Weird U.S. Series (New Jersey Edition)
This is the third in a series of articles highlighting chilling and thought-provoking local legends from different states around the country. The goal behind this series is to introduce you to horror tales that you can use to inspire your work and exercise your creative muscles. Our first article in this series included local legends from California, which you can read here and our second article focused on New York. This month, we’re focusing on creepy tales from The Garden State: New Jersey.
So, if you want to submit a short horror screenplay for the next season of the Killer Shorts Contest but you’ve run short on ideas and everything you write down just seems bland or cliché, look no further for some chilling inspiration that is sure to get you writing. The following tales come from the well known Weird U.S. website, filled with America’s weirdest and scariest local legends and secrets.
Gravity Roads
Gravity roads are mysterious spots around the state where the laws of gravity don’t quite exist. There are many different locations but the stories behind them are all similar. They all involve a violent death and a spirit which pushes or pulls your car uphill.
If you were to drive up to these spots and put your vehicle in neutral and take your foot off the brake, your car would begin to travel as if it’s being pulled or pushed uphill.
The phenomenon is unexplained and some think the roads may be optical illusions. They may look like they go uphill but they are actually going downhill. Others say the roads are guarded by spirits of dead motorists protecting drivers from dangerous curves or areas in the road that they had perished from years before. One story goes that a man on a motorcycle came over an overpass and missed a stop sign. He flew into the woods and across the street and died. The motorcyclist now protects this area, preventing drivers from missing the stop sign.
The Ghost Boy of Clinton Road
It is said that if you were to drive down Clinton Road at midnight and stop by the bridge by what is called the “Dead Man’s Curve,” you would witness a strange phenomenon. One story goes that if you sit on the bridge and throw pennies into the river, the ghost of a young boy will throw them back to you. The rumor is that a young boy was once challenged by his friends to stand on the bridge while they drove to Route 23 and back. When the friends came back, they found the boy had died.
Another story goes that if you throw a penny into the water, the same penny will appear on the road the next morning. The legend behind this story is that a boy drowned in the river while trying to get a ball. The kid’s spirit will appear at night and retrieve the penny and put it back on the road.
One witness decided to try it out for themselves. They went to the bridge and threw a quarter down into the river. Seconds later they heard the sound of a second quarter being dropped into the river. Although there was no second quarter. The water rippled and the reflection of a child appeared.
The Hookerman
Legend has it that over a century ago, a railroad worker lost his arm in a train mishap. It’s been said that the man was a night watchman and while on duty, he fell and lost consciousness while signaling an oncoming train to stop. When he awoke, he realized his arm had been cut off by the train. The Hookerman’s spirit, now with a hook to replace his arm, returns at night with a lantern searching for his lost arm. Some even say he comes back to the tracks to find the wedding ring that had been on his hand that was cut off.
If you were to visit the tracks, you would see a dim, amber ball of light along the tracks. It appears for a split second but dissipates in the dark, only to appear once again in a different spot. Some witnesses have even noted hearing a faint whistle sound, like a phantom train coming down the tracks.
The JL Tree
The story of Jimmy Lynch dates back to the seventies and is a true and documented story. One night, Jimmy Lynch, a local high school student, was in the park when he was confronted by 4 other kids, who were members of a gang. The gang bullied him at school but when they found him in the park that night, they stabbed him to death and left him at the base of the tree now known as the “JL Tree”. The next morning, he was found dead at the tree by nearby neighbors. His girlfriend carved his initials into the tree as a memorial and over the next few years, the branches at the top of the tree began to grow into what looks like the initials, J & L.
It has also been rumored that if you were to drive up to the base of the tree, your car might stall. And some have also claimed to see a shadowy figure walking around the area where the park used to be.
The Gates of Hell
The “Gates of Hell,” located in Clifton, NJ, is a legendary passageway that leads to a network of underground tunnels and storm sewers. Some say it even leads to Satan himself. Teenagers of every generation have stories of what hides in the darkness beyond the gates, and have dared one another to venture into the abyss to see for themselves. It’s said that there are seven layers of tunnels underground and the lower you get, the closer you come to meeting the devil. Satanic sacrifices and graffiti, decaying carcasses, upside down crosses, and a secret room many layers underground are just a few of the rumors about this place.
Another rumor is that a spirit known as Red Eyed Mike guards the entrance to the tunnel. If you were to knock on the railroad ties above the entrance, you would hear a horn coming from within the tunnel and rocks would hurl themselves out towards you, with no visible person inside.
One brave soul recalls going into the tunnels at 16 with his friend. As they walked deeper into the gates, they heard a strange knocking sound and whispers that sounded like chants.
These weird, haunting tales are only the tip of the iceberg, but they should be a great start to help you scrape that rust off of your creative gears and start getting words on the page. For more local legends, visit the Weird U.S. website.
For more advice on screenwriting, go to The Screenwriters Network and join the Discord server to start networking with over 6000 screenwriters.
