In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil, also known as the Leeds Devil, is a legendary creature said to inhabit the forests of the Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many variations. The common description is that of a bipedal kangaroo-like or wyvern-like creature with a horse- or goat-like head, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, legs with cloven hooves, and a forked or pointed tail. It is also said that it has a strange elongated body and a thick tail. It has been reported to move quickly and is often described as emitting a high-pitched "blood-curdling scream".
The Tube Bar prank calls are a series of prank calls made in the mid-1970s to the Tube Bar in Jersey City, New Jersey, in which Jim Davidson and John Elmo would ask "Red," the proprietor of the bar, if they could speak to various non-existent customers. The gag names given by the pranksters were puns and homophones for often offensive phrases. Recordings of the calls were circulated widely on duplicated cassette tapes and may have been the inspiration for a long running gag in The Simpsons.
Ong's Hat is a ghost town in Pemberton Township, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on Magnolia Road west of the Four Mile Circle, where New Jersey Route 72 intersects with New Jersey Route 70. It is the northern terminus of the Batona Trail.
A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboards. The modern tourist-oriented highway attraction originated as a U.S. and Canadian phenomenon in the 1940s to 1960s, and subsequently caught on in Australia.
Clinton Road is located in West Milford, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. It runs in a generally north–south direction, beginning at Route 23 near Newfoundland and running roughly 10 mi (16 km) to its northern terminus at Upper Greenwood Lake.
Shades of Death Road is a two-lane rural road of about 6.7 miles (10.8 km) in length in central Warren County, New Jersey. It runs in a generally north–south direction through Liberty and Independence townships, then turns more east–west in Allamuchy Township north of the Interstate 80 (I-80) crossing. South of I-80 it runs alongside Jenny Jump State Forest and offers access to it at several points. The road is the subject of folklore and numerous local legends. In 2013, the SyFy channel's Haunted Highway series did a segment on the road.
Martinsville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Bridgewater Township, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 11,980.
Crybaby Bridge is a term that refers to numerous bridges across the United States, associated with urban legends and ghost stories involving the sounds of a baby crying. These tales typically involve tragic backstories of infanticide, accidents, or other sorrowful events that purportedly occurred at or near the bridges, for example, an urban legend relating to a baby or young child/children where the mother threw her baby off the bridge and felt so bad that she killed herself. She now looks for her baby while crying in the river sadly. The phenomenon is not limited to a specific location, but represents a type of folklore that has become embedded in the cultural fabric of various regions, each adapting the legend to fit local histories or landscapes.
Mark Moran is a co-creator of the Weird N.J. magazine and website. Moran, along with co-creator Mark Sceurman, started Weird N.J. as a homemade newsletter, passed out to family and friends. It was produced as an annual issue. The "zine" as they called it, contains articles, facts, and legends about weird places to visit in New Jersey.
Woodbridge Center is a major two-level shopping mall located in Woodbridge Township, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, at the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 9. As of 2022, the mall features Macy's, Boscov's, J. C. Penney, and Dick's Sporting Goods.
Bardin is an unincorporated community in Putnam County, Florida, United States, located northwest of the city of Palatka. It was named after Hazard Bardin (1856-1934) circa 1900. He was the first resident and operated a turpentine distillery business at the interception of Bardin Road and the creek.
The New Jersey Pine Barrens has been the site of many legends, tales and mythical creatures, many of which have been documented by Weird NJ in its magazines and books.
Weird US is a series of guide books written by various authors and published by Sterling Publishing of New York City. The series originated with Weird NJ, a magazine published by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman that chronicles local legends and other peculiarities in New Jersey. The growing popularity of the magazine resulted in the publication of a book written by Moran and Sceurman, Weird NJ: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. After the book was released, Moran and Sceurman began receiving letters from individuals across the United States, detailing oddities from their home states, which prompted Moran and Sceurman to create Weird US.
The Mushroom House or Pod House is a contemporary residence in the town of Perinton, New York, which has been featured in television programs and books due to its whimsical appearance. Patterned after umbels of Queen Anne's Lace, its brown color is more suggestive of mushrooms. The house was constructed for attorney-artist couple Robert and Marguerite Antell between 1970 and 1972 and was designated a town landmark in 1989.
The Fellowship Farm Cooperative Association was a Utopian anarchist community in the Stelton section of Piscataway Township, New Jersey that was started in 1912.
Weird U.S. is a reality television series based on the book series of the same name. The program aired on the History Channel and starred Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman, founders of the magazine Weird NJ, as they hunt the United States looking for weird history, hauntings, and legends because, as they say, "history is full of weirdos." It is produced by Kralyevich Productions. It is also a series of paranormal travel guides edited by the same two individuals.
Mark Sceurman is a graphic artist and co-creator and publisher with Mark Moran of Weird NJ magazine and a state-by-state series of books. With Moran he co-hosted the spin-off television series Weird U.S. on the History Channel.
Penile is a historic community located in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. Formerly an unincorporated community, it was designated a neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, when the city merged with Jefferson County in 2003.
The Devil's Tree is a solitary oak tree, with some dead limbs, growing in an undeveloped field on Mountain Road in the Martinsville section of Bernards Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, across from a private housing development. Local legend suggests the tree is cursed: those who damage or disrespect the tree will soon thereafter come to some sort of harm, often in the form of a car accident or major breakdown as they leave.
Jeannette DePalma was an American teenager who is believed to have been murdered sometime on or around August 7, 1972 in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey, United States. Her body was discovered the following month on a cliff located in Springfield's Houdaille Quarry. The events of her death were subject to sensationalist coverage in local media for rumored connections to alleged occult activity in the area.
