If you live in New Jersey or the tri-state area, you have probably seen the book series called "Weird NJ" It is apparently filled with strange phenomenons and creepy places that will scare the living crap out of you.
I used to live in Ringwood, NJ, up in the North bordering New York State. After getting to know the area, I was told by everyone about the horrors of Clinton Road in West Milford, NJ, which is our neighboring town. I must admit, the stories are pretty freaky, enough to make you not want to explore it. What is Clinton Road?
It is a ten mile stretch in the middle of nowhere New Jersey. The legend is: If you ever decide to travel down Clinton Road at midnight, stop at the bridge by Dead Mans Curve.
If you sit on that bridge and throw pennies into the river, the ghost of a young boy will throw them back to you.Scared yet? Many of my friends back in town told me they visited Clinton Road and had so many eerie feelings. Cell phones went dead, GPS systems didn't work and sights of the young boy were stories I heard about.
Here are some stories from
Weird NJ:
I am a resident of West Milford, but I am now away at school in Ithaca, NY. I'm eighteen, and ever since I was little, there have been stories about Clinton Rd. From the ghosts of people that died in car accidents on a dangerous curve, ghosts of Cross Castle (it was knocked down but there is still rubble), ghosts of the iron forge and numerous accounts of cult stories. There is also a haunted nudist colony between Paradise and Clinton Roads.
The Ghosts of the Dangerous Curve are said to be visible if you drive up to it at midnight, then turn off your car lights. It is also said that on the island in the center of the reservoir there are many satanic rituals, including KKK happenings taking place using animal sacrifices. I am not confirming these stories, but I do know they have reached Paterson.
- Laura R
“I grew up in West Milford, which we all know is rich in weird folklore. I’ve heard all the stories, and as a teen used to hang out in most of the places you’ve featured. After high school, I started working in Chilton Hospital’s Emergency room–the night shift. One Saturday night an ambulance brought in a woman kicking and screaming with third-degree burns on her legs. She was high on heroin and claimed to be a witch. I asked the ambulance driver where they found her.
‘Walking along Rte. 23 near Clinton Road,’ he said.
According to this woman, she was up there with a group of people worshiping Satan when they decided to throw her into a bonfire. She escaped with bad burns. After we gave her something to bring her down from the drugs, she became extremely violent to the point where I had to tie her down with leather restraints. She was yelling things like ‘My powers are too strong for you,” and “I’m going to crawl into your mind.’ Well, it must have worked because I haven’t forgotten about her.”
- Ron S.
“I'm from Upper Greenwood Lake. My parents, myself, and some friends rode bikes the entire ten mile length of Clinton Road when I was very young. I remember stopping at the bridge when everyone was feeling the ride. They all starting going for a swim. I had to go to the bathroom, and found a place where I could still see everyone, but they couldn't see me. I found a rock and went to do my thing. When I looked behind me there was a bloody T-shirt. I didn't notice it until I had my pants down around my knees, then I started screaming. Everyone came running over. I was so freaked out. I ended up peeing all over my pants. Then there were noises in the back woods. I swear I have never seen so many grown people run for their bikes. My heart was beating so fast, I was so scared!
My mother grabbed me and put me on the back of her bike. My father grabbed my bike and carried it as we all rode off. I kept my eyes closed and my head dug into the back of my mother’s shirt the whole ride. I just want to really let you know that Clinton Road is not only scary at night, but it's really freaky during the day! Since that day I have never gone down that road and I really don't think I ever could again, even now.”
- Cindy J.These stories are enough to scare me! I wouldn't dare visit Clinton Road!
Have you heard of Clinton Road? Would you visit this scary location?
Comments (27)
Yup. I'm totally curious now.
I have to now!
Great. I'm alone in my room and it's almost midnight. I'm completely freaked out.
Ohhh I LOVE driving down that road. That bridge where it's said, if you throw a coin, the ghost of a child with throw it back at you...a few times, I stopped there with a few friend to test it out. Freaky...each time except for one, the coin came back not even two seconds later and hit the window of the car. Strange stuff.
By the way...I LOVE Weird NJ xP
Ah, I forgot to mention the thing about how black cars with no license plates chase you down the road until you get off. That's happened a few times to us as well. At night only of course, so I really don't know if that's just some people in 4 unmarked black cars doing it every night or what... >.>;
I haven't heard of Clinton Road, before, but I would visit it. I would probably not make a habit of it. I'm kind of sensitive to things like that. But, there are a few haunted areas that I would like to visit once. I don't play with things I don't understand, however, so visiting would be all I would do. No exploring and silly things like that. :p
Wow, so freaky! Thanks for sharing, it's definitely putting me in the Halloween mood!
Omg! That did a good job scaring the crap outta me. DarkDestiny666's story did too haha. We have a few places like that in my town...but I've never tested it out.
"The Ghosts of the Dangerous Curve are said to be visible if you drive up to it at midnight, then turn off your car lights"
yeah if its midnight and you're at a dangerous curve stopped with your fucking lights off you're going to BE a ghost.
I love Weird NJ! I have both volumes. I'm not sure if i ever want to explore those places though
No thanks. o_o
I've lived within walking distance of Clinton Road for the past 13 years and lived in the area my whole life. We go swimming over there in the summer, take many hikes through the beautiful trails and fish throughout the year. There are also a lot of interesting historical sites to visit along that road, though not much actual spooky stuff really goes on. Sadly, one of the bridges became unstable this summer and the entrance to the road on the Route 23 side has been blocked ever since. The town has been fighting over who will fix it and it doesnt look like it's going to be fixed anytime soon. Travelers be wary if you want to visit this road while that bridge is in disrepair.
why does it have to be after midnight? why can't it be 11 p.m.? But I know that if something strange like that does happen.. it would be freaken scary because it's not normal... I remember seeing something once when i was 11 years old. it scared the shit outta me but up til this day i don't kno if it is real or my mind is playing tricks on me.
I remember my brother's and his friends went camping one time and they saw a weird thing somewhat like bigfoot. Whatever it was.... it scared the deers to their tent... deers are usually scared of people but they said there were a whole bunch of deers by their tent. They even fired some rounds and the deers wouldn't leave... I'm thinking maybe the deers are more scared of that thing than the guns. Somethings are hard to explain...
No and you have to be an idiot to believe in made up fiction.
O.O that's freaky
Sounds really scary, but the name "Clinton road" sounds too happy to be scary >.<; I m reminded of Ex-president Bill Clinton instead D:
I guess I will never know how scary it is until I feel the ambiance of that place.
I want to go.
i went there ones! my friend and i went and threw a penny in the river about 30 seconds later it hit me in the head!I'll never go back there.
I haven't been to Clinton Road, but I've been to many other popular spots mentioned on the Weird NJ website. Can't say I've had any personal experiences worth talking about, though.
@raspberryjade@xanga - That's totally what i was thinking too. Seems like a really bad idea, haunted or not.
Sounds the exact same as Crawford Road in VA. And probably a bunch of other 'haunted roads' too.
First off - I know somebody who lives ten minutes away. I'm about 45 minutes myself and plan on checking it out... I'm a skeptical thrill seeker.
Second - Holler at New Jersey! :o)
Yeah I'm living near that area and my friends and I are thinking about checking that place out.
Its been 10 years living in Jersey and I still haven't gone to a weird NJ place.
i went there with three of my guy friendss actually in the begining of summer. at12:34 i remember. we all went to see when our phones would die, and when it did i flipped lol. i kept my eyesopened. we turned off the headlights and drove (cause sometimes people would play wth you if they saw a car driving on clinton rd). then we went to the bridge and they through pennies, and they said if you dont hear anything, that means someone caught it (its supposed to splash into the river below) we did and everytime we heard it, then he through ten pennies..we heard nothing. we QUICKLY went into the car and i had my eyes covered and i hear them scream and the car STOPPED.. i opened my eyes and saw a deer. then the rest of the ride was fine.