Haunted Highways

Clinton Road (United States)

Clinton Road is a highway in New Jersey. It is also notorious for being the country's longest traffic wait, as motorists have to wait around five minutes. There have been numerous reports of paranormal activities, sightings of weird creatures and ghost sightings on this highway. There have also been reports of gathering of witches, Satanists and the Ku Klux Klan.

Some of the popular urban legends of this highway are:

The ghost boy at the bridge:

At one of the bridges over Clinton Brook (Dead Man's Curve) near the reservoir, if you put a quarter in the middle of the road where the yellow line is, at midnight it will supposedly be promptly returned by the ghost of a boy who drowned while swimming below or had fallen in while sitting on the edge of the bridge. In some tellings an apparition is seen; in others the ghost pushes the teller into the water if they look over the side of the bridge, in order to save them from being run over as he was in life.

Camaro driven by a girl:

A ghost of a girl is seen driving a Camaro who supposedly died when she crashed it in 1988. Any mention of the ghost while driving the road at night is supposed to trigger a manifestation.

The Druidic temple:

A conical stone structure just east of the road south of the reservoir was said to be a site where local Druids practiced their rituals, and horrible things might come to pass for any intruder who looked too closely or came at the wrong time. The building is actually an iron smelter left over from the American Revolutionary Warand the War of 1812 when the United States was forced into creating an economic independence to complement its political freedom. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Clinton Furnacein 1976.It is currently fenced off by the Newark water department to prevent any entrance and the liability for injury that might result.

Ghost truck:

There are accounts of phantom vehicles: pickup trucks or even floating headlights not attached to any vehicle that supposedly appear from nowhere in the middle of the night and chase drivers to the end of the road, then disappear.

Strange creatures:

From hellhounds tomonkeys and unidentifiable hybrids, have allegedly been seen at night. If not of supernatural origin, they are said to have been survivors of Jungle Habitat, a nearby attraction that has been closed since 1976, which have managed to survive and crossbreed.

Cross Castle:

In 1905, a man named Richard Cross built a castle on high land near the reservoir for his wife and three children. Later in the 20th century, it fell into ruin after a fire had destroyed part of it and thus became a popular destination for hikers and local teenagers looking for secluded locations to camp out and have parties.

Visitors have reported strange occurrences in or near the castle site, such as people going into seizures and having bruises appearing on their bodies afterwards, or having strange, disturbing visions. Writings that suggest Satanic symbols have been reported as appearing on the castle's interior walls, particularly in areas that were supposedly inaccessible.

Newark's water department razed the castle as an attractive nuisance in 1988, but the foundations remain and several hiking trails still lead to the site.

The Iceman:

In May 1983, a human body was found in the woods close to the road. Legend dictates that a cyclist going down the road discovered the body after investigating a vulture feasting at a spot in the nearby trees.

An autopsy found that the man had died of foul play, remarking something initially puzzling: ice crystals in blood vessels near his heart. His interior organs also had decayed at a rate far slower than his skin. Pathologists concluded that someone had frozen his body after death in an attempt to mislead investigators into believing he died at a later time than he actually did. The man was identified as someone on the periphery of Mafia activities in nearby Rockland County, New York. The investigation ultimately led to the 1986 arrest of "The Iceman" aka Richard Kuklinski, a New Jersey native involved in Rockland organized crime, who confessed to being the killer.

Other:

Another claims to have encountered two park rangers one night while camping with friends near Terrace Pond, a glacial tarn on a ridge accessible from the road by hiking trails, who in the morning turned out to have been the ghosts of two rangers who had died on the job in 1939.Others claim to have seen people dressed weirdly at odd hours who simply stare at those who see them and do not speak, who either disappear or are not seen by others present.

An acquaintance of mine narrates a spooky incident that she faced on the highway:

" I and my two friends were passing through the Clinton Road, at around 10.30 pm in the night. I was in the driver's seat and my other two friends were sitting at the back.

We were talking and cracking jokes while loud music was playing in the car. Suddenly, the music stopped. My friend asked me that why the music stopped suddenly.

As I turned back to reply her. I saw a pale looking girl with black eyes dressed in a blue dress looking right at me. She was sitting between my friends. I freaked out and screamed loudly. My friends were shocked as they couldn't see her. And as I raised my finger towards her, she suddenly disappeared.

I will never ever drive through that road again and I still get nightmares because of that incident."

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