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The Mysterious White Woman Haunting the Belchen Tunnel in the 80s

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Crossing through the Jura Mountains in Switzerland, an urban legend about the ghost of a lady in white is said to have haunted the Belchen Tunnel and was widely known and written about in the 80s. Question is, is she still haunting the tunnel?

At the crossroads of Switzerland, Germany, and France, the three peaks collectively known as the Belchen Triangle—particularly the Swiss Belchenflue near Basel—carry an ancient legacy: aligning with solstices in Celtic times. But in modern folklore, this triangle harbors darker secrets—haunted roads, phantom hitchhikers, and unexplainable phenomena that linger in the night. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland

Although there are many legends and urban legends around these parts, no one is more retold than about the Belchen Tunnel, or the Bölchentunnel. According to some local accounts, hikers and drivers have glimpsed strange lights flickering near peaks at night. Though allegedly due to military flares or misleading reflections, these eerie illuminations feed beliefs that the mountains are still guardians of otherworldly mysteries. 

The Belchen Triangle: The Belchenflue in Eptingen is one of the most famous mountains in the Basel region. It is not just a striking mountain; it is also part of an ancient mystery. Along with the Belchen peaks in the Black Forest and Alsace, it creates a near-perfect triangle, resembling a Celtic solar calendar. Druids utilized these landmarks to track solstices and equinoxes. Researchers found that the distances and arrangement of these mountains show impressive geometric patterns that illustrate the Pythagorean theorem, highlighting the Celts’ advanced knowledge of astronomy and geometry.

The Haunted Belchen Tunnel

The Belchen tunnel is found on the boundary between the Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft cantons of Switzerland and is said to be one of the most haunted tunnels in the world. The tunnel as it is today, opened in 1966 as part of the A2 motorway from Basel to Chiasso through the Jura Mountains. The Belchen Tunnel quickly became notorious—not for traffic, but for its ghostly encounters. In June 1980, drivers reported picking up a male hitchhiker who vanished mid-tunnel, even as the car sped. 

The first stories about the legend was actually said to be of a male ghost haunting the tunnel and hitchhiking from unsuspected cars. June 1980, a man was picked up by the tunnel but vanished from the backseat, although the car was going fast. 

By January 1981, the legend had transformed into being a woman haunting the roads and it was written about in the newspapers after an article in the Blick mentioned the legend. “I had many callers on the phone back then who firmly claimed to have seen a ghost in Eptingen,” says Armin Gyger. The retired highway patrolman never believed the callers.

It especially became a well known tale during Shrove Tuesday carnival that year. Sightings shifted to a spectral “White Woman” in flowing robes and it was called the Bölchengespenst. Dozens of frightened calls flooded Basel police. 

Belchen Tunnel: North portal of Belchentunnel on A2 motorway, near Eptingen, Switzerland. // Source

The White Lady of the A2 Belchen Tunnel

One chilling account on 26 September in 1983 involved two female lawyers who stopped in Eptingen to help a pale middle-aged woman through the tunnel. They stopped on the hard shoulder and one of the women got out to open the back door to the elderly lady. She seemed clumsy and they asked if she was alright, only for her to whisper, “Something really awful is going to happen,” before disappearing from their backseat as they entered the tunnel. 

They reported it to the police who searched the car, but they found nothing. The two women stumbled into the restaurant on the money night between 7 and 8 in the evening and cried, claiming they had something to tell to the owners, Marie-Therese and Paul Burkhardt

This vanishing hitchhiker tale echoes worldwide and became one of the many legends of White Lady or “Weisse Frau” that are so popular in both German and French speaking countries, but few roads are as consistently linked to a single figure. At times, locals also report encounters with a dark-suited man who foretells bad weather or disaster before evaporating into the shadows. 

Driving Through the Legend

In addition to the white woman haunting the roads, there is some saying that a group of construction workers died when parts of the tunnel collapsed as they were building it. Their restless spirits are now haunting the tunnel, appearing to those passing through. 

Read Also: The Haunted Inunaki Village in Japan and The Haunted Cantabrian Tunnel of Engaña for more haunted tunnels

The Belchen Triangle whispers of ancient astronomical secrets—but on the A2, at night, its tale turns to the modern and eerie, even after it was renovated completely in 2003. Whether you believe the White Woman is a vanishing hitchhiker of myth, or a restless spirit tied to Alpine lore, travelers are advised: some thresholds should remain uncrossed after dark.

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References:

Belchen Tunnel is haunted by the ghost of an old lady

Túnel de Belchen – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre 

Es spukt im Belchentunnel! – Marie-Therese und Paul Burkhardt aus Härkingen SO über ein sonderbares Ereignis «Diesen Abend werden wir nie vergessen!

Plötzlich war sie weg, die Weisse Frau | Basler Zeitung

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The Haunted Jenny Dixon Beach and Wilfred Barret Drive

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One of the most haunted beaches in the world is said to be the Jenny Dixon Beach in New South Wales. Here, the last decades have been filled with stories of vanishing hitchhikers along the roads as well as older ghosts coming in from the sea. 

The sun-drenched coasts of New South Wales, Australia, are known for their rolling surf, golden sands, and laid-back seaside towns. But there’s one beach where the lapping waves seem to carry more than seashells and driftwood. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Australia

Beneath the tourist-friendly veneer of Jenny Dixon Beach lies a sorrowful, sinister past — one whispered about in local pubs and by late-night campfires.

Jenny Dixon Beach: This beach in New South Wales, known for its ghost stories and haunting legends and is to find on most of the “most haunted” lists of haunted beaches in the world.

The Hitchhiker of Wilfred Barrett Drive

One of the ghost legends haunting the beach actually comes from Wilfred Barret Drive, a stretch of road along the beach between Magenta and Noraville, and is the ghost of a vanishing hitchhiker, now called Jenny Dixon by the locals. 

Horror Movie: The Ghost Story inspired the 2011 horror film Jenny Dixon Beach and has attracted many curious paranormal investigators hoping to communicate with her.

It was sometime in the 1970s when an unspeakable act of violence left its stain on this otherwise idyllic coastline. Or, as the area was nicknamed  “the child abuse capital of NSW” by The Daily Telegraph in 2022, perhaps it was never peaceful at all. Some even claim that the murder was as early as the 1950s. 

According to local legend, a young woman was hitchhiking along Wilfred Barrett Drive, the road that skirts the dunes by Jenny Dixon Beach. In many variations of the legend she was headed home from work. She was picked up by a group of men, often said to be five. Instead of offering her a safe ride, subjected her to a brutal assault on the Jenny Dixon Beach. 

They left her to die alone on that dark beach or maybe in the bushes close to it. Some say that she was found there, dead, some say that she was still alive when they found her, but died a few days later of her injuries. The police had nothing to go on. Her killers were never caught. Justice, it seems, got lost somewhere between the trees and the tide.

But the woman’s restless spirit didn’t stay buried with her in those coastal sands. It is said that her ghost lingered for revenge. Some say that a group of five men died in horrible and mysterious ways over the course of the next few years. One hanged himself. One died in a car accident, claiming that someone walked in front of his car in his dying breath. One drove off a cliff and one either died of a self-inflicted gunshot or ran his car over an embankment after picking the ghost up in his car, driving him mad when no one believed him. Before they died, they allegedly complained about seeing and hearing things before they died. 

For decades, drivers traveling Wilfred Barrett Drive at night have reported seeing a woman in white, pale and sorrowful, walking the roadside. She is also said to be seen close to the Nora Head cemetery where it is believed the girl is buried. 

Some have even claimed to pick her up. She rides in the car for a while, sitting in the backseat, murmuring little or nothing at all, before vanishing into thin air, leaving behind only the lingering scent of cigarette smoke.

The Truth Behind the Hitchhiking Murder Victim

According to most sources, there seems to be more police reports about people seeing the ghost of the hitchhiker from Wilfred Barret Drive than about the murder she supposedly died from. Local people as well as those just travelling through not knowing about the legend are supposedly seeing the vanishing hitchhiker from time to time. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories of haunted roads

The part about the men seeing and hearing things before they died is also a classical horror trope from books and movies, but if you talk about the stories in the surrounding neighborhoods, they will definitely know what you talk about as well as having a few stories of their own. 

A real case connected with the ghost story is the disappearance of the Holmes sisters from the 1950s. Eighteen year old Grace and her little sister, eleven year old Kathleen went for a walk to Norah Head lighthouse and never returned. 

A day later, their dead bodies were found in a swamp close to Tuggerah Lake. A local fisherman was suspected and even charged for their murder, but was never convicted. 

Today the case remains unsolved. 

The Woman from the Janet Dixon Ship

But the hitchhiker isn’t the only ghost said to roam Jenny Dixon Beach, and this one comes from a much older time. 

In 1973, four terrified campers burst into town with a story straight from a nightmare. The group of 12 year old boys that had been camping on the beach, claimed a woman in a long, old-fashioned dress appeared to them in the dead of night, reaching out from the shadows with desperate, pleading hands. The boys said they threw sticks at her, but they went right through her transparent body. They ran up the stairs from the beach towards the car park, but she followed them, still with her arms outstretched towards them. She vanished before their eyes, leaving behind a bone-deep chill and footprints in the sand where no one should have been.

Local historians tie this spirit to a maritime tragedy: the wreck of the Janet Dixon, the coal schooner from which the beach takes its name. It was passing through Norah Head, just south of Jenny Dixon Beach by the Tasman sea. Because of the unfamiliar coastline of at least seven ships wrecked in these parts between 1871 to 1903. This was when the lighthouse was built. 

In the mid-19th century, the ship was lost to the treacherous waters off the Central Coast. One woman — thought to be the captain’s wife or a passenger — washed ashore at what would later become Jenny Dixon Beach. Her young son, who had been aboard with her, never did.

This story has also been attributed to Raymond Grove who lives close to the beach, and he spent the rest of his life trying to find out who she was. This is most likely also where the story of a grieving mother searching for her son comes from. 

Since that night, the woman is said to roam the shore, searching for her lost child, her sorrow carried on every crashing wave.

The Haunted Jenny Dixon Beach

Jenny Dixon Beach is a strikingly beautiful place to visit by day. The waves sparkle, the sand is soft, and the headlands offer a stunning sunset view. But when the sun dips below the horizon and the ocean turns black as ink, the beach’s other side awakens.

If you ever find yourself driving that lonely stretch of Wilfred Barrett Drive after midnight and a lone figure appears on the roadside, pale and dressed in white, do yourself a favor:

Keep driving.

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References:

The Ghost at Jenny Dixon Beach Urban Legend – Central Coast News

Hacks is one of the best shows on TV and the new season is now streaming on Stan. 

Jenny Dixon Beach Ghost – Unexplained Australia

The Legend Of The Ghost at Jenny Dixon Beach 

How creepy ghost stories help us deal with the real-life trauma that haunts us

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The Eerie Mystique of Koloa Tree Tunnel in Hawaii

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Casting long shadows of the road, the Koloa Tree Tunnel on Kauai is said to have some haunted legends surrounding it. From car malfunctions to strange hitchhikers in the night, what really goes on in this canopy tunnel?

The Koloa Tree Tunnel on Maluhia Road, a seemingly serene and picturesque stretch on Kauai, is more than just a scenic drive. It is not a tunnel in the traditional sense, but around 500 trees on the side of the road covering it under a thick foliage. With its canopy of over century-old eucalyptus trees arching gracefully over the roadway, the tunnel has an undeniable beauty. 

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The Eucalyptus trees are said to be sacred trees as the leaves have a purifying effect and help to make the energy around us a good one. But could this stretch of tree also be haunted? Because beneath this beauty lies a chilling reputation, as the tunnel is said to be haunted by ghostly apparitions and cursed by ancient forces.

A Tunnel with a Dark Secret

But where did the trees come from? There are more than one story. Some think it was a donation from Walter Duncan McBryde imported from Australia. Or was it the Knudsen family to help solidify the boggy roadway who planted them? 

Tree Tunnel: Traveling on Maluhia Road between Po’ipu and Koloa, you will run through this mile-long tunnel of Eucalyptus trees surrounded by open fields. // Scott Schiller/Flickr

Another theory holds that the trees were planted to form a windbreak for nearby sugarcane crops. The Koloa Tree Tunnel, was also said to have been planted in 1911 to mark the entrance to the Koloa Plantation, has become an iconic gateway to the town of Koloa. At one time, the tunnel was said to be three miles in length.

The Ghostly Encounter of Four Brothers

One of the most famous stories associated with the Koloa Tree Tunnel involves four brothers who were driving through the tunnel one night. As they cruised along the shadowy road, their car suddenly sputtered to a halt. Puzzled, as it was a new truck, the brothers attempted to restart the vehicle, but it refused to budge. Just then, they noticed a strange light in the distance, slowly approaching over the incline.

Read More: Check out all haunted roads around the world

The light moved steadily toward them, casting an otherworldly glow on the tunnel’s gnarled branches. Expecting another car, the brothers waited in tense anticipation. But to their shock, the light vanished without a trace, leaving them in pitch darkness. Moments later, their car inexplicably roared back to life. They sped away, hearts pounding, unable to shake the feeling that something— or someone—had been watching them.

Spirits of the Tunnel: Pele or the Night Marchers?

The mysterious light and the sudden failure of the brothers’ car have fueled speculation about what truly haunts the Koloa Tree Tunnel. Some believe the light was Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, known for her unpredictable and fiery temper. She is often believed to wander the roads of Hawai’i as the vanishing hitchhiker, and many stories about cars driving by this stretch of road says they have seen her on the side of the road

Read More: The Mythology of Madame Pele Haunting Hawai’i 

Others suggest it was the ghostly procession of the Night Marchers—phantom warriors doomed to eternally walk the islands, warning the living to steer clear.

According to legend, encountering the Night Marchers can be a deadly experience, as these spectral beings demand respect and will strike down those who dare to interrupt their sacred march. It’s said that the car stopped to prevent the brothers from crossing paths with the marchers, sparing them from a terrifying fate.

The Haunted Koloa Tree Tunnel of Kauai

Despite its haunted reputation, the Koloa Tree Tunnel remains a popular route for both locals and visitors. So, the next time you find yourself driving through the Koloa Tree Tunnel, keep your eyes peeled and your senses sharp. You might just catch a glimpse of something—or someone—otherworldly watching from the shadows, as the eerie past of this haunted tunnel reaches out to touch the present.

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References:

Weird Hawaii: Pele in the Tunnel of Trees 

Kauai : South Shore : Tree Tunnel History 

Haunted Koloa Tree Tunnel — Mysteries of Hawai’i Honolulu Ghost Tours 

https://listverse.com/2023/05/06/10-haunted-places-to-visit-in-hawaii

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The Mythology of Madame Pele Haunting Hawai’i

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Goddess of fire and volcanoes in Hawaiian mythology, the ghost of Madame Pele is said to haunt the islands. As an old woman hitchhiking along the road to a beautiful woman warning about a volcanic eruption, this goddess never left the islands. 

Mai ka Lua a‘u i hele mai nei, mai Kīlauea,
Ke kui ‘ia maila e nā wāhine o ka Lua ē
‘O Puna lehua ‘ula i ka papa
I ‘ula i ka papa ka lehua o Puna

From the crater I’ve come, from Kīlauea,
The women of the caldera have strung leis
The foundation of Puna is crimson, covered in lehua blossoms.
Sacred is the fountain covered with the lehua blossoms of Puna
– Chants for pele are performed at Halemaʻumaʻu, where it is said Pele currently resides.

Can a goddess become a ghost? Can her presence haunt the place she once resided over? Madame Pele is said to be the goddess of volcanoes and fires in Hawaiian religion, but also the creator of the Hawaiian Islands. She is often referred to as Madame Pele or Tūtū Pele to show respect and known as “She who shapes the sacred land.” Even when the old religion was officially abolished in 1819, people still kept believing in her and her ways found ways to stay in the modern world that was changing Hawaiians ancient ways drastically. 

The Kilauea volcano is believed to be inhabited by a family of fire gods, her siblings being connected with other elements, and there are many stories about her, especially about her being passionate, power hungry and jealous with a fiery temper. 

Madame Pele: Painting of Pele by Hawaiian artist & historian Herbert “Herb” Kawainui Kāne

Legend has it that Madame Pele herself journeyed on her canoe from the island of Tahiti to Hawaiʻi. Some say she came from the mystical floating land Kuaihelani or perhaps even a land said to be “close to the clouds.” The chronology of Pele’s journey corresponds with the geological age of the Hawaiian islands.

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When on her journey, it was said she tried to create fires on different islands, but her sister, Nāmaka, was chasing her, wanting to put an end to her. In the end, the two sisters fought each other and Madame Pele was killed. With this happening, her body was destroyed but her spirit lives in Halemaʻumaʻu on Kilauea. They say, “Her body is the lava and steam that comes from the volcano”. 

This is only one of the many stories tying her to the Kilauea volcano, and many other stories tell about her family, her travels and how she is connected to the nature she passed on her journey. But we will here focus about the legends of her haunting the Hawaiian islands that the islanders still takes very seriously

Madame Pele’s Warning about Volcanic Eruptions

The locals also sometimes believe that Madame Pele warns the locals about the oncoming eruptions and appears and manifests either before or during the eruptions from the volcanoes. 

She can also change form, appearing as a white dog or with the dog accompanying her. She also appears as an old woman with white hair, or as a beautiful young woman. She is said to be wearing a red muumuu, long white dress or even dark and ashy clothing.

Read Also: Ghosts Haunting Hawaii’s Volcano House and the Volcano Goddess

The dog is sometimes a manifestation of her, sometimes her pet, sitting on the slopes of Mauna Loa where no real dog could survive.

Mauna Loa Volcano: lava flow from Mauna Loa during its 1984 eruption.

This is perhaps one of the newer tales about her ghost or spirit lingering in the world, but at least since the 1930s, there have been many tales about how people claim to have encountered her, on the road, before an eruption or close to the volcanoes.

Haunting of Madame Pele

There are many ghost stories where Madame Pele appears or that people think that Tūtū Pele must be behind. 

One urban legend claims that she is walking along the roads close to Kīlauea. If passersby are trying to stop her or talk to her, she is said to vanish, like in the same way the ghosts of the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend does. 

Over a ten year period, one named Katherine Luomala, collected 48 different variations of the legend where Tūtū Pele showed up as the character from the vanishing hitchhiker legend. She sometimes accepts the offers of getting a lift before vanishing, or even just asks for a cigarette before going away. In some stories she gets revenge on those refusing to give her a ride.

Read More: Check out the urban legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker

If you have seen her, you are obligated to spread the word and warn others about the oncoming eruption she is warning about, or face the consequences when you suffer misfortune in the next eruption. 

According to people living on the Big Island, they have the saying: “Never refuse an old lady – she might be Madame Pele.”

The Ghost of Madame Pele’s Man

The legend of Madame Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanic fire, relates how she fell in love with a man called Lohiʻau, but found that he had died. She found his ghost as a thin presence in a cave, and with great difficulty used her magical powers to restore him to life or her sister Hiʻiaka, goddess of hula, did it. 

He was destroyed again as Tūtū Pele killed Lohiʻau herself in a fit of rage, but his ghost was again found, this time in the form of a bird flitting over the waters, and was once more restored to life.

Pork over Pali Highway

There is also the case of bringing pork over the Pali Highway, which is Route 61 on Oahu. If you do bring the pork though, there are stories about the cars stalling when you drive over it and wont start again before you throw the pork out. 

What is the reasoning for the pork rules on this road? According to some it comes from the feud Madame Pele had with Kamapuaa, the pig-man god. He was her husband but cheated on her. When she discovered it, they divided the island into two territories they would not be allowed to cross.

Read More: The Haunted Nuʻuanu Pali Drive and Highway and Morgan’s Corner 

Another variation of this story is over Saddle Road on the Big Island, where drivers crossing between east and west should not be carrying pork with them. This particular stretch of Saddle Road is also a location where many claim to have seen Madame Pele.

The Painting of Tūtū Pele

About 1929, D. Howard Hitchcock made an oil painting of Madame Pele that his son donated to the park In 1966, where it was displayed in the visitor center from 1966 to 2005. The painting was criticized for portraying the Hawaiian goddess as one with European features.

Madame Pele: The painting many know the Madame Pele by today, painted by D. Howard Hitchcock

In 2003, the Volcano Art Center announced a competition for a “more modern and culturally authentic rendering” of the goddess.” An anonymous judging panel of Native Hawaiian elders selected a painting by Arthur Johnsen of Puna, Hawaii from 140 entries. In Johnsen’s painting, the goddess has distinctly Polynesian features, holding a digging stick (ʻōʻō) in her left hand and the egg that gave birth to her younger sister Hiʻiaka in her right hand. In 2005, the Hitchcock was replaced with Johnsen’s painting.

Madame Pele’s Curse of the National Parks

In addition to people claiming the dog is a warning of death, there is also the story about Madame Pele’s curse in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. It is said that if you take a lava rock or even sand away from the Hawaiian islands, something Madame Pele sees as her own children, you will have bad luck until it is returned 

There are plenty of sand and stones that are taken from the land every year, but there is also a thing when people bring it back because they think they are cursed. This is also the case with Cursed Artifacts from the Grand Canyon and Bodie Ghost Town Frozen in Time with strong legends of people thinking they are cursed if they remove something from the place. 

People blame when their pets die, losing their jobs or houses burn down on Madame Pele’s wrath. But what is really behind the curse?

The National Park Service as well as hotels around the islands claim that every year they receive the things taken by post, by tourists seeking Madame Pele’s forgiveness. 

Cursed Lava Rocks: Kilauea Volcano in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

Many believe the curse, but there are also many saying that the curse was invented in the mid-20th century by park rangers tired of the tourists taking stuff all the time or perhaps even by the bus drivers, tired about the sandy and dirty buses, as there really is no old tradition for this legend from the Hawaiian folklore. There are at least written records of it since 1946.

In fact, when westerners first arrived they learned from the local Hawaiian that they shouldn’t pick the flowers from the Ohia tree, eating the Ohelo berries or touch the rocks, as it could reflect badly on the Hawaiians and she mostly retaliated in a volcano eruption, not giving people bad luck. 

Madame Pele’s Haunting Today

Even though you don’t believe the curse, believe the law that forbids people from taking Hawaiian nature from the islands.

Unlike many old deities from ancient religions, the belief in Madame Pele and people practicing their faith to her continues even to this day. 

Pele practitioners leave flower leis, food wrapped in “ti” leaves and other offerings on the edge of volcanoes as a sign of respect. Often they leave berries, and sometimes in newer times, gin has started to become a thing to offer. Rangers in the parks seldom interfere with the visits, which often include special hula dances and chanting.

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References:

Pele’s Curse – Wikipedia 

Pele (deity) – Wikipedia

Pele and Lava Rocks | Snopes.com 

Hawaii’s hot rocks blamed by tourists for bad luck / Goddess said to curse those who take a piece of her island

Hawaii’s hot rocks blamed by tourists for bad luck / Goddess said to curse those who take a piece of her island

The Curse of Pele: A Tourist Legend – Multo (Ghost) 

Pele & Hiʻiaka (U.S. National Park Service) 

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The Hitchhiking Ghost at Everett Road Covered Bridge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

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Along the old bridge crossing the stream in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Everett Road Covered Bridge is said to be haunted by the ghost trying to catch a ride, often connected to a tragic tale that happened years ago.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park stands as a haven of rolling hills, bucolic farmland, and scenic historic structures along the Cuyahoga River that used to be so polluted it caught fire a couple of times in the past. 

The park between Cleveland and Akron in Ohio, offers a lush and diverse landscape that stands in stark contrast to the surrounding urban areas. Visitors can explore more than 125 miles of hiking trails, including the famous Towpath Trail, which follows the historic route of the Ohio & Erie Canal. The park is home to Brandywine Falls, a stunning 65-foot waterfall, and the Beaver Marsh, a vibrant wetland teeming with wildlife. Cuyahoga Valley also preserves numerous cultural and historical sites, such as the 19th-century buildings in the village of Peninsula and the scenic Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, which offers a nostalgic journey through the heart of the park. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from the USA

While it may not boast the fame of some other national parks, with a staggering 2.2 million visitors annually, it conceals stories that transcend the ordinary – tales of specters and hauntings that linger within its scenic expanse.

Everett Road Covered Bridge: The red bridge, a rebuilding of what used to be there is said to be haunted by a hitchhiking ghost. Who could this ghost be? Someone who died crossing it, or something older, even before the Everett Road Covered Bridge was built?

The Everett Road Covered Bridge

One of the park’s eerie focal points is the Everett Road Covered Bridge over the Furnace Run stream, the last vestige of covered bridges in Summit County, Ohio. Steeped in history, this bridge holds a mysterious tale that intertwines tragedy and the supernatural as rumor has it that it is haunted. 

According to local lore, on a chilling winter night in 1877, a farmer named John Gilson and his wife embarked on their journey home from a holiday party with some friends. Usually they crossed another place of Furnace Run, but the rising water and ice blocked where they usually crossed.

As their sled wagon traversed the Everett Road Bridge, tragedy struck – one of the horses stumbled, sending them both, including the Gilsons, into the icy river below. Mrs. Gilson miraculously survived, but her husband did not.

However, historical discrepancies challenge this narrative, as records suggest the bridge did not exist at the time of Mr. Gilson’s purported demise, although the road was built in 1856 already. Some say that the incident is what sparked the construction of the bridge, connected to the United States Centennial in 1876. 

An alternative story suggests that the Everett Road Covered Bridge was constructed over a Native American burial mound, as some road construction workers claimed to have found, adding an extra layer of mystique to its already enigmatic history that no one really knows how or when it started.

The Ghost Haunting the Park

Regardless of the tale, an unsettling presence has left its mark on the Everett Road Covered Bridge – a ghostly hitchhiker, perpetually wandering in the hopes of catching a ride with an unsuspecting driver between the supposed burial ground and the wooden bridge. It is unknown when the rumors started to spread, but in the end, the tale sounds alot like the ghost story of the vanishing hitchhiker.

Is it the lingering spirit of Mr. Gilson, yearning to find his way back home? Or perhaps, a restless Native American soul of the Hopewell culture native to Ohio as far back as over a millennia, seeking its final resting place? 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park: One of the trail you can hike in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It is said that they are haunted by a spirit wanting to catch a ride.

People claim to have heard disembodied voices in the night, pleading for help as if they are in dire danger. Paranormal researchers make the claim of seeing orbs and mysterious fogs when seeking the ghosts.

The mysteries shrouding the Everett Road Covered Bridge invite brave souls to venture forth, to traverse the haunted span and uncover the secrets whispered by the winds that dance through the timeworn timbers. The original bridge was washed away in a spring flood in 1975, and another built close by years later. The Haunting is said to remain the same. 

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References:

12 Haunted National Parks | Shaka Guide 

Everett Road covered bridge’s haunted history | Ohio, The Heart of It All

Everett Covered Bridge – Cuyahoga Valley

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Lucy of Roaring Fork: The Vanishing Hitchhiker of Smoky Mountains

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On the scenic route in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the ghost of Lucy of Roaring Fork is said to roam the road of Roaring Fork Motor Trail through the historic part of early settlers as a vanishing hitchhiker. 

On the outskirts of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail winds its way through the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, offering a scenic journey by car through the remnants of early settlers’ homesteads of cabins, mills and historic buildings along the way. 

Named after the fast-moving mountain stream it parallels, the trail offers a captivating drive through lush forests, vibrant wildflower meadows, and historical log cabins that paint a picture of early Appalachian life. Visitors can enjoy a leisurely drive while making stops at various points of interest, including cascading waterfalls, like the popular Grotto Falls, and old-growth forests teeming with wildlife. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from the USA

Amidst the beauty of this historic trail, a haunting legend unfolds – a tale that has earned Roaring Fork a reputation as one of the most haunted roads in America. At the center of this spectral narrative is the enigmatic figure known as Lucy of Roaring Fork.

Roaring Fork Motor Trail: In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the Roaring Fork Motor Trail by Gatlinburg will take you through the historic parts of the mountains where the early settlers lived and the ghost of Lucy remained.

Lucy the Ghost of a Girl

But who is Lucy of Roaring Fork? There are many legends, but some say she was a young girl or woman who died when her family cabin burned down and is now haunting the surrounding roads and forest. Exactly when this was supposed to happen is uncertain, but it is mostly said to be around the turn of the century or early 1900s.  

Read More: Check out ghost stories from Haunted Roads

The story of Lucy of Roaring Fork is told as a vanishing hitchhiker story, an urban legend that spread in the latter part of the 20th century, but if there was any tales about her haunting the area before turning into an urban legend, is uncertain. 

The Cabin: In the story, Lucy died in a fire Roaring Fork Motor Trail is filled with little cabins as pictured along the way.

Lucy as the Vanishing Hitchhiker

As the legend goes, at the turn of the twentieth century, a young man, sometimes given the name Foster, traveled the trail on a chilly autumn evening. To his surprise, he encountered a young woman clad in rags, wandering barefoot through the ancient forest. Driven by kindness, he extended an offer to drive her home, a gesture she graciously accepted. After safely depositing the mysterious woman at her doorstep, the young man continued on his journey. Yet, the memory of the beautiful hitchhiker lingered, a ghost in his thoughts.

Unable to shake the enchantment, the man returned to her home the next day, seeking to reunite with the captivating Lucy. When he inquired about her with Lucy’s mother, he received a chilling revelation that sent shivers down his spine.

“I gave Lucy a ride home last night, and I would very much like to see her again,” the young man explained.

“That’s impossible!” exclaimed the mother. “Lucy passed away many years ago.”

The Tale of Lucy of Roaring Fork

The tale of Lucy, the vanishing hitchhiker, echoes through the decades, a classic tale heard many places in the world with its own local twists and lore being added to this phenomenon known as the vanishing hitchhiker. 

Read More: The Vanishing Hitchhiker

Lucy of Roaring Fork’s ghostly presence lingers, weaving through the mist-laden trees, eternally hoping for a journey home that transcends the realms of both the living and the departed.

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The Ghost of Lucy on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail 

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The Ghost Girl on the Arrabassada Road

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There is a ghost girl hitchhiking on the Arrabassada road in Spain. On a sharp turn in the road people claim to have picked up a vanishing hitchhiker that keeps reminding them to slow down on the dangerous road before disappearing when they have safely passed the bend. 

Spain is widely known for its beautiful landscapes, rich history and delicious food, but there’s one road that has a different reputation altogether. This road in Barcelona, is infamous for its haunting presence. The road is believed to be haunted by a ghost that lingers there. This ghost has caused several accidents on the road, making it one of the scariest roads in Spain.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain

This stretch of road between Sarria-Sant Gervasi and Horta-Guinardo in Barcelona are tales of a ghostly hitchhiker. This urban legend was one of the ghost stories presented in Llegendes de Barcelona by Per Joan de Déu Prats, but the core of the story would be familiar globewide. 

The Girl on Revolt de la Paella

Reports about a girl passing cars have been picked up by the Revolt de la Paella, which is a sharp bend of the Arrabassada road. The girl is said to have been wearing a white dress. 

According to the legend it is said that after picking up what the drivers think is a hitchhiker, she gets nervous as the car is closing in on a specific course and she tells you to be careful and slow down because it is dangerous. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Haunted Roads all around the world.

She is even said to have stopped cars and saved the driver from a crash from an oncoming vehicle. She then tells the driver that this was the place she died and she spends the rest of her afterlife trying to save others from suffering her fate. 

After the drivers are able to pass the sharp bend safely, she vanishes into the thin air, her job done. 

Revolt de la Paella: On this sharp bend on the Arrabassada Road in Barcelona, Spain, it is said that a woman is haunting the road. In this classic vanishing hitchhiker story, a ghost is getting into cars only to mysteriously disappear.//Source: Joan Andrés de Barcelona/Wikimedia

The Vanishing Hitchhiker on Arrabassada Road

There is also the story about a young man who picked her up on Arrabassada Road, one of those thinking she was just a normal girl hitchhiking. She asked him to let her out right before they reached the curve for some reason. Although the young man didn’t understand, he followed her advice and stopped the car. 

Because they stopped he was saved from a collision of a truck he would have hit if he had not stopped to drop her off. 

Read more: Revisit the urban legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker 

After this incident it is said he attended a party where the host of the party looked a bit like the girl he had picked up that night. 

Turned out to be the niece of a lady that got killed in a car collision on the same curve he had been in danger of crashing himself. 

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References:

Carretera de la Rabassada – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

13 Barcelona Haunted Houses & Places that will creep you out

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The Ghost of the Lady in White Sari of Delhi Cantt

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After darkness falls on Delhi Cantt in the city, the ghosts are said to appear. Several of the locals have reported about the ghost of a woman wearing a white sari approaching cars, asking for lifts. Where she is going is unclear, but if you tell her no, it is said she will chase you. 

The part of Delhi called Delhi Cantonment or simply Delhi Cantt is located in the heart of New Delhi, is a bustling hub of activity during the day. The Delhi Cantt houses a lot of the defense and army housing and schools. 

It is said that this part of Delhi is the safest area. However, as the sun sets and the night falls, a different kind of activity takes over – the eerie and ghostly kind. 

Read more: Check out all of the ghost stories from India

With all of these army forces you would think that Delhi Cantt would be a peaceful one. But according to the local word of mouth it is anything but. The area of over 10 000 acres close to Dhaula Kaun is notorious for its spooky legends, with tales of supernatural occurrences and sightings of apparitions and unexplained phenomena. 

The Woman in White Saree

According to the legend, there is a middle aged woman wearing a white sari that is said to haunt the area of Delhi Cantt. She is said to have gray hair, and some sources even point out that she apparently has hairy arms.

Why she is said to wear a white saree though, is uncertain, however, many ghost stories involve a woman in white saree. In India and especially in Hinduism, the color white is also the color of mourning, and many  widows have traditionally worn them. The white saree is also said to represent purity, innocence as well as spirituality. This with the fact that most modern ghosts globally are wearing white, makes this trope especially common. 

The Ghostly Tales of Delhi Cantt

Back to this particular ghost story, there are some variations of the reports and sightings. Some claim she comes out from the lush and green areas, some say she is just wandering the roads, most reports pinpoint her to between 1 and 4 am.

She is said to be walking along the roads and asks for a lift when night falls over the neighborhood. Apparently many of the call centers in the area advised their employees never to stop their car and give anyone a lift. 

If you deny her a lift, it is said that she is following the car and even matching its speed, so you can’t outrun her. 

It is said that she is the ghost of a lady that was killed on the route when she was going someplace. Perhaps on the road in a car accident, or perhaps in the green forestry people claim she comes from. To where we don’t know, but apparently she is still trying to get there. 

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References:

Delhi Cantonment – Wikipedia 

India.comIndia’s Most Haunted: Delhi Cantonment area 

Spooky Tales: Spots In Delhi Which Are Said To Be The Most Haunted 

This Road In Delhi Cantt. Is Apparently Haunted & Those That Stop By Are Never Seen Again! 

Is Delhi’s Cantonment area really haunted?

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The Ghost Girl Haunting Cuesta de las Doblas

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There is a dangerous curve in the middle of a steep slope in Spain said to be haunted called Cuesta de las Doblas. Several drivers have reported about seeing what appears to be a stranded girl without her car on the roads. But as soon as they see her, she disappears into thin air like a ghost. 

The Haunted road in Spain is a place that is known for its chilling history and unnerving atmosphere. It has become a place where drivers have reported strange occurrences and encounters with the supernatural. This road has a reputation for being one of the most haunted in Spain. It is considered to be so scary that many drivers will avoid it altogether.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain

This is the case with a particular bend in Spain that got extra attention in 2022 when the newspaper made a case for the haunted rumors going on there and let the people tell about their experiences, and they came flooding in. 

The Sharp Bend of Cuesta de las Doblas

The 2.3 kilometer long road of A-472 in Andalucia is said to be the road where some of the most serious traffic accidents happened in Spain as well as being one of the most haunted roads in the country. 

The road is down some slopes and suddenly there is a sharp curve that comes too abruptly on many drivers, especially if their speed is too high. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Haunted Roads all around the world.

There are more than hundreds of deaths that have occurred at the Cuesta de las Doblas between the 568 and 570 kilometers point. The old highway was made in 1937 and has a deadly and bad design on one of the curves and has claimed the lives of more than 100 victims in over 70 accidents. 

The Most Deadliest Collisions on the Road

On April 9, 1937, 16 people died on the Cuesta de las Doblas and in 1961 22 people died when the truck they were all crammed in drove off the curve because of the high speed and ended up in the bottom of the ravine.

One of the big accidents that happened was in 1973 when a bus carrying 49 passengers on June 10th was going to Almonte for Pentecost Monday. It didn’t make the turn and plunged down the ravine, falling over 40 meters that killed 8 of the women.

After this, the point where the bus went off and into the ravine has been known as the Black Point. Because of the many deaths and accidents the place has become a well known place for hauntings and apparitions. 

The Girl on the Curve

But who is it that is haunting the road where so many died? There are more than one ghost story about this stretch of road, but most popular is the story about seeing the ghost girl on the curve. 

A cold and rainy night on November 3rd in 1976, a taxi driver was going towards Sanlucar up the slopes of Cuesta de las Doblas when he saw a girl in a long white dress and blonde hair. The man in the taxi stopped and asked her what she was doing out in the bad weather. She said that she had trouble with her car and asked if she could get a lift. The taxi driver agreed and started driving. 

After they had been driving for a few moments they approached the infamous curve. She asked him if he knew of the curve? The taxi driver said yes. The girl said: That is where I died and disappeared into thin air. 

This is how the urban legend about the ghost most seen on the bend is told. A classical vanishing hitchhiker story as we know it. She is sometimes said to be wearing a white dress, sometimes a red jacket. Sometimes her hair is dark, then it’s blonde. The story has spun several stories and what the original one used to be is now unknown. 

Read more: Revisit the urban legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker

Mostly the reports talk about seeing a little girl dressed in a red jacket that looks like she is hitchhiking in the late hours right before the dangerous curve. Her age is unsure, but many claim her to be everything from a girl to a woman in her mid 20s.

According to some of the darkest versions of the stories about her, she is said to be one that causes new accidents to make people join her like she died. Some say that she acts as a warning about the dangerous curve ahead. 

A man working for the Guardia Civil was once stationed in Sanclúar la Mayor and was driving down the slopes of Cuesta de las Doblas one night. He suddenly saw a little girl walking along the road barefoot. Both he and his partner looked at each other and had both seen it. 

They turned around the car to check if something had happened, but when they backtracked they saw no one. Even though there are not many places to go but along the curve. When they returned to the barracks they told the sergeant what had happened and he asked at what place it had happened. 

When they told him it was on the curve of the Cuesta de las Doblas, he smiled and said it was a ghost there, but they shouldn’t talk about it out loud. 

The fact that the girl on the curve disappears when the car is passing seems to be a common denominator for this ghost story. After the Guardia Civil officer told his story to the newspaper, another man called Alfonso Castro chimed in and told of a similar incident. 

He was also driving late at night and there were also two in the car when it happened. When they passed the mysterious girl on the Cuesta de las Doblas, the woman in the passenger seat followed the girl with her eyes and shouted that the girl had just disappeared into thin air when they passed her. 

They also stopped and backed up, not 10 seconds had gone by since they saw her. With a flashlight they tried to see her, but found no one. 

Cuesta de las Doblas Today

Even though there are new security measures they didn’t have in the earlier days, Cuesta de las Doblas is still considered to be dangerous to drive on with its three lanes and no hard shoulder. 

But perhaps if you are forgetful when driving on these roads, there will come a ghost and give a warning before you as well share her fate. Or in worst case scenario, she will cause the accident so you will join her in her road trip going on forever.

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References:

Nuevos encuentros paranormales en la Cuesta de las Doblas, en Sanlúcar la Mayor
Aparición del fantasma de la Cuesta de las Doblas en Sanlúcar la Mayor
Driving the 10 most haunted roads of Spain

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The Red-Headed Hitchhiker on the Rehoboth-Seekonk Line

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The vanishing hitchhiker comes in all shapes and sizes as well as throughout all different religions and cultures. This is also the case with the so-called Red-headed hitchhiker from the Bridgewater Triangle that is said to haunt the Rehoboth-Seekink Line. 

Venturing into the heart of the Bridgewater Triangle in New England by Rehoboth Massachusetts, where folklore intertwines with reality, one encounters a tale that surpasses the ordinary bounds of the supernatural—the legend of the red-headed hitchhiker along Route 44 in Massachusetts. As the sun sets on Route 44 along the Rehoboth-Seekonk line, an unsettling encounter may await those who traverse the darkened road. 

Described as an figure with fiery red hair, clad in red flannel and blue jeans, this spectral hitchhiker is said to emerge with his thumb outstretched, seeking a ride into the unknown.

Route 44 is a patch of road in New England in the USA where the modern world is constantly reminded of its past on this highway. People believe this ghost to be someone that died on these roads, but have been unable to find the origin story of it all and who this ghost is supposed to be is a big mystery to all. 

The Mysterious Hitchhiker

The narrative surrounding the red-headed hitchhiker takes on various forms. Some claim to have seen him on the side of the road, while others speak of an eerie reflection on windshields, a phantom presence that materializes in the shadows. Despite the lack of a known origin story, the mystique surrounding this spectral figure has woven itself into the fabric of local legend.

It is said that he only gets in the back seat, even if it is only the driver there, looking perhaps around 40 to his early 50s and normal looking enough to stop and ask him for a lift. If you ask him about where he is headed, he doesn’t give any response. He only points down to the direction of where the driver is headed anyway. 

After a while The Red-Headed Hitchhiker starts to giggle, soon sounding maniacal and uncontrollable, piercing the ears of the driver. When the driver gets fed up with this and threatens to drop the hitchhiker off on the side of the road, the hitchhiker disappears without a trace except from emotionally scarring the people in the car. 

Description of the Apparition

Eyewitness accounts converge on a vivid depiction of the red-headed hitchhiker—a man with striking red hair that is said to be long with a big bushy red hair, his attire a haunting ensemble of red flannel shirt and dirty blue jeans. 

His spectral form appears, thumb extended mostly although not always for his hitchhiking adventures, beckoning to those who pass by. Whether glimpsed on the roadside or as a ghostly reflection in the windshield, the hitchhiker’s presence is undeniably unsettling with his harrowing dark, empty and soulless eyes.

The Haunted Bridgewater Triangle

But what really is the Bridgewater Triangle that seems to hold so many legends, like the one of the The Red-Headed Hitchhiker haunting the roads?

The Bridgewater Triangle is an area of about 200 square miles in southeastern Massachusetts. First described in the 1970s by cryptozoologist, Loren Coleman in his book, Mysterious America. 

Read more: One of the more famous spots in the Bridgewater Triangle is perhaps the Lizzie Borden House where a horrible murder was committed and only paranormal forces lingered. 

The Bridgewater Triangle is known for hosting an array of spooky sightings, from Bigfoot, Thunderbird to UFOs to ghosts to satanic cults and old Native American monsters and ghost stories. The history of this haunted expanse is more than mere speculation—it is a documented tapestry of tragedies and crimes that contribute to the ominous allure of the Cursed Forest.

Unlike many legends within the Bridgewater Triangle, the red-headed hitchhiker lacks a discernible origin story. Local legend trippers, those intrepid seekers of the supernatural, confess to never stumbling upon a first-hand account. The absence of a concrete beginning only adds to the chilling aura that surrounds this spectral hitchhiker, leaving the curious traveler with more questions than answers.

The legend was made famous by the book, The New England Ghost Files written by Charles Turek Robinson.

Tales of The Red-Headed Hitchhiker

Throughout the years, many have laid claims to have seen The Red-Headed Hitchhiker’s ghost supposedly haunting these roads. 

One driver recalls the hitchhiker moving right alongside his fast moving car. Another picked him up only to have him disappear from his seat. One couple, Harry and Sheena Hanson living in Swansea, talked about how their car broke down around 10 pm and the woman stayed in the car as the man walked to get some help. The man claims he saw him sitting on the side of the road:

“Suddenly, the man’s face got very strange,” Harry remembers. “He stopped grinning, he twisted his mouth, and I noticed that there was something wrong with his eyes. They were all clouded over…no pupils or anything…just (blank) and all white. I began to feel weird and started to walk away from him. As I hurried away, I heard the man laughing. I turned around, but he was no longer there. I mean, I could no longer see him there, but I still heard the laughing, (as though) it was coming from just a few feet away from me. And the laughing kept switching locations. First I heard it in front of me, then behind me, then to the left of me. It was bizarre. I began to run along the highway back toward the car, and, as I did, the laughing followed me for a good two or three hundred feet. It scared the (expletive) out of me. And then, it suddenly stopped.”

The man saw him on the side of the road and tried to talk to him, only to be yelled at before disappearing. The woman heard his laughing voice coming through the radio, taunting her until she ran away from the car crying as she was waiting for her boyfriend. 

People have also tried to call out to the man they see on the road, The man is slowly making his way towards their car, but as he approaches, he slowly gets transparent until he suddenly disappears. 

Journeying into the Unknown

As night descends upon Route 44, casting an inky veil over the Rehoboth-Seekonk line, the red-headed hitchhiker’s legend takes on an eerie life of its own, although no one knows where he comes from. Did he die on these roads?.

Drivers navigating the winding roads may find themselves captivated by an inexplicable sense of foreboding, a subtle whisper in the wind that hints at the possibility of encountering the enigmatic figure with the outstretched thumb.

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References:

 The Redheaded Hitchhiker of Route 44, Rehoboth, Massachusetts (Haunted Place) 

Red Headed Hitchhiker of Route 44 – Spooky Southcoast 

The Ghostly Tale of the Redheaded Hitchhiker of Route 44 

13 Days of Halloween Tales of Terror: Red-Headed Phantom | Boothbay Register