~by Marie Robinson
These days when you think of New Jersey you probably think of some
pretty horrifying images: spray tans, meatheads, awful accents and
vocabulary… but believe it or not, a legendary creature far more
frightening is said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of the Garden State.
The
Pine Barrens are one million acres of thick forest that stretch across
seven counties of New Jersey. The region is protected by the state and
great care is taken in keeping the region as natural and undisturbed as
possible. Almost half of it is public property and is divided into
various parks where hiking and camping is available. However, there is
something you should be warned about before you decide to spend the
night under the canopy of the Pines…
The legend of the fearsome
cryptid known as The Jersey Devil dates back about 300 years; the Native
American Lenni Lenape tribe were among the first to spin this yarn. In a
place now known as “Leeds Point” was a woman named Deborah Leeds, also
known as Mother Leeds. Mother Leeds, a poor woman who had twelve
children; she was also believed to be a witch, so it wasn’t really too
much of surprise when she inexplicably became pregnant with her
thirteenth child. She claimed that the unlucky baby would be the Devil,
himself, and when she gave birth in 1735 it was to a horrible creature.
The monster—which killed the midwife before it escaped, shooting up
through the chimney—had a horned goat’s head, a kangaroo-like body, a
forked, serpentine tail, cloven hooves and leathery wings.
This
diabolical beast has been popular with paranormal investigation reality
TV shows; the teams of MonsterQuest, Paranormal State, The Lost Tapes,
and Destination Truth have all sought after the Jersey Devil,
unsuccessfully. It does make for a creepy concept though, a small group
of brave (and naïve) people stumbling around the forest with nothing but
flashlights and cameras.
Such was the subject matter of the 1998
found-footage film, The Last Broadcast; set-up in the style of a
documentary concerning the murder of a group of men who spent a night in
the Pine Barrens. Locus and Stephen were the creators and hosts of a
local access television show called Fact or Fiction, the subject matter
of which was primarily the mysterious and paranormal. In hopes of
boosting their ratings they plan to live broadcast a trip deep into the
Pine Barrens in search of the Leeds Devil. They bring along two others,
Rein—who specializes in recording EVPs and other paranormal sounds—and
Jim—a self-proclaimed psychic. Their trip turns deadly and all of the
crew ends up dead or missing, except for Jim - who appears to be the only
suspect, unless it was something… unnatural.
Another film that
directly references this myth is the 2012 flick, The Barrens. It stars
Stephen Moyer (the one and only Bill Compton) as Richard, who decides to
take his family on a camping trip to—well, you know. There are plenty
of reasons for Richard to be stressed; the disappearance of the family
dog, the tension between his teenager daughter and his new wife, and
now, the growing number of mutilated bodies found in the woods. As
Richard’s fear builds and his sanity wanes, he can’t help recalling the legends of that grotesque beast that is said to inhabit the very forest he is lost in.
The Jersey Devil has made quite a name for itself in fiction. A few
television shows have dedicated an episode to the fiend, such as
Supernatural and The X-Files. Several authors have penned their own
tales inspired by the legend, as well. Horror author F. Paul Wilson has
written twice about the Devil, once in short story form and the other in
his novel, All the Rage. Although it has never been confirmed, one
could speculate that H.P. Lovecraft may have taken inspiration from this
myth. A Jersey Devil-like creature is described in The Dream-Quest of
Unknown Kadath and The Dunwich Horror has similarities to the legend of
Mother Leeds.
As there is really no sure way to prove the Jersey
Devil does not exist, naturally many people believe that it is, in fact,
real. “The Devil Hunters” are one such group that are confident in the
creature’s existence. They have appeared on several TV shows and have a
pretty in-depth website if you are interested in checking it out. You
can find countless stories of people’s alleged experiences with the
Devil online. Each vary a bit, some are pretty freakin’ creepy, but one
signature quirk of the Jersey Devil is a loud, "blood-curdling scream"
that it likes to let ring out through the forest.
It must be so cosy and nice for that monster having literally one million acres of forrest to hide in.
ReplyDeleteThats 1,562.5 square miles and that creature probably knows literally every inch of them like the back of his claw, thats why he`ll NEVER be caught because from his point of veiw hes living a charmed life in a perfect world ! ! !.
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