residents, he was considered odd and eccentric. "The man always carried a gun, day and night. They say he slept with a gun in his bed too. And he had no social skills. You'd say hello to him on those rare occasions when he'd leave that old club of his, and he wouldn't even answer you. All he'd do is act all nervous and mumble something about the ferryman returning," an anonymous source told the Sinner.

The Smoking Hole Gun Club holds a place of distinction in Sinner's Bay's short but tragic history. Pistole had it built in 1945, and for the decade and a half it was the hub of social activity in the Bay. That all changed in December of 1960 when a wanderer named Carlton Hoyte shot and killed three patrons before kidnapping Betty Lou Granger, the hostess. Police were unable to locate the pair for over a week before discovering them hiding in the barn adjacent to the Smoking Hole. Hoyte had tortured and raped Granger repeatedly before hanging himself. Granger was discovered alive but never recovered from the trauma and died shortly thereafter.

The incident forever tarnished the reputation of the Smoking Hole, and Pistole let it fall into disrepair, though he never officially closed it's doors. "That place is full of bad spirits," said another resident who also wished to remain anonymous. "I think it's haunted. The club is creepy...you couldn't pay me to go near that barn."

Pistole had no successors. It is speculated that the Smoking Hole Gun Club and adjacent lands will become property of the state.