Truth Or Tale: Long Valley's Hookerman

LONG VALLEY, NJ - Anyone who lives in the Garden State has heard rumors of haunted happenings and urban folklore close to home. In fact, there was an entire magazine, Weird NJ, devoted to them.

Patch is taking up the task of exploring these myths throughout October in the hopes compiling a master list comprised of the best of the unexplained throughout New Jersey. Today we begin with a century old Morris County tale known as the Hookerman

If you grew up in western Morris County, there was no way to escape the legend of the Hookerman. Now, the tale, like most urban legends varies with almost each telling but there are several commonalities found in almost all variations.

As the story goes, a ghostly light can be seen traveling down the Bartley/Flanders spur or near the Naughright Road Railroad tracks. From a distance it looks like a flashlight or a lantern and then it disappears suddenly as it manifested.

The stories all point to an accident on the tracks around the dawn of the last century. As the story goes a rail worker suffered an accident on the line and fell unconscious. When he awoke he found his arm, which was sprawled across the track, had been severed at the elbow.

When he recovered from his injuries, he attached a hook as a prosthetic and hung a lantern at the end of it. At night, he was said to walk the tracks looking for his wedding ring, which was attached to his missing arm.

Some versions of the tale say he was looking for the arm itself. The myth says that he continued this search in death, and that his specter walks the tracks still.

The story became popular with local youth and for decades they would walk the tracks and twilight, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Hookerman.

Over the years the legend has been featured in Weird NJ, where they shared an interesting anecdote: "In the 1920’s and 1930’s, the Central Railroad of New Jersey (whose tracks these were) had a notation in their employee timetable 'not to stop for any lantern signals/ in this area."

Their article also floats the possibility that the lights are being caused by gas.

And below you'll find a video from another investigative group that went out to prove, or disprove, the legend.

So what do you think readers? Buy it or boot it? Is the story of the Hookerman real? Have you visited the tracks and looked for yourself? Or perhaps you have another, even scarier tale of your own to share. Drop them in our comments or send them to russ.crespolini@patch.com

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