Have you guys ever heard of the house on Union Blvd. in Totowa with the weirdo signs in the window? There used to be these crudely hand-lettered, poster-sized signs filling every window in the house with such inscriptions THE DEVICE IS IN THE BRAIN…HEAT FROM THE BODY POWERS THE DEVICE.”  The guy who lived there (I assume he’s gone now because the house looks normal now) must have been really something. –David Burd

 Remembers the “The Device”

Years ago my husband and I had just been to the movie theater up off Route 46 in Totowa. We had never been in that particular area before, and were trying to find our way home and somehow ended up on Union Blvd. That’s when we spotted it: this apparently normal looking white house with signs posted in the windows saying “THE DEVICE IS IN THE BRAIN,” “HEAT FROM THE BODY POWERS THE DEVICE,” and other alien-inspired ravings.

Chilled, we turned the car around and headed back the way we came. Years latter, whenever we thought about that house we’d get the creeps. It was almost as if we had imagined it!  –J. Burchfield

Get your very own “Device is in the Brain” Tee Shirt for a limited time only and let everyone know that you remember Totowa when it was way weird!

We’ve received quite a few letters about an unusual area in Double Trouble State Park, on the border of Berkeley and Lacey Townships in Ocean County, where all of the trees had apparently been pushed down in a strange circular pattern by some unknown force.  The next three stories are eyewitness accounts of the scene.

Is it the landing site of a UFO, or an airplane crash?  Or was it perhaps ground zero for a meteor strike or where a freak tornado touched down unobserved?  Nobody seems to know for sure, but that’s not going to keep us from guessing.

Tunguska Blast in Berkeley?

A few years ago my wife and I went kayaking down Cedar Creek in Ocean County.  About a half a mile after you pass the Garden State Parkway you can see that the woods off to the left look like they were cut down in a big circle.  All the trees were pushed down, but not cut cracked or broken, just bent right down to the ground – full size pines!  All of them were bent outwards toward the perimeter.  There was no debris from a plane crash, access roads for equipment or anything. There was also no hole in the center from a meteor.   –John

Strange SIGNS in Double Trouble State Park

Recently I went canoeing in Double Trouble Park on Cedar Creek.  Our teacher told us to stop at a cleared area in the left hand side of the creek.  The park rangers, local police, state police and such were there the day before we went.  People called the police complaining that strange lights were coming from the area.  The FAA thought a plane went down there, but one didn’t.  The weird thing is that whatever landed there pushed the trees down so flat, yet the object that pushed them did not destroy them.  The dimensions are pretty big and it’s a complete circle.

It is a very creepy spot and if you have a digital watch or take a photo it won’t show in the picture and your watch or compass will go crazy!  –Justin S.           

Cedar Creek’s Mystery Spot Stole My Battery Power!

I go to Jackson Memorial High School.  My school takes a canoe trip for each junior class every year.  I went to Double Trouble State Park this year for the trip.  The trip started off bumpy, we were hitting into trees every 5 feet.  The creek was very narrow, only fifteen feet wide.  Later on my partner and I got set back about fifteen minutes.  We finally caught up to everyone else, who had pulled over on the side of the creek and were out of their canoes.  I asked the teacher what everyone was doing.  He told me that there was said to be a UFO landing site, and pointed over to the trees.  I looked into the trees and saw a single circle of trees with complete gray sides to them.

We parked our canoe and walked into the woods.  As I walked in I took out my digital camera that I had just bought the week before.  The night before I charged the batteries for twelve straight hours.  I had never once had a problem with my batteries not charging.  I walked into the huge area of trees.  I looked around and it was a perfect circle.  All the trees in the middle of the circle were dead, gray, and flattened, and all of them were broken.  Around the circle were gray trees also, but all the trees behind them were completely alive.  The trees surrounding the circle were bent outward on a slant, all an the same angle, almost as if they were fake.

I couldn’t see any human machine doing this and doing it so perfectly.  I turned on my camera to take a picture.  As soon as I turned it on I saw the screen indicating that it was dying, and then it shut off.  I tried several more times and it kept shutting off, until it wouldn’t even turn on.  I thought to myself that it was strange, but just left it to the chance that my charger wasn’t working the night before.  I packed up my camera and we left the area to continue our trip.

About a half hour later we stopped once again for a rest.  I took out my camera to see if I could get one more picture of my partner and I.  I pressed the button and turned it on, expecting it to shut off again.  This time there were no signs of a dead battery.  I thought it was strange.   –Strato Chic

For more stories of unexplained happenings and mysterious sites around the state see our book Weird NJ: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets.

For more information on the Tunguska event, an enormously powerful explosion that occurred near the Tunguska River in Russia in 1908, go to this LINK.

Petroglyphs, or rock carvings have never been fully documented in New Jersey, despite many surveys of Indian villages and shelters over the years.  Located along the Passaic River, below the 140-year-old Dundee Dam in Garfield, is a sandstone boulder with markings believed to ascribe to the Woodland Period, dating from 1,000 B.C. to the Native Americans’ first contact with Europeans in 1650.

The graffiti-marred stone has four carved symbols, a bear paw with claw marks, a fish, a phallus, and a set of initials.  The symbols are said to represent the fishing territory of a particular group, or a warning that bears also fished in these waters.  The phallus may suggest a sign to the spirits for an abundance of fish.

The bear paw and fish are similar in design, suggesting the same carver.  The phallus is believed to have been chiseled by another, possibly at a different time.  Archeologists in the area believe it’s a truly exciting find, since no other petroglyphs have been found in the area.

The meanings of the Garfield Rock Carvings are as much a mystery as when exactly they were made, and by whom.  Although the depiction of the bear paw, which is the most pronounced, seems to a Native American symbol, as does the phallus, the opposite side of the stone clearly shows the letters AL, and a score of five deeply etched into the boulder above the picture of a fish.  This would seem to say that someone named Al or with the initials A. L. had caught five fish in the river that day.  The fish appears to be jumping out of the water, and has a striking resemblance to the Field and Stream decals an outdoorsman might place on the back window of his 4X4 pickup truck.  Perhaps the bear paw and the phallic symbol were also carved by Al while he was killing time waiting for the fish to bite and feeling a bit randy.

On the other hand, the location was undoubtedly a popular fishing location for both the local Indians and the white settlers of the area, and the engravings may have been made years apart.  It is even possible that the ancient graffiti on the boulder might represent a turf war of sorts between the old and new cultures which shared the river for a time, adding their “tags” to the stone much like modern day gangs mark their territory with spray paint.

Are these carvings ancient, or just a work of art crafted by a hobo or perhaps a truant schoolboy many years ago?  We will probably never know the answers to this Stone Age question.  The last time we visited the site the rock was smack dab in the middle of an encampment of homeless people.  Apparently the river, and the carved stone, are still a draw for those who choose to live a primitive lifestyle.

For more stories of our state’s ancient mysteries and unnatural wonders see our book Weird NJ: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets.

Like Bigfoot, Big Red Eye sightings of the northwest corner of the state describe a large bipedal creature covered with long hair from head to toe. But what witnesses in Sussex County who have seen the beast for themselves remember most are the creature’s glowing red eyes.  Here, some of our readers recount their run-in with Big Red:

Over a period of two weeks back in 1977 strange moaning sounds and eerie haunting screams filled the night along Wolfpit Road in Sussex County. It always started around 2 a.m. and went on until almost dawn. The wailing noises were constant, and they lasted for hours. It sounded like some kind of huge primate, making these noises, and it woke me out of a sound sleep.  I had the windows open so I could hear it really well, but I couldn’t tell which direction it was coming from. It was a terrible moaning, like something out of a horror movie, and it was so intense it just seemed to go right through me. It made the hair on the back of  my neck stand straight up and my eyes water. I called my friends to see if they could hear it at their house, which is about a quarter mile away.

“It went on for such a long time, like an hour,” said JD Grant, a neighbor. “It was horrible, just this horrible, blood curdling wailing sound. I’ve never heard anything like it before, I have heard coyotes, bears and fox and it wasn’t like anything. It was this low guttural sound, it went right through you.”

Another witness to the night of Big Red Eye serenades was my friend Chris, who recalled, “It was around 2:30 am, and I just got home from work. I heard this low moaning noise, kind of a cry. It was hard to tell where it was coming from because there are a lot of wooded areas. It definitely wasn’t a person.  Anything that could make screams that loud definitely had to be big.” The only evidence left after these occurrences were a few overturned garbage cans.  There were no footprints, but that may have been due to the fact that the ground was not soft enough.

Grant recalls a night back in 1996 when she and a friend were walking along Layton Road, when they encountered the creature nearing the side of the road.

“I knew it wasn’t a bear, it was too lean and upright; it was humanoid.  It had been there the whole time, watching our approach. There was no noise, otherwise we would have heard something that big crashing through all the underbrush. It was tall and shaggy with red eyes,” she said. “The eyes were glowing red from reflected light, not glowing like LED lights. It just stood there motionless, arms hanging limply at its sides. It didn’t seem to have any bad intentions, it was just creepy. Then of course, we ran and we did not look back. I don’t care what anybody says, I know what I saw. That is something you don’t forget, I definitely did not go back to that spot anytime soon.”

After some digging through old newspaper clippings at the library, I found more info on past Bigfoot sightings. Such as two men encountering a shaggy creature being attacked by two dogs in a Hainesville swamp.  Also, in 1975 a forest ranger walking along a Sussex County Trail encountered a creature about eight feet tall with big red eyes.  A friend of mine tells me that The Big Red Eye is infamous for his run-ins with High Point State Park Rangers. He also tells me that is where the name “Big Red Eye” comes from. I have lived in Sussex County for nearly my whole life and never heard people talk about Bigfoot, but you mention the name Big Red Eye and you would be surprised how many people have seen him or heard of some one who has.  –Vashni 

Big Red Eye in the House

I have recently moved to Sussex County less than a year ago.  I was surprised to hear of such a thing as the “Big Red Eye” and didn’t really believe in it or let it bother me at first. I am originally from Essex County and the only thing for me to be afraid of is being a victim in a drive-by or being verbally attacked by a mentally challenged neighbor named Gordy.

I was on my way home from the dentist and was getting ready to pull in my driveway when I noticed the figure of a tall man, maybe 7 feet tall, and it seemed to be very hairy. I didn’t pay any attention at first because I thought it was just deer, but as I got closer I could see it was something far bigger.  But as quick as I saw it, it was gone.

Although I did not see big red eyes, I did hear some kind of howling or growling in the distance, which I guess could have easily been a bear.  I know one thing: I’ll never go outside when it’s dark around here while I’m alone. –David C.

The site of the 1977 sightings as it appears today.

Big Red Eye Hates Condos

Not that I’m a big believer of urban legend and folklore, but I must tell you this story because after reading about The Big Red Eye in a recent issue, I got the chills!

My wife and I live in Westwood now, but we’re formerly from Mahwah. One night, early last summer, we were walking our dog in our condo development (Paddington Square in Mahwah) and heard this guttural sound that scared us so much that we called the police. I’ve heard just about every animal noise imaginable and I’ve got to tell you this was the strangest thing I’ve ever heard. It wasn’t a dog, or bear, but it was big and angry, and had red eyes. I estimate it was roughly 30 yards from us. We were standing by a street light on the sidewalk.

I told my wife to pick up the dog and go into the street and walk home slowly. I was shaking in my boots as I slowly backed up, keeping my eyes on the brush. We made it home and called the police, not once, but twice, to find out what the hell that thing was. They investigated but found nothing. To this day my wife and I wonder what it was.  –Mike V.

Big Red Eye Chases Girl Right Outta NJ

I am originally from Hamburg, NJ–born and bred in Sussex County. I now live in Savannah, GA. About eight years ago I had a very vivid encounter with The Big Red Eye. I was driving along Rt. 517 and decided to take the shortcut into Scenic Lakes, where I lived. The road was simply referred to as “the Dirt Road,” (though later I found out its official name was Shady Lane). The two very descriptive names suggest that it’s a creepy road to drive on. I was halfway to the end of the road when I saw this awkward looking bear (?) saunter across the road. Naturally I stopped the car and the creature stopped, too. He looked at me for a few seconds (probably the longest few seconds of my life!), and sort of lumbered off into the thick of the woods. The strange thing was that his eyes were red and I could see the whites in the corners of them. I was scared shitless and BOOKED home–no kidding!  –Amanda G.

You can read all about New Jersey’s most famous and terrifying Big Red Eye encounters, including eyewitness testimony, in issue #35 of Weird NJ magazine.

Reports of encounters with the legendary creature known as Bigfoot, Sasquatch and the Abdominal Snowman are common in the Pacific Northwest, as well as rural areas in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. When traveling the Weird New Jersey route though, you may encounter this creature right in your own backyard…that is, if you live in the northwest section of the state, where most of these sightings have occurred.

Lake Owassa Sighting

In 1975, five people reported in a local Sussex County newspaper that a large creature, about nine-feet-tall was spotted near the Bear Swamp, south of Lake Owassa in the farthest reaches of Sussex County.  The creature walked upright, and was covered with shaggy gray hair. Locals who hunt and fish in the surrounding forest said that it’s possible that something like that could exist because of the remoteness of the area.

Encounter in a Northwest Swamp

According to The New York Times (9/19/76), Irving Raser, of Layton, and Charles Ames of Flatbrookville, encountered Bigfoot while examining a beaver dam 12 miles northwest of Newton.

The two men claimed they first heard the growling of their dogs by the swamp. They saw the dogs surrounding a creature that was half-submerged in the water. Thinking it was a bear, they called the dogs off only to see the creature climb out of the water and stand on two feet.

“It was about six feet tall,” Mr. Raser told The Times. “It weighed 250 to 300 pounds, and was covered with long brown hair. It had a flat face with deep-set eyes, and the palms of its hands were hairless. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said it was a man dressed up in a monkey suit.”

Mr. Raser does know a monkey when he sees one. He was the state deputy game warden for over 21 years at the time.

The creature started to scream at the dogs, whacking its hand loudly on a nearby tree, and all the time keeping an eye on the two men.

Witnessing this sight for over a half an hour, the men jumped into their pickup and drove to the state police in Hainesville. They returned with two state troopers and shotguns, but neither the dogs nor the creature were anywhere to be found.  The spot where the creature was standing was inaccessible because of the deep water, but the state troopers found a deer carcass close by.

In the state troopers’ report, they said that apparently the dogs were fighting the deer, and the earlier report must have been a mistake.

Bigfoot Wears the Pants In Sussex

One New Jersey resident, who asked not to be identified, encountered a hostile hairy beast while camping with his friends in Sussex County in the early ’70s.

“We all heard the growling, spine-chilling noise at the same time,” he claimed. “About 20 feet off our path, crouched by the brook was this creature holding a carcass of a half-eaten deer. I ran the flashlight from head to toe. It had hair completely covering its body and was about seven feet tall, and at least 375 pounds. It had on a ripped-up pair of dungarees that were probably the largest human size available. It was covered with matted blood, and smelled awful. Our first instinct was to shoot it.

We got out our .22 guns, bows and arrows. We started shooting at it when it let out a blood-curdling scream and charged us. We started to run and it tackled my friend. The creature was biting and clawing him. I stopped and shot at it with my .22. The thing got up and lunged at me. It let out a howl then ran off into the woods.

We went to the hospital and told them what happened. The police were notified and said they would investigate. After being home a couple of weeks I called the police, but they claimed there was no report or record of us ever being there. They were obviously covering up for some reason. I know what the three of us saw and lived through. It was very real.”

Bigfoot Kills Bunnies in Wantage

In May of 1977, a Sussex County farmer in the town of Wantage reported that a large brown, hairy, Bigfoot-like creature with no neck and glowing red eyes had broken down a one-inch thick oak door and killed his rabbits. Some of the bunnies’ heads were torn off, while other hares were crushed and twisted. The man said there was an unusual absence of blood at the scene. Four men waited with loaded guns the following night for the creature to return. It reappeared at dusk, was shot at, and reportedly hit at least three or four times before running away growling. Although there was an account of the wounded beast re-emerging a few days later, no carcass was ever found.

Bob Warth, a member of S.I.T.U. (The Society for the Investigation of The Unexplained based in Little Silver, NJ), claims these Bigfoot-like entities may be UFO related.

“We know what robots are,” says Warth. “Is there a possibility that these bigfoots with super-human strength are an extraterrestrial biological robot up in North Jersey? These farmers encountered a bigfoot stealing animals from their barn, they shot at it, hit it right in the body cavity, but there was no blood. It then ran away. When you witness something like that, the first thing you do is relate it to yourself—physically and mentally. If you shoot it, you’re going to shoot where you know the heart is, or whatever, to be to bring it down. First of all, you don’t know what kind of armor it has, and secondly the brain (or control system) may be in his feet for that very purpose…if it is a biological robot.”

Bigfoot and the Hunter

I am an avid hunter and I know I’ve heard creepy things out in the woods!  One time, I was hunting in Passaic County with my two older brothers.  It was about 7am on a brisk October morning when all of a sudden I saw some woodland creatures (squirrels, etc) scurrying about. Then it got awfully quiet, when all of a sudden I heard what I can only describe as two massive tree trunks colliding with great force. THUD! THUD! THUD!, I heard three times. Each sound was about 10 seconds apart and let me tell you, I had that shotgun in hand ready to fire at anything that came through the woods! I was absolutely petrified, then again–THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! This time I heard it 4 times, only closer. So close, as a matter of fact, that the ground beneath me was shaking and accompanying the THUD sound was the sound of breaking branches. I ruled out the possibility of a bear, because black bears are very timid and could never create such a noise, nor could it have been a woodpecker working on a tree–no way would that ever make the ground shake.

My brothers were about 200 yards away and didn’t seem to notice the noise. After about three minutes of this eerie sound, it ceased. Nothing in my life has ever scared me so much as that. I never actually saw anything, but I’m convinced it was some kind of bigfoot creature. After our unsuccessful day of deer hunting, I went to the spot where I thought the sounds were coming from, which was directly in front of my sitting position about 70 yards ahead. I saw no footprints or any kind of trace of anything, but what I did see scared the hell out of me.

There were broken branches and small trees broken and another tree torn out by its roots! It was all fresh damage because the breaks in the trees had not turned brown yet. This damage was done very recently, and there is no way in hell a black bear could have done this. I would say that there were about five broken trees and they were anywhere from three to six inches in diameter, and the tree that was torn out by its roots was about ten inches in diameter at the base.  Needless to say, when I saw this I got the hell out of there in an awful hurry! I really regret not staying and examining things a little further, maybe I could have found something to give me a clue as to what exactly it was that was making that God awful racket. But in my mind, I know what it was.  –Jeff S.

The “Big Hairy Man” of Somerset County

A Bigfoot-like entity has been seen in the regions of Somerset County, including the Great Swamp area and the Somerset Hills. The locals call it “The Big Hairy Man,” and he has even been spotted as far away as Hillside. According to eyewitness reports The Big Hairy Man stands about eight-feet tall and is covered with hair the color of a deer’s.

He walks upright with a human gait, according to a bone specialist and a physical therapist who encountered the Big Hairy Man while taking a short cut through the Great Swamp on Lord Stirling Road in a hurry to reach the airport.

They claimed the Big Hairy Man walked in front of their car and hopped the fence alongside of the road. They could not see his face because he (or it) was looking down. These sightings, according to the Folklore Project in Bernardsville, have occurred for many years.

Hairy Man-Ape Encountered in Bernardsville, 1976

My husband and I still don’t know what the heck we saw in 1976. If I had to guess, it was a half man, half ape, we spotted in the Bernardsville section of New Jersey.  We’ve only told a handful of people about our encounter.  Some feel we must have seen a bear, but we’ve never seen a bear swing his arms like a monkey, or take strides like this thing did.  –MS and RS

All illustrations by Cathy Wilkins.

You can read about NJ’s other legendary big hair humanoid, the “Big Red Eye” HERE. For more stories of Bigfoot and the Big Red Eye, see our book Weird NJ: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. 

Holiday Horrors in Kendall Park

Check out New Road in South Brunswick between Rt. 27 and Rt.1. You already know about the Rocking Horse House at New and Sturgis Rd, but if you pass it going towards Rt. 1 there is something even stranger. The second house past the fire station on the right is 141 New Rd. They have a sick Christmas display – skeletons and other grotesque figures dressed in Santa costumes! I caught sight of a sign but only read the word “Haunted” before I passed. It is definitely a Christmas display, not Halloween.

The Rocking Horse House looks even more bizarre right now with some Christmas stuff and old plastic crates mixed in. In between it and the display mentioned above is a house with hundreds of plastic Christmas figurines evenly spaced on the lawn. I guess it’s supposed to be Santa’s workshop, but it looks weird the way everything’s spread out and not grouped together.  –Lisa Burns

Monsters Like Presents, Too!

Tom and Carolyn Dardani sure know how to dress up the home for the holidays. And why not? Their home in Monmouth Junction is known affectionately as “The Halloween House.” The Dardanis run the annual Dardani Haunted Trail in nearby Woodlot Park. The event is run by over 200 volunteers during the Halloween season. This is a picture of a display the Dardanis did a few years ago. Who knows what will be lurking on their lawn this holiday!

Flag Waving Santa

While driving down Route 206 near the Morris/Somerset boundary, I saw what looked like a Santa Claus sitting on a bench on the opposite end of the pond. To make things stranger, the Santa was holding an American Flag on a pole. I pulled into the park and walked over. The Santa suit was stuffed full of snow, but the hat and boots, even the beard were there. As usual I had my camera with me, so I snapped a few shots of this weird winter display of patriotism. –Doug Keating

Santa of the Apocalypse

I spied this intriguing Yuletide decoration, which I immediately dubbed “The Fourth Santa of the Apocalypse,” while in my travels in the little burg of Spotswood.  My take on all of this is that it stays up year ’round and is dressed to fit in with the current holiday.  I’ll keep you posted with any additional information I come up with. –Tom, the gutless wonder

Ridgefield Water Company

Here are some pics from the Ridgewood Water Co. property in Midland Park, along Godwin Avenue. It’s a park-like atmosphere filled with about 100 painted wooden character cut-outs. They put it up every Christmas and it looks worse every year. Many of the characters are broken and in desperate need of a paint job. I took my kids to show them, and even they said, “This is weird, let’s get out of here!” –John Arehart

Skela Claus

Here is a picture of a Santa located on Berkshire Valley Road in Oak Ridge. –ldmarx

Mahwah: Where You’ll Never Have a Blue Christmas

This is one site everyone will have to check out. A fellow in Mahwah who makes his living as an Elvis impersonator puts on an of a Christmas House. It is rumored that so much energy is used for his Christmas lights (which cover every square inch of available horizontal and vertical space) that he has worked out a special deal with PSE&G.

The seasonal light display has become so popular that local cops are now posted in the area to direct traffic in and out of the complex where he lives, which is modeled after Graceland. Needless to say, the light display is orchestrated by recordings of elvis singing Christmas carols.

Neighbors attempting to keep up with him have tried their own garish displays but have not managed to outshine him. His display is unmistakably the loudest, in every respect.  –Jennifer Watts

Very close to Franklin Lakes, this house is on Victoria Lane off Campgaw Road in Mahwah.  We’ve been going there for at least ten years.  I understand his bill is over $2000. On some nights the Mahwah Fire Department collects donations simply by holding their helmets out to the line of slow passing cars. –RL Dean

There is a house in Mahwah, on the corner of Victoria Lane and Garden Court (off of Campgaw Road), that goes all out every Christmas. The house and property is covered in lights and there are also several lifesize figures on the roof––including Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.  There is a constant caravan of cars driving through the neighborhood between Christmas and New Years…. stopping to snap pictures and catch a glimpse of this weird winter wonderland. –John Arehart

Elvis Has Left the Lights Off

The “Elvis” house has not been lit up for the last 2 years. I drove down Victoria Lane in Mahwah last Friday and the entire street had no decorated houses. I guess the recession has hit hard on that neighborhood too. –Teepag

A New Kind Of Devil’s Tree

This is a photo of our Christmas tree. We went for a whole new look. Check out the evil kids in the tree! –Michelle Lamroeaux

Satan Claus?

A friend of mine’s Daughter saw this sign a few Christmas’s ago and snapped this picture. The next day it was gone. I guess Santa isn’t the only one who makes visits in Pequannock. I grew up there and never saw anything but Santa driving around on a back of a fire truck. –Diane

The Glowing House of Elizabeth

This house is a few blocks away from my house in Elizabeth. What makes it even more absurd is that the neighborhood has predominately smaller and slightly shabby older homes. The owners demolished a run down Victorian to build this modern day vision. It’s a spectacular display of Weird NJ Xmas excess!  –Gina B.

100,000 Points of Light in Clifton

Our house is covered literally…leaving an opening for the door with over 100,000 lights and life-sized animated display figures! Most people think it is pretty darn weird! Please stop by and check it out! –Mark Carfora, 76 Arthur Street, Clifton

Santa’s Barn at the Land of Make Believe

The Land of Make Believe on Route 611 in Hope, Warren County was established in 1954 is really more of a kiddie ride and water park than it is a fairy tale theme park. Still, the site does possess enough quirky surprises to warrant its mention in this chapter. The first of these surprises was the big red barn and accompanying silo with Santa’s face painted on it. This was called (appropriately enough) “Santa’s Barn.” Mind you, we visited here in the middle of August during a killer heat wave, so already this seemed out of place. Inside the barn visitors are encouraged to crouch down and walk through a “magic fireplace,” then up the chimney to visit Santa Claus himself. My daughter was petrified and would have no part of this, so I went up the flue alone.

When I emerged on the second floor of the barn I found myself in a dark, cavernous, dream-like winter wonderland. The loft of the barn was all decked out with cotton snow, fake elves and reindeer, Christmas trees and candy canes. The only light came from the tiny colored Christmas bulbs, which were strung along a walkway, and the whole place was eerily quiet. The temperature was well over 100 degrees.

As I made my way across the nightmarish North Pole landscape I came to a full-sized log cabin, and peaked around its corner. There, sitting all alone on the front porch was Santa, the big man himself, all done up in his red suit, white beard and shiny black boots. At first I thought that he must have been a mannequin or maybe some sort of robotic Kris Kringle, but then I saw the portable fan on the floor blowing full force to cool the not so jolly guy off. I didn’t know what to say, I felt really creepy being all alone in a sweltering barn loft in August with some guy dressed as Old St. Nick. “Hey Santa,” I said, “mind if I take your picture?”

Just then I heard the terrified screams of a small child echoing through the gloomy recesses of the barn. As it turned out, my little girl decided to come looking for me and freaked out during her journey up the chimney. “Gotta go Santa” I said, then rushed off. –Mark M.

GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST: HOLIDAY DISPLAYS FROM DAYS OF YORE

GONE: Away in a Manger in Belleville

This holiday season don’t forget to stop by Charlie Auriemma’s Christmas display on Mt. Prospect St. in Belleville. Charlie, an electrical contractor by trade, decorates his side yard each year with a manger scene complete with live sheep, calves, and even a camel. There is also a Santa’s workshop where robotic elves toil away powered by an electrical on/off switch that you control!

GONE: Still Dreaming of a Pink Christmas in Metuchen

Gracie Knox, the “Pink Lady of Metuchen” has been enjoying her pink paradise for over 70 years. Weird NJ visited Ms. Knox Gracie she invited us into her century-old home, where we sat ensconced in pink pile carpet and pink plastic-covered furniture. On that day she was preparing her outfit and convertible Cadillac El Dorado (one of her two luxury pink and white rides) for the town’s annual Memorial Day parade. Christmas is the time when Gracie’s Sheridan Road estate really shines though—shiny pink, of course! Gracie died in 2009 and her house was torn down this past year.

GONE: The Robot Elves of the Fountains of Wayne

Dear Weird NJ: I’ve been visiting Totowa on business about once a month since August. While there last week I saw something that was really weird to me. I stopped at the Fountains of Wayne aka Christmas Emporium on Route 46 for something to do on my lunch hour. As I was shopping, I saw that they had a Christmas Animitronics Display upstairs. Of course, I had to go up and take a peek.

They have various vignettes set up such as Santa’s Pizzeria, Santa at the Jersey Shore, Santa in the Rain Forest, etc. The display looks like it was set up in the 50′s and has never been changed. Each vignette is full of the animated dolls that are all moving in the same hypnotic way. They look like they are possessed and were truly creepy. You really need to see it. Then when I told someone about it, they told me to go up 46 to Fairfield Gardens and see the Ice Caverns. Off I went. This one was a bit newer, but there was one Santa that looked like a blow up sex doll. –Vivaletta

Do you have a story of a weird holiday display that you’d like to share? If you do then please e-mail us at: Editor@WeirdNJ.com

Remember, this year, give the Gift of Weirdness to someone you love! Happy Holidays everybody from your friends Mark & Mark at Weird NJ!

The History and Horror of Pennhurst Asylum

By Matt Lake, Rusty Tagliareni  and Mark Moran

Back in the mid 1960s, fledgling TV reporter Bill Baldini ran a five-episode exposé of Pennhurst State School and Hospital on Philadelphia’s TV10 (now an NBC affiliate). It painted a picture of neglect and abuse in the Chester County institution that was hard for the regular viewers to stomach. On the flickering monochrome televisions of the time came images of full-grown hands and feet bound by straps to adult-sized crib beds. Inmates of the institution were shown rocking, pacing, and twitching. Many were severely disabled either mentally or physically, but others were quite lucid and coherent—but withdrawn into themselves because of over-stimulation of the senses in the loud and sometimes frightening place, and a lack of much-needed mental stimulation. The five-minute news segments were entitled “Suffer the Little Children.” When one patient was asked by the interviewer what he would like most in the world, if he could have anything he wanted, the sad and withdrawn reply was simply, “To get out of Pennhurst.”

This state-funded school and hospital center was at the heart of the human rights movement that revolutionized this country’s approach to healthcare for the mentally and physically handicapped. This facility was one of the most striking examples of the maltreatment that was characteristic of such institutions––at one point, papers labeled it “The Shame of the Pennsylvania”.

Pennhurst first opened its doors in November of 1908, and due to pressure to accept not only the mentally and physically handicapped, but also immigrants, criminals and orphans who could not be housed elsewhere, it was overcrowded within only a few years. In 1913, the Commission for the Care of the Feeble-Minded was appointed, and boldly stated that those with disabilities were “unfit for citizenship” and furthermore, “posed a menace to the peace.”  Patients at Pennhurst were grouped into several general categories. Under the classification of mental prowess, one was listed as either an “imbecile” or “insane”. Physically, the patient could be declared either “epileptic” or “healthy”.

Like many similar facilities of the era, Pennhurst was functioned almost completely independently from the rest of society. It operated its own power plant, policed its own grounds and produced its own food. Any additional needs were supplied by a railway line that connected the campus to the outside world. The facility could operate without any interaction with the surrounding community, and that was the way the community preferred it.

By the mid-1960s, Pennhurst had been open for fifty years. It housed 2,791 people, most of them children, which was about 900 more than the administration thought the buildings could comfortably accommodate. But as a state school, they had to take what they were given. Only 200 of the residents were in any kind of art, education, or recreation programs that would help to improve their condition, though many of the patients were high-functioning enough to improve with the right care. The administrators interviewed in this program recognized that they were falling short of their ideal treatment, but with a crumbling building, a budget shortfall of four million dollars, and only 9 medical doctors and 11 teachers (none of them with special education training), their hands were tied.

Probably the most chilling scene in the 30 minutes of documentary footage in the TV10 report showed one of the hospital’s physicians describing how he dealt with a particularly vicious bully who had brutalized one of his other inmates. He described how he had asked one of his colleagues which injection he could use to cause the most discomfort to a patient without permanently injuring him. Then he proceeded to administer that injection to the bully.

From that point on, it was inevitable that the hospital would close down, but it took two decades of legal actions, federal judgments made and overturned, and growing financial crises for the place to be shuttered. By the 1980′s, overcrowding, lack of funds, inadequate staffing and decades of abuse and neglect accusations caught up with the operation, and in 1987 Pennhurst closed its doors. Its death was not without positive impact, though. The martyrdom of its long suffering patients helped put into motion changes to medical practice across the country and to society as a whole. 

Despite the ultimate outcome, many former residents and staff members maintain that Pennhurst served some of its inmates very well. Some high-functioning patients received the treatment and therapies they needed to prepare themselves for living in the outside world. And some patients were so mentally handicapped that they injured themselves at the slightest provocation. One patient would charge into the walls headfirst. Such patients probably needed to be restrained for their own protection.

When Pennhurst closed, it suffered fewer invasions than some other abandoned Pennsylvania hospitals, due in part to the presence of a National Guard post and Veteran’s Hospital on part of the property at that time. Today the place is in the hands of private owners, and at the center of an unusual controversy. One of the modern functions is as a haunted house attraction (www.pennhurstasylum.com), a use that has generated concern among those who view it as deeply disrespectful to those who suffered the brutality that once took place here. The present owners are taking steps to reverse the 23 years of damage wrought by time and vandalism to the remaining buildings. They were kind enough to allow Weird NJ on the property to document this interesting transition. They gave us a guided tour of many of the buildings, including some that needed to be unsealing for us to gain entry.

Timothy Smith, the son of the facility’s owner, who took the time to speak with Weird NJ, expressed a desire to restore the better portion of the property, with the eventual goal of creating a museum and historical tour open to the public. We’d like to think that in such a way, the place could finally serve some good purpose, educating the public in the errors of previous generations and commemorating all the lives that were spent here.

Paranormal Pennhurst

Naturally, as with any such institution with a sorted history of human suffering, violence and death, Pennhurst is not without its share of ghostly tales. Pennhurst is allegedly so haunted, in fact, that its paranormal presences have spawned a spectral cottage industry––ghost hunting on the grounds of the old asylum. In addition to overseeing the restoration projects at Pennhurst and operating the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction during the Halloween season, Timothy Smith is also President and CEO of the Pennhurst Paranormal Association. Using the enticing tagline, “They lived here, died here and are still here,” the organization plans to open up the former hospital to the public for ghost hunts on the campus. With other former institutions-turned-tourist-attractions such as Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia and Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky as a business models, Timothy believes that the public’s curiosity about Pennhurst’s spooks make it a potentially very profitable paranormal property. The television show “Ghost Adventures” has already filmed an episode of their Travel Channel program here.

Photo by Rusty Tagliareni

During Weird NJ’s tour of Pennhurst we were joined by members of the Shore Paranormal Research Society (S.P.R.S.) who have become the official  paranormal investigators for the former institution. The S.P.R.S. is an Ocean County, NJ based team of trained individuals whose sole purpose is to find the truth behind claims of paranormal activity. According to Jim Ansbach, the group’s founder and case manager, Pennhurst is rife with such activity. The group has conducted several large-scale investigations of the old asylum’s many buildings, and documented a variety of evidence of paranormal activity––including photos, videos, recordings of voice phenomena and personal encounters with spirits. Among the recordings are the sounds of disembodies voices uttering things like  “go away”, “I’ll kill you”, “we’re upset”, and “why’d you come here?” An unknown male states, “I’m scared” while an invisible female asks, “why won’t you leave?”

Here are just some of the group’s other findings:

Quaker Building:  Numerous shadows manifest and dissipate at will. These shadows include what appeared to be a small female child with long black hair, a hunched over presence with long dangling arms and the upper portion of bodies looking over or around obstacles. Doors and a rocking chair have moved without anyone being near them. Investigator was shoved from behind hard enough on a stairway to leave a deep red mark on the small of back. Investigator was scratched on the arm by unknown object when they were not by anything or close to any walls. Objects being propelled in the basement such as a pry bar, some sort of brass fixture, and various other unknown objects. Multiple EVP’s (electronic voice phenomena) as well EMF spikes throughout the building when there is no electric supplied to any building there. Our Psychic Medium, Sharon Pugh, has felt multiple energies there including either a demonic force or a past life that wasn’t a very nice person.

Limerick Building:  The apparition of a woman in a old style nurse’s uniform was observed by a fire fighter, police officer and a marine.  Multiple EVP’s.

Devon Building: Unknown sounds and multiple EVP’s.

Mayflower Building: Shadow people seen multiple times. EVP’s captured. Investigators have been touched in this building.

Tinicum Building: Multiple EVP’s. Investigator had their legs touched.

Philadelphia Building: Loud sounds and voices heard coming from the building. Investigators surrounded the building and entered it via the tunnel system. No one was in the building nor could they have fled without being observed.

Administration Building: Multiple voices heard at various times and EVP’s caught of what appears to be a toilet flushing. This building has no running water or bathroom fixtures.

Hershey Building: Investigator heard a female child’s voice on the third floor.

For a full report of all the S.P.R.S.’s investigations and gathered evidence visit their web site at: ShoreParanormal.com

Those interested in participating in a Pennhurst ghost hunt can find more information by visiting the web site PennhurstParanormal.com

Photo by Rusty Tagliareni

The Children Did Suffer

Lots of medical professionals I work with did a stint at Pennhurst early in their careers. It was a boarding school as well as a hospital, though the more low-functioning residents were incapable of speaking, let alone learning anything, and many of the high-functioning residents never learned to read. Most of the people there weren’t insane, just mentally retarded, autistic or suffering other serious physical impairments. Some residents apparently just had learning disabilities or hyperactivity and emotional problems that made them seem more impaired. They would end up on high-functioning wards.

Photo by Rusty Tagliareni

My colleagues told me that the staff would put the high-functioning residents who acted out to work in low-functioning wards as a punishment. They even called the low-functioning wards “punishment wards.” Many of those kids who acted out weren’t bad kids; they were often victims of bullies. The nasty kids would attack the other residents with broom handles and do much worse. Some cases of deaths that were attributed to suicide or accident were probably extreme cases of bullying. Naturally, the bullies would seldom get caught, so when their victims acted out, they were the ones who had to slop up after the severely handicapped residents. But Pennhurst wasn’t a bad organization in itself. It just suffered the problems that many institutions do, and so its residents suffered too.  –MelB

Photo by Rusty Tagliareni

The Pennhurst Family Album

When I went to Pennhurst at night, it scared me halfway to death. When the wind blows across the buildings, it sounds like someone walking. There were dead animals there, and what looked like blood on some of the equipment. Once is enough. I’m never going back. But there was this one room that was really interesting. It was strewn with papers and photographs, carpeted with them, wall-to-wall. I didn’t read the papers, but the black-and-white photographs looked like something from a family album. –Anonymous

For more on this story and all the other strange sites that the Quaker State has to offer, check out our book Weird Pennsylvania.

Pennhurst Video by Antiquity Echoes.

Weird New Jersey from Brian Johnston on Vimeo.

Take a little road trip with Mark and Mark as we travel along Route 22 to see some of the sights, like Edison concrete houses, Eldorado Gardens, the Flagship, and more.

Standing out amongst the marshes of the Secaucus Meadowlands, rising 150 feet above the vast flatlands, is the massive rocky form of Snake Hill. Surrounding the Hill is a prison, a train station, the NJ Turnpike and the Hackensack River. In prehistoric times this area of the Meadowlands were a glacial lake, and as the last Ice Age receded, ocean water washed in, forming the marshlands we know today.  It’s an anomaly to see Snake Hill towering out from this otherwise uniformly flat landscape.

Snake Hill gained its name, legend says, because snakes were known to run rampant in the Meadowlands decades ago.  Manhattanites would travel to the Meadows for snake hunts.  Over time, the snake population has declined and the township has attempted to drop the slithery moniker from this imposing stone.  The official name of the hill since 1926 has been Laurel Hill, and it stands in Laurel Hill Park. The name was changed by freeholder Katherine W. Brown, who proclaimed that the accomplishments that took place on Snake Hill were the “crowning laurel of Hudson County.”

Snake Hill is also known as “Graffiti Rock” due to the tradition local college fraternities have of climbing the rock to spray paint their emblems on it. Snake Hill has been heavily quarried over the years––at one point it was over two hundred feet tall and five times wider than it is today. The rock was actually the inspiration for what became Prudential’s Rock of Gibraltar logo.

While it is currently a park, Snake Hill has been the site of a variety of different institutions over its history.  An almshouse was located here, and several hospitals, including a children’s eye hospital, and a penitentiary.  Most famously, Snake Hill was the site of a huge complex of buildings that served as a psychiatric hospital. 

Although it has long since been demolished, controversy still surrounded the old lunatic asylum until recent years. Its graveyard, which was used from the 1880’s through 1962, was located next to Snake Hill, and as the new train station was being built, graves were disturbed by construction equipment.  

While clearing land for a road leading to the rail station, workers discovered an outcropping of pine coffins and construction was brought to a halt. It was discovered that over 4,000 deceased lie in the vicinity. It’s estimated that there could be up to 10,000 undiscovered graves in areas where construction has not upturned them.  Those buried here were largely mentally ill, immigrants, or indigents. A campaign began to preserve and memorialize the dead of this Potter’s Field. Families of many of the deceased protested the destruction of the area, and began efforts to identify their relatives among the vast numbers of anonymous graves. The already difficult identification process was complicated even further by a scandal that occurred in 1973, when John Marinan, superintendent of the county morgue, removed all of the headstones from the area when he was supposed to disinter a number of bodies.  This has only added to the confusion lying beneath the surface of Snake Hill. Eventually, under court order, a mass exhumation was undertaken.

Remembering Psycho Island

I grew up in Bergen County and as a little boy, when my family would go to the shore via the Turnpike, I can remember a rather scary looking hospital which my father said was a hospital for the criminally insane.

It was on a big rock outcropping, almost like an island in the middle of a vast swamp, which I guess it was. I remember that you could see the institutional beds on the top floor as you drove by.  It was a very eerie looking place, at least to me as a young boy.  It was torn down quite a number of years ago, but the smoke stack from the incinerator is still standing. I’ve never been able to find out much about it. The Meadowlands are pretty strange.  –Larry Suglia 

Plaque located at Laurel Hill Park commemorating those buried at Snake Hill.

Passing Snake Hill

I grew up in Hillside during the 40′s, 50′s and early 60′s. Whenever my mother would take us to the city on the Lyons Avenue 107 Bus (that was in Newark), the bus would go past this huge hill on its way to the Lincoln Tunnel.  Going towards New York, it was on the left. There were a ton of fraternity symbols painted on the rocks near the highway.   My mom told my brother and me that there was an old insane asylum and a prison on that hill when she was a kid, and it sure looked like it.

The hospital was at the very top and looked like something out of a Dracula movie. There was another group of buildings in the middle of the hill, but it was too far from the road to see anything that might identify it.

What is now called “The Meadowlands” was then referred to as “The Pig Farms.”  I’m 56 years old now and sometimes think about it. The “hill” was totally removed in the 1960′s, but I bet people have all sorts of stories, pictures, and legends about what really went on there.  –Andrea Jay

And the weird history of Snake Hill is not over yet! In its current incarnation the site is home to Field Station: Dinosaurs, a family attraction that features over thirty life-sized, realistically recreated robotic dinosaurs (including the ninety foot long Argentinosaurus, the largest animatronic dinosaur ever made).

The story of the dinosaurs is vividly presented on twenty acres of wilderness trails throughout Snake Hill. Scientists from the New Jersey State Museum have worked to ensure that the exhibition encompasses the latest theories and discoveries in the fields of paleontology, geology, and environmental studies.

A trailer for the 2006 documentary film “Snake Hill.”

No one has yet claimed ownership of a giant head found last week floating in the Hudson River, but we may have scooped the major news outlets on its possible origin.

If you aren’t familiar with the story, a rowing crew from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, found the 7-foot-tall, foam and fiberglass head damaged and adrift on April 22.

The team’s coach considered the enormous, Greek-style noodle a water hazard and enlisted 10 students to haul it to shore. It’s since become a school attraction.

Oddly, no one has seemed interested in retrieving the head.

However, Weird NJ was quick to identify it from issue 12 of the magazine, published in 1999, in which a reader-submitted article placed the head in Bergen County, New Jersey:

After learning about a giant head in someone’s backyard, we decided that an extended lunchtime investigation trip was warranted. The head turned out to be everything promised. The head sits in the backyard of a house in Bergen County, which shows telltale signs of being a truly weird place. In addition to the head, there were small Tiki idols on tree stumps, and a large painted fish hanging on the side of the house. As we stopped to take a couple of photos, the owner of the head came out to his car. We decided to ask him about his big head and whether we could pose next to it. He granted permission for our photo shoot and explained that the head came from Saks Fifth Ave in New York. The question we didn’t ask; why would you want a giant head sticking out of the ground in your backyard?

–Kevin N & Ken H

There’s been no word on how the head ended up some 50 miles away, and we’re still unsure of the previous owner’s name. If the Weird New Jersey team and I discover anymore information, we’ll be sure to let you know!

Thanks to Wesley Treat’s Roadside Resort.

Using the Weird N.J. Index

The easiest way to quickly and accurately locate information in this index is to use the Find/Search function supported by your browser to help guide your search. Example: Press command & F then enter the name of a location or a town into the search field.

Entries in this index conform to the general pattern:

Subject/Topic/Personal or Place Name (Geographic Location) Issue# : Pages

Special issues are designated by the following acronyms:  LE = Last Exit; LH = Local Heroes, Villains and Artists of Weird N.J.; NP = Nightshade on the Passaic; RG = Weird N.J. 2003 Roadside Guide; TCR = Tales From Clinton Road. Many other abandoned sites which are not listed in this index can be found in our special issue Forsaken: Abandoned in and Around New Jersey.

Multiple index entries are separated by a semi-colon (;). Page numbering in Weird N.J. magazine did not begin until Issue #6. The page numbering given for Issues #1 through #5 is modeled after the format of later issues (i.e., the cover is counted as page 1).

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Abandoned Landmarks

Abandoned resorts at Devil’s Hole (Pocono Mountains, PA) 28: 98p

Abrasive Alloys plant (Delran) 26: 40p

Back Beach – ruins of recreation area (Haskell) 29: 94-95p

Bannerman’s Island Arsenal (Beacon, NY) 21: 88p-89p

Belle Mountain and the Ski Lift to Nowhere (Hopewell) 24: 33p

Bethlehem Loading Company  aka Belcoville (Mays Landing)  25: 96p-97p

Bethlehem Steel Corporation (South Bethlehem, PA) 27: 94p-97p

Black Horse Pike Drive-in theater (Camden-area) 13: 30p; RG: 16p, 18p

Boys’ Orphanage (Egg Harbor City) 18: 42p-43p; 19: 92; 26: 39p

Boy’s Prep School  aka Hartwell School (Wantage)  22: 30p-32p

Camden County Work House (Lakeland) 21: 24p

Castle of Takanasse Lake (Elberon/West Long Branch) 22: 28p

Cement factory (Voorhees) 18: 6

Chapel on an Island in the Smoke Rise Community (Kinnelon) 20: 36p-37p

Church off Mt. Hope Road (Rockaway)  9: 13p; 11: 19p; 12: 5-6; 24: 72; 29: 85

Cologne school (Galloway) 26: 38p

Colt Gun Mill (Paterson) NP: 45p-46p, 48p-49p

Crab Island Fish Factory and its strange lights (Tuckerton) 21: 18p-19p; 22: 4

Curtiss-Wright industrial complex underground facilities (Wood-Ridge) 21: 20p-21p

Dead Man’s Tunnel and the Bergen Arches (Jersey City) 17: 74p; 19: 57, 28: 33p; 29: 21

Delsea Drive-in theater (Vineland) 18: 18; 23: 18; 24: 12; 32: 37

Diamond Boning Company (North Arlington) 26: 39p

Drive-in theater (Absecon) 14: 34p

Dy-Dee diaper service factory (Haddon Heights) 26: 38p

Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia, PA)  22: 84p-90p; 29: 52

El Dorado Gardens (Springfield) 19: 16p

Ellis Island (New Jersey/New York) 24: 26p-31p

Erie-Lackawanna railway bridge 28: 36p

Essex County Mountain Sanatorium aka Essex County Isolation Hospital aka “The Hilltop” (Verona) 9: cp, 16p-19p; 10: 7; 11: 14, 13: 25p; 20: 16p; 25: 38; 27: 38p-39p; 33: 52

Essex County Penitentiary (North Caldwell)  29: 52p-53p

Essex County Psychiatric Hospital aka Overbrook Hospital aka Essex County Hospital Center (Cedar Grove) 1-3: 16; 9: 16p-19p; 10: 6; 11: 5, 8, 13, 22; 13: 23; 15: 6; 16: 10; 31: 16, 18; 32: 16-17; 33: 10, 17, 48p-57

Essex Generating Plant (Newark) NP: 26p-31p, 36p-38p

Estates of the Palisades (NJ-NY) 19: 30p-32p Cadgene Estate, Peanut Falls aka Peanut Leap Cascade, Half Moon Falls, Ringling Estate, home of John Ringling, Rionda Estate see also Devil’s Tower (Alpine), Timken Estate aka Elephant House of the Palisades, Zabriski Estate

Fireside Steakhouse and Village (Winslow)  28: 95p; 29: 20

Ford Motor Company site razed for redevelopment (Edison)  25: 6

Fort Wadsworth (Staten Island, NY)  23: 91p

Haunted house on McCurdy Lane  aka The Jackson House (Jackson)  31: 36p-39p; 32: 21-22

Haunted Mansion (Elberon)  23: 52p-54

Haunted slaughterhouse (Marlboro)  16: 20p-23p; 21: 16; 28: 13; 32: 25

Hickory Garden Country Club  18: 25p

High-rise condominium (Asbury Park)  12: 38p-40p; 14: 12-13p; 27: 37p; 31: 23

High school (Lambertville) Weird blackboard images and Legend of Buckeye (ghost) 15: 16p-19p; 16: 12; 21: 12; 22: 14; 23: 20p, 23p

Hinchcliffe Stadium (Paterson) 26: 36p-37p; 29: 18

Holiday Lake ruins (Willingboro) 24: 32p; 28: 28

Homes along Runyon Road (Old Bridge/Sayreville) 16: 28p-29

House in the stream (Long Branch) 18: 24p

Houses on Barrett Road (Vernon) 14: 47

Indian Springs Lake (Ringwood) 24: 33

Jersey Central rail line and trestles (Pine Barrens) 28: 36p

Little Beach (Atlantic City) 27: 8

Lynx Hall castles (Lakewood) 23: 16p

Malls along Route 130 (Delran) 15: 29p; 16: 65; 21: 12; 22: 11

Mansion (Wrightstown) 28: 23p

Maple Lake (Wyckoff) 24: 33

Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital (Jersey City) 25: 8

Marl pits on Lambs Road (Mantua) 29: 67p

Metropolitan Hotel (Asbury Park) 30: 20p

Midget Castle (Wayne) 26: 82

Abandoned and active mines on Federal Hill (Bloomingdale/Pompton Lakes/Riverdale) 16: 6; 32: 15-16, 57

Mission (Hackettstown)  15: 29; 16: 18-19p

Newton Drive-in (Newton)  18: 18p; 19: 91; RG: 17p

Oakwood Mansion aka Dutch Church House (Springfield)  18: 21p; 19: 91

Old Essex County Jail aka Newark Street Jail (Newark)  19: 26p-27p

Old Lincoln House  (Cream Ridge) 28: 30p

Old Mill Beach (Paramus) 24: 32p

ONT Building (Bloomfield) 27: 40p-41

Palace in the Woods (Muttontown, Long Island, NY) 23: 88p-89p

Passaic River Theater (Basking Ridge) 31: 93

Pennsauken Drive-in theater (Camden-area) 13: 30p; RG: 18p; 28: 20

Pennsylvania Turnpike section 25: 100p

Perpetually empty Parsippany Commons building (Parsippany)  26: 20

Pine Brook Swim Club (Pine Brook)  24: 32p

Plastoids Building aka Wheatsworth Building [Nabisco] (Hamburg)  29: 44p-48p; 30: 21

Port Reading Coal Docks and Tunnel (Woodbridge) 25: 36p

Prayer stone and ruins along the Black River (Chester) 29: 67p

Prosthetic leg house on Zion Mountain (Hillsborough) 18: 23p

Quarry on Garrett Mountain (Paterson) 11: 16p; 13: 14

Remains of collapsed Kinzua railroad viaduct (Kane, PA) 28: 96p-97p

Resort (Randolph) 14: 35p

Resort village (Brookside) 24: 33

River Street school (Red Bank) 20: 46

Route 1 houses (Edison) 17: 28p

St. Augustine Monastery (Staten Island) 15: 48p-49p; 16: 11; 23: 12

Steel Pier (Atlantic City) 17: 11, 70p; 21: 63p; 30: 42p-45p

Store (Westwood) 4: 7

Strange visit to dying resorts (The Poconos, PA)

Pocono Gardens Lodge, Mount Airy Lodge, Strickland’s Inn 26: 96p-97p

Suntan Lake (Butler) 10: 18; 24: 32p

Swim club (Chatham) 11: 4

Swim club (Springfield) 14: 34p

Tacony Palmyra Drive-in theater (Camden-area) 13: 30p; RG: 18; 33: 21

Tinton Falls Drive-In (Tinton Falls) 18: 18p; RG: 16p

Todd Mill (Paterson) NP: 48p-49p

Town of Randolph 13: 41

Town of Wallpack Center 16: 16p-18p

Towns of the Delaware Water Gap area 16: 16p-18p

Upsala College (East Orange) 24: 20p-21p; 27: 41p; 28: 16-17

Warehouse filled with rotting fish and dead rats (Jersey City) 5: 8; 28: 3

Waterloo Village (Byrum – Stanhope) 31: 24p-29p, 49p; 32: 14, 21d, 22, 26p

Wharton Pool (Wharton) “The World’s Worst Pool” 24: 33

Wheatena factory (Rahway) 26: 42p

White City Lake Fun Park  (Hamilton) 24: 42

Whitemarsh Hall aka Stotesbury Manor (Philadelphia)  20: 90p-91p

Wildwood Junction Train Depot (Cape May County)  28: 32p

Woolite Building (Paterson) NP: 45

Abandoned radio station WMCA (Kearny) 25: 38p

Abandoned speakeasy (Bound Brook) 24: 74

Mental Hospitals, Asylums and Sanitariums

Abandoned asylum site of killings (Upper Saddle River)  10: 7

Abandoned mental institution (Menlo Park)  13: 22; 24: 7p; 26: 18-19

Abandoned sanitarium at Roosevelt Hospital aka Menlo Mental Institution (Edison) 4: 16; 9: 19; 13: 13, 22; 24: 7p; 26: 18-19; 31: 33p; 33: 14

Ancora State Psychiatric Hospital and Village (Winslow) 18: 6, 13, 22p; 19: 6, 12; 21: 8, 10; 24: 43; 25: 11

Byberry Mental Hospital (Philadelphia, PA)  aka Philadelphia State Hospital 18: 78p-82; 19: 12, 80, 92

Essex County Mountain Sanatorium aka Essex County Isolation Hospital aka “The Hilltop” (Verona)  9: cp, 12, 16p-19p; 10: 7; 11: 14, 13: 25p; 20: 16p; 25: 38; 27: 38p-39p; 31: 35p; 33: 52

Essex County Psychiatric Hospital aka Overbrook Hospital aka Essex County Hospital Center (Cedar Grove)  1-3: 16; 9: 16p-19p; 10: 6; 11: 5, 8, 13, 22; 13: 23; 15: 6; 16: 10; 31: 16, 18; 32: 16-17; 33: 10, 17, 48p-57

 “The Glen”  13: 23

Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (Parsippany) 7: 6; 9: 19; 13: 23; 15: 46; 16: 8-9; 17: 9; 20: 14, 26p-35p; 22: 10-11; 24: 62p; 25: 11; 26: 8; 30: 21; 32: 18, 26; 33: 10

John E. Runnels Hospital (Stone Hill)  9: 17p, 19

Lakeland Psychiatric Hospital (Deptford)  18: 28p-29p; 21: 14

 Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital  9: 19; 12: 48p; 13: 54p; 16: 20p-23p; 25: 11; 27: 3p, 22p-24p; LE: 114

Meadowview Mental Hospital (Secaucus) 11: 32; 18: 16-17; 20: 15; 21: 16; 22: 15; 29: 28p-29p

Mental Cage in Hurd Park (Dover)  15: 36p; 16 : 7-8; 19: 12, 91; 22: 14; 25: 11

Skillman Neuro-Psychiatric Institute (a.k.a. Skillman)  (Montgomery)  6: 26; 17: 22p-25; 22: 8, 11; 28: 28; 30: 30p-37p; 31: 14, Tunnels beneath  8: 45

Vineland Training School (Vineland)  16: 38-41, 78-81; 17: 4; 20: 45

Vineland Training School Menantico Colony (Vineland)  20: 44p-45p

Visits to unnamed institutions  13: 24, 26

Abandoned speedways

Alcyon Speedway (Pitman) 24: 87; 29: 49p-50; 32: 37p

Atlantic City Speedway (Atlantic City) 25: 97

Dover Speedway (Morris County) 29: 50p

East Windsor Speedway 32: 36p-37p; 33: 22

aka Hightstown Speedway, Central Jersey Speedway, Airport Junction Speedway, East Winsor Fairgrounds, Acella Speedway

Flemington Speedway (Flemington)  24: 87

Harmony Speedway (Phillipsburg)  24: 87

Morris Plains  29: 50

Tuckerton  29: 50

Vineland Speedway (Vineland) 29: 50p; 32: 37

Abandoned stand with modernist faces (Barnegat) 30: 60p

Abandoned stone cabin (Mahwah) 25: 94p

Abandoned submarine – “Quester I” (Coney Island, NY) 21: 89p

Abandoned trains

Black River & Western Railroad line (Lambertville) 24: 86

Camden railyard (Camden) 24: 85p

Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park 19: 51; 24: 86p

NJ Transit train (Hopatcong) 18: 19p; 21: 14

Sunken freight train (Delaware Water Gap) 26: 39p

Train in the lake (Farmingdale) 24: 86p

Winslow railyard (Winslow) 24: 86

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Using the Weird N.J. Index

The easiest way to quickly and accurately locate information in this index is to use the Find/Search function supported by your browser to help guide your search. Example: Press command & F then enter the name of a location or a town into the search field.

Entries in this index conform to the general pattern:

Subject/Topic/Personal or Place Name (Geographic Location) Issue# : Pages

Special issues are designated by the following acronyms:  LE = Last Exit; LH =Local Heroes, Villains and Artists of Weird N.J.; NP = Nightshade on the Passaic; RG = Weird N.J. 2003 Roadside Guide; TCR = Tales From Clinton Road.

Multiple index entries are separated by a semi-colon (;). Page numbering in Weird N.J. magazine did not begin until Issue #6. The page numbering given for Issues #1 through #5 is modeled after the format of later issues (i.e., the cover is counted as page 1).

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through ourweb site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Personalize Properties

1960’s mannequin display in house (Rio Grande)  21: 65p

Abandoned farmhouse ruin with Christmas decorations (Long Valley)  28: 49p

Aircraft sculptures on lawn (Burlington)  21: 47p; 28: 30

Albert P. Greim’s Birdsville Church (Tom’s River)  14: 36p

Alien House with cryptic symbols (Pompton Lakes)  26: 90p

Angelo Nardone’s Statue House (Nutley)  1-3: 8; 8: 41p; 11: 2; 19: 91; 22: 10; 31: 11

Apple House (West Milford)  24: 52p

Arbuckel Estate and its concrete artwork (Vineland)  20: 1p, 70p-71p

Arthur Schroeder’s Castle House (Jefferson)  25: 41p; 29: 22d; 31: 9

Art lawn (East Brunswick)  26: 10

Astoria Doll Death House (Queens County, NY)  24: 90p

Aviso Grille (Bordentown) – Nazi yacht scrapped, but part possibly preserved  27: 45p-46p; 28: 17; 29: 20; 30: 14

Backyard locomotive and caboose (Kinnelon)  24: 85p

Backyard pebble sculptures (Matawan)  20: 67p

Batman climbing into home (Harding)  28: 51p

Best Buy plastic boulder (Union)  25: 50p

Bird Feeder House (Milmay)  RG: 42p

Boat in a tree, bowling ball pyramid and futuristic car from “Sleeper” (Mountain Lakes) 20: 16; 26: 76p-78p

Bob Rowe’s outdoor train display (Warren County)  28: 66p

Bowling Ball House/Rocking Horse House of Kendall Park  7: 27p; 10: 43p; 20: 16

Bowling Ball Pyramid (Mendham)  19: 45; 21: 12; 26: 76p-78p

Brick Midget House (Brick)  16: 45p; 18: 14; 20: 12; 27: 14-15

Cadillac gas station/garage (Morris County)  29: 64p

Camouflaged Peace Sign mailbox (Florance)  22: 73p

Candy-striped house (West Orange)  7: 19p-20

Cart Wheel Girl lawn ornaments (Haddonfield)  23: 66p

Case Family house with skeleton in attic (Ringoes)  19: 23d

Castle Delawana (Clifton)  13: 67p

Castle of King George Road (Warren)  13: 65p; 20: 73p; 29: 50p

Chain Link Tree (Howell)  24: 64p

Chipmunk Run – home of Sutter family (Upper Saddle River)  17: 33p; RG: 84p; 21: 6

Church-shaped birdhouse (Deptford)  25: 91p

Clean up Elmwood Road signs (Mount Laurel)  25: 45p

Coffin Bench (Malaga)  28: 64p; LE: 84p

Cold War backyard bomb shelter (Clifton)  19: 70p-72d

The Collage House (Sussex)  19: 18p-22; 20: 4; 28: 10p; 33: 15

Conflicting weight limit signs (Three Bridges)  26: 80p

Cookie Jar house (Glendora)  8: 20-21p

Crazy wooden lawn sculptures (Newton)  21: 62p

Cumberland County Route 54 sculptures  5: 4p, 30p

Dog tree (Highland Park)  24: 64p

Doctor’s office with gravestone walkway (Pompton Plains)  15: 74p

Doll House of Salem Street (Dover)  10: 40; 12: 4; 23: 64p

“Doubletake Duplex” on Hamilton Street (Trenton)  29: 64p

Easter Island driveway sculptures  RG: 23p

Easter Island/Tiki head on Grant Avenue lawn (Highland Park)  16: 43p; 29: 65p; 33: 7p

Elephant Tree (Wayne)  22: 70p

Expressive lawn ornament (Montclair)  4: bcp

Farr family backyard chapel (Florham Park)  13: 65p

Fence made of crutches (Bay Haven)  24: 53

Fiberglass cow on front lawn (Mystic Island)  22: 77p

Fiberglass cows grazing (Green Village)  22: 77p

Folk art house of Pink Austin Bellamy (Woodbridge)  11: 51p; 24: 78p; 25: 10p

Freaky Tiki (Rutherford)  21: 63p

Gargoyles (Somerset County)  13: cp, 52p

Giant cow head in yard (Harrison)  23: 87p

Giant head sculpture (Bergen County)  12: 42p; RG: 68p

Giant skull (South Orange)  25: 54p

Gracie Knox’s “Pink Lady” house (Metuchen)  23: 63p

Grim Reaper guarding house (Morris Plains)  RG: 43p

Half-houses (Trenton)  24: 53p; 25: 76p

“Heartland House” – giant mailbox and theme-park property (Lincoln Park)

16: 4p, 6; RG: 68p

House of Names (Flanders)  25: 42-43

House with Chair on top (West Creek/Eagleswood)

7: 21; RG: 20p-21; 24: 11; 26: 4p; 30: 10p

House with replica Jungle Habitat sign (Ringwood Lake)  26: 12p

House with stacked front doors (Deal)  25: 49p

Hubcap tree (Hammonton)  4: 3

Igloo House at Shady Lake Community (West Milford)  20: 72p

Jamil the Gypsy’s Mosque (Meadowlands)  11: 51p

Josephine Stapleton’s Art Lawn (Buena Vista)  aka Lawn of a Thousand Milk Bottles

4: 6; 7: 5; 10: 41p; 30: 3p; 32: 16p

Lawn of a Thousand Ornaments (Hackensack)  1-3: 7; 6: 17p

Lawn ornament display (Freehold)  12: 16p

Life-size bronze statue of girl on horseback (Wallington)  33: 85

Martian sculpture (Lake Hopatcong)  22: 78p

Meixells Rocks (Pequest)  25: 40p

Messy yard and unique owner (Whippany)  25: 6

Metal Palm Tree (Wantage)  10: 42p; 20: 10p; RG: 76p

Mildred Johnson’s “Pink Lady” house (West Orange)  22: 64p

Mini-Midget Castle (Alpine)  13: 66p

Model House (Fredon)  14: 18p; 16: 65

Mother Teresa brick (Union)  25: 91p

Mr. Ed, penguins and other lawn displays (Freehold)  24: 53

Mr. Peanut statue — “Save my Home” (Stanhope)  27: 55p

Multiplism Moses sculpture (Rutherford)  31: 72p

“My Buddy” dolls lawn display (Hammonton)  21: 64p

Mysterious woman statue (Metuchen)  28: 65p

Naked legs mailbox (???)  26: 14p

Nautical menagerie of the Hubb brothers (Paulsboro)  31: 73p; 32: 25

Northlandz — one guy’s creepy dream (Flemington)  28: 41

Obsuth Oasis backyard tiki bar (Fair Lawn)  32: 61p

Paint Bucket House (Salem)  23: 64p

“Palace Depression” (Vineland)

4: 18; 7: 12p-13p; 14: 16p-18p; 15: 5; 17: 9, 14; 18: 13; 19: 12, 14p; 20: 12;

23: 19; 25: 40p; 28: 31; 30: 21; 31: 12p; 32: 12p, 25p

Patriotic tree (Fair Lawn)  24: 64p

Patti Mayo’s pimped trailer – graffiti courtesy of Rime, aka Jersey Joe (Edison)  32: 71p

Pebble Palace (Deptford)  19: 44p; 26: 89

Pebble Palace (Williamstown)  26: 89p

“PeeWee Herman House” (Hackensack)  4: 22

Piney home with menacing statuary on Indian Cabin Road (Egg Harbor City)

18: 42p-43p; 19: 92; 33: 21

Pink house and yard (Metuchen)  22: 64p

Plaster Man guards home (Barry Lakes)  29: 65p

Police mannequin guarding mailbox (Parsippany)  33: 83p

Polka Dot/Frog Rock (Mountain Lakes)  25: 49p

Porch Jesus (Passaic)  RG: 43p

Property with disturbing “child-like” displays (Monroe)  26: 93

Pullman railroad car (Edison)  6: 4

Pumpkin House (Sussex County)  13: 52p

Purple House (Alloway)  28: 65p

Real-life gingerbread house (Vincentown)  29: 64p

Restored railroad caboose (Plainfield)  5: 21

Ricky Boscarino’s Luna Parc psychedelic art house (Sussex County)  21: 44p-45p

“Ripped-Off House” power bill protest (Orange)  8: 23p

Road Warrior of Greenwood Lake – John Hearle (Passaic County)  26: 88p

Rooftop upholstered chair (Roselle Park)  24: 71p

Route 536 stair tree  24: 64p

Rudy Bram’s Art House (Weehawken)  12: 16p

Rusted knight in yard (Pequannock)  29: 65p

The Sand Castle  aka Bahia Vista (Egg Harbor)  19: 28p

Skewered head Halloween decoration (Lyndhurst)  25: 49p

Smokey the Bear likeness recovered (Ridgewood)  24: 18

Snowplow blade as Christmas decoration (Fairfield)  27: 8

“Spaceship” house (Denville)  24: 4

Stanley Hammell’s Insulator House (Galloway Township)  17: 34p; 18: 9

Statue of Liberty driveway ornaments (Hackettstown)  23: 66p

Stone Face of Cedar Lane (River Vale)  24: 66p

Susan Hunter’s caged Three Stooges lawn display (Colonia)  23: 64p-65p; 26: 12p

Toilet paper curtains (Route 1)  25: 50p

Tom Fuscaldo’s “Bumblebee House” (Paterson)  18: 35p; 19: 6-7p

Tooth tree (Woodbury)  24: 64p

Totem Pole (North Plainfield)  22: 63p

Toy Tower and its creator Eddie Boros (New York City)  31 : 22

Tree carved into Statue of Liberty (Montville)  21: 15p

Twin Towers shrine on front lawn (Monroe)  23: 68p; 24: 19

“Uncle Sam’s House” – Marxist commune (Piscataway)  11: 50p; 15: 46

Underground house (Cherry Hill)  21: 46p

Vacuum mailbox (Mountainside)  33: 84p

VHS tape walkways and patios (Fort Lee)  25: 43p

Vicki Diamond’s rock artistry on Split Rock Road (Rockaway)  18: 34p

Viking of Route 77 (Upper Deerfield)  28: 65p

“W” house (Pitman)  26: 90p

Watchung Castle (Watchung)  13: 66p

Weird modern house (West Creek)  24: 53p

Wilberforce Sylvester’s Mural House (Pleasantville)  29: 60p-63p

Wooden lean-to “home” (Cinnaminson)  12: 16p

Wooden roadside Statue of Liberty (Sussex)  12: 16p

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Using the Weird N.J. Index

The easiest way to quickly and accurately locate information in this index is to use the Find/Search function supported by your browser to help guide your search. Example: Press command & F then enter the name of a location or a town into the search field.

Entries in this index conform to the general pattern:

Subject/Topic/Personal or Place Name (Geographic Location) Issue# : Pages

Special issues are designated by the following acronyms:  LE = Last Exit; LH =Local Heroes, Villains and Artists of Weird N.J.; NP = Nightshade on the Passaic; RG = Weird N.J. 2003 Roadside Guide; TCR = Tales From Clinton Road.

Multiple index entries are separated by a semi-colon (;). Page numbering in Weird N.J. magazine did not begin until Issue #6. The page numbering given for Issues #1 through #5 is modeled after the format of later issues (i.e., the cover is counted as page 1).

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through ourweb site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Roadside Oddities

666 Mailbox (town??)  30: 8p

7 mile per hour Speed Limit sign on Route 22 (Watchung)  25: 45p

Abandoned black gas stations  24: 73

Abandoned building with old film posters in window (Roselle Park)  21: 12p

Abandoned car at diner for many years (Denville)  19: 49p

Abandoned Chevy on rooftop (Bivalve)  24: 85p

Abandoned Route 1 houses (Edison)  17: 28p

Abandoned stand with modernist faces (Barnegat)  30: 60p

Abe Lincoln grafitti (Neptune/Wall)  29: 54p

Absecon Ship House aka Neptune’s Garden aka Absecon Beach Camp (Absecon)

14: 20-21dp; 33: 82p

“Airmail” mailbox (Robbinsville)  25: 49p

Alfred E. Newman look-alike statue (Seaside/Lavalette)  aka Ma Moo

6: 21; RG: 63; 27: 93p

Alligator tree (Sussex County)  22: 70p

America/New Jersey sign  26: 3p

“Anal” pig roast sign (Lawrenceville/Pennington)  30: 64p

Andy’s Antiques (Ledgewood)  RG: 53p; 28: 28p

Angry farm sign – “Thieving Bastards Burn in Hell” (Roanoke, VA)  29: 98p

Angry sign outside the Mudtown Bunny Ranch (Mudtown)  18: 47p; 20: 6

Antique bath tubs along the Black Horse Pike (Atlantic City)  RG: 55p

Antique steam engine and cars at Pine Creek Railroad (Allaire State Park)  20: 18

Archie’s Resale Shop (Meyersville)  7: 24p; 10: 49p; 16: 11; RG: 52p; 21: 15; 25: 10-11

Assyrian Bull God statue (Lumberton)  24: 1p, 71p; 25: 54d; 28: 58p; 29: 84

Attic Antique Store — Spectro-Chrometry Machine and the Pig (Long Beach Island)

22: 68p

“Baby-faced Breakfast” (Ocean City)  20: 68; 21: 12

aka “Scary-Face Breakfast Place”, Sunny Side Up Restaurant

Baby head with rooster coming out (Winslow)  28: 1p, 54p

“Bad Hair Day” house (Atlantic City)  RG: 79p

Bakery Dummy of Le Jardin (Maplewood)  RG: 35p

Balls on towing hitch (Lawrenceville)  33: 84p

Bally Total Fitness protest sign (Spotswood)  26: 80p

Beast statue (Hammonton)  24: 1p; 25: 13

Beatles mural at Kelly’s Pub  (Carteret)  32: 58p-59p

“Because” grafitti (Middlesex County)  30: 75p; 31: 23

Bedrock USA statue display (Cripple Creek, CO)  30: 98p

“Beer is cheaper than gas, drink don’t drive sign” (Wantage)  32: 58p

Beer Street (Holmdel)  30: 64p

Belvidere Dinosaur Rock (Belvidere)  13: 50p

“Benny Go Home” road sign (Brick)  29: 99p

Berlin Farmer’s Market (Berlin)  RG: 58

Bert Parks Singing Statue (Atlantic City)  15: 44; RG: 51p

Betty Beavers gas station (Otego, NY)  30: 97p

Bewitched street names (Brick)  25: 51d

“B Forgive Me” stencilled sign (Rochelle Park)  RG: 10p; 24: 71p

Bicycle Tree  31: 18p

Big bottle at Budweiser brewery  1-3: 23

“Big Pig” anti-government float (Alpine)  27: 49p

Big rusted metal balls along the Skuykill River (Pennsylvania)  30: 97p

“Bitchin’ Van” (Brick)  29: 56p

Black and white “Toynbee” tile message in N.J. Turnpike (Bellmawr)  22: 74p; 24: 19

Black and white “Toynbee” tile message in N.J. Turnpike (Union)  33: 15

Boat House — ship-shaped house (Hawthorne)  14: 22p; 15: 46

Bob Saget faces and messages (Middletown)  29: 57p

Body of SpongeBob Squarepants on Burger King roof (Cedar Grove)  27: 54p

“Bones of Belmar” skeleton in window (Belmar)  29: 57p

“Boob Bulb” mural on Decker Road (Flemington)  18: 45p

“Boobie Tree” on Union Valley Road (West Milford)  29: 56p

Bottles and rocks set on Route 287 median (Parsippany)  21: 16p

Bottle-shaped building (Bayville)  1-3: 23

Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Belmar)  RG: 42p

Boy Roads – Attaboy, Gayboy, Handyboy, Highboy & Orphanboy (Middletown)

18: 48p; 19: 8; RG: 48p

Bra on stop sign  32: 46p

Bridge to Nowhere

Chatham  11: 4

Manahawkin  26: 91p; 27: 93p; 32: 25p

Bust of Mercury on gates to Hellis Farms (Jobstown)  22: 1p

Buttonwoods – “New Jersey’s Deliverance” (Wayne)

16: 68p-71; 17: 8-9; 18: 9-10; 19: 78; LH: 98-100; 21: 87d; 30: 15; 31: 23;

NP: 39p-43p

Caboose house (Middletown)  RG: 79p

Call Girl dummy in phonebooth (Summerville, PA)  28: 98p

Car engine mailbox (town??)  30: 8p

Car in dumpster (Deptford)  21: 16p

Carpet car (Atlantic City)  28: 55p

Car tailgate stuck high up in tree (South Brunswick)  20: 68

“Casey” message building (Lafayette)  29: 69p

Castle Stump (Hightstown)  25: 42p

“Cat” for sale at Wooley’s Fish Market (Howell)  31: 75p

Cat hospital/Chinese restaurant sign (Brick)  26: 80p

“Caution Weird Load” car (Garden State Parkway)  21: 64

Cherubs and slayer graffiti (Point Pleasant)  32: 46p

Chick-fil-A “Eat Mor Chikin” sign  21: 64p

Chicky Galore restaurant sign (Woodbridge)  23: 70p

see Clinton Road

Columbus Farmer’s Market race-changing sign (Burlington County)  23: 71p

Confusing East Lakeside Drive signs (Highland Lakes)  22: 74p

Confusing enter/exit sign (Pittstown)  30: 64p

Confusing entrance sign (North Haledon)  23: 70p

Confusing exit sign at Wayne Mountain View Plaza (Wayne)  32: 46p

Confusing price sign (Paterson)  31: 74p

Confusing speed limit sign (town?)  28: 57p

Confusing street sign near Brunswick Square Mall (East Brunswick)  31: 74p

Conservative signs of Route 17 (Hasbrouck Heights)  20: 68

Controversial living signs (East Brunswick)  27: 4

Convention Hall tombstone (Asbury Park)  24: 66p

Country boy statue at Route 30 hamburger place (Atlantic City)  26: 50p

Cowboy Steakhouse, three-story cowboy sign (Forked River)  5: 20p; RG: 20p

Cow sculpture on the move (Edison)  20: 66p

Crazy crossroads — intersection of Overbrook and Greystone (Connecticut)  30: 96p

Creepy dolls in window display of Metuchen Savings Bank (Metuchen)  33: 83p

Creepy New York Boulevard (South Plainfield)  23: 61

Creepy structures at the Stone Museum (Jamesburg)  26: 50p

Crocodile-cowboy sculpture (Pompton Lakes)  27: 84p

Cumberland County Route 54 sculptures  5: 4p, 30p

“Cyclown”, the Display World clown sculpture (Jamesburg)  5: cp; RG: 69p

Days Inn “There you go” sign (Edison)  21: 65

“Dead Zone” — marker at site of Revolutionary War executions (Brielle)  30: 62p

Death spot of President Garfield (Elberon)  12: 62p; LE: 121p

Decorative coconut trees (Cedar Grove/Clifton/Paterson)  19: 51

Decorative toilet on lawn (Somerville)  20: 68

Del Buono’s Bakery — Animal and character sculptures (Mount Ephraim)  22: 70p

Demented clowns at the Circus Drive-in restaurant (South Belmar)  21: 63p

Demon Tree (Mahwah)  26: 48p

Dental Arts building big-butt sculptures (Middletown)  RG: 11p

Devil Face (Boonton)  19: 1p, 42p-43p; 20: 6; 24: 18p

Devil Faced Building (Fairview)  16: 47p; 27: 1p

Devil skeleton (Totowa)  11: cp, 7p; 12: 10; 13: 50p

Devil’s Eye (West Berlin)  20: 46

Devil’s Tree (Bernards)

10: 14p; 11: 22-23; 13: 74; 14: 48; 15: 46; 16: 65; 20: 74; 22: 8; 23: 10; 24: 15;                               26: 14-15, 22-24; 27: 15, 43; 33: 29p

Dining car (Middlesex)  21: 92p

Dining car being re-used (Belvidere)  21: 92p; 22: 76p

Dinorock simulacra (Buttzville)  28: 50p

Dinosaur Rock on Mount Airy-Harbourton Road (Lambertville)  31: 79p; 32: 18

Dinosaur Rock (Lebanon)  14: 44p; RG: 47p

Dinosaur statue (Dennisville)  26: 50p

Dino skull sign near Parvin State Park (Pine Barrens)  30: 63p

Dipshit sign (Laurel Springs)  30: 64p

Disembodied figure sculptures at Pier Village (Long Branch)  31: 78p

Disguised cellular phone towers  11: 54p; 20: 66p

Display of life-size figures at antiques store along Route 57 (Greenwich)  27: 48

Disturbing statues of children at Robert Wood Johnson Children’s Hospital

(New Brunswick) 22: 66p

Dollar and cent tar pattern in Garden State Parkway  19: 51

“Donate your kid — Free Towing” sign (Garfield)  28: 57p

“Don’t Hump This Truck” on Route 287 (Basking Ridge)  25: 45p

Doo Wop Motels (Wildwood)

Lollipop, Starluxe, Caribbean and others make preservation list  27: 8p

Dueling angus burger billboards (Long Valley)  31: 74p

Duyne Cider Mill  aka Troll Capitol of the World  1-3: 7

“Easter Bunny” house (Spotswood)  RG: 77p

Ed “Elvis” Geil & Dolores, “Cult of the Wavers” (Wayne)  9: 3p; 18: 10; 29: 57p;

33: 12p

Edison Generator overturned car (Edison)  18: 45p; RG: 50

Edison’s Concrete Highway (New Village)  RG: 78p

Edison’s Light Tower (Menlo Park)  RG: 4d; 28: 29-30

Egg-O-Mat – egg vending machine (Warren)  11: 52p; 15: 46; 16: 65; 24: 19

“Elf Rage” building (Belmar)  27: 43p

Emilio Carranza memorial – Mexican aviator (Tabernacle)  31: 75p

English Telephone Booth (Allendale)  14: 44p; RG: 43p

Enthusiastic baptism (Belleville)  23: 70p

Esposito’s 10 pound boners  31: 75p

Etched Accident (Roselle Park)  28: 67p

“Eternal Flame” sculpture – “Largest Hand in N.J.” (Roxbury)  9: 9

Evil gnomes at East Orange High School  19: 50p; 24: 66p

Evil child mannequins at Daffy’s Clothing (Wayne)  23: 67p

Evil clown sculpture at “Greek’s Playland” aka “Cyclown” / Display World  (Jamesburg)

5: cp; RG: 69p; 22: 10; 31: 22

Evil Tree (West Milford)  11: 3p; 31: 23p

Exceed the speed limit… earn points! (Rockaway)  26: 80p

Exit 98 EZ Pass spitballer (Garden State Parkway)  29: 56p

Fabulous Funky Flea (Morris Plains)  22: 68p

Fairy Tale Forest (Oak Ridge)  14: 71p-72p, 74p; 28: 21p; 31: 78

Fake rats hanging from power lines (Medford)  31: 91p

Fart and Poop Bridge near Lyon’s Mall (Basking Ridge)  29: 99p

“Fart” shoulder along Route 22  28: 48p

Female Sphinx statue (Ringwood Manor)  18: 1p

Fireside Steakhouse and Village (Winslow)  28: 95p; 29: 20

Fish statue at Legal Seafoods (Short Hills)  23: 69p

Flagship, building (Union)  1-3: 23; 14: 20, 22p; 20: 18p

Flem Pizza sign (Flemington)  10: 6p-7

Flowerpot Man in abandoned yard on Delsa Drive (Clayton)  29: 65p

Food Circus Clown  aka “Most Evil Clown in N.J.” (Middletown)

6: 24; 7: cp; 18: 84p; 19: 6d; RG: 4d, 62p, 67; 21: 12; 22: 8

Foul Rift Road (Belvidere)  21: 62p

Fred Kanter (Mountain Lakes)

Boat in a tree, bowling ball pyramid and futuristic car from “Sleeper”

26: 76p-78p

Imitation police car and hearse on display  28: 6

Free coffee with live bait sign (Andover)  30: 65p

“Free spins” casino sign near wind farm (Atlantic City)  31: 75p

Fuddrucker’s – “Fresh meat butchered daily” sign (Edison)  28: 94p

“Funny Face” Street (Hawthorne)  14: 43p

FU’s Chinese Restaurant (Sparta)  31: 74p

Garage of Saturn (May’s Landing)  26: 51p

George’s Bait & Tackle & Music (Bricktown)  8: 20p; 28: 58

“Ghost sign” on Main Street (Rahway)  29: 68p

Giant beer bottle at Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery (Newark)

16: 48; RG: 4d; 23: 16, 26p-31p; 25: 14; 26: 4p, 52p-53p, 64p; 27: 82p; 33: 8

Giant bottle-shaped water tower  10: bp

Giant bowling pin and ball (Union)  RG: 71p

Giant cat statues (Vienna)  13: 51p

Giant chicken outside Fishers grocery store (Hopewell)  15: 36p; RG: 68p

Giant cow sculpture (Cowtown)  RG: 69p

Giant cow of Bennett’s Lane (Franklin Park)  20: 66p; 21: 12

Giant Cowboy of Cowtown (Woodstown)  RG: 68p

Giant ear of corn sculpture at Pastore Farms (Hammonton)  27: 55p

Giant fish lawn ornament (Cape May)  29: 57p

Giant inflatable rat (Atlantic City)  RG: 70p

Giant martini glass in front of Bubba’s Discount Liquors (Vineland)  18: 47p; RG: 69p

Giant Miss Uniroyal statue (Blackwood)  25: 57p

Giant paint can (Middletown)  6: 24

Giant penis fountain (Pearl River, NY)  20: 92p

Giant raisin statue (Egg Harbor)  21: 64p

Giant Santa Claus (Wayne)  RG: 70p

Giant straw bear (Sussex County)  RG: 69p

Giant straw bee (Sussex County)  RG: 69p

Giant Toothbrush (Blairstown)  RG: 68p

Giant tooth sculpture (Mercerville)  15: 44p; RG: 70p

Giant vacuum cleaner (Keyport)  24: 69p

Giant vagina sculpture of Rockland County (NY)  20: 92p

Gingerbread Castle (Hamburg)

14: 70p, 73p-74p; 15: 8-10; RG: 46p; 25: 19; 27: 10, 93p; 28: 12, 29; 29: 44p-48p; 31: 23p

Glass-eyed “Virgin” Statue – Mother Cabrini (Belleville)  15: 1p; 16: 11; 18: 64p

Goa Way (“Bennies”) – amusingly named street (Ocean Beach)  26: 80p; 28: 17

“God Lies” grafitti (Burlington)  20: 68

Good Shepherd sculpture (Bernardsville)  7: 20

Grafitti Rock (Livingston/West Orange)  11: 53p; 12: 7

Grammatically-challenged sign — “sprinklered” (Greenwich Village, NY)  30: 96p

see Gravity Hill

see Gravity Road

“Grateful Dead” sign  at Philadelphia Church (Jefferson)  31: 78p

Gross Street (South Amboy)  27: 18p

Grove Street railroad station placed on top of another building (East Orange)  24: 85p

Hanging doll at jobsite (Edison)  30: 61p

Happy Birthday skeleton on side of Wall Auto Wreckers on Route 71 (Belmar)  33: 84p

“The Happy Nig” aka The Old Lockup  (Pemberton)  19: 87p

Haunted House with the Coffin Door (Wenonah)  20: 72p

Head in a tree (Deptford)  19: 51

Headless orange robot of Route 322 (Williamstown)  23: 66p

Head of Franklin Delano Roosevelt statue (Roosevelt)  21: 64p

Hell gas station sign on Route 3 (Clifton)  9: 46p; 32: 46p

Herman Munster graffiti across from Sea Girt Lanes (Sea Girt)  33: 84p

Hermit House (Avon-by-the-Sea)  16: 44p

“Hideous Pinky” truck (Howell)  RG: 43p

Highway Harry (Tinton Falls)  RG: 16

Hippo Rock in the Musconetcong River (Hackettstown)  RG: 47p

Historic Nixon grafitti (Summit)  19: 49p

Hitler quote on roadside sign (Wantage)  32: 8

Hookers sign (Lyndhurst)  31: 75p

House with a face on it (Madison)  19: 51

House with divorce-related protest signs (Mine Hill)  23: 70p

Houses with Astroturf lawns (East Rutherford)  31: 79p

Howard Stern Reststop (Springfield)  7: 22

Hydrant house (Hawthorne)  RG: 79p

“I bomb NJ” sign  31: 74p

Ideal Auto Sales (Hightstown)  16: 47p

Ideal Kitchens humorous sign  32: 46p

“IF” House (Wayne)  14: 43p

“I Love You” tar pattern (Garden State Parkway)  12: 42

“The Image” on steel door (Wall)  30: 60p

Incredibly ugly fence (Far Hills)  24: 69p

Intersection of Brotherhood St. and International Ave. (Piscataway)  20: 93p

Intersection of Freedom Ave. and Justice St. (Piscataway)  20: 93p

“I partied with the Jersey Devil” sign at Pine Barren Liquors and Deli (town??)  28: 56p

Ivy Guy (Alexandria)  33: 83p

Ivy Guy (Elk Township)  28: 49p

“Jacob’s Ladder” road (Somerset Hills)  12: 26, 28p; 14: 7-8

see Jenny Jump Falls/Rock

Jamaican Tree Mon (Ewing)  31: 77p

Jersey accent sign on Doty Road (Wanaque)  23: 71p

Jesus and Holy Family curbside display (Hamilton)  31: 78p

Jesus in a UFO billboard  27: 8

Joe Cerce, “Cult of the Wavers” aka Wavin’ Joe  (Totowa)

8: 3p; 11: 2; 16: 87; 19: 73d; 30: 9

Joe Dirt sign (South Hackensack)  28: 57p

Johnson Plaza, development that never was (Hanover)  21: 12p

Kangaroo Crossing sign (Keansburg)  RG: 50p

Kilroy’s Market – retro grocery store featured on the TV show “Ed” (Glen Rock)  27:20

King Neptune statue (Butler/Franklin/Lake Hopatcong)  11: 52p; 24: 69p

“Lackawannasaurus” footprints on road (Byram)  16: 44p; 20: 67p

Lake Forest Yacht Club – Penis Lessons (Lake Hopatcong)  31: 75p

Land of Make Believe (Hope)  14: 71-73p; 15: 10; 27: 93

“Last chance to fill your teeth” dentist (town?)  28: 56p

Leaning House (Wayne)  29: 66p

Lewd sign at First Baptist Church (Willingboro)  32: 46p

Life-size car repair diorama (Cape May County)  19: 48p

Life-size dinosaur sculptures

Alpha  RG: 44p; 29: 90p-91p

Cherry Hill  RG: 47p

Farmingdale  RG: 45p-46p; 26: 13p

Gingerbread Castle (Hamburg)  RG: 46p; 29: 44p-48p

“Light Dispelling Darkness” fountain in Roosevelt Park (Edison)  14: 39p; 25: 11

“Lights out” at The Manor (East Windsor)  30: 65p

Little Metal Man (Dingman’s Ferry)  23: 69p

Little Metal Man (Pennsauken)  23: 68p

Live and dead bait (Hackettstown)  30: 64p

Lois Lane street sign (Lakewood)  30: 64p

Lou Costello memorial (Paterson)  12: 63p; RG: 10p

Lucy the Elephant (Margate)  1-3: 23; RG: 7p; 22: 16; 24: 68d; 27: 92p

Lumberjack statue (Jersey City)  4: 23; 6: 21

“Lunar Landscape” house (Vineland)  RG: 79p

“Mad Hungarian’s Junkyard” (Warren County)  21: 52p

Madonna of Route 17 (Rock Hill, NY)  23: 18

see Magnetic Hill

Maiden head placed on building each summer (Point Pleasant)  29: 54p

Mannequin at Elaine’s Bed & Breakfast (Cape May)  26: 48p

Marc Snyder’s prescription protest house (May’s Landing)  21: 16

Martin Urbanski’s Trading Post (Meyersville)  7: 24

Mary Murray, beached ferry along the Turnpike (Raritan River)

1-3: 22; 4: 16; 14: 20p-21; 26: 42p; 31: 23p; 33: 8, 10

Mason-Dixon line moves north (Jefferson)  26: 49p

Mathematics on road sign (Princeton)  29: 69p

Mausoleum open house (Franklin)  20: 69p

McDonald’s McTitty sign (Hillsborough)  32: 46p

Menacing robot sculpture (Ewing)  18: 44p

“Men not at work” protest sign (Dayton)  30: 65p

Menz’s Restaurant outdoor figures (Rio Grande)  7: 20; 8: 21p; RG: 38, 40; 30: 49p

Metalhead (Keansburg)  26: 49p

“Metal monstrosity” sculpture (Newark)  12: 17p; RG: 9p

MGS Champagne/Propane bottle (Bayville)  5: 15p; RG: 20p

“Mind Control” car (Burlington County Library)  16: 55p

Miniature Kingdom (Washington, Warren County)  1-3: 11; 13: 67p; 14: 12

Miniature medical figures on top of bus stop (New Brunswick)  19: 50p

Miss Uniroyal statue on Black Horse Pike (Gloucester)  18: 44p-45p; 23: 66p; 29: 85p

Mister Softee building (Runnemede)  25: 49p

Moan and Groan Road (Hope, NY)  20: 92p

Model Dairy – “A Totally Electric Building” (Dover)  16: 46p

Modified poop-scoop sign near the Waterway Ferry Terminal [“mandog’] (Belford)

31: 75p

“Monster Busters” truck (Verona)  29: 55p

Monument to Emilio Carranza (Burlington County)  RG: 80p; 21: 54; 25: 10

Moon Mobile  RG: 76p

Moon Motel  RG: 21p

Moon over Osama pumpkin display (Red Bank)  RG: 77p

Moose Tree (Reaville)  16: 46p

Mother keeping rooftop vigil since WWII (Hasbrouck Heights/Lodi)  11: 4

Motorized monkey mascot at auto dealer outside Holland Tunnel (Jersey City)  27: 49p

Moving blue bottles (Blawenburg/Hopewell/Pennington/Princeton)  23: 67p; 24: 10;

26: 4p; 27: 92p; 29: 18

Mr. Bill’s Twin (Jackson)  24: 70p

Mr. T head light fixture at Takanassee Beach Club (Long Branch)  30: 62p

Muffler Man statue (Jersey City)  4: 23; 6: 21; RG: 65p

Muffler Man statue at Barnacle Bills (Ortley Beach)  RG: 64p

Muffler Man statues  6: 21; RG: 63-66p; 23: 66p

Muffler Man vampire statue (Jackson)  RG: 66p

“Muffler men”

Along Route 27 (Edison)  26: 49p

Newark  26: 49p

Murphy’s Gas Station (Raritan)  RG: 59

Mysteries of Blue Hill Road (River Vale)  21: 52

Mysterious alphabets on the Old Mill (Blairstown)  11: 52

Mystery garage on Mine Road (Bridgewater/Martinsville)  24: 68p

Mystery heads of Route 24 (Summit)  32: 75p; 33: 16-17

Mystery heads of Route 287 (Haskell)  32: 75p

Mystery store at flea market (Englishtown)  22: 68p

Negro Run sign (Allentown)  20: 93p

Neighbors: Institute of Better Digestion and MacDonald’s  21: 16p

New Egypt Flea Market Village (Plumsted)  RG: 54p, 57p

“New Jersey’s Largest Cassette Tape” at The Record Store (Howell)  19: 48p

“No Exit Lane” (Mill Hall, PA)  28: 98p

“No Geese” sign (Princeton)  26: 26p

No Name Road (Newtonville?)  27: 25p

No Name Street (Washington)  27: 25p

“No Passing Ever Zone” (Edison)  23: 71

Northfield Avenue mineral spring marker (West Orange)  31: 77p

“Note First Name” building (East Orange)  20: 67p

Nun Crossing sign (Springfield)  19: 50p

Nurse mannequin without pants (Paterson)  26: 50p

“Off-Road Retards” truck (Belleville)  30: 61p

Old Mine Road – landowners illegally gate road  33: 6-7

Old Stone Inn and the Ghost Tree (New Brunswick)  18: 46p

“On this site nothing happened” plaque (Wall)  RG: 50p

Oreo Cows of Bunn Road (Bedminster)  22: 77p

Orr’s Carpet Giant (Deerfield)  21: 62p

Our Lady of the Highways Shrine (Pomona)  18: 62p

Our Lady of Lacey Road – Virgin Mary display in pickup truck bed  31: 78p

Outdated gas station prices (Scotch Plains)  26: 80p

Outhouse Springs Bottled Water signs along Route 57 (Phillipsburg) 25: 45p

Out of Bounds Road (Edison)  23: 18p

Painted rock of Route 539  20: 67p; 27: 50p-51p

Paper mache head hanging below underpass along Route 15 (Sparta)  33: 84p

Papier Mache Man of Route 287 (Haskell)  31: 1p, 76p

PATH Christmas tree (Newark)   18: 16

Patriotic chicken sculpture (Berkeley Heights)  27: 48p

Penis-shaped bush (Belleville)  15: 37p

Penis-shaped bush (Wildwood Crest)  16: 43p

Penis-shaped tree (Rt. 35 South)  18: 47p

P. Guy sewage disposal (Stow Creek)  26: 51p

Phallic gateposts (Franklin Lakes)  25: 48p

Pink elephant on Riverstix Bridge (Hopatcong)  21: 63; 22: 55p; 27: 76p-77p; 28: 13-14

Pizzaland (North Arlington) – model of Sopranos pizzeria available  31: 6p

Polar bear statue at Cooper River Park (Pennsauken)  28: 51p

Pole Creature (Point Pleasant)  30: 61p

Pole Monster (New Jersey Turnpike)  25: 3p

Police slow down dummy  28: 77p

Pornographic statue at Princeton University (Princeton)  29: 55

Possessed vibrating pole (Passaic Park)  16: 43p; 18: 14

Post Lane tree sculpture (Bernardsville)  18: 47p

Postman statue (Ridgewood)  26: 51p

Pot sale (not that kind!) at Comisky’s Greenhouses (Hightstown)  31: 74p

Prankster alters signboard to “ass” theme at Wall Township Speedway (Wall)  28: 56p

Property with totem poles and warning sign (Morrisville, PA)  28: 98p

Prop jet from the movie “TankGirl” at Christi’s Pub (Egg Harbor)  21: 65p; 24: 87p

Protest sign (Delaware Memorial Bridge)  25: 4

Puzzling road sign — ejection seat or potholes? (Lodi)  30: 61p

Pyramid house  RG: 78p

Rabbi only parking sign (Toms River)  32: 46p

Rabbit Tree (Vernon)  10: 42p; 22: 8

Racist “ghost sign” on Springfield Avenue (Irvington)  29: 68p

Radio frequency problems (Wayne)  26: 51

“Ready to make a Break” statue (Mount Holly)  20: 66p

Real-life gingerbread house (Vincentown)  29: 64p

Redevelopment around laundromat (Kendall Park)  23: 67p

Redneck Avenue (Teterboro)  28: 57p

Redrum Customs sign (Haskell)  26: 80p

Rehab Facility/Beer combination billboard (Gloucester)  RG: 50p

Renault Winery bottle sculptures (Atlantic City/Berkeley/Hammonton/New Gretna)

7: 21p; 19: 48p; 21: 12; 28: 55p

Roadkill memorial (Pennsylvania)  30: 97p

Roadside coffin sale (Millville)  24: 66p

Roadside Elvis  see Ed Geil

Roadside memorials to accident victims  LE: 102p

Roadside Rhino statue (Menlo Park)  RG: 47p

Roadside Robots of Route 54 (Newtonville)  22: 67p

Roadside rock shrine (Glen Rock)  30: 60p

Roadside Shrine (Sussex County)  RG: 77p

Roadside tractor and grave memorial (Montville)  19: 49p; 22: 73p

Roadside weirdness – 2nd story mailbox, driveway cannon, rocks with patterned                                       drillholes, fake goat mascot (Long Valley)  RG: 77p

Roadside wood carvings of Greg Napolitan [Jersey Devil, etc.] (Frenchtown)  30: 62p

Road sign denouncing the Onondaga Indian Nation (Syracuse, New York)

17: 79p; 19: 10

Road to Nowhere (Mercerville)  18: 48

Road to Nowhere (Wanaque)  20: 75; 24: 19; 25: 19

Roadside grave (Tewksbury)  25: 28p

Robot statue (Jersey City)  28: 48p

Rock and Roll Bridge – grafitti tribute to dead musicians (Sewaren)

19: 51; 22: 69p; 24: 14

Rooftop knights battle at transmission shop (Bloomingdale)  RG: 42p; 24: 69p

Rose’s Dress Shop (Atlantic City)  RG: 59

Route 9 Dinosaur statue (Bayville)  1-3: 23; 5: 15p; 7: 20p-21; RG: 20p; 29: 91p

Route 9 Grim Reaper and Death signs (Howell)  21: 52p; 23: 15p; 24: 19; LE: 25p

Route 9 Steam engine and cars  see Pine Creek Railroad

Route 23 bottle art linked to Lincoln Tunnel “terror” incident  (Sussex County)  32: 8

Route 23 telephone pole art (Kinnelon/West Milford)  7: 36; 12: 10; 14: 40p-41p; 15: 46

Route 24 off-ramp decorations (Summit)  19: 51; 20: 69p

Route 27 Locks (Highland Park/New Brunswick)  23: 11-12

Route 27 nude cop in car crash (Edison)  24: 4

Route 35 Pirate ship building (Cliffwood Beach/Laurence Harbor)  4: 19; 15: 12; 33: 83p

Route 78 “Bunny Bridge” (Summit)  19: 74p

Route 78 Towers of Art (Hunterdon County)  21: 65

Route 287 pole art (Pompton Lakes/Haskell/Wanaque)  26: 49p

Route 666 (Atlantic County)  24: 72p; 28: 57p; 31: 10

Rundown shack next to realty sign (Long Beach Island)  31: 75p

The Sacred Heart – life-sized statue of Christ (Howell)  18: 56p

“Satan Claus” visits local fire department (Pequannock)  30: 65p

Satanic grafitti and body outlines that won’t go away (Tinton Falls)  12: 48

“Save the Alien” roadside display (Old Fort, NC)  30: 99p

Schooley’s Mountain hangman’s tree carved into eagle (Morris County)  22: 73p

“Screaming Sign”  9: 15

Semi-A-frame house (Wildwood)  RG: 79p

Senior special 0% off sign (Wayne)  30: 64p

“Seven Bridges Road” (Tuckerton)  21: 19

Seven-Up “ghost sign” on Springfield Avenue (Irvington)  29: 68p

Shah of Iran’s yacht beached along the Turnpike (Raritan River)  14: 20p-21

Shark with leg in his mouth sign (Wildwood)  30: 46p

Ship graveyard (Staten Island)  16: 58p-59p

“Shirtwood Forest” on Finchley Drive (Brick)  14: 42p; 23: 6; 26: 19; 29: 56p

Shoeless Shoe Tree (Belvidere)  16: 48p

Shoes nailed to sign (Princeton)  18: 2p

Shoe Tree and Pocketbook Tree (Belvidere)  16: 48p

“The Short Hills Locks”  9: 44p; 11: 55; 12: 10

Shortened VW Beetles (Montville)  RG: 76p

“Shortest highway in the U.S.” – Route 59 (Cranford/Garwood)  4: 4; 11: 53; 12: 8

Sign clutter at Avenel Flea Market (Avenel)  29: 68p

Sign denouncing evil county government (Burlington County)  22: 74p

Sign engulfed by tree  20: 3p

Sign-engulfed by tree on Kennedy Boulevard (Jersey City)  29: 69p

Sign engulfed by tree (Long Branch)  28: 57p

Sign promoting Ewing-Trenton ceasefire (Ewing)  30: 65p

“Signs from God”, church roadside messages  19: 84p

“Skinniest House in N.J.” (Bordentown)  12: 42p

“Skinniest House in N.J.” (Haledon)  14: 44p

“Skinniest House in N.J.” (Ocean City)  14: 44p

Skull Rock of Winfield Park (Union County)  12: 43

“Smallest House in NJ” (Bayville)  14: 44p

“Smallest House in NJ” (Bloomfield)  5: 21p; 9: 45p

“Smallest House in N.J.” (Passaic)  20: 68p

“Smallest Railroad in NJ” (Oakland)  5: 22

Smiling Tree (Westfield)  RG: 43p

Snapping turtles of Route 508 (Kearney)  24: 50p

Soap Forest (West Orange)  13: 51p; 14: 54

Space capsule replica (Martins Creek, PA)  18: 82p

“Speed ahead” sign (New Jersey Turnpike)  31: 75p

Squirrel crossing sign (Springfield)  27: 98p

Stairs to Nowhere (Hoboken)  20: 66p

Standard Nipple Works company (Garwood)  28: 56p

Standing Bull statue (Middletown)  32: 35p

Statue of Liberty at Gogel Tire (Chatham)  21: 15p

Statue of Liberty at Lake Hopatcong harbor (Morris County)  21: 15p

Statue of Liberty in Pennsylvania (Duncannon, PA)  17: 79p

Statue of Liberty replica on lawn (Montclair)  22: 73p; 23: 66p; 24: 19

Steam locomotive (Beechwood)  RG: 22p

Stone Face in Triangle Park (Dover)  16: 45p

Stop [in the name of love] sign (Nutley)  31: 74p

“Stop. It’s not a race” sign in Best Buy parking lot (Manalapan)  29: 68p

Strange Statue of Crane Park (Montclair)  16: 34p; RG: 9p

“Stub Yer Toe” Bridge along Runyon Road (Old Bridge/Sayreville)  20: 75p

Stuffed animals guarding abandoned factory (Roselle Park)  19: 51; 20: 68

Sunken House at Ramapo College (Mahwah)  16: 46p; 18: 10

Swamp Buck and Butt (Buttzville)  6: 20p; RG: 43p

Swastika building (Bayonne)  11: 55p; 12: 8-10; 19: 12

“Swingers and widows welcome” insurance man (Jersey City)  23: 70p

Taj Mahal model made out of cookies (Boonton)  15: 4p

“Take Off Your Top” sign (Pennsauken)  25: 45p

“Tallest [fake] tree in N.J.” – disguised cellular tower (Clark/Westfield)  11: 54p

Tank defending cornfield (Glen Gardner)  20: 69p

Telephone pole art (Tom’s River)  16: 48p

Telephone pole display on Lucent property (Chester)  RG: 76p; 26: 8p

Telephone pole in middle of road  (Ridgefield Park)  31: 78p

Three-quarter house (Trenton)  29: 66p

Thrift Shop sign at cemetery (Spotswood)  RG: 58p

Thunder Road — A Springsteen connection? (Vineland)  28: 57p

“Tillie” at Palace Amusements  4: cp; 12: 36p-40p; 18: 6; RG: 1, 6p; 23: 1p, 14, 17p;

25: 56p; 28: 9; 31: 6p; 32: 7p; 33: 10p

“Tillie” sightings  (Keyport & Morgan)  30: 62p

Tin Man on mobile home (South Brunswick)  19: 50p

Tin Man on sign (Livingston)  21: 64p

Titman Road (Butzville)  30: 65p

Toilet Man (Washington, Warren County)  23: 68p

Tombstone Creek, retaining walls made of cemetery stones (Irvington)  21: 1p, 34p

Tom Peterson and his metal sculptures (Egg Harbor City)  24: 68p; 32: 72p

Totem Pole (Wantage)  8: 1p-2; 10: 42; RG: 11p; 21: 3p; 22: 4; 23: 19d; 25: 11; 26: 10p

Totem Pole (Whippany)  15: 44p

Town Hall machine gun display (Fort Lee)  RG: 76p

Tree engulfing iron cat statue (Pitman)  30: 63p

Tree growing in middle of street (Red Bank)  20: 67p

Tree growing out of garage (Hillside)  RG: 77p

Trestle and Pillar (Lakewood)  21: 26p

T-Rex car parts skeleton (Neptune)  13: 50p

T-Rex statue at abandoned business (Cape May)  28: 55p

Trinity United Methodist Church, humorous roadside sign (Spotswood)  19: 84p

Truck permanently stuck in roadside embankment (Easton, PA)  30: 96p

Tugboat House – ship-shaped house (Cape May)  14: 22-23p

Turnpike Ivy Monster  28: 49p

Twisted sculpture (Trenton)  RG: 9p

Two Balls and a Cox election (Ewing)  28: 56p

Two-story outhouse (Route 68)  25: 49p

UFO-shaped house – “Futuro” (Greenwich)  26: 82p

UFO-shaped house (Willingboro)  22: 15

UFO-shaped ride from Wildwood Amusement Pier (Wildwood)  21: 63p; 22: 15p

see also UFO-shaped House (“Futuro)

Ugly Florist statue (Gloucester)  19: 49p

Unexpected Road (Buena Vista)  21: 52; 26: 87p

“Union Locks”  11: 55

Unique “Road Floods” warning sign (Ramsey)  19: 48p

Unusual ice cream shop sign (Ocean Grove)  25: 51p

Unusual intersection of Routes 15 and 94 (Lafayette)  21: 52

Unusually bent sign along Route 1 (Edison)  31: 74p

Unusual recurring reflections on house (Clifton)  29: 54p

Unusual signposts and street names

Area 51 Farm, Boozer Street, Sludge Run, Loveman Road, Lost Road, Gayboy Court,       Bonetown Road, Good Luck Road, Cemetery Road , Atlantic County Route 666, Purgatory Road, Wit’s End, Intersection of Straight and Narrow Streets  RG: 48p-51p

Uprooted tree looks like dinosaur claw (Perth Amboy)  21: 62p

Upside down billboard (Cliffwood Beach)  32: 46p

U.S. Navy AEGIS Combat Facility (Moorestown)  14: 21  aka “The Cornfield Cruiser”

“Van-Go!”, trailer painted as Van Gogh’s Starry Night (Frenchtown)  RG: 84p

Vend-a-Bait fishing bait vending machine (Middleville)  6: 12; 18: 44p

Vine Monster of Route 23 (Cedar Grove)  32: 72p

“Voyeurism is a Crime!” grafitti on Route 206  21: 16p

“Wack” street sign (Nutley)  27: 4p

War of the Worlds Monument (Grover’s Mill)  12: 14p-15

Washington’s face in a rock (Wall)  27: 54p

The Watching Statues of Route 31 (Glen Gardner)  33: 84p

Waving alien of Route 287  22: 79p

Waving Bear Statue (Westwood)  15: 45p

Waving Bear Statue (Wyckoff )  15: 45p

“Weed and Seed Community” sign (Pleasantville)  30: 61p

Wee Nee Wagon (Route 22)  25: 51p

Weird brickwork (Rutherford)  19: 50p

Weird deer crossing sign (Scotch Plains)  23: 71

Weird dinosaur statue  (Mount Holly)  20: 67p

Weird garden (Jersey City)  26: 51p

Weird roadside device (Princeton)  24: 66p

Weird stencils (New Brunswick)  RG: 10p

Weird woman, frogs and crazed dogs (Tansboro)  23: 60d-61; 26: 19

“Welcome to Martians” sign at Quality Inn (town?)  28: 56p

Well Built Contractors sign (Little Falls)  30: 65p

“What happens in Linden, Stays in Linden” sign (Linden)  27: 49p

White Rhino statue (Jackson)  RG: 47p

White Tiger mailbox (Barnegat)  RG: 42p

“Whoa” speed bump sign (New Hope, PA)  27: 89p

“Why you pay more” Thrifty Store (Paterson)  32: 46p

Wickerman (Leeds)  22: 70p

Windmill (Cowtown)  RG: 78p

Windmill (Holland)  RG: 78p

Windmill (Monroe)  RG: 78p

Windmill house (Barnegat)  RG: 78p; 29: 66p

Wit’s End street sign (Hardyston)  29: 68p

World’s largest cat sculpture (Jersey City)  6: cp, 3

World’s Tallest Water Sphere (Union)  32: 73p-74p, 92

World War I tank (Manville)  4: 6

World War II gliders abandoned in woods (Independence)  16: 42p; 18: 14

Wreck of the H.M.S. Martin at Cape May Point (Cape May County)  RG: 81p

Yellow Brick Road Shop (Mullica Hill)  28: 51p

“You have been warned!” sign (Hasbrouck Heights)  24: 3p, 88p

“You” roadside memorial signs: Garden State Parkway  26: 51; LE: 98, Route 78  26: 51; LE: 98: Route 287  26: 51; LE: 98

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Using the Weird N.J. Index

The easiest way to quickly and accurately locate information in this index is to use the Find/Search function supported by your browser to help guide your search. Example: Press command & F then enter the name of a location or a town into the search field.

Entries in this index conform to the general pattern:

Subject/Topic/Personal or Place Name (Geographic Location) Issue# : Pages

Special issues are designated by the following acronyms:  LE = Last Exit; LH =Local Heroes, Villains and Artists of Weird N.J.; NP = Nightshade on the Passaic; RG = Weird N.J. 2003 Roadside Guide; TCR = Tales From Clinton Road.

Multiple index entries are separated by a semi-colon (;). Page numbering in Weird N.J. magazine did not begin until Issue #6. The page numbering given for Issues #1 through #5 is modeled after the format of later issues (i.e., the cover is counted as page 1).

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

 Garden State Ghosts

100 Stairs of Doom at the Palisades (Weehawken)  27: 55p

400 Years of the Ghosts of Cape May – book by Craig McManus  33: 12p

Abandoned Mansion (Elberon)  23: 52p-54

Abandoned monastery (Staten Island)  15: 48p-49p; 16: 11

Altered states as an aid to seeing ghosts  5: 24

Ancient village of Uxbridge and its mysterious guardian (Cherry Hill)  22: 62

Angel of the Sea Bed & Breakfast (Cape May)  RG: 31; 25: 60; 33: 43p

Annie’s ghost (Totowa) 4: 11; 9: 9, 15, 34; 11: 6, 34d-39p; 12: 4, 65; 13: 12; 15: 70p; 17: 67; 25: 62; 26: 67; 28: 11; 31: 7d; LE: 72d-73

Apartment Ghost (Ocean)  21: 36

Apparition at Hope Mine (Ringwood State Park)  13: 61

Apparitions and haunted cabin of Ghost Lake (Allamuchy) 9: 6; 14: 6; 15: 10-11, 52p; 18: 9; 20: 74; 25: 8; 33: 30

Attacked by a ghost cat at pet cemetery (Hamilton)  17: 71

Ayers/Allen House (Metuchen)  9: 37; 10: 5-6

Baily haunted house  (Basking Ridge)  4:16; 9: 34

Barnyard ghosts, psychics, slaves and murder (Stockton)  31: 66d-67; 32: 22

Basement apartment ghost (Martinsville)  24: 81p

Baylor Massacre House ghosts (River Vale)  24: 36p

Beer can ghost of Catswamp Road (Allamuchy)  24: 73

Berry’s Chapel and Graveyard (Quinton)  20: 64p

Bicycle Pete haunts the Sterling Hill Mine (Ogdensburg)  33: 29

Black Betty/Dutch Betty/English Betty of Sourland Mountain (Somerset County) 13: 63d

Blairsden Mansion (Somerset Hills)  5: 3; 12: 24p-27p, 28; 13: 8, 78; 31: 10-11

Blond ghost guy (Bridgewater)  31: 70

Bloomfield Police Barracks  4: 9; 9: 35

Bowling ghosts (Newark)  24: 82

Boy in the Woods – ghost or Jackson White? (Clinton Road)  TCR: 38-39

Brooksbrae Brick Company (Pasadena)  21: 28p

Butterfly Shack and the little girl screaming (Pine Barrens)  21: 60

Camp Ocawasin (West Milford)  13: 45; 15: 46

Cape May  1-3: 23; RG:30-31

“Carol’s Cabin” at Oval Girl Scout Camp  (Maplewood)  14: 38p

“Charley”, the ghost of Irvington EMTAC (Irvington)  17: 64

Chelsea House / Star of the Sea Academy  23: 46p-47p

Christmas ghost photo (Orange)  33: 38p

Civil War soldier and the mysterious appearance of a letter at Jersey City Cemetery (Jersey City)  33: 15

Clinton Road  4: 18; 10: 38

Colby Mansion (Byram)  12: 18p-22p

Colonial ghost in the basement (Scotch Plains)  29: 76

Colonial ghosts  21: 38

Col. Parker’s nightly walks from his grave at Williamsville Graveyard (Highland Lakes)                                         21: 32

Community Medical Center ghost (Dover)  16: 75

Cooper Road ghost (Middletown)  21: 55

Crematory Hill  aka Disbrow Hill (Millstone) 1-3: 16; 7: 6; 9: 26; 20: 46; 22: 22p-23; 23: 8, 10; 24: 14; 27: 11

Cross Castle (West Milford)  13: 66p; TCR: 26-27, 36

Crypt Knocker grave (Bridgewater-Unadilla, NY)  22: 53p

Curse and ghost of Mary Post At Camp Glen Gray (Mahwah)  26: 84p-85p; 27: 14

Bloody Mary  13: 42

Cut-in-Half Ghost girl (Ringwood)  27: 67

Darress Theatre ghost (Boonton)  13: 60

Death Stump (Erie, PA)  20: 91

Decapitation deaths caused by Fort Grumpy Lady-in-White ghost? (Old Bridge) 30: 40-41; 32:17

Decker farmhouse ghost (Sussex County)  1-3: 12; 9: 34

Demon spirits at Apshawa Paintball Site (West Milford)  11: 46p-47p

Devil behind the mirror at the Barcelona Tavern (Perth Amboy)  23: 32p

Devil’s Chair and the Screams at the Flooded Quarry (Hawthorne)  14: 37

Devil’s Footprint – haunted woods filled with 1950’s music (Hopatcong)  11: 18

Devil’s Tea Table (Frenchtown)  13: 60

Dingos Den (Clifton)  18: 36; 22: 91

Disbrow Hill (Millstone)  see Crematory Hill

Disembodied hand  TCR: 38

Disembodied Running Pants (Clinton Road)  TCR: 28

Domani’s Restaurant, ghost of Mrs. Hatten (Roselle Park)  RG: 32, 74; 33: 10

Dorothy Hotel – haunted by numerous ghosts (Weymouth)  33: 36p

Downing School Ghost Boy (Runnemede)  25: 62

Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia, PA)  22: 90

Elementary school built near/on Indian Burial Ground (Pompton Plains)  11: 45; LE: 110-111

Ellis Island (New Jersey/New York)  24: 30p

Engineer’s ghost and locomotive #229 (Paterson)  24: 84

Entity at Charlottsburg Reservoir (West Milford)  13: 60

Essex Road (Neptune)  20: 74

Evil warehouse and Indian burial ground (Bayonne)  13: 41

Faces in the wall (Jersey City)  21: 41

Fire Department ghosts (Piscataway)  17: 64

Fireside Inn, haunted (Point Pleasant)  RG: 31

Floating spectral wolf’s head (Hopatcong)  30: 90

Flower-picking female ghost (New Castle, DE)  30: 94

Funeral homes, all are haunted  10: 5

Gallup poll on belief in ghosts  15: 4

General John Freylinghusen  7: 25

George the ghost at Shrewsbury Cinemas (Shrewsbury)  29: 80

Ghost and Mrs. King  see Ayers/Allen House

Ghost at abandoned St. Joseph’s Convent (Beverly)  11: 17d; 30: 11; 32: 25

Ghost at the “Dueling Drunks” house (Dunellen)  18: 11

Ghost at EMT Headquarters (Hoboken)  20: 50

Ghost at Medieval Times (Lyndhurst)  13: 62p

Ghost at St. Mary’s School (Rahway)  29: 81p

Ghost boss (Linden)  29: 80

Ghost boy (Browns Mills)  20: 51

Ghost boy (Clinton Road)  TCR: 34-36

Ghost boy of Dolphin Avenue (Northfield)  33: 37

Ghost by the River’s Edge (Lyndhurst)  24: 82

Ghost car on Old Mine Road (Sandyston)  27: 14

Ghost children of the Olbon Woods (West Paterson)  16: 73

Ghost dog (Ramapo Mountains)  1-3: 11

Ghost dog in cemetery (Union)  15: 12-13

“Ghost Face” Road  aka Creek Road (Frenchtown)  14: 47; 15: 46; 18: 14

“Ghost” figures appear on film (Elmer Lake)  9: 53; 12: 10

Ghost Girl (Watchung Reservation)  29: 78

Ghost Girl of the Outerbridge Crossing (Staten Island)  21: 37

Ghost Girl of Redwood Road (Woodbury Heights)  33: 37

Ghost Girl of the Swamps (Ringwood)  21: 38

Ghost Girl of the Van Wickle House at the Meadows (Franklin)  25: 63p

Ghost horse (Clinton Road)  TCR: 33

Ghost horse (Ramapo Mountains)  1-3: 11

Ghost house (Chesterfield)  28: 83p

Ghost hunting (Bloomfield)  25: 60p

Ghost in Perth Amboy graveyard  24: 81p

Ghost in photograph (Clinton Road)  27: 66p

Ghost in photograph (Old Bridge)  25: 62p

Ghost in photograph (South Bound Brook)  25: 62p

Ghost in the Asylum Woods  14: 48

Ghost in the attic of St. Catherine’s Church (Middletown)  23: 55

Ghost in photograph (Fort Mifflin)  20: 83p

Ghost jumpers of ITT/Suicide Tower (Nutley)  28: 18

Ghost light at Burlington County Prison Museum (Mount Holly)  31: 67p

Ghost lights and spectral woman of Wharton Mansion (Batsto Village)  22: 34p

Ghost Lights of Roosevelt Camp (Salem County)  20: 65

Ghostly AAA guy on Skillman Lane (Franklin)  21: 55

Ghostly abductor of the Old Stone Church (Cederville)  21: 38p

Ghostly boy in crawlspace of house (Howell)  33: 35

Ghostly Camaros (Clinton Road)  TCR: 37

Ghostly couple with dead baby (Sewaren)  22: 35

Ghostly faces and poltergeists at Salem Memorial Hospital (Salem County)  24: 82

Ghostly faces, poltergeists, Santeria, temperature anomalies, perfume odors, spectral figures, mystery smoke, and lighted orbs at the Publick House (Chester)  33: 41p-43

Ghostly footsteps at the bedroom door (Bloomingdale)  21: 36-37

Ghostly girl of Berry’s Creek (East Rutherford)  33: 37

Ghostly girl on Phalanx Road (Colts Neck)  28: 82; 29: 17; 33: 14-15

Ghostly Man in a Suit on Route 539 (Jackson-Manahawkin)  25: 75d

Ghostly monsignor of Holy Family Church (Nutley)  25: 90

Ghostly noises at Cry Baby Bridge (Middletown)  18: 83

Ghostly noises in Holman Hall at Trenton State College  16: 75; 28: 86

Ghostly orbs at Skillman Neuro-Psychiatic Institute (Montgomery)  31: 14

Ghostly Park Rangers  TCR: 37

Ghostly pirates and the Dillion House (Island Heights)  30: 81

Ghostly police guard the Devil’s Tree (Bernards)  26: 22

Ghostly screams at Baltusrol Golf Course (Springfield)  16: 48

Ghostly soldiers at Al’s Airport Inn (Ewing)  19: 68

Ghostly sounds of battle at Monmouth Battlefield State Park (Freehold)  23: 55

Ghostly visitations at office building (Mount Laurel)  27: 68

Ghostly voice of Butler Cemetery (Butler)  25: 33p; LE: 36p

Ghost maiden of Camp Lynwood-McDonald  13: 45

Ghost moaning on Talamini Road (Bridgewater)  14: 48; 18: 49p

Ghost noises at Fort Hancock from missile explosion (Sandy Hook)  26: 34

Ghost of the 125th Street Ramp (Manhattan, NY)  24: 91

Ghost of Aimee/Amy (Bedminster, Long Hill, Warren, Watchung)  6: 20; 9: 35

Ghost of Amy (Bernards)  16: 73

Ghost of Benedict Arnold (Scotch Plains)  5: 13; 9: 34

Ghost of Black Majik (Ringwood Manor)  15: 51-52

Ghost of Bloody Simpcoe  9: 35

Ghost of Bruno Hauptmann at Hunterdon County Courthouse (Flemington)  27: 4

Ghost of Bubba at The Memphis Pig Out (Atlantic Highlands)  30: 93

Ghost of Burden Hill Woods (Quinton)  20: 65

Ghost of Catherine Keegan (Gillette)  5: 12; 9: 26p; LE: 117p

Ghost of “Cookie” at Old Tennent Church (Manalapan)  19: 66p-67p

Ghost of the Cranbury Inn, William Christie (Cranbury)  7: 23; 9: 34; RG: 31

Ghost of crucified woman at Skillman Neuro-Psychiatic Institute (Montgomery)  30: 34

Ghost of “Deadman’s Hill” Road (Jefferson)  18: 83

Ghost of decapitated woman with head in basket (Hopewell)  26: 91

Ghost of the drainage ditch (Randolph)  13: 61

Ghost of the Essex Sussex House  17: 64

Ghost of the Ferris Wheel at Wonderland Pier (Ocean City)  17: 62

Ghost of Fire Department Engine Company No. 5 (New Brunswick)  29: 76p

Ghost of George Washington at Federal Hill (Bloomingdale/Pompton Lakes/Riverdale)                              13: 61

Ghosts of Gettysburg Battlefield (Gettysburg, PA)  30: 99

Ghost of girl in communion dress seeking a ride (North Arlington)  18: 69

Ghost of the old Grimes mansion (Parsippany)  15: 5

Ghost of Hannah Caldwell

Connecticut Farms Church cemetery  27: 68

Caldwell Avenue (Union)  27: 68

Union County Courthouse (Elizabeth)  4: 6

Unnamed cemetery (Elizabeth)  27: 68

Ghost of headless woman at Clinton Mill (Clinton)  26: 58

Ghost of Indian on McCoy Road (Oakland)  9: 35

Ghost of Jason and the whispering children

of Changebridge Road Cemetery (Montville)  25: 31

Ghost of Jerry Mack (Oxford)  1-3: 12; 9: 34

Ghost of Joe Mulliner – “Robin Hood of the Pine Barrens”  20: 43

Ghost of Johanna Koptaki Hosbar (Lost Valley)  30: 84p-85

Ghost of Leonie Guggenheim at Monmouth University (West Long Branch)  23: 51

Ghost of the Little Red Schoolhouse (Lyndhurst)  17: 61p

Ghost of Little Girl in house (Bricktown)  24: 82

Ghost of Little Girl in graveyard (Absecon)  24: 82; LE: 74d

Ghost of Little Willie (Nutley)  9: 26; 12: 7-8; 13: 9-10

Ghost of the Lonely Bride (Browns Mills)  21: 41

Ghost of Louis Renault at the Renault Winery (Pomona)  29: 78

Ghost of Loyalist grenadier (Pleasant Valley)  1-3; 10

Ghost of Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd at the old train station (Allamuchy)  32: 70p

Ghost of the Man in Drag (Middletown)  15: 24

Ghost of Margaret at the “Cave Grave” (Newton)  21: 31p

Ghosts of Margaret Williams and others at Jersey City State College  13: 61; 21: 39-40

Ghost of Martin Road (Wall)  6: 14

Ghost of Menephra (Kearny)  13: 61

Ghost of the Milk Man (Fair Lawn)  17: 10

Ghost of mobster Johnny “The Wop” Farrara at Stemie’s Restaurant / The Black Horse                           Tavern (Easton)  30: 97p

Ghost of the Motor Vehicle Station (Lodi)  17: 65

Ghost of Mr. Birch at Ramapo College (Mahwah)  18: 10

Ghost of Mr. Budd (Budd Lake)  15: 53

Ghost of Mr. Lorenzo along Route 519 (Newton/ Culver’s Lake)  27: 21

Ghost of Mrs. Barrett at Beacon Hill Club (Summit)  15: 51

Ghost of Mrs. Bean (Hackensack)  8: 31

Ghost of murdered child (Harrison)  11: 44

Ghost of Nancy on Pomona Road/Route 30 (Galloway)  33: 37

Ghost of one-legged pilgrim (Monroe)  23: 51

Ghost of Paul Revere’s granddaughter (Jockey Hollow)  29: 78

Ghost of Phoebe’s Restaurant (Morristown)  4: 23; 7: 25; 9: 40; RG: 74; 28: 31

Ghost of Phyllis Parker at Bernardsville Library (Bernardsville)  1-3: 22-23; 14: 54; 27: 62

Ghost of the Route 31 Cyclist (Ringoes/Linvale)  15: 51d

Ghost of Runyon Road (South Amboy)  13: 48

Ghost of Saint Boniface Church (Jersey City)  19: 64

Ghost of Saint Michael’s Monastery (Union)  14: 37p

Ghost of a Sea Capitan (Philadelphia, PA)  30: 97p

Ghost of servant (Rumson)  23: 51

Ghost of Spook Rock (Ramapo Mountains)  1-3: 11, 14

Ghost of suicide Prom Queen (Morristown)  19: 64

Ghost of teenaged boy along Valley Road (Sterling)  26: 60p

Ghost of Tillie Smith at Centenary College (Hackettstown)  13: 62; 20: 49p; LE: 55p

Ghost of Trinity Covenant Church (Livingston)  18: 71

Ghost of obese female dwarf in Webster Hall at Montclair State University  28: 86; 30: 9-10

Ghost of the White Pilgrim  aka Joseph Thomas (Johnsonburg)  8: 34; 9: 5; 18: 70d; 25: 46

Ghost of Widow Rock (Sourland Mountains, Somerset County)  28: 10

Ghost of the Windy Haunted House (Howell)  23: 55

Ghost of young boy at Eventide Antiques and Collectibles (Barnegat)  26: 59

Ghost of young man at campground (Jackson)  26: 62p

Ghost of Sigrid Stevenson in Kendall Hall at Trenton State College 13: 62; 15: 11; 16: 74-75; 18: 14; 27: 42p-43p; 28: 86

Ghost of young woman on Freak’s Peak (Upper Montclair/Cedar Grove) 16: 8

Ghost on the Paterson Plank Road (Hoboken)  25: 62

Ghost on white horse (Staten Island)  17: 79

Ghost orbs in photographs  27: 64p-66p

Ghost photo at amusement park (Elysburg, PA)  27: 64p

Ghost photo at Burlington County Prison Museum (Mount Holly)  31: 69p

Ghost photo at Palisades cemetery  27: 65p

Ghost Pony Road (Byram)  12: 20-21; 14: 6; 24: 72p

Ghost sighting [not the Jersey Devil] (Woodbury)  25: 63p

Ghosts along Shades of Death Road (Allamuchy) 8: 33p-34p; 11: 57; 12: 29; 17: 66; 24: 87; 25: 8

Ghosts and spectral voices in house on Ackerman Avenue (Nutley)  25: 64-65p

Ghosts and temperature anomalies at the Burlington County Prison (Mount Holly) 29: 79p-80p

Ghosts at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility (Clinton)  25: 60; 26: 15

Ghosts at the Gabriel Davis Tavern (Glendora)  26: 62

Ghosts at Joe’s Java (Lyndhurst)  32: 65

Ghosts at Liquid Assets strip club (South Plainfield)  20: 15; 27: 81p

Ghosts at Monmouth University (West Long Branch)  13: 61; 14: 8; 23: 51, 54

Ghosts at the New Park Tavern (East Rutherford)  27: 67

Ghosts at the Old Burial Grounds (Bloomfield)  11: 30

Ghosts at Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson)  27: 71

Ghosts at the Vernon Inn (Sussex County)  27: 81p; 28: 13

Ghosts at Waterloo Village (Byram – Stanhope)  31: 29; 32: 14, 22

Ghosts in the Cemetery by Stuart Schneider  31: 7p

Ghosts, lights and voices in Pleasant Mills Cemetery (Batsto Village)  25: 60p

Ghosts of the Allen / Brewster / Ely House (The College of New Jersey)  28: 86

Ghosts of the Bell Tower at First Baptist Church (Caldwell)  21: 39

Ghosts of the Brook Theater (Bound Brook)  31: 70

Ghosts of Bunce Hall at Rowan College (Glassboro)  17: 63; 19: 68; 29: 76p

Ghosts of Chews School woods (Gloucester)  18: 31

Ghosts of the Clove Road Apartments (Montclair State University) 13: 61-62; 20: 50; 31: 8-9

Ghosts of the Condit House (Parsippany)  18: 72

Ghosts of Crystal Lake (Bayville)  28: 14-15; 30: 14

Ghosts of the Dangerous Curves (Clinton Road)  10: 38; TCR: 37

Ghosts of Hoyt and Tolley Halls Drew University (Madison)  9: 35; 13: 62; 14: 6; 19: 69; 33: 72p

Ghosts of Hobart Manor at William Paterson College (Wayne)  13: 62; 27: 65p

Ghosts of Kean University  17: 64; 21: 39

Ghosts of Laurel Springs  25: 46

Ghosts of the Manasquan Inlet (Manasquan)  23: 55

Ghosts of Murphy’s Crocodile Inn (Neshanic Station)  15: 52p

Ghosts of Muttontown Woods (Quinton)  20: 65

Ghosts of Norsworthy Hall at The College of New Jersey  28: 86

Ghosts of the Old Spy Inn (Sayreville)  14: 64

Ghosts of the Pompton Reformed Church (Pompton Lakes)  18: 11

Ghosts of Port Colden Manor (Washington, Warren County)  22: 34p

Ghosts of Raritan Library (Raritan)  7: 25, 31

Ghosts of Revolutionary War soldiers at Old Tennent Church (Manalapan)  19: 66p-67p

Ghosts of Skillman Neuro-Psychiatric Institute (Montgomery)  30: 33-34, 36-37; 31: 14

Ghosts of the Smithville Inn (Smithville)  19: 64

Ghosts of Spy House Museum (Port Monmouth)  7: 31; 9: 37; 14: 64p-65; 23: 51p; 28: 13; 29: 94; 30: 48, 80p-82p

Ghosts of St. Andrew’s Ukraine Cemetery (South Bound Brook)  19: 53p

Ghosts of the Union Hotel (Flemington)  7: 26; 8: 30p-31p; 19: 65p; RG: 32p; 32: 25

Ghosts of Van Wickle House at the Meadows (Franklin)  RG: 74

Ghosts of the Vineland Training School Menantico Colony (Vineland)  20: 44p-45p

Ghosts of the Washington Crossing Hotel (Titusville)  29: 20

Ghosts of the West Side Tavern (Point Pleasant)  RG: 74

Ghosts wearing sheets (Clifton)  24: 83

Ghost train (Kearny)  28: 42

“Ghost train” lights chase car (Waterford)  24: 84

Ghost Tree (New Brunswick)  18: 46p

Ghost tree with balls of light at Georgian Court College (Lakewood)  25: 58; 27: 10

Ghost waitresses at Baron’s Steakhouse aka Silver Lake Inn (Berlin)  27: 68

Ghost with the Missing Shoe at Military Hall (Nutley)  9: 36

Ghost woman (Millstone)  31: 67

Ghoul Priest (Hunterdon / Warren Counties)  9: 35

Glowing grave and child’s voice (Montville)  1-3: 10; 9: 23; 25: 31d; LE: 36, 75d

Glowing orbs in unnamed cemetery  19: 59p

Gorgeous Hair Salon – haunted by several ghosts (West Creek)  33: 35

Gory ghost of the Drive-In Theatre (Sayreville)  22: 36d

Gravity Hill and its ghost (Jackson)  14: 47; RG: 24-25; 20: 75

“Great Planet” grave at Bedminster Reformed Church Cemetery (Bedminster)  27: 58p

Greenwood Bridge ghosts (New Lisbon)  21: 37-38

Halloween ghost train (South Amboy)  24: 84

“Happy Hunting Ground” graves at Crest Haven Memorial Park (Clifton)  14: 52p

Haunted Academy of St. Elizabeth (Convent Station)

Grey Nun and the ghost of Mary Louise Cavanaugh  21: 40; 27: 70

Haunted apartment (Sourland Mountain)  15: 50p-51

Haunted Autopsy Suite at Shore Memorial Hospital (Somer’s Point)  31: 40-41

Haunted Brass Rail Restaurant (Hoboken)  24: 81p

Haunted Burlington County Prison Museum (Mount Holly)  20: 48p-49p; 23: 18; 29: 79p-80p; 31: 67p; 69p

Haunted cabin (Beemerville)  13: 33

Haunted daycare center (Mount Holly)  29: 77

Haunted doctor’s office (West Orange)  16: 76

Haunted Elks Lodge (Boonton)  24: 74

Haunted Geary House and family plot (South Plainfield)  20: 14; LE: 74p

Haunted Hainesburg Mansion (Hainesburg)  27: 70

Haunted hole (Midland Park)  21: 28

Haunted house (Barnegat)  32: 18, 21

Haunted house (Crosswicks)  11: 9

Haunted house (Elsinboro)  27: 71

Haunted house (Laurence Harbor)  28: 83

Haunted house and tunnel network under town (Lyndhurst)  28: 84p

Haunted house (Middletown)  28: 87

Haunted house (Ocean View)  23: 56

Haunted house (Paterson)  30: 85

Haunted house and the “Not” people (Bridgewater)  25: 14

Haunted house in Massachussetts  33: 92

Haunted house of Borgs Woods (Hackensack)  9: 14  aka Zombie House of Borgs Woods

Haunted house on McCurdy Lane  aka The Jackson House (Jackson)  31: 36p-39p; 32: 21-22

Haunted house on Phalanx Road (Colts Neck)  20: 46

Haunted house with “Blood Pine” (Howell)  18: 72

Haunted house with the Coffin Door (Wenonah)  20: 72p

Haunted mansion at Allaire State Park (Howell)  23: 55

Haunted mansion with several ghosts (Wenonah)  28: 85

Haunted Modern Hatters building (Jersey City)  31: 71

Haunted Moorecraft building (Bound Brook)  24: 74

Haunted mortgage company in former women’s seminary (Sparta)  30: 38

Haunted murder house on Boody Mill Road (Mantua)  27: 78p-79p; 28: 15; 33: 18

Haunted nudist colony  10: 38

Haunted/McClane’s Swamp (Middletown)  1-3: 10

Haunted office building (Hackensack)  29: 77

Haunted Phareloch Castle (Basking Ridge) – builder Bill Beatty, the Lady in Black, White German Shepherd, ghostly cats, temperature anomalies and disembodied footsteps  33: 32p-35

Haunted Punker Pool (Budd Lake)  29: 67

Haunted Route 9 movie theater (Freehold)  18: 73

Haunted phone booth (Berkeley Heights)  28: 84p

Haunted piano (Point Pleasant)  18: 72

Haunted radio station (Blairstown)  16: 73p

Haunted railroad bridge along Runyon Road (Old Bridge/Sayreville)  16: 28p-29

Haunted railroad crossing (Bayonne)  24: 77

Haunted sign causes numerous deaths (South River)  13: 49

Haunted stables (Jersey City)  28: 78

Haunted UPS facility on old Indian burial ground (Secaucus)  LE: 111

Haunted Warren Trail (Warren County)  25: 8

Haunting of the “Hornet’s Nest” (Morganville)  21: 37

Hauntings at church (Yellow Frame)  7: 32; 8: 34; 9: 35p

Headless Horseman of Galloping Hills (Kennilworth)  4: 10; 9: 34

Heartbeat Road (Lincoln Park/Montville/Towaco)  12: 47; 15: 70; 29: 18; 30: 21p

Heydrick House (Philadelphia suburbs)  6: 5-6

Historic Darlington School (Mahwah)  21: 40

Historic Haunts – book on Somerset and Hunterdon County haunted houses

by Gordon Thomas Ward  31: 6p

HoHo the ghost (Paterson)  6: 15

Hooded spectral figures in black (Port Murray)  31: 12-14

Hookerman ghost  see main entry

Hospital with anomalous “extra” floor (Irvington)  21: 76-77d

House haunted by poltergeists, ghosts and a spectral Scottish Terrier (Munford, Tennessee)  33: 91-92

House of Demons (California)  28: 99

House of the murderous gardener (Helmetta)  23: 54p; 27: 18

House possessed by evil spirit (Westfield)  33: 30

Hunt House (Sussex County)  6: 18-19p; 11: 10p

Indian Burial Ground under UPS building  11: 32

Indian Curse Road/Route 55 (Deptford)  24: 11

Indian Maiden’s song at Lake Hopatcong (Hopatcong)  12: 68

Iona Lake Inn aka Jake’s – ghosts and mystery lights (Franklinville)  RG: 31-32; 26: 58

Jackon Road (Gloucester County)  13: 49

Jersey City Medical Center – Tommy G. and other ghosts  17: 74; 23: 34p-35p; 24: 83

Jimmy Lynch Tree – aka the JL Tree (Lakewood)  11: 18; 14: 38p; 15: 46; 16: 65; 28: 79p

Jogging ghosts (East Hanover)  17: 64

Lady in Black at Fort Lincoln Cemetery (Maryland)  29: 98

Lady in the Pink Prom Dress – Shades of Death Road (Allamuchy)  9: 6

Lady in Red – vengeful apparition near Gunnel Oval (Kearny)  33: 30

Lady in White and Underground Railroad spirits at Northrup Home (Hampton)  27: 14

Lady of Green Pond Road (Rockaway)  12: 6

Lake of Six Handymen and its ghosts (Sayreville)  21: 59

Laurel Grove Cemetery “Woman in White” (Totowa)  4: 11, 17; 7: 8; 11: 35-36, 38p; LE: 72d-73

“Lavender” the Ghost Girl seen near Mt. Carmel Retreat on Route 202 (Mahwah)  33: 37

Legend of Buckeye (Lambertville)  15: 18p-19p; 16: 12; 23: 23p

Legends Resort  aka Playboy Hotel (Vernon)  RG: 32

Liquid Assets – haunted bar (South Plainfield)  27: 81p

List of N.J. haunted locations  5: 26

Little Girl ghost on Riverview Circle (Little Falls)  25: 62

Malcolm and other ghosts of Montclair State University  20: 50; 33: 38

Malcolm the ghost at Lenape Valley Regional High School (Stanhope)  21: 10

Many haunted houses (Ringwood)  10: 4

Matawan Creek ghost boy [1916 shark attack] (Matawan)  23: 51

Metlar House ghost (Piscataway)  5: 20; 9: 34

Midland Avenue haunted house (Saddle Brook)  6: 4

Monument to Emilio Carranza (Burlington County)  21: 54

Morris Canal  7: 22-23

Motorcycle Ghost (Flemington)  16: 74

Murders and hauntings at girls’ school on Igoe Road (Marlboro)  9: 19; 12: 48p

Mysterious footsteps and lights of Slabtown Road (Woodstown)  19: 59

Mystery basketball (Roebling)  26: 86

Mystery footsteps (Lakewood)  10: 49

National Directory of Haunted Places (book)  5: 32

Nude Ghost (Clementon)  21: 36

Officer’s Row ghost at Fort Hancock (Sandy Hook)  23: 84p-85p

Oily Oliver (Hackensack)  4: 22; 9: 35; 33: 28p-29

Our House Restaurant (Howell)  RG: 26

Overbrook Hospital (Cedar Grove)  10: 6; 31: 18; 33: 56d-57

Paranormal voyeur and face in the window at the Ugly Mug (Cape May)  22: 91; 31: 68p

Parkway Phantom of Exit 82 (Tom’s River)  5: 23; 9: 34; RG: 28p

Petco Ghost Girl (Parlin)  25: 59

Phantom “Doughnut” Car (Clifton)  11: 58

Phantom of Felician College graveyard (Lodi)  32: 64p

Phantom Ford of the N.J. Turnpike (New Brunswick/Perth Amboy)  26: 86

Phantom G.I. of Swimming River Reservoir (Colts Neck / Tinton Falls)  32: 65

Phantom Harmonica Player of Skillman Neuro-Psychiatic Institute (Montgomery)  30: 33

Phantom Marching Band (Clifton)  11: 58

Phantom Rider at Queen of Peace Cemetery (North Arlington)  7: 13

Phantom Rider (Ringoes)  4: 6

Phantom Runner (Clifton)  10: 4

Phantom WWI bi-plane (Long Hill)  11: 58

Phonecalls from the dead  11: 7-8

Photograph of ghost in Colonial House window (Cape May)  27: 66p

Pinchaser Pete [ghost] at Butlerbowl (Butler)  RG: 30

Pink Haunted House (Midland Park)  4: 23; 16: 76

Pirate House and the ghost of Pirate John (Greenwich)  29: 78d

Polifly Park (Hackensack)  4: 22

Poltergeist at the Atlanta Bread Company (Morris Plains)  26: 60

Poltergeist haunting (Pleasanville)  31: 67

Poltergeist hauntings at Bomarc Nike missile base (Middletown/Plumsted)  26: 35

Poltergeist in house on Van Dam Avenue (Bloomingdale)  28: 86

Poltergeists and Woman in White at Lorenzo’s Restaurant (Howell)  32: 66

Poltergeists in house (Belford)  30: 86

Poltergeists and cold spots in the Hot Lake Hotel & Sanatorium (La Grande, Oregon) 32: 89p

Poltergeist sons hide the turnovers  33: 18

Possible hauntings at Rose Hill Cemetery (Matawan)  25: 29p; 27: 11-12

Previous tenants never die  11: 6-7

Proprietary House ghost orb photographs (Perth Amboy)  27: 66; 32: 64p

Rainbow Spirit boy of Route 30 (Atco)  8: 31; 11: 44; 13: 14-15, 75d; 17: 9; 18: 13, 83; 19: 12; 20: 49p; 33: 37

Ralph, ghost of the Broadway Theater (Pittman)  21: 14

Real estate regulations and ghosts  13: 4

Red and white apparitions along Clinton Road  24: 10-11

Revolutionary War ghosts of Garrett Mountain (Passaic County)  5: 15; 9: 13

Revolutionary War ghosts on horseback (Stillwater)  27: 26

Revolutionary War ghosts of Spook Bridge (River’s Edge)  30: 38

Ringwood and vicinity (Ramapo Mountains)  1-3: 14; 7: 23; 9: 29; 11: 45

Route 23 ghost car  24: 73

Route 70 ghost car (Manchester)  24: 73

Sam’s Bar & Grill, haunted (Edison)  RG: 26

Samuel Richards House and Ouija board contact with spirit (Atsion)  33: 44p-45p

Satan House on Federal Hill (Bloomingdale/Pompton Lakes/Riverdale)  16: 6

Screech woman (Ramapo Mountains)  1-3: 11

“Shadow person” at Network Studios (Union)  21: 41

She-Ghost of Gravity Road (Franklin Lakes)  16: 29p; RG: 24

Singing ghost of Grace Bible Baptist church, ghost lights (Atsion Village)  25: 60

Seance and spirits at Glen Lake Lodge  13: 46

Seance in cemetery (Ridgefield)  13: 54

Sheraton Hotel on Indian Burial Ground (Woodbridge)  11: 44; LE: 111

Skillman Neuro-Psychiatric Institute (Montgomery)  17: 23, 25; 28: 28; 30: 30p-37p; 31: 14

Society Hill Restaurant (Morristown)  4: 23

Spectral figure at Savage Field (Marlton)  23: 72

Spectral knocking on car roof  along Shades of Death Road (Allamuchy)  24: 87

Spectral Little Boy and the Great Woodbridge Train Wreck (Perth Amboy)  28: 39p

Spectral maids of Janet Memorial Home – abandoned orphanage (Elizabeth)  13: 9

Spectral “mattress of mist” (West Long Branch)  19: 59

Spectral photo at Blauvelt Cemetery (Harrington Park)  32: 67p

Spectral photo (Laurel Springs)  32: 67p

Spectral piano-playing at Lakeland Psychiatric Hospital  18: 29p; 21: 14

Spectral residue at Trent House (Trenton)  26: 60; 27: 13-14

Spirit protecting Cross Castle (West Milford)  TCR: 26-27, 36

Spirits of the Green Pond Inn (Newfoundland)  31: 68

Split Rock (West Orange/Verona)  15: 42

Spook Rock and the Legend of Black Mag (Ringwood)  15: 43d

Spooksville ghosts (Sussex)  16: 72p; LE: 77d

St. Gertrude’s Cemetery (Colonia)  30: 87p

St. Michael’s Grove (Totowa)  13: 11

Strange phone call and poltergeist phenomena (Bedminster)  31: 87

Strange voice in the cemetery (Metuchen)  25: 32

Suomi Hovi Hotel  aka Sunnyside Hotel (Jefferson/Lake Hopatcong)  17: 60p; 18: 10

Surprise Lake (Watchung Mountains)  1-3: 22; 33: 16

Swamp ghosts (Red Bank)  20: 46

Tall Man of the Olde Swedes Inn (Swedesboro)  RG: 29

Temple Avenue haunted house (Hackensack)  7: 6

“Thursday’s Child” haunted house (Bridgeton)  20: 62-63d

Tilly’s Pub haunted (Hackensack)  7: 6

Toilet flushing ghost at Hotel Macomber (Cape May)  27: 66

“Tophat and tails” ghost at Chapel Hill Cemetery (Middletown)  27: 59; LE: 71d

Tower of Rumson-Fair Haven High School (Rumson/Fair Haven)  23: 55

Trailer Park ghost (Oakedale)  25: 59

Two-headed veiled woman (Ramapo Mountains)  1-3: 11

Walking jeans of the off-ramp (Annandale)  24: 83

Wants to see ghosts in person  33: 21

Water’s Edge Cafe (Jefferson)  4: 10; 6: 5; 9: 34; 11: 6; 12: 10; 14: 11; 32: 60

Weird haunted house (Somers Point)  26: 20

Whipporwill Valley Road (Middletown)  12: 46

White-faced specter in hooded black cloak in apartment kitchen (New Brunswick) 30: 89d

White-faced specter in hooded black cloak along Route 35 (South Amboy)  21: 41; 30: 89d

White-faced specter in hooded black cloak (Wanaque Reservoir)  30: 89d

White Lady of Branch Brook Park (Newark) 4: 17; 12: 64d-65; 13: 10; 15: 52-53; 16: 65; 17: 62; 27: 67

Who is the oldest ghost living?  33: 16

William Carlos Williams Center (Rutherford)  RG: 74; 22: 36

Winner’s Sports and Go-Go (Hamburg)  RG: 26, 28

Witch’s ghost and grave at Old Tennent Church Cemetery (Manalapan)  24: 38; 25: 29p

“Woman in White” on Clinton Road  18: 83

WWII Ghosts: Artifacts Can Talk – by Richard J. Kimmel  33: 12p

Wounds caused by shadow ghost at Waverly Hills Sanatorium (Louisville, KY)  30: 98p

Yvonne’s Rhapsody in Blue (Long Branch)  19: 40p-41p; aka Club San Remo, Drexel Mansion.

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through ourweb site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Using the Weird N.J. Index

The easiest way to quickly and accurately locate information in this index is to use the Find/Search function supported by your browser to help guide your search. Example: Press command & F then enter the name of a location or a town into the search field.

Entries in this index conform to the general pattern:

Subject/Topic/Personal or Place Name (Geographic Location) Issue# : Pages

Special issues are designated by the following acronyms:  LE = Last Exit; LH =Local Heroes, Villains and Artists of Weird N.J.; NP = Nightshade on the Passaic; RG = Weird N.J. 2003 Roadside Guide; TCR = Tales From Clinton Road.

Multiple index entries are separated by a semi-colon (;). Page numbering in Weird N.J. magazine did not begin until Issue #6. The page numbering given for Issues #1 through #5 is modeled after the format of later issues (i.e., the cover is counted as page 1).

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Cemetery Safari

Abbreviation headstones – A.T.M., V.D., E.A.T., E.T.C., J.A.B., P.S.  32: 69p

Above ground “Egyptian” grave (Trenton)  24: 34p

“All is well” grave  LE: 30p

“The American Dream” grave  LE: 30p

Anthony Srsich — “Absolutely Terrific” bus driver (Newark)  29: 70; 32: 68p

Artificial reef graveyards created by Eternal Reefs  LE: 66

Assenheimer gravestone  22: 52p

Backyard crypt with bodies (East Brunswick)  21: 33

Backyard Grave of Indian Lake (Denville)  21: 30p; LE: 117p

Backyard grave of Mary Elizabeth (Whitesbog)  32: 21

Beatles tribute musical grave marker at St. Joseph’s Cemetery (Keyport)  33: 70p

Beheaded statues at Raleigh Cemetery (Cherry Hill)  23: 43p

Blank gravestone (West Windsor)  28: 75p

“Blimey I’m a Limey” gravestone at George Washington Memorial Cemetery (Paramus) 27: 57p; LE: 29p

Boat-shaped tombstone (Cape May)  31: 62p

Boat Yard Grave and Washington’s Delaware Crossing (Lower Bank)  21: 31p; LE: 66

Boob Grave in Greenwood Cemetery (Boonton)  20: 52p

Book tombstone at Riverview Cemetery (Trenton)  17: 71p

Bruce P. Berman website gravestone at Hazelwood Cemetery (Rahway)  26: 1p, 65p; 28: 16; 31: 12p; LE: 14p-15p

Bud’s grave (Atlantic Highlands) 4: 8; 7: 5; 10: 26p; 14: 11; 19: 60p-63p; 24: 14; 26: 6p; 28: 23p; 30: 38p; LE: 23p

Burial plaque at Valley View Middle School honoring early settlers (Denville) 17: 71p; LE: 111p, 113

Car crash grave marker (Smithville)  21: 32

Cat sculpture gravestone  LE: 87p

“Cave Grave” of the Lewis family (Newton)  7: 32-33; 8: 45p; 11: 11; 21: 31p; 27: 58; LE: 66p

Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. [baby] remains (Hopewell)  10: 35p; LE: 98p

Children’s sculptured gravestones (Cinnaminson)  16: 1p, 34p

Clamshell gravemarker at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (Newark)  18: 66p

Coffin congestion at Mercer County Cemetery (Trenton)  24: 34p

Col. Parker’s nightly walks from his grave at Williamsville Graveyard (Highland Lakes) 21: 32

Commander Michael Kearny, British Royal Navy (Whippany)  13: 57p; 33: 11

“Cool” grave in Moravian Cemetery (Hope)  20: 53p

Creepy child grave marker at Holy Name Cemetery (Jersey City)  33: 70p

Crypt Knocker grave (Bridgewater-Unadilla, NY)  22: 53p

Cuddling babies gravestone at Greenwood Cemetery (Hamilton)  32: 69p

“Cujo Jack” (Newark)  6: 15; LE: 112

Cutroneo gravesite – listening woman sculpture in Woodbine Cemetery (Oceanport) 12: 3p, 60p; 22: 54p

Dancer gravestone at Maplewood Cemetery (Freehold)  30: 87

Dave Prater (singer) buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Totowa)  28: 74; 29: 82p

Dead Nun / Glass Nun (Morristown)  6: 23; 8: 7p; RG: 65-66; 21: 59; LE: 60p

“Death Dolls” in New Jersey cemeteries  28: 72p

Deborah Lincoln, great-grandaunt of Abraham Lincoln (Imlaystown)  13: 55p

“Decaying Angels” at Rosedale Cemetery (West Orange)  26: 64p

Devil’s Grave/Tomb (Somerset Hills)  12: 28p

Frank Orsi “Died a horrible death” grave in Princeton Cemetery (Princeton)  25: 32; 26: 63p; 30: 14p; LE: 27p

Diner Tombstone at Fairview Cemetery (Sussex)  11: 30p; RG: 40p aka Prout’s/Lucy’s Diner

Diving Horse of the Steel Pier (Atlantic City)  17: 70p

Dollhouse Grave (Warren)  9: 27p

“Done to Death” gravestone  LE: 56p

“Don’t Worry About It” grave  19: 55p

Dotterweich’s grave – mass family drowning (Wayne)  11: 32p; LE: 120p

Dracula grave  21: 32p

Dragula grave (Monmouth County)  20: 55p

Ebenezer Price – renowned gravestone carver  LE: 46p-47p

Edward C. Stokes mausoleum lightning strike, Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (Millville)  17: 15

Eisele Family Egyptian Mausoleum at Fairview Cemetery (Sussex)  14: 52p; 16: 65; LE: 84p

Elephant burial site (Sussex Aiport)  25: 81; 26: 14

Ellen “Gone to tell Jesus” grave at Kingston Presbyterian Church (Kingston)  26: 63p

Elsie the Cow (Plainsboro)  4: 8; 8: 12dp; 11: 2; 14: 54; 31: 11; LE: 92p

“Evil” grave (Upper Saddle River)  20: 53p; 22: 7; LE: 58

“Evil” grave of Amanda Bowen (Palmyra)  11: 6; 17: 73p; 18: 7-9; 22: 7; LE: 58p

Face on a gravestone (Port Republic)  27: 57

Fighter plane grave marker (Hamilton)  18: 68p; LE: 79p

First quarter toll collected on the Garden State Parkway (Holmdel)  19: 51; LE: 61p

Flooded grave at Rosemount Memorial Park (Newark)  28: 75

Forest grave (Bass River State Forest)  25: 28p; LE: 98p

“Funny” gravestones at Saint James Cemetery (Woodbridge) –

Small / Bishop, Fox / Trainer, Bonk / Buz  28: 75p

Frankenstein grave (Pennsauken)  20: 55p

Frankie Lymon (Clifton)  9:29p; 20: 12p; LE: 50p

General Robert Erskine (Ringwood Manor)  5: 19p; 18: 69p; LE: 61p

George Draney’s photos of graveside memorials  LE: 23p

Ghostly grave at Higbee Beach (Lower Township)  LE: 76d

Glowing grave at Berlin Cemetery (Camden County)  LE: 38

Glowing grave at Readington Road cemetery (Branchburg)  13: 57; 18: 69p; 19: 52p; LE: 36, 38p

Glowing grave and child’s voice (Montville)  1-3: 10; 9: 23; 25: 31d; LE: 36, 75d

“Good night sports fans” grave  31: 64p; LE: 16p

Gothic tombstones at Riverview Cemetery (Newark)  17: 71p

Grave decorated with toy cars and trucks (Jersey City)  LE: 23p

Grave in basement of home (Paterson)  12: 62; LE: 110

Grave marker with eagle rising out of flames (Moorestown)  28: 73p

Grave marker with lucky swastika in East View Cemetery (Salem)  19: 52p

Grave of Aaron Kitchell at Old Presbyterian Church (East Hanover)  27: 59p

Grave of America’s Unknown Child aka The Boy in the Box at Ivy Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia, PA)  33: 86p

Grave of Bertie Harris with horse and cart (Hackensack)  20: 53p; LE: 79p

Grave of Charles the dog (Great Meadows)  13: 59p, 14: 54; LE: 88p

Grave of Charles H. Salmon – killed by careless pharmacist at Methodist Cemetery (Succasunna)  LE: 29p

Grave of Cheetah the chimp lost  LE: 89

Grave of “Christ” in Fairview Cemetery (Sussex)  15: 75p

Grave of Col. Routh Goshen at Cedar Grove Cemetery (Franklin) 21: 32p; LE: 51p aka The Middlebush Giant

Grave of Dave Prater (“Sam & Dave”) at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Totowa)  28: 74; 29: 82p

Grave of George Gately Gallagher, creator of Heathcliff the Cat (Tenafly)  LE: 13

Grave of guy who should be long dead  19: 55p

Grave of Jeremiah Leeds, first settler on Absecon Island (Northfield)  28: 74p

Grave of Joe – “Robin Hood of the Pine Barrens” (Pleasant Mills)  20: 42p-43p; 21: 31p

Grave of John “Hot Dog Johnny” Kovalsky at Belvidere Cemetery (Belvidere)  RG: 40p

Grave of Joseph Kekuku at Orchard Street Cemetery (Dover)  24: 38

Grave of legendary “John B. Quick” at French-Richards Cemetery (Springfield)  19: 54p

Grave of Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd at Tranquility Cemetery (Green Township)  32: 70p

Grave of a monkey named “Monkey”  18: 66p

Grave of Murray Beck at Glenwood Cemetery (West Long Branch)  22: 54p

Grave of Nancy Spungen (Neshaminy, PA)  30: 94p

Grave of Noah Cherry near Garden State Parkway milemarker 16 (Dennis Township)  LE: 99p

Grave of “N.J. Welfare Bureaucracy” (Bordentown)  14: 51p; LE: 63p

Grave of the deathless Peter C. Howe (Meyersville)  11: 33p

Grave of an “Upright Citizen” at Atlantic City Cemetery  18: 67p

Grave of murder victim (Bamber Lakes)  21: 31p

Grave of “Our 3-legged pal Monkey”  LE: 87p

Grave of Robert Powell and his 14 pets at Pet Lawn Cemetery (Berlin)  21: 33p

Grave of Tamara Drasin (Roosevelt)  29: 83p

Grave of Topsy and Tippy  LE: 86p

Grave of The Trunk Lady, Vivien W. Klim (Hampton)  28: 73p; 29: 87; LE: 27p

Grave of unknown Emily (Rahway)  25: 32p; LE: 116p

Grave of witch stoned to death – Rancocas Creek/Pinewald private cemetery (Burlington) 26: 66; 28: 14

Grave plot covered with broken green glass (Smithville)  28: 75p; LE: 24p

Grave surrounded by iron bed fencing (Ellenville, NY)  18: 82p

Grave with holly tree growing out of it  20: 52p

Grave with lounging area at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Red Bank)  28: 75p; LE: 84p

Grave with weird dates at Fairmount Cemetery (Phillipsburg)  22: 53p

Grave with window — burial place of Merritt Beardsley (Oxford, NY)  30: 94p

Graves of Walt Whitman and “Charlotte S. Webb” at Harleigh Cemetery (Camden)

27: 58p

Graves overtaken by Mother Nature  LE: 18p-19p

Gravestone along the Passaic River (North Arlington)  28: 70; 29: 16; LE: 116p

Gravestone depicting the Grim Reaper breaking the pillars of time (Basking Ridge) LE: 25p

Graves under the N.J. Performing Arts Center (Newark)  6: 15; 18: 67; 19: 92; LE: 112

Graves under Prudential Center Arena (Newark)  25: 4; LE: 112-113

“Graveyard” of rides at Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson)  28: 86

“Green Light” Cemetery (Middletown)  6: 4, 7; 9: 23; 10: 27; LE: 36-38

Guitar gravestone at Prospect Hill Cemetery (Caldwell)  29 82p

Guitar gravestone at St. Mary’s Cemetery (Barnegat)  18: 68p

Gypsy King Naylor Harrison at Hillside Cemetery (Madison)  14: 50p; LE: 54p

Handmade stone gravemarker (Jefferson)  LE: 85p

Handmade stone gravemarker (New Providence)  26: 64p; LE: 85p

Hardman Grave at Mount Pleasant Cemetery (Newark)  21: 33p

Haunted bumper cars at Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson)  28: 86

Haunted Grave of Lieutenant Geary (Ringoes)  14: 52p; LE: 74p

“Have Fun Will Travel / He die with his boots on” gravestone (Bernards)  25: 35p; LE: 30p

Heavenly Theatre pet grave of Paradiddle Ben (Linwood)  LE: 87p, 93

“He had his father’s eyes” grave  31: 64p; LE: 30p

“He loved history, He is history” gravestone at Greenwich Cemetery (Greenwich) 27: 58p

“Here lies Jack in a box” grave  LE: 30p

Herman Munster grave (Montclair/Clifton)  15: 74

Hickey and Kiss gravestones at Hollywood Memorial Park (Union)  23: 44p

Hiscock Grave (northern NJ)  21: 33p

Hofheimer Family Mausoleum (Warren)  8: 8p-9p; 10: 5, 6; 21: 85p

“Home for the Holidays” gravestone (Burlington)  25: 35p

Homemade stone gravemarker (New Providence)  26: 64p

Hoopar boys – mushroom poisoning (Edison)  11: 30p; LE: 120p

Humorous headstones — Booser and Drinks  26: 73p; LE: 16p

Humorous headstones at Rahwah Cemetery –

Assman, Downer, Titman  14: 51p; 16: 36p; LE 16p

Ichabod Crane at Old Asbury Methodist Church – the real person (Staten Island)  13: 55p

Ichabod Crane at Rosedale Cemetery (Orange)  9: 27p

Ichabod Cranes side-by-side at Hillside Cemetery (Madison)  13: 55p

“I did it my way” grave  31: 64p; LE: 30p

“I’d rather be dead than in Keansburg” grave of Carl “Snooky” Chimenti in Mount Olivet Cemetery (Middletown)  33: 70p; LE: 16p

“In God We Trust” grave of Reverend Mark R. Watkinson (Pemberton)  24: 34p; LE: 28p

“I lived every day as a vacation with just a few bumps in the road” grave  31: 64p; LE: 30p

Inventor of octane (Cassville)  4: 17

Isolated grave (Dumont)  10: 7

“I told you I was sick” grave  LE: 30p

“I told you I was sick” grave in Mahannath Cemetery (Glassboro)  LE: 13p

“I told you I was sick” grave in Princeton Graveyard (Princeton)  24: 34p

“I told you I was sick” grave in St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery (Stirling)  20: 52p

“I wasn’t here for a long time, but I had a good time” grave  31: 64p; LE: 16p

“Jack in a box grave” at St. Joseph’s Cemetery (Toms River)  29: 83p

James Bechtold’s Three Stooges grave in Hillside Cemetery (Metuchen)  32: 68p; 33: 16; LE: 12p-13p

“Jersey City pileup” children’s grave at cemetery (Jersey City)  24: 34p

John P. Holland, father of the modern submarine  10: 2p; LE: 79p

Kitchen, Potts and Bacon gravemarker at Westminister Cemetery (Roxborough, PA) 21: 90p

Knight / Meares grave (Fort Lee)  28: 75p

“Lad” (Wayne)  6: 27; 9: 27p, LE: 94p-95p

“Last Flight” grave  23: 44p

Lazyboy grave marker at Eglinton Cemetery (Clarksboro)  21: 30p; LE: 84p

Lee and Grant buried side-by-side at Graceland Memorial Park (Kennilworth)  16: 36p

Leo the MGM Lion (Long Hill)  6: 13; LE: 88p-89p

Lewis Family  7: 32-33; 8: 45p; 11: 11

“Life’ll kill ya” gravestone (Princeton)  25: 35p; LE: 30p

Little Fisherman’s Grave (Princeton)  28: 73p

Little Willie (Nutley)  9: 26p; 12: 7-8; 13: 9-10

“Live long and prosper” grave  23: 44p; 24: 19p

“Lively” grave  26: 64p

Lone Headstone (Lodi)  23: 44p; 24: 18p

Lonely grave of Jennifer Russo (Manahawkin)  26: 91p; 27: 93p; 32: 25p; LE: 98p

Lust gravestone at Mt. Calvary Cemetery (Butler)  22: 52p

Mad Dog 20/20 grave at East Ridgelawn Cemetery (Clifton)  29: 82p; LE: 22

Mailbox grave (Wall)  25: 28p

“Mandarin” the elephant buried off Sandy Hook  18: 26; LE: 94-95d

“Manly” graves — Hardman, Dickman & Beerman  19: 52p; LE: 16p

Mary Ann Perrigo’s grave (Montague) 14: 51p; 15: 75p; LE: 22p

Mary Ellis in middle of Rt. 1 Flea Market (New Brunswick)  6: 15; 8: 28p; 11: 2; 14: 10; 26: 4; 28: 29; LE: 59p

Mary Moore at St. James Episcopal Church Cemetery (Edison)  13: 60-61; 20: 55; 21: 35

Mass grave of the Powhatan shipwreck on Route 9 (Manahawkin)  LE: 111p

Mass grave of S.S. Bremen fire victims at Floral Hill Cemetery (West New York)  14: 52

Mass graves at Meadowview Mental Hospital [“Snake Hill”] (Secaucus) 11: 32; 18: 16-17; 20: 15; 21: 16; 22: 15; 29: 28p-29p

Mass graves at Potter’s Field behind EMS center (Paramus)  1-3: 22; 24: 38; LE: 114

Mass reburial and marker at Pluckemin Presbyterian Church on Route 202/206 (Pluckemin)  LE: 112

Memorial to fisherman at Paulinskill Viaduct (Warren County)  LE: 99p

Memorial to Unclie Willie at Garrett Mountain Reservation (Paterson)  LE: 99p

Mercedes Benz gravestone at Linden Park Cemetery (Linden)  4: 8; 5: 16p; 8: 29p; 9: 32; 10: 6; LE: 57p

Message gravestones  29: 83p

Missing grave of Captain Buck (Millville)  26: 67

Model-T tombstone at Rocky Hill Cemetery (Rocky Hill)  16: 36p; LE: 12p

Morgan the Pirate’s grave (Morgan)  1-3: 10; 14: 26

Morristown Pauper’s graveyard  20: 54p

Morse Family Burying-ground (Linden)  7: 18p-19

“Most misunderstood man” grave at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery  18: 68p

“Most Unhappy” gravestone of Henry William Herbert at Mount Pleasant Cemetery (Newark)  27: 57; LE: 28p

“Mother” statue in Rosedale Cemetery (West Orange)  10: 27p

Mound of graves (Oakland)  10: 4-5

Mournful vine-covered statue in Fairview Cemetery  15: 75p

Mr. Weidmann (Paterson)  9: 27p

Murderer’s Bridge crime and gravesite (Changewater)  6: 13-14, 16; 9: 25; 16: 37p; LE: 55p

“Musical” memorials – Rapp, Rock, Pop, Funk, C.W., Christian, Urban & Christmas 30: 6p; LE: 31p

Mysterious grave of Mattie Brown (Egg Harbor)  21: 35p; LE: 116-117p

Mystery tombstone at Lambert Castle (Paterson)  19: 56p; LE: 116p

Mystery tombstone in backyard (Newark)  14: 5

New Jersey Devils new arena built on old graveyard  28: 75

“New Jersey’s Oldest Resident”? — Grave with dates 1616-2004  23: 18

Night Life – famous Atlantic City dog interred at Clara-Glen Pet Cemetery (Linwood)  17: 70; LE: 93p

“No Nicht There” grave  LE: 30p

“No really I’m fine” grave  31: 64p; LE: 30p

“No tears in Heaven” grave  LE: 30p

Numbered gravestones at Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital (Marlboro)  13: 54p; 25: 11; 27: 23; LE: 114

“Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk” grave at Pleasant Mills Cemetery (Pleasant Mills)  22: 52p; LE: 13p

Old Graves uncovered by “The Hills” housing development (Bernards)  12: 14; LE: 113

Old Mary’s grave (Hackensack)  5: 22

Old tombstones at Space Farms Zoo and Museum (Beemerville)  25: 28p

Painted terra cotta graves (Middlesex County)  27: 56p

Paramount Theater (Asbury Park)  RG: 29-30; 31: 23

Parkway Grave (Cape May County)  20: 53p

“Party is Over” grave in Valeau Cemetery (Ridgewood)  20: 52p; LE: 16p

Pauper’s graveyard (Barnegat)  29: 72-73p

Pauper’s graveyard at Evergreen Cemetery  20: 54p; LE: 114-115p

Peace Sign grave (Totowa)  9: 31p-32p

Perkins children grave at Springfield Methodist  (Springfield)  LE: 121p

Peter H. Ballantine [beer baron] at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (Newark)  17: 46p

Petrified People [monuments]  LE: 80p-83p

Phantom of Felician College graveyard (Lodi)  32: 64p

Piano gravestone at Mt. Calvary Cemetery (Butler)  22: 55p

Podman patrol car grave (Tuckerton)  24: 34p; 25: 14

Polka gravestone at Greenwood Cemetery (Brielle)  30: 87p

Porcelain gravestone (Atlantic County)  21: 33p; LE: 85p

Princess Susanna Bokonyi — “World’s Oldest Midget” at Glenwood Cemetery (Vernon) 23: 24p; LE: 50p

Pyramid Mausoleum at Floral Hill Cemetery (West New York)  11: 31p; 16: 65

“Quack” grave  31: 64p

Queen family gravesite – victims of axe murderer Paul Maywoon at Mount Pleasant Cemetery (Mount Pleasant)  31: 63p; LE: 121p

Rainbow grave (Princeton)  19: 56p

“Remain here” bench at St. Mary’s Cemetery (Hamilton)  25: 35p

Revolutionary war graves along Cannon Ball Road (Ramapo Mountain)  1-3: 11

“Revolution will not be televised” gravestone (Princeton)  25: 35p; LE: 30p

Rex the Wonder Dog grave at Clara-Glen Pet Cemetery (Linwood)  17: 70p; LE: 87p, 93

Roadside grave (Tewksbury)  25: 28p

Rocketship gravestone at Mt. Hebron Cemetery (Montclair)  18: 67p; LE: 79p

“Sad, angry story” gravestone at Presbyterian Cemetery (Succasunna)  23: 44p

Salvaged Sprites – artist turns graveyard trash into decorative ornaments  LE: 24p

Satanik family gravestone (Bound Brook)  23: 44p

Schaeffer “Last call” grave with view of Pabst Brewery bottle  26: 64p

“Shakespeare” graves – Julius Caesar, Hamlett, Mac Beth and Montague at Rosedale Cemetery (West Orange)  31: 62p

Shaking grave at Hurdtown Methodist Cemetery on Route 15 (Jefferson)  21: 33; 24: 39; LE: 34p

Shaler family grave along Indian Cabin Road (Egg Harbor City)  18: 42p-43p; 19: 92; 33: 21

“She was and is Joy Joy Joy” grave  LE: 30p

Shrine to Willie on Garret Mountain (Paterson)  25: 93p

Silence gravestone at First Presbyterian Church (Metuchen)  22: 52p

Singin’ Sam Stevens in Evergreen Cemetery (Hillside)  11: 29p

“Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite” grave marker at Spruce Run Lutheran Cemetery (Glen Gardner)  26: 64p; LE: 30p

Smith Family multiple burials at Cedar Grove Cemetery (Somerset/Franklin)  16: 36p; LE: 120p

Snowhite gravestone St. Mary’s Cemetery (Rosenhayn)  22: 52p

Snyder Family Graveyard (Wyckoff)  28: 74; LE: 105d

Soldier’s grave at Wenonah Cemetery (Wenonah)  22: 52p

Sowerbutt family stone in Cedar Lawn Cemetery (Paterson)  20: 52p

Spark plug [Llewellyn] grave (Bergenfield)  25: 29p; LE: 22-23p

Spinning headstone at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery (Saddle Brook)  24: 39p; LE: 38p

SpongeBob Squarepants – Metallica on gravestone of Nicholas Mascolo  29: 82p

Stadium seats as grave marker  19: 54

Standing statues of Holy Sepulchre Cemetery  23: 4p, 38p-39p

Stones of the Unknown  LE: 109p

Strong / Knapp grave at Fair View Cemetery (Red Bank)  28: 75p

Suicide (?) gravestone at abandoned cemetery (Wawayanda)  26: 66

Swing gravestone at Bloomfield Cemetery (Bloomfield)  30: 87p

Tango gravestone at St. Gertrude’s Cemetery (Colonia)  30: 87p

Teetering tombstone of Old Tennent Church Cemetery (Manalapan)  18: 68p

“Thanks we had a wonderful time” grave  LE: 30p

Thorp Family graves at First Presbyterian Churchyard (East Hanover)  9: 22p; LE: 120p

Todisco gravestone at St. Gertrude’s Cemetery (Colonia)  30: 87p

Tombstone found by streetsweepers (North Bergen)  22: 54; LE: 116

Tombstone shaped like a tree trunk at Newton Cemetery (Newton)  21: 31p

Tombstone with a devil image (Carey, OH)  29: 98

Tombstones at the Regency Club condos (Livingston)  LE: 105

Tombstones with upward pointing hand (Trenton)  25: 28p

Top 10 scenic New Jersey Cemeteries  LE: 82

Totem pole gravestone at Friends Meeting House Cemetery  29: 82p

Train-themed gravestone (Morristown)  28: 41p; LE: 79p

Tribute marker to Peg Leg the seagull (Long Beach Island)  25: 80p; 27: 11; LE: 91p

Tribute to fisherman at Paulinskill Viaduct (Blairstown)  23: 44p; 25: 19

Unmarked grave in backyard (Jamesburg)  31: 8

Unusual graves at Chatsworth Cemetery (Chatsworth)  25: 30p; 26: 67p

Unusual gravestones at Hazelwood Cemetery (Rahway)

Bingo card, automobile, train, empty frame, postage stamp  27: 57p

Victims of New Era shipwreck buried at Old First Methodist Church (Long Branch) 27: 6; LE: 111-112

Violent criminals segregated in cemetery (Carlstadt)  11: 32

Violin gravestone at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (Millville)  22: 55p

Volleyball net set up in graveyard (East Greenwich)  28: 73p

Waltz gravestone at Maplewood Cemetery (Freehold)  30: 87p

Ware family gravesite – multiple deaths in 1933 (Bridgeton)  13: 57p

Weary Willie (Nutley)  9: 26

Website/Star Wars grave-site at Hazelwood Cemetery (Rahway)  15: 76p; 16: 11, 12

“Well done” gravestone (Hightstown)  25: 35p

“We’re just passing through” grave  31: 64p

Wierdo gravestone  27: 58p

Witch buried upright (Elmwood Park)  11: 4

Witch’s grave (Sayreville)  14: 64

Witches’ grave and sacrificial table at Newton Cemetery (Newton)  21: 31p

Woman buried in her car  16: 36

Wooden totem pole at the Friend’s Meetinghouse Cemetery (Randolph)  LE: 85p

“World’s Greatest Electrician” grave (Totowa)  8: 29p; 9: 31p-32p; 11: 2

Yagoo’s Road/Ghost of Yagoo (Millington)  8: 31

“Yesterday is History…” gravestone (Princeton)  27: 58p

Yourstone grave  19: 56p

Zaccone “Big Sneaker” gravestone (Belleville/Bloomfield)  12: 60p

Zip, the What Is It?” Grave in Bound Brook Cemetery  10: 28p-29p; LH: 38; LE: 52p

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Using the Weird N.J. Index

The easiest way to quickly and accurately locate information in this index is to use the Find/Search function supported by your browser to help guide your search. Example: Press command & F then enter the name of a location or a town into the search field.

Entries in this index conform to the general pattern:

Subject/Topic/Personal or Place Name (Geographic Location) Issue# : Pages

Special issues are designated by the following acronyms:  LE = Last Exit; LH =Local Heroes, Villains and Artists of Weird N.J.; NP = Nightshade on the Passaic; RG = Weird N.J. 2003 Roadside Guide; TCR = Tales From Clinton Road.

Multiple index entries are separated by a semi-colon (;). Page numbering in Weird N.J. magazine did not begin until Issue #6. The page numbering given for Issues #1 through #5 is modeled after the format of later issues (i.e., the cover is counted as page 1).

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Local Heroes and Villains

General  LH: 4-5, 21, 39, 51, 55, 65, 79, 86, 97, 104

Abraham Clark — New Jersey signer of the Declaration of Independence  32: 47d

“Absolutely Terrific” bus driver (Newark)  29: 70

Adidas Man (Avenel/Woodbridge)  24: 77

Adolph Heuer, builder of time travel car and witness to many strange phenomena (Warren County)  18: 38p-40p

Airplane Sissies  33: 6p

Albert P. Greim, builder of Birdsville Church (Tom’s River)  14: 36p

Albert Herpin – the man who did not sleep (Trenton)  24: 79d

Alfred Nobel – Inventor of dynamite  28: 70p

Alfredo the Preacher (Elizabeth)  15: 22d; 16: 4; 21: 7

The Allwood Walker  13: 32

Alphonse DeNoble – actor in Alice, Sweet Alice (Paterson)  32: 77p

Al Tomaini, the Jersey Giant  17: 49p

“The Amazing Kreskin” predicts date of own death (Caldwell)  14: 4p

Amboy Aqualung (Perth Amboy)  20: 41; 21: 12

Andy Sinatra, “The Mystic Barber”  6: 31; 32: 86

Angelo Nardone’s Statue House (Nutley)  1-3: 8; 8: 41p; 11: 2; 19: 91; 22: 10; 31: 11

Annie Thorman, aka “Chicken Annie” (Pine Brook)  26: 46p

Another “Nude Dude” (Chatham)  14: 28

Antenna Man (Moorestown)  24: 77; 25: 11

Anthony Srsich — “Absolutely Terrific” bus driver (Newark)  29: 70; 32: 68p

Archie Stiles, owner of Archie’s Resale Shop (Meyersville) 7: 24p; 10: 49p; 16: 11-12; RG: 52p; 21: 15; 25: 11; LE: 89p

Armless man (Clinton Road)  TCR: 38

Atco Jack aka Magic Jack – amazing closeup magician (Atco/Berlin/Clemonton)  27: 81

August C. Roberts – early UFO researcher and member of “The New York Circle”

32: 81, 87p

Axe Lady (Avenel)  10: 14

Axe-wielding maniac at McCurdy Lane haunted house (Jackson)  31: 39; 32: 21-22

Backwards Lady (Barrington)  20: 41

Backwards Walking Man: Cranford  28: 71; Fanwood  29: 42; South Orange  29: 42

Banana-wielding bandit  6: 8

Barefoot Man (Mount Tabor)  25: 74; 30: 79

Be-boppin’ Waver – “Cult of the Wavers” (Rahway)  23: 79

Bee Lane protest suicides – Craig Badiali and Joan Fox (Chew’s Landing) 21: 55; 22: 56-57d; 26: 16

Beer Can Billy (West Orange)  28: 12

Bela Lugosi – House on Norman Place (Tenafly)  26: 20

Bert Brier and “The Brier Affair” (Piscataway)  16: 30p-32p

Bertha Bottle Basher (Rahway)  26: 47

Bette Cooper – N.J.’s only Miss America pageant winner  LH: 12d-13

Bicycle Bill (Prospect Park)  26: 47

Bicyclist with dog cart (Palmyra)  27: 27d

Big Mike (Highland Park)  17: 57

Bill Haley and the Comets (Gloucester)   30: 93

Bill & Joyce Munn — packrat survivalists (West Orange)  28: 60p-61

Billy – “The Guy with Many Names” (Rutherford)  28: 71

BioMedical Tissue Services — human tissue theft business  (Fort Lee)  LE: 131

Bird and fish fancier (Troy Hills)  6: 9

Birdman of the Pulaski Skyway, “Cult of the Wavers” (Jersey City)  10: 3p

Birmingham family (South Orange)  5: 21

Bishop Alma White, founder of Pillar of Fire Church (Zarephath)  18: 59p-60d; 21: 14

Bizarre murder capital of N.J.? (South River)  20: 41

Bizarro convenience store professor (Tom’s River)  5: 7

Blind accordion player with German Shepherd (Atlantic City)  17: 11

Blue people of the Bic factory (Jersey City)  31: 14

Boardwalk Lady (Asbury Park)  20: 41

Bob Dylan  24: 22p-24p; 25: 12-13p; 26: 6p; 27: 93

Bongo Bongo Man of Parvin State Park (Pine Barrens)  25: 92

Boob Lady of Cherry Hill Mall (Cherry Hill)  31: 90

“The Bowler” of Five Corners (Perth Amboy)  15: 26; 16: 9; LH: 92-94 aka Bowler Jim/Joe

Brady, Michael E. — served as Dutch Boy model (Montclair) 30: 79dp

Brasnos Family of Midgets  26: 81p

Bridge-jumping date (Sea Bright/Rumson)  29:10

Broadway Walker (Bayonne)  24: 77

Bud Abbott  29: 8

Buddy Rodgers Jr., the “Bud” of Bud’s Grave  19: 60p-63p; 24: 14

Buddy Rodgers Sr., the builder of Bud’s Grave  19: 60p-63p; 24: 14

Bumper Car Psychos – Tom Mygerack and Keith Van Brunt (Keansburg) 23: 8; 24: 84p; 29: 58p-59p

Busty waitress of Fort Lee Diner  4: 23

Camper/Slice Man (Keansburg)  20: 41

Candy Andy (Point Pleasant)  23: 78; 24: 14

“Candyman” with doll heads in pool (Millville)  29: 42

Captain Quaalude of Upsala College (East Orange)  23: 80

“Car Man”  (Navesink?/Middletown?)  6: 7

Casual burglar (Bradley Beach)  9: 8-9

Cat Lady of Carney’s Point (Carney’s Point)  11: 27

Cat Man of PSE&G (Bloomfield)  24: 77p; 25: 13; 29: 85

Characters of Red Bank – Bella, Betsy and Shaboodie  20: 46

Charlie “Blood” Benanti — Legendary boxer and owner of Charlie Blood’s restaurant  30: 93d

“Chew Man” karaoke singer at Connie Mac’s Bar  (Pennsauken)  30: 79

“Chicken Annie” aka Annie Thorman (Pine Brook)  26: 46p

Children with Nazi names (Holland Township)  32: 12

The Chilester (Highland Park)  17: 57

Chris Gethard — extraordinary Weird NJ guy  32: 20p; 33: 14, 66p-67

Chris Manges – Snow artist  22: 14

Circus freaks (Boonton)  20: 58p-61p

Cliff Dwellers (West New York)  13: 6

Claude Trenier  and the Treniers (Atlantic City)  30: 93

The “Coatless Crew”  25: 16

The Collage House creator (Sussex)  19: 18p-22; 20: 4; 33: 15

Collingswood Cross-Dresser  27: 26

Colorful characters (West Orange)  14: 28; 15: 46; Elvis, Dirty Toes, Sweatpants Man, Penny Man, Power Walker

Col. Routh Goshen (Franklin) 21: 32p; LE: 51p  aka The Middlebush Giant

Cop stages illegal private prostitution stings (Manchester)  28: 4, 6

Cosmo, the King of Perth Amboy (Perth Amboy)  26: 44p

Cowboy patrols Route 23 (West Milford)  LH: 82d

Craig Calam, “Mugsy” on the Uncle Floyd Show  26: 12p

Crazy Doll Lady (Toms River)  28: 62

Crazy Jimmy and the Red Desert (Point Pleasant)  13: 33

Crazy Ken (Tom’s River)  17: 54; 19: 8, 10  aka Spaceman Ken, Bob

Crazy Tony (Clifton)  17: 57d

Crunchy Bill (Lyndhurst)  24: 77

Dan Becker – curator of World’s Tallest Water Sphere Museum and website 32: 73p-74p, 92

Dancing Francine the Queen of Middlesex at Kerwin’s Bar (Middlesex)  20: 40; 32: 16

Dancing Moonlady (Berkeley Heights)  32:  76

David Morrell – author of the Asbury Park novel Creepers  26: 40p

Dead Pheasant Girl (Burlington County)  26: 14

The Debris Freak of Chestnut Street (Roselle Park/Union)  24: 76

Denville Waver – “Cult of the Wavers” (Denville)  23: 79

Diaper Man arrested – William Rhode III (Paterson)  23: 14; 25: 10-11

Dizzy Lizzy (Rutherford)  28: 71

Doctor Beuche – strange disappearance in 1964 (Spotswood)  26: 32

“Dollar-bill Walking Guy” aka Bendover Man (Absecon)  15: 24; 33: 82

“Doomsday” the apocalyptic preacher (West Orange)  15: 24

Doris Duke – Poor little rich girl (Hillsborough)  LH: 19d-20

Dorothea Dix and the Poorhouses of N.J.  20: 38

Dover Gutter Band  31: 50p

Dr. Beard – President of the Hollow Earth Society (Island Heights)  27: 28p-31; 28: 12

Dr. Danielle Smith – fraudulent transvestite veterinarian (Atlantic City)  33: 7

Dr. Eric Braverman, quack (Princeton)  8: 5

Dr. Steven Novella — cranky arch-skeptic  30: 98

“Dueling Drunks” (Dunellen)  18: 11

Earle S. Eckel and the first autogyro airport in the U.S. (Washington)  32: 77p

Ebenezer Price — renowned gravestone carver  LE: 46p-47p

Eccentric cat-lover’s feline collection (Newark)  9: 9

Eccentric characters of Butler – The Boody, Old Ray (aka Lump Man), Patch Eye,

and The Walker  16: 66; 17: 9

Eddie Feigner – “The King and his Court” 4-man softball team  29: 18

Ed “Elvis” Geil & Dolores, “Cult of the Wavers” (Wayne)  9: 3p; 18: 10; 29: 57p;

33: 12p

Edward Hyde, New Jersey’s First Royal Governor was a drag queen  20: 40d

Edward Stotesbury – millionaire industrialist & builder of Whitemarsh Hall  20: 90p-91p

Eerie woman of Williamsburg Estates (Montgomery)  6: 12

El Diablo – aka Yahoo, Wahoo and WhaHoo (Paterson) 11: 27; 15: 46; 16: 65; 17: 10-11; 18: 14; LH: 25d-26

Electroshock Lady (Highland Park)  17: 57

Eleven O’clock Caller (Matawan)  13: 32

Emergency Room “Ninja” (Somerville)  27: 4

Emilio Carranza memorial (Tabernacle)  31: 75p

Enos “Cy” Harker defends his farm on Old Mine Road  33: 6-7

Evil Clown (Howell)  17: 86d

“Eyesore Eddie” Van Hine aka Crazy Eddie  28: 31p

Fart spray attackers (Washington, Warren County)  17: 16

“Fatsy Patsy”, shell-shocked musician (North Bergen)  10: 4

“Firecracker” man (Elizabeth)  12: 31d

“Flasher” plumber (Cranford)  17: 14

Flesh-colored Speedo guy (Atlantic City)  15: 24

Flipperheads – northern New Jersey hillbillies  27: 26

Floyd Vivino  see Uncle Floyd

Francis A. Burdett, blind carpenter (Wayne)  4: 11; 8: 22p

Francis Hopkinson — New Jersey signer of the Declaration of Independence  32: 47d

Freak of Russel Avenue (Franklin Lakes)  see Midnight Walker

Freaks of Central Avenue (Jersey City)  31: 9

Fred Kanter (Mountain Lakes) Boat in a tree, bowling ball pyramid and futuristic car from “Sleeper” 26: 76p-78p

Imitation police car and hearse on display  28: 6

Garden State Parkway collector-freak  6: 10

George Arbuckle – concrete artwork & Statue of Liberty (Vineland)  20: 1p, 70p-71p; 26: 19

George Daynor and the Palace Depression (Vineland)  4: 18; 7: 12p-13p; 14: 16p-18p; 15: 5p; 17: 9, 14; 18: 13; 19: 12, 14p; 20: 12; 23: 19; 25: 40p; 28: 31; 30: 21; 31: 12p; 32: 12p, 25p

George Hansen – author of The Trickster and the Paranormal  32: 85

George Jurczek and his Circle of Friends cult (Morristown/Randolph)  LH: 62-64

George Lightcap [guardian of “Murray”, the world’s largest tin foil ball]  28: 88p

George Morlot – Strange disappearance in 1894 (Paterson)  26: 32p

George Panas – owner of Howard Johnson’s Restaurant (Asbury Park)  14: 13p

George the Mad Sipper (Chatham)  26: 47

George Van Hecke – N.J.’s first Ufologist  32: 84p

The Ghouls — monitor obituaries and rummage through the trash of the dead  LE: 10

Glen Jones – radio host and pork roll fanatic  26: 70p-71p

Goat Man (Hoboken)  27: 26

Goffle Road Waver – “Cult of the Wavers” (Hawthorne)  23: 79

Golf ball-Face Guy (Asbury Park)  20: 41

Gooseman (Howell)  17: 86

Gracie Knox – the Pink Lady (Metuchen)  22: 64p; 23: 63p

Grade-schoolers penny protest (Readington Township)  31: 20

Grandma’s world record craps roll at Borgata Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City)  33: 6

Grandma Squirrel (Jackson)  26: 47; 30: 12p

Graverobbers Polito Pizzaro and Louis Vega (Paterson)  10: 9

Greg Napolitan and his roadside wood carvings [Jersey Devil, etc.] (Frenchtown) 30: 62p

Hackensack Dancer  LH: 22d-23  aka James Roberson

Hacksaw bandit (East Orange)  5: 8

The Happy Man  – “Cult of the Wavers” (East Brunswick)  23: 79

Happy Walker of Route 565 (Wantage)  20: 40; 22: 7

Harry De La Roche and the Thanksgiving murders [“Montvale Horror”] (Montvale) 29: 27p; 30: 10; 31: 8

Harry Houdini’s headquarters (Union)  25: 74p

Hat and Glasses Family (Elizabeth)  25: 18

“The Head” of Little Mill Road (Pine Hill/Gloucester)  9: 14; 14: 54

Helga the Roadkill Connoisseur (Great Swamp)  20: 40-41

Henry Herbert Goddard – Eugenicist, psychologist and Director of Vineland Training                                            School Research Laboratory  16: 38-41, 78-81; 24: 12

Hermit of Lahaway (Lahaway)  25: 74

Heroin-addicted hamster abuser (Mountainside)  20: 14-15

Hezekiah B. Smith, eccentric inventor and founder of Smithville  18: 67; LE: 67p

“He walks by night” Man  see Midnight Walker

High-Heel Guy of Route 37 (Tom’s River)  32: 77

“Hollywood”, short-order cook at the Short Stop Diner (Bloomfield)   25: 88

Homeless Liberace (Bricktown)  26: 47

Hooper Cumming and the suspicious death of his wife Sarah at Great Falls (Paterson)  31: 97p-98p

Hoop “King-O-Art” (Clifton)  6: 3p; 7: 8; 8: 13; 9: bp; 10: bp; 14: 4p; 18: 84p; 27: 4p; RG: 84p

Hot water/Knife tossing guy (Paterson)  18: 14

Howard Menger, UFO contactee  6: 31; 10: 50; LH: 56; 24: 58p-59p; 32: 80, 86p

Hubb brothers, Gerald and John – their nautical menagerie and missing mother  (Paulsboro)  31: 73p; 32: 25

“Hubcap Joe” Demarco  5: 30

Idiot thief steals concrete statue of veteran to pawn as metal (Little Ferry)  32: 10

“Indian Joe” – strange tied-up guy along the trail (Delaware Water Gap)  16: 24d

Irwin Richardt, staunch individualist  LH: 80d-81; 28: 28d see also Boteapa Indian Reservation

Ivan T. Sanderson – zoologist, paranormal researcher, and founder of SITU  6: 22-23; 7: 29-31; 18: 39; RG: 65; 23: 73p; 25: 13-14; 26: 15-16; 32: 81, 87

“Jack the Count” (Wood Ridge/Carlstadt/Wallington)  12: 32; 28: 30-31; 32: 17; 33: 21

James Bechtold’s Three Stooges grave in Hillside Cemetery (Metuchen)  32: 68p; 33: 16; LE: 12p-13p

James G. Madison — “The Mad Hatter” bank robber and murderer of Terry Lee Wells  NP: 54-56

James M. Allgor’s “War of Words” (Rumson)  16: 54-55p

James Roberson  see Hackensack Dancer

Jean Shepherd (author)  1-3: 17-19; RG: 15p-16p; 22: 10

Jeffrey Ford – Interview with author influenced by Weird N.J.  31: 82p-83

Jennie Evil – creator of animatronic “Tillie” head  32: 7p

Jerry Russo, enraged nose-picking motorist (Tom’s River)  10: 9

Jill McCartney, premonition of own death  5: 5

Jim Babjak – lead guitarist of The Smithereens is Carteret native  32: 58p-59p

Jim Baglivo, cryopreservation of (Hammonton)  5: 5

Jim Gary, creator of life-size dinosaur sculptures  RG: 45p-46p; 26: 13p

Jim Hendricks – host of Commander USA’s Groovie Movies on the USA Network

30: 78p

Jim “Lake” Laker (Clark/Rahway)  27: 26p

Jimmy Buff’s “Right Hand Man” (West Orange)  22: 80-81d

Jimi Hendrix, lyrics on boulder at Split Rock Reservoir  24: 93p; 25: 10

Joe Cerce “Cult of the Wavers” aka Wavin’ Joe (Totowa)  8: 3p; 11: 2; 16: 87; 19: 73d; 30: 9

Joe Glomb and his pet duck pull trash out of the Passaic River (North Arlington)  31: 93

Joe Mulliner – “Robin Hood of the Pine Barrens” (Pleasant Mills)  20: 42p-43p; 21: 31p

Joe Philipp the Human Siren (Edison)  32: 76p

Jonathon “The Implaler” Sharkey – vampire running for President  29: 12, 88p-89p

Johnathan Zarate — murderer of Jennifer Parks  NP: 56p-57

John the blind waiter at the Bendix Diner (Hasbrouck Heights)  RG: 35p; 23: 80p

John Elmo and Jim Davidson, Tube Bar prank phonecallers  8: 25p; 10: 52p-53d; 13: 13

John Emil List, murdered own family  5: 6; 19: 12, 15; 10: 6; LH: 66-68; 26: 20

John Hart — New Jersey signer of the Declaration of Independence  32: 47d

John Hearle – Road Warrior of Greenwood Lake (Passaic County)  26: 88p

Johnny Dirt, Dirtstock and his dive into the Passaic River (Newark)  31: 93p

Johnny Mustard (Bayonne)  24: 77

Johnny Stitches (Atlantic City)  26: 46d

John “Snakedaddy” Hanley – N.J. esoteric sculptor  31: 7p; 32: 7p

John Symmes – originator of the Hollow Earth theory (Sussex County)  27: 28-31

John T. Hanson – obituary, lead guitarist and co-vocalist for the Accelerators  19: 15p

John Taylor — maker of Taylor meat products buried at Riverview Cemetery (Trenton)  31: 51

John Witherspoon — New Jersey signer of the Declaration of Independence and ancestor of actress Reese Witherspoon  32: 47d

Joseph Januszkiewicz and the Virgin Mary (Marlboro)  6: 10; 7: 16; 18: 58

Joseph Kekuku – Hawaiian steel guitar inventor (Dover)  24: 38

Joseph Laux, Builder of the Pebble Palace (Deptford)  19: 44p

Joseph McMoneagle – remote viewer 001 for the U.S. Government  32: 85

Josephine Stapleton’s Art Lawn (Buena Vista)  aka Lawn of a Thousand Milk Bottles 4: 6; 7: 5; 10: 41p; 30: 3p; 32: 16

Joshua Gee – author of Encyclopedia Horrifica  31: 6p

“Just Do It” Man (Nutley/Passaic Park)  LH: 95d

Karl and Sascha Germer  25: 26p-27p; 26: 18p

Kea Tawana -  builder of Noah’s Ark replica  14: 23-24  aka “Ark Woman of Newark”

Killer clown with eating disorder (Moorestown)  26: 21

Larcenous newspaper carrier (Phillipsburg)  33: 7

Lawyers for Chrysler and Honeywell interrupt burial (South Brunswick)  33: 6

Leaf Lady (Point Pleasant)  24: 76d

Len Mobus and his pigs living in buses (Warren)  16: 66p

Lil’ Old Biker (Keansburg)  20: 41

Lollipop crossdresser (Edison)  28: 12

Long John Nebel – radio show host  6: 31; 7: 31; 32: 79; 87

Lorenzo Harris and his sand sculptures (Asbury Park/Atlantic City)  29: 38p-41p

Lou Costello  12: 63p; RG: 10p; 29: 8

Louie the Saluter Waver – “Cult of the Wavers” (Eatontown)  23: 79

Louis West, author of Ramapo Mountain Stories and Tales  13: 34p-35p

Lt. Janet Aiello – transgendered cop (Hoboken)  LH: 16-18

Mad Jack (Tuckahoe)  22: 58

Mad Mike – legendary misfit (Caldwell)  NP: 50-53

Mad sculptor of Bergen Community College (Paramus)  15: 38

Mad pig farmer (Split Rock Road)  10: 39

“Ma Gertie” – Frieda Gertrude Cammeron (Clark)  33: 65p

Magic Jack — see Atco Jack

Major George Filer III – stationed at McGuire Air Force Base when alien was killed 30: 16d; 32: 83-84

Malcolm B. Wells, pioneering architect in underground housing  21: 46p

Man claiming to be Satan brawls with police (Stanhope)  31: 18

Man dangling from Routh 18 underpass (New Brunswick)  23: 14

Man drives to funeral parlor and dies (Maplewood/Verona)  18: 16; LE: 126

Man injured having sex with vacuum cleaner (Long Branch)  11: 10

Man in the Woods (Clinton Road)  TCR: 39

Man likes to eat his pets (Vernon)  13: 6

Man on the Bridge (Clinton Road)  TCR: 39

Man shoots woman about to say “New Jersey” (Texas)  18:17

Man urinates in police station (Mount Olive)  29: 12

Man who claims to be Charles A. Lindbergh Jr.  10: 30p-35p; 20: 10

Man who slept in a coffin (Westville)  22: 58

Marc Snyder’s prescription protest house (May’s Landing)  21: 16

Marianne Boulard  see Mud Lady

Marionette Man (Bricktown)  20: 41

Martha Wright – strange disappearance in 1975 (New York City)  26: 32

Megan Bianchetti – collector of empty ballpoint pen ink tubes (Morris County) 18: 12-13

Melancholy Transvestite (Stillwater)  27: 26

Mental Ed (Bloomfield/Clifton/Montclair)  10: 20

Messy yard and unique owner (Whippany)  25: 6

Michael Berryman, actor reading Weird NJ  19: 51p

Michael Zanakis and food contamination fraud  10: 9

Midget mailbox bandit (Bloomfield)  33: 6p

Midget with eating disorder (Marlton)  24: 42; 26: 21

Midnight Walker (Wyckoff)  4: 18; 6: 15; 7: 9; LH: 87d-90 aka The Green Man, Freak of Russel Avenue, “He walks by night” Man

Mike & Ike – contrasting twins (Little Falls)  14: 28

Miss Liberty  aka Sondra Fortunato (Brick)  25: 72p-73p; 32: 10

Model train nuts at work (Morristown)  28: 41

Mom and son beat mail carrier  6: 8-9

Monkey Man (Bayonne)  15: 25; LH: 48; 21: 12

Monkeyman (Hoboken)  5: 19; 9: 54d; LH: 48-49p; 22: 12; 29: 21d

Monkey Man of Four Corners (Singac)  9: 5; 13: 33p; 14: 6; 16: 65; LH: 48

“Monkey Man” veterinarian and his pets (Tom’s River)  19: 74

Moron goes on paintball shooting spree (“Midgetville”)  32: 25-26

“Most Disgusting People Ever” (Union County)  28: 61d-62

Mountain Man (Montclair)  LH: 84d-85d

Mountain Men of Crystal Lake (West Orange)  LH: 101d-103

Mud Lady (Morristown)  aka Marianne Boulard  LH: 6d-8; 30: 14

Mysterious illuminated bum (Philadelphia, PA)  28: 11

Naked thief wearing only socks arrested (Elizabeth)  22: 18

Nat Lento – strange disappearance in 1968 (Nutley)  26: 32

Nature Boy at Terrace Pond  TCR: 40-41

Necrophilia at hospital morgue (Teaneck)  30: 16; LE: 133d

Nicholas Dorazio the naked motorist (Bloomfield)  10: 9

Ninja narcs nabbed by police (Clifton)  32: 8

Non-doctor treats his neighhbors (Old Bridge)  12: 15

Not so quick robbers (Berlin)  5: 7

Nude cop in car crash on Route 27 (Edison)  24: 4

Nude Drunken Dude breaks into school (Parsippany)  19: 15

Nude Dude (Totowa)  12: 32; 13: 14; 14: 6; 15:10  aka Bare Bob, Naked Ned

Nude Dude bites policemen (Union City)  19: 15

“Odd” but not dangerous neighbor (Tewksbury)  7: 14

Oldest person in New Jersey – Walter Seward  29: 92dp-93p; 31: 12; 32: 17, 25p

Old Lady of the Freak House (Carteret)  13: 32

Olive and George Brasnos – midget actors (Old Bridge)  26:81

Oliver Family – creators of Life-size dinosaur sculptures  RG: 44p; 29: 90p-91p

“One-Armed Mike” – owner of Mike’s Little Zoo once located on site of Camden County College (Blackwood)  33: 16

Orthopedic surgeon sued for putting temporary tattoo on patient (Camden)  31: 22

Otto Poll – actual name of Frank Merriwell (silent screen Tarzan)  11: 24p

Owner of rest stop “porn car” arrested (Garden State Parkway / Atlantic City)  31: 22

Pale Man (Howell)  17: 86

“Pappy Huff” (Paterson) – local stock-car driver  29: 18

Parkway Mary (Keansburg)  20: 41

Parkway Raker (Union)  20: 41

Pastor Harry burns Santa on the History Channel  30: 98

Pastor Richard Greene’s visions to rebuild Noah’s Ark (Frostburg, MD)  24: 90

Pat Marcatillio – “Dr. UFO”  32: 85p-86p

Patti Mayo and her pimped trailer (Edison)  32: 71p

Paul Maywoon — axe murderer who killed the Queen family (Mount Pleasant)  31: 63p; LE: 121p

“Perfy” — N.J. advertising mascot  15: 23p; 18: 10; LH: 40d-42

Pete “Bruz” Brusyo — 40-oz. malt liquor collection and website  27: 80p

Phantom of Cedar Lane (Teaneck)  21: 52

Phynocious the angry hobo (Perth Amboy)  15: 26; 16: 9; 17: 4 aka The Track-Nut, Moondog, Crazy Larry

Pink Austin Bellamy – builder of folk-art house  11: 51p; 24: 78p; 25: 10p

“Pink Lady” – Madame Mildred Johnson (West Orange)  22: 64p

Pirates at the Tiki and the Wharfside bars (Point Pleasant)  31: 10

Pop, “Live Free or Die”-Guy and his battles with local government (Jefferson)  18: 76d

“Popcorn”, legendary Trenton sign painter  RG: 54p

Prince of Soul – 1970s DJ on radio station WTTM (Trenton)  30: 11

Prince Randian – The Human Torso  22: 59p

“Pull ‘Em Up Artie” (Lake Hiawatha)  30: 79

Purple Bishop (Long Hill)  13: 32

Railway Bottle Gang (Woodbridge)  24: 78

The Raisin Man – Ira Fine (Washington, Gloucester County)  23: 78p

Rake Man  aka Mr. Clean (Maplewood)  23: 79d

Ransford Rogers – bogus medium (Morristown)  LH: 59d-60

Rat Walker (Clifton)  11: 27

Reclusive owner of the Rat Habitat (Chester Township)  26: 26

Ree Coyle – Miss Salt Water Taffy  26: 14p

Revolutionary-era Hermit (Mount Holly)  32: 77

Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski  LH: 70d-72; 20: 7-8, 80; 21: 11; 25: 94; 27: 6d; 32: 22-23

Richard Stockton — New Jersey signer of the Declaration of Independence  32: 47d

Ricky Boscarino, creator of Luna Parc psychedelic art house (Sussex County) 21: 44p-45p

Ricky Syers and his portable restroom costume  32: 20p

Rita Gluzman — Dismembered husband Yakov and dumped him into Passaic River (East Rutherford)  NP: 57p-58p

Robber armed with gun and potato (Jersey City)  33: 10

“Robin Hood of the Pine Barrens”  see Joe Mulliner

Rocky Thoren – builder of Postal Rocket  12: 11-12

Roger the transvestite (Pompton Lakes)  18: 10-11; 32: 76p

Roland George, Creator of bowling ball pyramid (Mendham)  19: 45; 21: 12; 26: 76p-78p

Ronald McDonald kidnappers (Tom’s River)  5: 7

R. Stevie Moore [“World’s Most Prolific Musician ?”]  10: 36p-37p

Rose Place Hacksaw Killer (West Paterson)  26: 86

Royalty Patrenia Turner — Interesting letter from a paranoid schizophrenic  30: 99p

Rudy Bram – builder of Art House (Weehawken)  12: 16p

Ruggiero “Richie the Boot” Boiardo (Livingston)  8: 42p-43p; 9: 6; 12: 54; 22: 58p; 23: 7

Sam Goldman, builder of Marxist “Uncle Sam’s House” (Piscataway)  11: 50p; 15: 46

Sam Patch, the Jersey Jumper (Paterson)  11: 26p-27d

Sam the Werewolf (Millville)  29: 42

Sandy Stein and his camp for Cabbage Patch dolls (Red Bank)  24: 8

Santeria “doctor” injects woman with mercury (New Brunswick)  30: 20

Screaming Hilda (Fairfield)  15: 22

“Sea Hag” / “Machine Gun Gurtee” (Bayonne)  24: 77

“The Shadow” man [aka “Captain America”] (Bogota)  25: 74; 27: 27; 28: 14

Shultzy – the “monster” of Buttonwoods (Wayne)  NP: 42-43

Sleeper Watcher (Hackensack)  17: 14

Sleeping wine bandit (Glen Ridge)  24: 4

Slobber Bob (Ocean City)  26: 47

Smiling Man of Oraton Parkway (East Orange)  13: 32

The Snake Lady (Middletown)  23: 78

Sniffy the book-sniffer (Paramus)  20: 41

Sockman (Middletown/Red Bank)  15: 25; 18: 75d; LH: 53d; 23: 11

Spatula Man living in the Whitehouse Diner (Clinton)  21: 92; 27: 83p

Stalker hides inside woman’s couch (Newburgh, NY)  31: 22

Strange family and vampire girl (Somers Point)  33: 65

Stanley Hammell’s Insulator House (Galloway Township)  17: 34p; 18: 9

Steve Garufi – kayak voyage on the Passaic River  31: 98-99p

Strange man of the Parkway  12: 32

Strange Old Man of Smith Woods — Inventor of the Jersey Wall (Roselle)  28: 20

Stranger in a suit incident (Fair Lawn)  6: 4-5

Stripper collected human body parts – Freddy the hand (South Plainfield) 27: 83; 28: 29; 29: 84; LE: 130d

Stuffed animal car guy (Somerville)  27: 99p

Substitute teacher with a noose (Newark)  27: 4

Sunshine Man (Cape May County)  LH: 52d

Susan Hunter’s caged Three Stooges lawn display (Colonia)  23: 64p-65p; 26: 12p

Sutter family Chipmunk Run home (Upper Saddle River)  17: 33p; RG: 84p; 21: 6            Suzanne Muldowney, “Underdog” lady (Ocean City) 15: 24; 17: 11-12; LH: 14-15d; 23: 10; 24: 77p; 26: 45p; 29: 87p

“The Sweeper” of Saddle River County Park (Rochelle Park)  24: 76

Swimming pool in an apartment (Passaic)  17: 54d

Teen bites three cops (Morristown)  24: 6

Ten Step Lefty (Pennsauken)  32: 77

Thomas A. Edison – spectacular failures and electrocuting pets  16: 60p-64p; 22: 14; 28: 70p

Three-Eyed Man (Jersey City)  13: 32d

“Ticket Man” at the Clearview Cinemas (Morristown)  22: 16, 18

Tie Guy (Williamstown)  31: 90

Tiger Lady (Jackson)  LH: 9d-11d

Tim Burton [director]  11: 10, bp

Timothy Clark – Writer of the movie Hair of the Dog (filmed in Colts Neck)  31: 7p

Tom Bumby and his tin-foil ball named Andy (Long Hill)  32: 12p

Tom Fuscaldo (Paterson)  aka Bumblebee Man  18: 35p; 19: 6-7p

Tommy Sullivan, teen satanic murderer (Jefferson) 5: 24; 6: 5; 10: 15; 11: 8; 12: 10; 14: 10; LH: 74-75d; 20: 79p; 30: 8

Tranny Tommy (Boonton)  24: 77

Trashbag Guy (Millville)  29: 42

T.V. Man (Hackensack)  7: 20

`           Twin Brothers of Cedar Grove  14: 28d

Uncle Floyd  LH: 28d-34  aka Floyd Vivino

Uncle Walt – cranky old man (Hawthorne)  33: 64

Unidentified naked man (Edison)  12: 14

Unidentified naked male motorist (Piscataway)  18: 13

Used grease thief (Hanover)  26: 10

Thor – man from Venus  LH: 56-57d; 27: 31; 32: 87p

Vampire Man of Wanaque Avenue (Haskell/Ringwood)  8: 10d

Verona Skipper (Verona Park)  13: 32

Vicki Diamond’s rock artistry along Split Rock Road (Rockaway)  18: 34p

Vicki Salemi – “America’s Biggest Pig-Sty”  6: 10

Victor Ri Victolee  – creator of Multiplism Moses sculpture (Rutherford)  31: 72p

Voodoo Man of Convention Hall (Asbury Park)  27: 36

“The Walker” (Woodbridge)  23: 12

Walkie Talkie Man (Belvidere)  28: 71

The Walking Billboard (Bayville)  26: 44p

Wavin’ ARRRG Guy (Lincoln Park)  20: 40

Wavin’ Dude – “Cult of the Wavers” (Rio Grande)  23: 79

Waving Indian chief and his souvenir shop along Route 206 (Culver’s Lake)  33: 64p

Wavin’ Willie Spranger “Cult of the Wavers” (Newton) 8: 47p; 16: 87p; 19: 73dp; 20: 4; 23: 79; 27: 26p; 28: 58p; 32: 14-15

Wavin’ Willomeena – “Cult of the Wavers” (Newton)  23: 79

Weasel Brook Waver – “Cult of the Wavers” (Clifton)  23: 79

Weird Guy on bus (Riverton)  29: 42d

Weird mother and daughter (Willowbrook Mall)  28: 71

Wheelchair Annie (Clifton)  13: 32  aka The Nanny

Wheeler Antabanez, his exploration voyages of the Passaic and Rockaway                                                             rivers in the Nightshade  29: 30p-37p; 30: 2p; 31: 93; NP: entire issue

Whipped cream bandit (Pittman)  5: 7

Wilberforce Sylvester – creator of the Mural House (Pleasantville)  29: 60p-63p

William Clark, “Robot Man” – creator of auto-parts robots (Newtonville)  22: 67p

Willie “Leon” Perry and his incredible bicycles (Freehold)  24: 77; 26: 12

“The Wizard” – unruly magician at the Tidal Wave Bar & Grill (Lake Hopatcong)  31: 18

Woman injured by falling mannequin (Paramus)  9: 9

“Wonder Woman” (Ocean City)  15: 24

“Woodbridge Figures” creators  7: 17; 11: 9; 14: 54

Woody Guthrie  24: 22-24; 27: 93

Woo-Woo [or Siren] Boy – Brian Hughs (Lyndhurst)  22: 58; 23: 77p

World’s Sexiest Fat Man – “Cult of the Wavers” (town??)  26: 45p; 28: 49p

Yellow Ducks / Yellow Slickermen (Secaucus)  30: 79

Zed and Chink (Palmyra)  30: 63d

“Zip, the What Is It?”  aka William H. Johnson  10: 28p-29p; LH: 36d-38; LE: 52p

The Zorzis – Bowling Ball/Rocking Horse House (Kendall Park)  7: 27p; 10: 43p; 32: 26

All available back issues of Weird NJ magazine may be purchased through our web site’s shopping cart, or by visiting our Amazon Store.

Nearly 60 years before Peter Benchley’s novel “Jaws,” a real man-eater lurked the waters of the New Jersey coast. It was July 1, 1916, and in Beach Haven the tourist season was in full swing. The beaches were filled with sunbathers and the ocean with swimmers. Everything seemed like just another hot July day. But this day would be different from any other. A young Penn graduate named Charles E. Vansant, a resident of Beach Haven, died after having been attacked by a shark while out swimming. A lifeguard pulled him in and tried to stop the profuse bleeding, but Charles could not be saved. Scientists of the area wrote this off as a singular freak occurrence. They could not have been more wrong.

Five days later the shark would strike again, 45 miles to the north, near the Essex and Sussex Hotel in Spring Lake. Bellboy Charles Bruder would become the second fatality. He was swimming out beyond friends when he was heard screaming “A shark bit me! Bit my legs off!” These are the last words Charles would ever utter. Mesh barriers went up almost immediately around swimming areas. Still, it was too late to save the rest of the tourist season. What would happen next would elevate the panic to a new level.

Thirty miles farther north, residents of Matawan, a small town 11 miles inland from the open ocean, naturally felt that they were safe from attacks. Swimmers here were confined to the Matawan Creek, a narrow tidal creek that wound its way to the bay. A retired fishing boat captain, Thomas Cattrell, was walking home after a successful day of fishing. When he crossed over Matawan’s new trolley drawbridge he noticed something that seemed almost impossible: a huge shark was heading up the inland waterway. He couldn’t believe his eyes, but confidant that what he saw was very real, Cattrell ran into Matawan to warn everyone.

Though the citizens were all aware of the two shark attacks on the coast, no one could really believe there was any great threat of an attack in a small body of fresh water. Despite his vigorous pleas, the Captain’s story was dismissed as a heat induced phantom. Ignoring these warnings would prove a very grave mistake.

On July 12th a factory across town was generously letting 11-year-old Lester Stillwell leave work a little early. After meeting some friends, they went for a swim in the Matawan Creek. While they splashed and played, Lester told his two friends, both only a few feet away, to watch him floating on his back. A moment later he was violently pulled beneath the water. His friends listened in disbelief to his screams as he bobbed up and down. Blood filled the water around him as the shark dragged him under again and again. His friends swam as fast as they could and then ran into town screaming and crying.

The boys’ impassioned cries for help would not be ignored. 24-year-old Stanley Fischer sped to the creek with two other men thinking that Lester may have suffered an epileptic seizure. The two men dove in, not knowing there was a shark still attacking the boy’s corpse. Stanley Fischer attempted to pull the bloody body away from the shark and was also attacked. He died a few hours later at Monmouth Hospital in Long Branch.

But the NJ man-eater was not yet finished.

Heading back down the brackish tidal stream towards the ocean the shark struck again within one hour of the last attack, wounding 12-year-old Joseph Dunn who only narrowly escaped with his life, but not without losing a leg. He would be the 5th and final victim of the marauding fish.

Now the town of Matawan, stunned by the gruesome and unlikely attacks, was out for revenge. A reward was offered for the shark, and the people of Matawan became obsessed with vengeance against this evil creature. Some of the townspeople industriously filled the creek with dynamite, hoping to blast the shark into oblivion. The dramatic effort proved unsuccessful.

Back on the coast the greatest shark hunt in the state’s history was under way. Although no one knew the species, or its size, blind retribution would be swift. Hundreds of sharks were caught and slaughtered.

Shortly after the attack Michael Slicher, a coastal fisherman, captured the man-eater just outside a creek at the Raritan Bay. It was an eight and a half foot Great White*, and when dissected, 15 pounds of various human remains were allegedly discovered in its stomach. For many, the grisly discovery brought closure to the summer’s horrific events. (*Many experts now dispute the original reports of the rogue shark being a Great White and believe the killer was more likely a Bull Shark.)

It was now apparent that a single shark could be responsible for all of these attacks. In the summer of 1916 no one had yet imagined that so many could fall victim to a lone and vicious killer. One has to wonder–could it happen again?

Greystone Becomes “Gravestone”

Currently the State plans to demolish the historic main building at the closed Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. Officials recently made the decision after receiving six “expressions of interest” from groups interested in redeveloping the 678,000-square-foot Kirkbride Building on the hospital’s campus in Parsippany. It was built in 1876 and closed in 2008. The tentative plan is to start the demolition work in February or March of 2014.

Longtime Weird NJ contributor Phillip Buehler is about to release a book he has written and taken photographs for entitled WOODY GUTHRIE’S WARDY FORTY: Greystone Park State Hospital Revisited. Phil has just established a Kickstarter page to raise fund for the printing of this amazing documentation. According to Phil, “The reason for the Kickstarter is that we wanted to print a high quality book here in the U.S. (like Woody would have wanted) and don’t want to price the book at $150 a copy since printing here is many times more than printing in China.”

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/614091395/woody-guthries-wardy-forty-greystone-hospital-revi

One of the more infamous asylums in New Jersey lore is Greystone, located in Morris Plains/Parsippany. First conceived in1871 and known as The New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum at Morristown, the institution first opened its doors (to a mere 292 patients) on August 17, 1876.

In its day, Greystone was a landmark in progressivism. Designed by Thomas Kirkbride, the hospital advocated uncrowded conditions, fresh air, and the notion that mental patients were curable people. Over time, the humane reputation of Greystone was tarnished, as overcrowding became the norm (the hospital, which was originally meant to house hundreds, once contained 7,674 patients in1953). Overcrowding was a problem almost immediately in the hospital’s history. In 1881 the attic was converted into patient living space, and in 1887, the hospital’s exercise rooms were converted into more dormitories.

One of the hospitals more famous patients was folk singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie, who spend a stint at Greystone from 1956 to 1961. Woody was suffering from Huntington’s disease, a hereditary, degenerative nervous disorder which would eventual prove terminal. During his stay there, Woody referred to Greystone as “Gravestone.” This sardonically humorous nickname might prove more prophetic than Woody ever could have imagined, as Greystone might well be the last monument to a dying breed of New Jersey’s gargantuan mental institutions.

Many of the building at Greystone went abandoned long ago. The hospital was recently ordered closed altogether due to sexual abuses by employees against patients, patient on patient violence, and multiple patient suicides. Though historical societies have expressed a desire to preserve the older buildings of Greystone, the fate of the grand old asylum is still up in the air at the time of this writing. Sadly, the time of these massive abandoned behemoth asylums may soon come to an end. But the experience of exploring them in their abandoned state is still indelibly etched in the memories of those who once ventured inside.

The Weird NJ interview Phillip Buehler

For the past ten year artist Phillip Buehler has been exploring the ruins of Greystone Park Insane Asylum in Morris Plains, NJ and doing extensive research of the Woody Guthrie Archives. Woody Guthrie, the legendary folksinger, songwriter, and political activist was committed to Greystone on May 29, 1956, after he was arrested for “wandering aimlessly on the highways.”  He spent the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals and died in 1967 of Huntington’s disease, an incurable degenerative disease that he inherited from his mother.

Buehler has just completed a book based on his investigations of Woody Guthrie’s life and Greystone’s history. He calls the it “Wardy Forty,” which was Woody’s nickname for his hospital ward at Greystone, which he referred to as “Gravestone.”  The book seeks to bring to light a forgotten piece of American history – the commitment of a cultural icon to a state mental institution – and to simultaneously make us reflect on how Greystone’s abandonment and decay is connected to how we ignore, isolate, or forget the embarrassing, unpleasant, or traumatic.

Greystone Park was spread over 1,000 acres and had 8,500 patients while Guthrie was there. The main building was constructed in 1877 and had the largest foundation of any building in the United States until the Pentagon was completed in the 1940s. Greystone, like many other state hospitals, was notorious for patient neglect and abuse. Most of Greystone Park was abandoned in the 1970s with the advent of new drugs and changing attitudes about warehousing the mentally ill. As the state of New Jersey has recently decided to dispose of the property at Greystone Park, the buildings will most likely be destroyed in the next few years.

Buehler spent many days at the Woody Guthrie Archives searching through hundreds of letters and medical papers. Support from the Guthrie family led to the release of material that has never before been made public, including letters, home movies, and photographs of Guthrie and his family at Greystone.

WNJ: When did your fascination with ruins begin?

I grew up in New Jersey, the first real post-modern state. I started photographing ruins 35 years ago in high school, when a friend and I decided to explore Ellis Island. At the time it was totally abandoned, so we headed out in a 12-foot aluminum rowboat. We went back a few times to take photographs and make a 16mm film abut the island, always staying away from the windows on the side facing Liberty Island where park rangers were. I’ve since photographed dozens of ruins, many of which I have put up on my website at modern-ruins.com.  I always look to bring to the surface some lost piece of history or memory that is still relevant today.

Why did you first go to Greystone?

It was a summer weekend and I was looking for another adventure, so I called Mark Moran for a lead on someplace to shoot. Mark suggested Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. So I asked a friend, Bill Graef, who is also and artist, if he’d like to come on a photo safari, and off we went.

What was your first trip like?

Greystone Park is a huge institution, with many buildings on 1,000 acres. Some of the buildings are still in use as there are still around 400 patients there. There weren’t any “no trespassing” signs around so we went up to one of the abandoned buildings and walked right in an open door. It’s since been sealed up pretty tight. Almost immediately we came across the remnants of the darkroom and patient mugshot files – none had names, just case numbers and dates. Going through a bunch it seemed like most patients were there for around three months, with a photo taken when they were admitted and another when they were discharged.

At its peak Greystone had around 10,000 patients, so there were a lot of mugshots. Looking through some of them from the 50s and 60s, it looked like the patients were way more interesting and alive when they arrived than when they were discharged. One guy looked like James Dean in one photo and a postal worker with a tie in the other.  A woman looked very sexy with long hair and seemed to have been turned into a domesticated, conforming housewife. It looked like the last thing Greystone did before releasing a patient was to give them a haircut.

From forms scattered around you could see the place had been abandoned since the mid-1970s. We spent the day wandering around the abandoned wards. While mostly empty, there were still traces of life there, from wheelchairs and beds to ping pong tables and a shuffleboard court. After exploring the first building we headed down to the basement to see if the buildings were connected with underground steam tunnels, like many big institutions are. It was in the 90s outside, but as we descended the stairs the temperature dropped by 30 degrees and our flashlights wouldn’t go more than 20 feet in the fog from the extreme temperature difference. The air was heavy and it definitely got real creepy. The asbestos hanging down from rusted pipes didn’t worry us as much as what we might bump into. We did come across shrines with candles as well as graffiti, but no ghosts.  The other buildings contained the employee cafeteria, operating rooms, pharmacy, and dentist office. Old medical equipment as well as typewriters and dictation machines were scattered about.

When did you make the connection to Woody Guthrie?

That night I went onto the Internet to do a search on Greystone to learn more of its history. One thing I discovered was that Woody Guthrie was there. I knew Guthrie’s role in folk music and knew some of his songs from growing up, but I wasn’t all that familiar with his story or music. From the movie Alice’s Restaurant I did remember that Woody died in a hospital of some rare disease. I kept wondering if Guthrie’s mug shots were somewhere in those files, but since they only had case numbers, his would be pretty much impossible to find. After going back to photograph Greystone a few more times by myself and doing more research on the web, I came across a site for the Woody Guthrie Archives and Foundation, which is located in New York (www.woodyguthrie.org) and a list of material they had relating to Guthrie’s years at Greystone, including some medical records. I also learned how Woody was suffering from Huntington’s Disease, an inherited disease of the nervous system, which destroys mental and physical abilities and is incurable. I also learned that a then 19-year old Bob Dylan traveled to Greystone in 1961 to meet his idol.

At the Woody Guthrie archives I met Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter, who recalled for me her visits to her dad when she was a kid and playing in the “magicky trees,” two huge weeping beeches, with her brothers Arlo and Joady. I read transcripts of the doctor’s exam given to Woody when he was admitted and learned he had been misdiagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. Not much was known about Huntington’s back then, so Woody’s involuntary movements from Huntington’s were thought to be caused by other things. Looking through Woody’s medical records (while wearing those official white cotton archivist gloves) I came across what I was looking for–Woody’s case number–65935. I wondered if the mug shots would still be there forty years later?

I headed back to Greystone that week. All the files were in numerical order so it would be pretty easy to find the right envelope if it was still there. And it was, right there in envelope #65935. I felt like I was opening Tutankhamen’s tomb, finding something valuable long buried in a ruin. In his 1956 admittance photo, Woody was that charismatic riding-the-rails character we remember. In the discharge photo, when he was transferred in 1961 to Brooklyn State to be closer to his family, he’d lost a lot of weight and looked 25 years older.  I met with Nora the following week and I surprised her and gave the negatives for the archives.

So where did the idea for a book about Woody Guthrie and Greystone Park come from?

I continued to photograph Greystone and do research at the archives for another year. I had gone back to school for a Master of Fine Arts in photography at the School of Visual Arts and Wardy Forty became my thesis project. I finished it by incorporating video, photographs, artifacts, music, interviews and archival material.

Nora showed me photographs of her family in front of the buildings at Greystone and I went back and shot the exact same place and later stitched the 1959 images into the images shot in 2002. I also incorporated the photographs I’d found in the darkroom in a video. Using “morph” software I created a one minute video loop, starting with Woody’s image in 1956 and ending with his image from 1961. The change between the two images is so slow that unless you watch for 20 seconds you wouldn’t think anything was happening. People have told me that they discover the change after realizing their feelings about Woody have changed. Nora also let me work with old 8mm family movies of the trip out to Greystone from the family’s home in Brooklyn, ending with Woody and Arlo playing guitar on the lawn outside Woody’s building. I retraced the car ride and shot video of the trip today and show them side-by-side on an old movie screen. Woody’s second wife Marjorie would sometimes check Woody out for the day and bring him to the home of Gleason’s, a couple that lived near Greystone, where folk singers from New York, including Dylan, would come and play, letting Woody experience a bit of what he had started and was now really blossoming in New York.

Woody also wrote hundreds of letters from Greystone, and I spent many hours in the archives reading them. I read that a student nurse played Woody’s first record, Bound for Glory, over the hospital’s hi-fi, so I returned to Greystone to recover the speaker. In the exhibit, Bound for Glory plays out of the actual speaker it played through at Greystone.

Woody sometimes ran out of paper and would write on whatever he could, including the inside of book jackets as well as paper towels. For the exhibit, I hung the paper towel dispenser from Woody’s ward on the wall next to a photo of a letter on the paper towel, and invited people to take a new paper towel and write a letter of their own and pin it to the wall.

In the end what I tried to do was create an exhibit that would transcend the ugliness and sadness of Woody’s disease and commitment at Greystone and let people discover how he was still having an impact in the world, or, as he signed one letter, “I ain’t dead quite yet, Woody.”