25 More Strange and Haunted American Roads
Oct 25, 2024 15:21:15 GMT -5
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Post by Graveyardbride on Oct 25, 2024 15:21:15 GMT -5
25 More Strange and Haunted American Roads
Those traveling these 25 mysterious roads in 22 U.S. states risk encountering spook lights, vanishing hitchhikers, cryptid creatures, demonic dogs, a witch, a modern-day mummy, a phantom Camaro and other phenomena:
Bragg Road (Saratoga, Texas). Located in the Big Thicket region of southeastern Texas, much of this former railroad spur, identified as Ghost Road Scenic Drive on maps, is lined with pine and cypress trees that form a cool, shady canopy on a hot summer day, and an eerie tunnel at night. Every year, thousands of sightseers drive the eight miles of unpaved road between the ghost town of Bragg (named in honor of Confederate General Braxton Bragg) and the unincorporated community of Saratoga, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous “Saratoga Light.” Like many spook lights, this one is said to be the lantern of a railroad worker decapitated one night when he was hit by a train. Sadly, only his body was recovered and now, he wanders the location where he was killed in search of his missing head.
Bray Road (Elkhorn, Wisconsin). There have been tales of strange canid monsters that walk on two legs since European trappers – drawn by the region’s overabundance of furry creatures – took to the forests bordering the Great Lakes. To this day, people still report encounters with what’s now referred to as “dogmen,” and many such sightings have occurred along Bray Road, a four-mile, two-lane highway winding through farmland and patches of woods. The first reported sighting was in 1936 and such have continued, leading author and cryptozoologist Linda Godfrey to dub the humanoid-canid hybrid the “Beast of Bray Road.” According to Ms. Godfrey, those who have seen the creature describe it as 6- to 7-feet-tall, with a human body covered in fur and a head resembling that of a wolf or dog with glowing red or orange eyes. Most sightings occur between 10:30 p.m. and 5 a.m., but the monsters also have been seen at twilight, dawn and even during daylight hours. In 2006, while Monsterquest was filming on location, Ms. Godfrey herself caught a glimpse of a 7-foot-tall grey-furred creature.
Browntown Road (Lee County, South Carolina). County Road 29, just north of Interstate 20, runs through Scape Ore Swamp (originally “Escaped Whore” Swamp), lair of the Lizard Man. Since the late 1980s, people have been reporting encounters with a 7-foot reptilian creature with red eyes (like those of an alligator) that, for reasons unknown, attacks motor vehicles. One of the earliest encounters was that of 17-year-old Christopher Davis, who was driving home from work around midnight on June 29, 1988 (under the light of a near-full moon), when he had to stop and change a flat tire in Scape Ore Swamp. As he was preparing to leave, he heard something behind him and turned to see a green, red-eyed monster coming in his direction. He managed to jump into his ‘76 Toyota Celica, lock the doors and accelerate just as the beast leapt atop the car. As Davis zigzagged in an attempt to dislodge his unwanted passenger, he could clearly see the three claws on its webbed hands (or front legs) through the windshield. The ferocious monster finally jumped off the car and ran off into the swamp.
People living within approximately three miles of Scape Ore Swamp have discovered unexplained scratch marks on their vehicles. At one location, the sheriff was able to make plaster casts of three-toed 14-inch footprints, which a biologist informed him were “unclassifiable.”
One of the more recent sightings of the Lizard Man occurred a few years ago when two teenage couples driving along Browntown Road late one summer night saw what they described as an alligator-like creature standing on its hind legs beside the highway. When the driver looked in his rearview mirror, the beast hadn’t moved and he could see its red eyes shining in the moonlight.
Carson Drive (Gaffney, South Carolina). This narrow paved street off State Road S-11-199 winds a little more than three miles through a wooded area dotted here and there with small homes, primarily of the manufactured variety. For several years, there have been rumors of late-night encounters with a huge white dog. While a dog – even one of enormous size – on a country road isn’t uncommon, those brave enough to stop claim the beast suddenly rears up on its hind legs and walks like a man, it’s large demonic eyes glowing like the coals of hell. No one knows the origin of these stories, but the few unlucky individuals who have seen this hellhound are frightened out of their wits. In the early 2000s, a teenage motorcyclist returning home in the wee hours of the morning allegedly came upon the diabolical fiend standing on its hind legs in the middle of the road. Terrified, he lost control and ended up in the ditch. Unfortunately, he was drinking and family members accused him of making up the story because the motorcycle he wrecked belonged to his brother.
Chena Hot Springs Road (Fairbanks, Alaska.) Our 49th state is vast, sparsely settled, beautiful and mysterious, full of isolated, unexplored regions and a few locations where things happen that no one can explain. This long, lonely, two-lane highway – most of which weaves through uninhabited forest land – can be intimidating in daylight, but on dark nights, drivers can easily become disconcerted by strange, inexplicable lights and other phenomena. In the wintertime, between eight and 12 miles east of Fairbanks, people sometimes see white, blue and orange lights that appear in the sky and seem to follow their vehicles. In another location along the 61-mile route, there have been reports of bright, flashing lights in a rainbow of colors merging and separating before vanishing into the ether. Additionally, in places where there are thick woods on both sides of the road, travelers occasionally catch sight of a big, hairy man-beast in their headlights.
Dudley Road (Billerica, Massachusetts). Those who have studied the Salem Witch Trials will likely recall that Roger Toothaker of Billerica, his wife, Mary, and daughters, Margaret and Martha, were all accused of practicing witchcraft, and Martha Carrier (hanged at Salem July 19, 1692), Mary Toothaker’s sister, resided in Billerica at one time. Accordingly, it comes as no surprise that one of the tales associated with Dudley Road, the northern part of which is little more than a narrow paved path, has Satanic overtones.
Legend has it that some years ago, three or four nuns associated with The Daughters of St. Paul St. Theca Retreats at 77 Dudley Road were accused of worshiping the devil and for reasons unknown, hanged themselves from trees on the property. Ever since, it is said that at night, when a driver is suddenly assailed by a strong odor of brimstone (sulphur), he or she is about to see what appear to be human forms dangling from the trees. There are at least two other versions of the story: in one, a nun hanged herself from a tree after becoming pregnant by a lecherous priest. In the other, a nun walking near the Retreat one night was hit by a car with such force that her body was propelled into a tree and her spirit continues to wander Dudley Road. If someone stops, she asks for directions.
On another part of the road, where the trees block the light of the moon, drivers occasionally encounter the apparition of a farm-worker whose face is hidden in the shadows. Those who see him should keep going, for ill luck befalls those who attempt to interact with this ghost.
Duxbury Road (Jonesville, Vermont). Running parallel to the Winooski River in the Green Mountains, this highway is haunted by several ghosts, including the spirit of a little girl who was hit by a train after tumbling from a moving wagon. Although the apparition of the child hasn’t been encountered recently, there have been reports of shadowy canines, said to be the apparitions of dogs kept by a mad German hermit who once lived on Robbins Mountain. Following the old man’s death, the animals went wild and were eventually all shot and killed by local farmers to protect their livestock from the predatory beasts.
There also have been a few reports of shadowy human figures at the beginning of Duxbury Road, where it passes the circa 1868 building that once housed Jonesville Academy. The beautiful Italianate structure, now a private residence, has a long history, having served as a high school, grade school and Grange hall – time enough to have produced a ghost or two.
Fire Trail Road (Marysville, Washington). The most oft-repeated tale pertaining to 140th Street, NW (Fire Trail Road) is that drivers who glance into their rearview mirrors are startled to see the reflection of an unwanted hitchhiker in the backseat. The vision is fleeting, no more than a second, but it’s enough to scare the bejesus out of lone travelers driving through the dense forests of firs and alders near the western end of Fire Trail Road. Rumor has it that many years ago, a man speeding along the highway lost control where the highway curves precariously around Cummings Lake, ran off the road and drowned. Ever since, his restless spirit has been attempting to reach the destination he never reached in life.
Until the early 1920s, Fire Trail Road was nothing more than a fire lane through virgin forest, and the highway marks the northern boundary of the Tualalip Indian Reservation. Through the years, people claim to have seen phantom lights, the apparitions of men in firefighting gear, and the shades of American Indians.
Highway 101 (Cannon Beach, Oregon). Those who pull over at overlooks along this highway near Cannon Beach should watch out for “The Bandage Man.” Legend has it that a hulking, modern-day “mummy,” wrapped in bloody gauze bandages, sneaks up on parked vehicles and rocks them back and forth. When the driver attempts to flee, the malodorous entity – he stinks of rotting flesh – leaps atop the car or into the truck bed, banging on the roof until he eventually disappears. Said to be the ghost of a man severely injured in a logging accident, there have been Bandage Man reports along this heavily wooded coastal route as far north as the Junction of Highway 26 and as far south as Arch Cape. The Bandage Man was much more active in the 1960s, but there are still occasional encounters with this one-of-a-kind entity.
Highway 107 (Oconee County, South Carolina). Be wary when driving this winding country road on rainy nights, for it is the haunt of the Walhalla Hitchhiker who died in a plane crash more than 80 years ago. It was raining on the night of March 10, 1943, when a B-25C Army Air Corps plane crashed into a mountain top 21 miles north of Walhalla, just 200 yards to the east of Highway 107. Those killed were Flight Officer Richard Brook, the pilot, of Lima, Ohio; 2nd Lt. Earl Monroe, co-pilot, of Bolivar, N.Y.; 2nd Lt. Philip Graziano, navigator, of Lawrence, Mass.; Staff Sgt. Harvey Capellman, engineer, of Blanchard, Idaho, and Sgt. Michael Sekel, radio operator, of Buffalo, N.Y.
Following the crash, there were periodic reports of drivers encountering a man who appeared to be hitchhiking in the vicinity of the crash site. He manifests on rainy nights and those who have stopped describe him as quiet, expressionless and pale. He gets into the car, seemingly grateful for the lift, but within seconds, the mysterious passenger is no longer there. In 2014, a marker (above) commemorating the long-ago tragedy, engraved with the names of the dead, was placed across the road from the crash site approximately a half-mile north of Burrells Ford Road.
Highway 365 (Woodson, Arkansas). Winding through southern Pulaski County approximately 20 miles south of Little Rock, the phantom haunting of Highway 365 fits the vanishing hitchhiker motif to a T. For decades, people have shared chilling tales of a lovely young woman – her long, flowing evening gown muddy and her hair in disarray – walking north toward Woodson on stormy nights. When a car pulls over, she gets in and mumbles an address. She does not speak again, and during the short trip, the interior of the vehicle becomes inexplicably cold. Then just as the driver pulls up to the house where his silent passenger lives, she vanishes into thin air. According to Frankie Brooks, who has been researching this and other local legends for years, there was an accident in Woodson back in the 1940s that claimed a young woman’s life and presumably, she has been attempting to get home ever since. A version of this haunting is included in the 1973 film, Encounter with the Unknown, narrated by Rod Serling.
Narrows Road (Erlanger, Kentucky). Erlanger is less than 10 miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio, but a scant 10 years ago, this highway wound through woods and farmland, and there were stories warning those driving the road at night to be wary of the phantom policeman. Those who have encountered this spirit say the lights of his vehicle – a vintage 1950s police car – appear in the rearview mirror. Then when the driver pulls over, he or she sees an officer get out of the vehicle, but as he approaches, both he and the car disappear. The ghost is said to be the apparition of an officer hit and killed in the area during a traffic stop.
Old Porter Road (Portage, Indiana). A little more than three miles of Old Porter Road runs parallel to the railroad tracks, and in areas where the tracks are visible to drivers, people have seen what some have described as shadowy long-legged, long-tailed dog-like creatures with glowing yellow eyes. There also are unsubstantiated claims that passengers on trains have observed these figures running alongside the train, and nearby residents have allegedly observed the same apparitions. There have been numerous accidents along this route, but no one knows if these spectral hounds are associated with any of them.
Park Avenue (Hampton, New Hampshire). “Ghost roads” are typically lonely and deserted, but this isn’t true of Park Avenue, which, during daylight hours, is a moderately busy street in a town with 16,000-plus inhabitants. At night, though, when the school administration buildings, professional offices and Tuck Museum are closed and the playground empty, the atmosphere is markedly different, some might say “otherworldly.” This is when people see an aged woman in ankle-length skirts slowly making her way along the side of the road, and those familiar with local history, know precisely who she is: Goodwife Eunice Cole, the only person accused of witchcraft in all of New Hampshire.
In fact, Goody Cole (born around 1600), a quarrelsome, foul-tempered woman, was accused of trafficking with the devil on three separate occasions, and during the last few decades of her life, spent as much time in prison as out. However, by 1680, she had been released again and because her property had been seized to pay her fines and debts, she was declared a ward of the town and relegated to a shack where the Tuck Museum is located. Almost every day, the old crone was observed trudging along the road to gather shellfish, berries, fruits, herbs and roots to supplement the meager fare furnished by the townsfolk. Then in October of that year, neighbors noticed Old Goody Cole hadn’t been seen in several days, nor was there smoke coming from the chimney of her hovel. A few citizens made their way to the little hut and discovered the corpse of the aged woman lying on a rude pallet of salt marsh hay. The men wasted no time digging a shallow grave in which to dump her body, although legend has it they paused long enough to drive a wooden stake through the old witch’s heart.
Even though the town of Hampton pardoned Goodwife Cole in 1937, her recalcitrant spirit continues to walk the roads where she spent her final days. In addition to Park Avenue, on moonlit nights, her apparition has been observed wending her way along Island Path Road leading to the beach and wandering about in the vicinity of the memorial stone erected in her honor in 1963.
Reeder Road (Griffith, Indiana). According to a local legend, a young woman by the name of Elizabeth Wilson was killed when her boyfriend lost control of his car and ran off Reeder (aka “Reder”) Road. She was thrown from the vehicle, knocked unconscious and drowned in a ditch. Ever since, she has walked this dead end highway, once a lover’s lane.
In the 1970s, a teenage boy claimed to have picked up the girl, who was cold, wet and shivering, prompting him to remove his jacket and place it around her shoulders. She proceeded to direct him to a location in a wooded area several miles north and as he pulled over, she disappeared. Unnerved, he wasted no time driving home, however, the following day, realizing she still had his jacket, decided to drive to her home and retrieve it. Although he hadn’t been able to see the house in the dark, surrounded as it was by tall trees, he remembered it was on Whitcomb Street and knew he would recognize the gate. He had no trouble finding the location, and in the cold light of day, could clearly see there was no house. Instead, he found himself at the entrance of a cemetery, Ross Cemetery in Calumet Township, to be precise. There are several Wilsons interred in this graveyard, but none named “Emily,” ... still, she could be buried in an unmarked grave.
Riverdale Road (Thornton, Colorado). Ten miles north of Denver, this 11-mile highway (above) isn’t as isolated as it was a few decades ago, but there are still sparsely settled areas. In the daytime, it’s hard to believe Riverdale is known as the “eeriest road in Colorado,” but at night, drivers run the risk of encountering a phantom jogger, a phantom woman, or worst of all, a phantom Camaro.
The ectoplasmic jogger is said to be the ghost of man killed in a hit-and-run accident. Immediately prior to his appearance on the side of the highway, drivers hear what sounds like a loud heartbeat, much like that in Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Seconds later, they see a disheveled man in apparent distress. The first inclination of most people is to offer assistance, but in this case, drivers should step on the gas and put as much distance between themselves and this revenant as quickly as possible, for those who linger risk dying of fright.
The “woman in white” is believed to be the spirit of 17-year-old Heide McGuire, who was reported missing on December 23, 1987, after giving a male customer a ride home after she got off work at the Circle K convenience store. Five days later, her car was found near the intersection of Riverdale and East 112th Avenue, and on February 14, 1988, the girl’s body was discovered just off Riverdale near 89th Avenue. While the woman in white doesn’t actually “hitchhike,” those who see her are badly shaken.
No one knows the origins of the phantom Camaro haunting, but according to local folklore, back in the 1970s, a young Camaro driver, who enjoyed nothing more than drag-racing on Riverdale Road, would challenge anyone to race. One night though, he lost control, crashed and died at the scene. Ever since, people driving Riverdale at night occasionally encounter a shiny, vintage Camaro. Those who have experienced this phenomenon claim he overtakes cars and a male voice challenges the driver to race. If a driver doesn’t realize he’s communicating with a dead man and asks what the winner gets, the phantom voice replies, “Death!”
The number of accidents on this highway is puzzling, for there are no cliffs or “dead man’s curves,” and most of those who die live in, and are familiar with, the area. Additionally, the overwhelming majority of fatalities occur at night. It’s the inordinate number of fatal accidents along Riverdale Road that keeps the supernatural legends alive, and oddly, the overwhelming majority involve lone male drivers. Most recently, on July 20, 2024, Christopher Cabrera, 31, head coach of the local Fuego basketball program, died when he ran into the ditch.
Two years ago, TV Station KDVR posted a survey on Facebook asking if anyone had experienced anything bizarre on Riverdale Road and some of the responses were alarming. For example, Destin Raybun described the road as “creepy” and claimed he had seen “shadows and things I can’t explain.” Michael, another respondent, said, “Yep delivered newspapers along that road for 2 years saw many strange things and numerous run-ins with the phantom Camaro.” Others made similar claims, an indication something strange is happening on Riverdale Road.
‘Road to Nowhere’ (Bryson City, North Carolina). Lakeview Drive, East, offers a delightful 6.5 drive along the north shore of Fontana Lake in the Great Smoky Mountains. Not only does this paved path provide breathtaking views and access to a number of hiking and horseback trails, there’s an enchanting quarter-mile tunnel at the end ... leading nowhere. That’s right, the tunnel was part of the road intended to replace Highway 288, the main route between Bryson City and Deals Gap, but such was never completed, as evidenced by a sign that reads:
Welcome to
The Road to No-Where
A Broken Promise!
1943 - ?
The Road to No-Where
A Broken Promise!
1943 - ?
While both the driving and hiking routes are pleasant enough, even those leading to what’s left of the decaying homes of long-dead mountain folk, it’s easy to get lost in the Smokes and many have reported feeling unnerved by “something” they cannot describe. Additionally, hikers on Nolan Creek Trail have told of a strange glowing sphere moving about in the woods. Some attribute these phenomena to the many poor souls who were displaced when Fontana Dam was created, while others believe the “thing” prowling the shadows is the U’tlun’ta, or Spearfinger, an entity from Cherokee folklore said to manifest as an old hag with rough skin and a single long, sharp finger on her right hand. Parents familiar with the legend remind their youngsters that Spearfinger is particularly fond of grabbing children who wander off by themselves.
Roaring Fork Motor Trail (Gatlinburg, Tennessee). Tourists taking this scenic one-lane paved trail looping 5½ miles through the Smokies are afforded views of old-growth forest, mountain streams, well-preserved log cabins, gristmills and other intriguing sites. There also are several pull-offs and trailheads where tourists can stop, explore and take photos. But there’s a dark side: First, there’s “Lucy,” a barefoot girl in an old-fashioned faded dress who accepts a ride and disappears on the way to a house that no longer exists. She is believed to be the apparition of a young woman who died when her family’s home burned one cold winter day in the early 1900s. Also, on misty days, people sometimes feel they are being watched, and photos occasionally show what appear to be shadowy human figures in the background. Those familiar with the mountains say these shadow people are the spirits of the many men, women and children who have become lost and died in the mountains.
Among those who have vanished without a trace, i.e., neither their bodies nor bones have been discovered, are Dennis Martin of Knoxville who disappeared June 14, 1969, just seven days shy of his 7th birthday. Seven years later on October 8, 1976, 16-year-old Teresa “Trenny” Melton, who attended Beardon High School near Knoxville, vanished while on a class trip. On September 25, 1981, Pauline “Polly” Melton, 58, of Jacksonville, Florida, vanished while hiking with friends. The most recent disappearance occurred March 15, 2012, when Derek Lueking, a graduate of the University of Knoxville and wannabe survivalist, vanished without a trace. A body initially believed to be Lueking’s turned out to be that of 23-year-old Michael Giovanni Cocchini, who had gone missing a few days after Lueking.
Rock Hollow Trail (Wildwood, Missouri). Today the 10-foot-wide, 2.3-mile paved path through the woods accommodates cyclists and pedestrians. Created in the early 19th century as an access road to the Meramec River, in the not-so-distant past, it was known as Lawler Ford Road. By the 1950s, the area had become a favorite destination for amorous teenagers, and there was a rumor making the rounds of an escaped mental patient stalking the area at night. Young people also told wild tales of spectral American Indians, Confederate soldiers and children, as well as shadowy shapes occasionally accompanied by bloodcurdling cries emanating from the spooky woods. Almost every night, thrill-seekers drove up and down Lawler Ford Road hoping to be scared, and before long, young people began referring to the byway through the forest as “Zombie Road.” Although the trail is closed from sundown to sunup, teenagers still sneak into the woods and if the stories are true, some encounter things not easily explained.
Rolling Acres Road (Lady Lake, Florida). Most haunted roads wind through spooky forests, but while the woods bordering this narrow paved highway can be unsettling at night, the road itself is straight as an arrow. The ghost, called “Julia,” appears as a luminous figure ambling along the highway south of its intersection with Lake Ella Road. According to the legend, she is the apparition of a young woman who died waiting for her lover: some say she was murdered and others that she committed suicide. Unfortunately, there is no record of such a death in the 20th century, but the town of Lady Lake – named in honor of a woman who drowned in a nearby lake – was founded in 1883 and documentation prior to 1900 is scarce.
In addition to Julia, people have claimed to hear loud screams and roars emanating from the forest. There are suggestions that serial killer Gerard Schaefer, a Martin County deputy sheriff, who had a penchant for taking his victims to the woods, may have tied up some of the young women he abducted in the wooded areas abutting Rolling Acres Road.
Route 901 (Berkeley County, West Virginia). Hammonds Mill Road, formerly known as County Route 3, is a 5.5-mile length of highway winding through undulating farmland, not the sort of place one would expect to find a ghost. One of the frequently reported spirits is that of a ragged, wounded Confederate soldier who limps out of the fog and places his hands on the hoods of cars that stop. However, before anyone can communicate with him, he vanishes, leaving only bloody hand prints on the vehicle. There were no Civil War battles nearby, but Rebel troops may have camped in the area.
Sears Pond Road (Montague, New York). Around 7 p.m. on the evening of Sunday, June 14, 1954, Anna Tebidor (inset above), 37, was driving a 1949 Studebaker truck east on Sears Pond Road when she lost control on a sharp curve a little less than a mile from the Highway 23 junction. The vehicle rolled several times and her passenger, Mr. Jan Winiarski, 29, who had accompanied the young wife and mother of four on the “wine run,” was thrown clear, and although seriously injured, he survived. Mrs. Tebidor, unfortunately, was decapitated. Two bottles of wine were discovered in the debris and one had been opened. During the inquest, Winiarski testified he had cautioned his companion to drive carefully.
Shortly after Anna Machowski Tebidor (born February 2, 1917) was laid to rest in Lowville Rural Cemetery, rumors that a headless woman in white had been spotted in the vicinity of the fatal accident spread through the community. Because the site is located in the Tug Hill region, someone during the ensuing years dubbed the headless ghost “Tug-Hill Annie” and the name stuck.
Anna Tebidor lived in a house directly across the road from what is now the Montague Inn and owner Stephen Hennigan admitted sightings of Tug-Hill Annie are fairly common. “Typically, we hear about a pale ghostly woman along the side of the road,” he said. “Oftentimes people say they hear her calling out, crying.”
One of the reasons this particular ghost is so frightening is because people do not realize she is headless until they stop and she approaches.
Seven Gables Road (Dansville, Michigan). This dead end road situated 25 miles southeast of Lansing and three miles south of Dansville is located in the Dansville State Game Area. According to Haunted Lansing author, Jenn Carpenter, “There’s really just one way in and it’s past a red, wrought-iron, padlocked gate. The area is traversable only by foot and is overrun by rattlesnakes, coyotes and many believe by something else – an evil presence that can’t be explained.” One tale has it that a witch who once lived just off the road was burned alive when marauders set fire to her house, and as the flames consumed her, she cursed the location, making it uninhabitable.
While the witch story is nothing more than an urban legend, even hunters have reported feeling uneasy for no apparent reason. “It’s hard to explain,” one local man admitted. “It’s like when you shiver and say somebody just walked on your grave.”
Some believe these feelings of apprehension are related to the two bodies found in the area. On July 9, 1970, 16-year-old Laurie Murninghan, daughter of a former Lansing mayor, was taken hostage by a robber described as a black man with a goatee. Eight days later, her corpse was discovered near Seven Gables Road. Her killer was never identified.
Thirty-five years later, on July 2, 2005, Ricky Holland, age 7, was reported missing by his adoptive parents. His body wasn’t found until seven months later when one of his killers led law enforcement officers to what remained of the boy’s body in almost the exact location where Laurie Murninghan had been discovered. He had been discarded like trash beside Seven Gables Road by Tim and Lisa Holland: the couple who adopted him also killed him. The pair turned on each other and Tim Holland testified that his wife hit Ricky in the head with a tack hammer. A weather-beaten white cross still marks the location where the child’s body had lain.
Tower Hill Road (Cumberland, Rhode Island). Just a little more than a mile-and-a-half from the Massachusetts border, this narrow, twisting roughly 2½-mile highway through thick forest land is rumored to be haunted by several supernatural entities as well as a Bigfoot-type creature called the “Man Monkey.” In recent years, there also have been reports of what sounds like children laughing and playing in the woods, and a group of ghost hunters claimed that after stopping on the road one night, they discovered children’s hand prints all over their car the following day.
West Cuba Road (Barrington, Illinois). Most of the supernatural incidents reported on this two-lane highway occur near White Cemetery (above), a burial ground established in 1820. Paranormal investigators and thrill-seekers claim to have seen scintillating white spook lights that linger over specific tombstones before floating away into the inky blackness of the night. Other witnesses have reported seeing luminescent human shapes drifting through the iron bars of the fence and along the road. It is believed one of these figures materializes as a woman in a flowing white gown who flags down drivers but vanishes before she gets into the car.
If all this wasn’t weird enough, a large house near the cemetery isn’t really there: people see a structure lit by soft lights at night, however, it is nowhere to be seen in daylight hours. Old timers in decades past recalled that a house along the road burned down many years previous, but no one living today remembers it.
Drivers on West Cuba road also have noticed an old-fashioned black automobile, possibly from the 1930s or 40s, that mysteriously disappears. However, the most frightening phenomenon is the unwelcome hitchhiker: the specter of a broad-faced man chewing on a cigar that appears in the rearview mirror. Those who have seen this apparition describe him as a gangster. Of note, the bucolic region with its many lakes was once a preferred vacation spot for members of the Chicago Outfit and other villains, and, apparently, one of them is still around.
If all this wasn’t weird enough, a large house near the cemetery isn’t really there: people see a structure lit by soft lights at night, however, it is nowhere to be seen in daylight hours. Old timers in decades past recalled that a house along the road burned down many years previous, but no one living today remembers it.
Drivers on West Cuba road also have noticed an old-fashioned black automobile, possibly from the 1930s or 40s, that mysteriously disappears. However, the most frightening phenomenon is the unwelcome hitchhiker: the specter of a broad-faced man chewing on a cigar that appears in the rearview mirror. Those who have seen this apparition describe him as a gangster. Of note, the bucolic region with its many lakes was once a preferred vacation spot for members of the Chicago Outfit and other villains, and, apparently, one of them is still around.
Sources: Brent Ashcroft, Michigan Life, October 24, 2019; More Chicago Haunts by Ursula Bielski; Dara Bitler, KDVR, October 4 & October 28, 2022; Lizard Man: The True Story of the Bishopville Monster by Lyle Blackburn; Haunted Lansing by Jenn Carpenter; City of Wildwood (Missouri); Scott Clow, WFMK, May 15, 2023; Dangerous Roads; Double T, The Eagle 96.7, October 30, 2018; Rachel Follender, Seacoastonline, October 28, 2013; The Beast of Bray Road and The Michigan Dogman, Werewolves and Other Unknown Canines Across the USA by Linda Godfrey; Great Smoky Mountains, National Park Service; Emily Griffin, WWNY, October 7, 2022; Halloween Newsletter; The Hampton Historical Society; Haunted Kentucky; J. A. Hernandez, "Zombie Road in Wildwood, Missouri," July 4, 2023; Kameron Hurley, Haunted Alaska, October 11, 2005; Dudley Road by M. Jandreau; Cheryl Lassiter, Hampton Union, October 27, 2015; Michael Kleen, Mysterious America, September 18, 2018; Dick Mangrum, WGOG, March 11, 2014; National Register of Historic Places; New England Folklore, May 27, 2018; Greg Nieto, KDVR, July 25, 2024; The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 30, 2017; Only in Alaska; Only in Your State; Steve Powell, The Arlington Times, October 10, 2018; Oregon History Project; Archer Parquette, Milwaukee Magazine, October 30, 2020; Tyler Rudick, The Rockford Register Star, October 15, 2014; RomanticAsheville.com; Daneen Schatz, Greenville County (S.C.) Library System; Myths and Legends of our Own Time by Charles M. Skinner; Curt Smith, The Lansing State Journal, July 1, 2015; The Smoky Mountain Times, October 26, 2022; South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; Tripping on Legends, April 29, 2020; J.B. VanDyke, Only in Arkansas; WKDQ, October 30, 2023; WRAL, October 10, 2022, and November 3, 2021; The Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times, June 15, 1954, and Witte Brothers, October 24, 2019.
See “America’s 25 Strangest and Most Haunted Roads.”
