Trick or Treat – Don’t Miss These Haunted Drives
October 27th, 2017 by Nikki Guerra
Halloween is a time for ghosts and goblins, haunted houses, and things that make you go “eeek!” in the night. But did you know there are also haunted roads? If you’re looking for a frightful experience, try these three well-known haunted roads.
1. Clinton Road
Located in West Milford, New Jersey, Clinton Road is an unassuming stretch of road that winds through a wooded area containing several bridges, a picturesque waterfall, and the occasional house set back off the road. Yet, it is considered by many to be the most haunted road in the U.S.
It probably has to do with the many heart-thumping images people claim to have seen while driving through the woods, including a pack of undernourished cannibals waiting by the side of the road for their next meal. Other drivers report seeing a large black truck that suddenly pulls up dangerously close behind them, flashes it lights, and then vanishes into the night.
People have also reported strange lights hovering over the water, UFO sightings, and snowfall in July. Dead Man’s Curve, a dangerously sharp curve on one stretch of the road, is said to be haunted by ghosts and bizarre occult rituals. Cross Castle, an old mansion gutted by fire and left to wither away before being demolished in the 1980s, is said to be the home of unexplained rock formations and strange writings on its walls. According to some, the odd, graffiti-like writings come from the official La Veyan Church of Satan’s code of conduct.
2. Boy Scout Lane
Haunted Boy Scouts? If that sounds hard to believe, just ask the folks living in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The street got its name from an old local legend involving a group of Boy Scouts who went on an overnight camping trip in the 1950s and never returned. Like many legends involving the supernatural, Boy Scout Lane has several different versions of what happened that fateful night.
One of the most popular versions tells the tale of a Scoutmaster who went insane and murdered everyone in the troop in a fit of madness. Another has the Boy Scouts taking themselves out by kicking over a lantern and setting off a forest fire that left no survivors. Some say the young troop perished in a gruesome bus accident, and there’s even a version in which the Scouts simply vanish for unknown reasons and are never found.
Regardless of how they died, most variations include the idea that ghosts of the dead Scouts haunt the forest to this day. If you listen carefully, you can sometimes hear their footsteps as they hike through the woods. Others report seeing lights in the woods at night that seem within reach but always vanish when you try to get close.
3. Mona Lisa Lane.
A haunted road named after one of the most famous paintings in history? Where else but in the city of New Orleans, where voodoo, hexes, spells and other superstitions are an ingrained part of the local culture. In the early 1900s, a prominent philanthropist donated a number of statues to the city, under the condition that a statue of his deceased daughter stand apart from the rest and be maintained at all times. Supposedly, the young lady possessed a mysterious Mona Lisa-like smile.
Over time, the park site became a hangout for unruly teens. One day, during a car chase, a car full of teenagers careened into the statue and demolished it. The pieces were taken to the New Orleans Museum of Art, but have never been restored. After the accident, teenagers continued to frequent the site where the statue once stood, and began spreading rumors about a ghost that looked exactly like Mona. Dressed in white, Mona was said to float through the air, approach cars driving by, and place her hands on the windows before fading away into the night. As the legend grew, Mona was said to be spotted all over the park. According to recent reports, Mona Lisa Lane has become overgrown and rarely visited anymore – but the legend lives on.
