The Ultimate Guide To NJ Haunts, Creeps And Urban Legends

NEW JERSEY - Anyone who lives in the Garden State has heard rumors of haunted happenings and urban folklore close to home. Some are so famous they spawned professional sports franchises and television series. Others are only heard whispered in the backs of school busses or quiet basement sleepovers.

With Halloween fast approaching, Patch has assembled a roundup of New Jersey's preternatural best.

Creepy Spaces, Abandoned Places

Haunted houses around the neighborhood are great Halloween fun for impressionable children, but New Jersey residents seeking an authentic scare might want to check out The Devil's Tree.

That’s according to Thrillist, a travel and entertainment media outlet that recently released its list of the 50 (one for each state) most haunted, scariest places in America.

A handful of other media outlets have also compiled a list of creepy, haunted places in New Jersey, showing there’s no shortage of places to get the daylights scared out of you.

Of The Devil's Tree, the Thrillist editors said:

"Out of context, the tree’s silhouette alone is enough to inspire nightmares: a warped, half-dead oak looming in the middle of a lonely field, with dozens of ax marks lining its trunk. Then, there’s the gruesome history."

This gnarled tree sits at 181 Mountain Road in Basking Ridge near the Bridgewater border, and local stories abound about why it's said to be haunted. Rumors — or some say truths — surrounding the tree date as far back as the 1920s, when a group of KKK members was rumored to hold cross burnings and hangings off the limbs of the tree.

The so-called "gateway to hell" has dozens of ax marks around its trunk, and some say that anyone who tries to harm the tree will experience "swift and violent retribution" from a malevolent spirit.

Business Insider names the Pine Barrens as the most haunted place in New Jersey.

This region spans seven counties and "contains ghost towns galore" that were abandoned when coal mining took off in nearby Pennsylvania, the publication noted. Urban legend also sets the Pine Barrens as the home of the infamous "Jersey Devil," usually described as a kangaroo-like creature with horns and bat-like wings.

Last on our list is Forbes, which picked Port Monmouth's historic Spy House as the spookiest spot in the Garden State.

Officially known as the Whitlock-Seabrook-Wilson Home, this house has stood at 119 Port Monmouth Road for 300 years. Rumors abound about who came in and out of the Spy House when it was still a small cabin back in the 1700s, including pirates and British soldiers secretly being eavesdropped upon by their militiaman barkeep (hence the name).

"Reports of mysterious weeping, the apparition of a lady in white and a sea captain stand as a testament to the house’s eerie past," Forbes wrote.

5 Famous Urban Legends

Threatening notes, a lone light at the end of a railroad track and the gates of hell? All can apparently be found in New Jersey.

1. Encounters with the Jersey Devil

Is the Jersey Devil real? The people who believe they've heard his screams in towns near the Pinelands would tell you so. And the state Pinelands Commission website? Well, it doesn't completely deny the possibility. Read more....

2. The Mystery of the Westfield Watcher

Fans of thrillers, mystery and suspense will find plenty of material in the tale of the Westfield Watcher. The story made international headlines in 2014 when Derek and Maria Broaddus purchased their dream home on the highly-coveted Boulevard in Westfield. But before they were even able to move in, an anonymous letter writer began sending menacing letters with disturbing references to their three children. Read more...

3. The Hookerman on the Long Valley Railroad

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. Read more...

4. The Ghost of a Child on Burnt Mill Road

It is said that the Atco Ghost resides on Burnt Mill Road in the Pine Barrens, where the little boy was struck and killed by a drunk driver. He appears whenever someone driving down the road honks their horn three times. Read more...

5. The Gates of Hell In a Tunnel In Clifton

According to local tall tales, the tunnels found off Paulison Avenue are the stuff of nightmares. As recently as June, particularly daring urban explorers have created videos exploring the tunnels, hoping to find the gate in question, which is supposedly guarded by "Red Eyed Mike." Read more...

NJ's Own Annabelle?

The folks at the National Park Service recently reminded New Jersey residents they don't have to go far to see — or, better yet, hear — something that will fuel their nightmares straight through the spooky season.

In a social media post shared last weekend, the National Park Service introduced followers to a toy doll with blonde curls wearing a blue dress that's on display at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange.

According to the National Park Service, the doll was one of Edison's earliest inventions. In fact, it was also the world's first recorded audio product designed, manufactured and sold for home entertainment.

Originally, the doll was designed to talk using a miniature phonograph, but it was only on the market for a month because the phonograph proved too fragile when children played with it.
Ultimately, Edison "exorcised" the phonograph in hopes the remaining dolls would be sold, the National Park Service said.

Historians have had few opportunities to hear recordings taken from the talking dolls as surviving examples are rare, officials said. Before 2011, just two Edison doll recordings were widely available online in digital form.

By April 2015, however, eight Edison Talking Doll soundbites were made available to the public after a government laboratory was able to scan the fragile recordings.

That's where the history stops and the nightmares begin.
While the National Park Service has the eight recordings available on its website, PBS News Hour also shared a compilation in this YouTube video.

According to the reactions left on the National Park Service's social media post, the doll's voice left many understandably disturbed.

Harmless Fun?

The paranormal seems to have deep roots here in New Jersey. And for those who go seeking a supernatural experience, we urge caution and safety. And Happy Halloween!

Contains reporting by Michelle Rotuno-Johnson and Megan Verhelst.