Moon Mausoleum
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
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 […]
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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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