Frightful five

More than a handful of the scariest ‘real’ places in the Delaware Valley

By Leah Zerbe

Philly EDGE Correspondent

Ever since Jonathan Maberry’s grandmother dug up a 1958 penny in her yard decades ago, he’s been somewhat of a believer.

Just a young boy at the time, he was fascinated by the fact that his grandmother, a strong believer in the supernatural world, pulled a penny from the earth that was made in the same year he was born.

Superstitious? Yes. But seriously, what were the odds?

Since that penny’s been in his possession, Maberry has had incredible success.

It was even in his pocket earlier this year when he won the 2007 Bram Stoker Award for his horror novel called Ghost Road Blues.

Maberry grew up absorbing local stories of the supernatural, listening to his grandmother’s theory that the invisible energy grid where spirits traveled was somehow disrupted in Bucks County.

In New Hope, she’d say, the ley lines were warped.

So naturally, that’s where he was headed.

As a teen, Maberry and his friends would escape their neighborhood in Kensington and head to what they called “the country” in search of the ghosts described by his grandmother and by Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey, ghost investigator and author of the wildly popular Ghosts in the Valley books.

So it should be of no surprise that Maberry, whose award-winning novel is a part of his “Pine Deep Trilogy,” gets much of his inspiration from local scary spots; particularly one tiny village full of artists, creative minds, and yes, perhaps ghosts.

“Pine Deep is a thinly disguised version of New Hope,” Maberry said.

Ah, New Hope.

Anyone who knows anything about local spirits will say that’s the place for serious supernatural action.

Jeffrey traveled the entire world looking into reports of ghosts, but when she returned back to the region, she said New Hope had more ghosts per square mile than any other place she had investigated in the world.

And many other ghost hunters, authors, filmmakers, and local folklorists agree -- New Hope is one of the most haunted places on the planet.

Maberry writes fiction, but he said he has found plenty of real-life inspiration through the tales of the seemingly haunted river town and other local creepy spots.

Many historically haunted spots in the Philadelphia suburbs have captured local and national attention for consistent ghost sightings, supernatural sounds and yes, even ghostly smells. Here are some of the scariest, and most popular:

Logan Inn, New Hope

Guests who spend a night in Room Six at the Logan Inn could very well smell like an ashtray the next morning, that is, if they can brave spending an entire night there.

The inn has been featured on several TV shows for its famous ghost sightings and was a favorite topic of Jeffrey, who later started the first ghost tours in the United States and took people through the lantern-lit, haunted streets of New Hope, according to Scott Randoph, executive producer of “Ghost Tours of New Hope,” which is set to premier in New Hope on Oct. 28. 

His film will take viewers through the entire ghost tour, including the Logan Inn and inside some of the buildings no longer open to the public.

Up until the time he and fellow crewmembers set up camp inside the inn, they had never actually experienced the supernatural firsthand, Randolph said.

But it was there, in Room Six, where they suddenly were overtaken by an overwhelming smell of cigarette smoke, something that other guests have reported over the years, too.

Other guests have said their clothing reeked of smoke after staying there, despite the fact that it’s a strictly no-smoking inn.

In another eerie encounter, a woman who laid out her shoes at night is said to have found them strewn across the room in the morning, laces torn out.

Countless other stories were born out of the room, with tales ranging from images appearing in mirrors to reports of ghosts wearing 19th-Century clothing showing up for no particular reason.

Hands down, Room Six is the creepiest place to stay at the historic inn, but it’s not exclusive in ghost sightings there.

“People have seen Revolutionary War soldiers patrolling the dining room and second-floor hallways,” Randolph said.

That, and they have staff members who absolutely will not set foot in the basement.

Wedgewood Inn, New Hope

While alive, Joseph Pickett was simply known as the local butcher who liked to paint in his spare time.

It wasn’t until death that his work became famous. In fact, his wife had thrown most of his paintings away before museums got their hands on the remaining ones, bringing him fame by the time he was in the grave, Randolph said.

Some swear Pickett’s ghost emerges from time to time in the yard of the Wedgwood Inn in New Hope, where he painted one of his masterpieces, “Manchester Valley.” (Hey, wouldn’t you come back from the dead to get some well-deserved props?)

Armed with nothing more than an easel and paintbrush, Pickett reportedly paints away, but vanishes into thin air if an awestruck gawker tries to approach. 

Higbee Beach, Cape May

OK, so New Hope may get loads of attention when it comes to all things scary, but Cape May, N.J., is definitely not far behind.

Among the ocean town’s most believed-to-be haunted areas is Higbee Beach, where the coast blends into a natural wildlife preserve that reportedly is home to more than just shore birds and native plants.

Shannon Seidel, who said she is one in a line of supernaturally “sensitive” people in her family, grew up tracking ghosts as a hobby. She co-created South Jersey Ghost Trackers, a family-based group that travels around South Jersey and the country looking for orbs (what she described as a light or burst of energy that often can be seen by the naked eye and can be captured on film) and other paranormal activity.

High up on her list of spots with spirits is Higbee Beach.

“You go right up onto the beach,” Seidel explained. “It’s a real popular spot. You can see an old concrete ship that sits out on the water.

“They claimed that Mr. Higbee himself goes up and down the beach chasing a slave,” she added. “You pick up weird vibes there.”

Others have said when they call out to Mr. Higbee, or approach his grave, they were able to film magnificent orbs.

According to the Ghosts and Super Paranormal Hunters’ Web site, a phantom sailor often appears in his beige-colored slops atop a dune, and then disappears, too.

Please note -- The beach is a vital spot for threatened and endangered species, so visitors should be respectful when perusing the area.

Batsto Village, New Jersey Pine Barrens

A centuries-old village nestled in the creepy Pine Barrens, home of the infamous Jersey Devil, is one of Seidel’s favorite places to pickup paranormal activity.

“It’s just so active,” Seidel said. “I can bring anyone out there and can almost guarantee they’ll see something.”

The Jersey Devil, a winged mythical creature that has supposedly haunted the New Jersey Pine Barrnes, also known as the Pinelands, for nearly 300 years. Since its first sightings, it has caused chaos and havoc, even closing down schools and factories years ago. 

While Seidel hasn’t had much luck encountering the Jersey Devil, she said she’s found amazing things in Batsto’s old mill village graveyard, with tombstones that date back into the 1700s.

Under the moonlight, she connects with old spirits, particularly misty white or see-though children who playfully answer her calls.

“I’ve captured them on camera,” she said. “You can make out their faces to their clothes to their hair and the expressions on their little faces.”

Old Burlington County Prison, Mount Holly

Tales of solitary confinement, chained and tortured inmates, and executions haunt the old Burlington County Prison, which has since been converted into a museum (and a haven for ghost hunters). Armed with cameras, EVP recording devices and a thermometer with infrared laser, Seidel and her family headed to the building and had a bang-up day.

“This place is highly haunted,” she said.

Seidel’s son recorded a 10-degree temperature drop, her sister filmed a bright orb and she saw a guard standing out of the corner of her eye near the women’s wing.

Author Maberry, who said he tries to keep an open mind about the paranormal world, said science does claim to explain things like temperature drops, but can’t clarify them all.

“Once you rule out the 99 percent [of ghostly experiences] that are going to be something dealing with geology, metals in the ground, whatever, there’s that one percent that falls into the ‘I just don’t know’ category,” Maberry said.

Honorable Mention:

Yardley Yeti

 It may not sound scary on paper, but people who come into contact with the Yardley Yeti will say otherwise. At the very least, the beast perplexes them.

What some initially believed to be a fox with mange has sparked debates throughout the Lower Makefield Township area and beyond.

Bucks County Courier Times columnist J.D. Mullane first wrote about the creature last year after numerous sightings were reported and stumped local police and animal experts.

Strangely enough, Maberry, who also recently co-authored Cryptopedia: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange and Downright Bizarre, was baffled after spotting the dog-like creature outside of the Michener Art Museum and later outside of a Wegmans along Route 611. 

Convinced it was a sick fox, his curiosity was sparked again recently when a Norristown Zoo veterinarian saw his pictures and said he was almost positive it could not be a fox.

Maberry’s photos are posted on his Web site and can be seen here. www.vampireuniverse.com.

Upper Black Eddy, Pa.

Not far from New Hope, Maberry said the effects of warped ley lines could bleed into the Upper Black Eddy area.

There are plenty of stories to back up his case, too.

The Indian Rock Inn, a historic building that is now a bed-and-breakfast, previously housed actors from a nearby haunted hayride on a property that has since been sold, is said to be haunted.

According to folklore and ghost-hunting sites, The Devil’s Half Acre area has also been haunted since laborers digging up the Pennsylvania Canal were killed in local brawls there in the 1800s. According to legend, they were buried in shallow graves to avoid legal problems.

Not far from there is Dark Hollow Road, where, according to folklore, the remains of an abusive schoolteacher were found in an old schoolhouse. It’s a known haunted area and there have been many reports of lights flickering in the area, according to Maberry, who used the Dark Hollow name in his novels because it’s such a well-known haunted spot.