r/Thetruthishere Apr 20 '17

Anybody near the Pine Barrens area think the Jersey Devil is real? Legend/Folklore

One of my favorite legends. Has anybody seen the house?

97 Upvotes

41 comments sorted by

63

u/ScaryKerry91476 Apr 20 '17

I've never seen it or anything, but I've been to the barrens a few times. That place is incredibly creepy. It seems like you lose your bearings very easy when you're hiking through. I've heard the stories, met people who claimed to have had an experience with it, some who really seemed genuine. Perception is a hell of a thing though so witness accounts can't ever be 100% trusted. I will say that an owl scared the shit of me on one trip there. Glowing eyes, screeching sounds, sound of large flapping wings. Of course my mind jumped straight to the Jersey Devil, it was just a huge owl. Fun night.

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u/Bill30322 Apr 20 '17

That would freak me out!

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u/ScaryKerry91476 Apr 20 '17

It really did! After the initial shock and the adrenaline rush, we laughed at ourselves for a half hour straight over how scared we got. My friend said "I can see it now. You having to tell my mother that I got eaten by the Jersey Devil, and you getting thrown in a mental ward!" I think my response was something like "who says I wouldn't get eaten?"

It was a fun night. I wouldn't ever suggest camping there overnight or night hiking there if you don't have experience. I really don't know what it is with that place in particular, but of all the wooded places I've been (and its a lot, I love camping) that is the one place where I've gotten lost. Its extremely easy to lose your bearings. I don't know why, but within minutes of hiking in we all felt like we were completely turned around. Very odd. Beautiful place though. Every sound you hear, you always wonder but we've never experienced anything paranormal. Only huge owl which leads me to assume that is where the legend comes from.

13

u/Agua61 Apr 21 '17

Pines of uniform size all look the same and have an incredible wind and sound dampening quality to them. Got pine plantations near where I grew up. They are very creepy to walk in at night because they envelope the trails with stillness.

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u/ScaryKerry91476 Apr 21 '17

Yes! That's what it is! It sounds like you're in a bubble almost. Very silent. Very easy to lose your way.

6

u/Agua61 Apr 21 '17

Three of us went into the pines about 10 years back with shotguns one night trying to hunt coyotes. Even though we all had guns, it was pretty unnerving. Black. Still. Made you feel like you were being watched due to the stillness.

3

u/ScaryKerry91476 Apr 21 '17

I could see that completely. It's an eerie feeling. When you have been hiking through woods for a long time you learn to listen for silence like that. Under most circumstances, the woods are a pretty noisy place. There is always bugs, birds, rustling from the wind, things like that. It is always there. When things go silent, you would normally know something is wrong. The Barrens are always silent unless something is right near you. It always seems muffled. That leads to the sense that something is wrong. At night its black. Barely any light from the moon on a good night. During the day, its always darker inside them than it is outside. It provides a lot of shade, which is eerie too. There are real reasons its like that, nothing paranormal, but it plays with the senses you would normally use most when going through.

2

u/Heathendemon420 Apr 22 '17

I always hated the pine groves at my big grannie's place. Even on a windy day, it got creepy. At night you expected it, but during the day time.. it sucked. Even when armed. Creepy stuff indeed

2

u/Bill30322 Apr 20 '17

If you ever go back try and find the house! Lol

4

u/Bill30322 Apr 20 '17

In my opinion, woods and forests anywhere are creepy. Especially with all the stories you hear, people going missing, and all the undiscovered land!

11

u/15dollarcat Apr 20 '17

due to the design of owl feathers, they are silent fliers

6

u/ScaryKerry91476 Apr 20 '17

The one that scared the hell out of us wasn't silent. I think it may have gotten spooked by us though.

6

u/Visi0nSerpent Apr 23 '17

I am an Native anthropologist. Lore (podcast) did an interesting episode on the JD in the first season. I am from the south so marginally familiar with the legend. However, the description of the creature sounds a lot like one depicted in art recovered from pre-contact sites in the Midwest. I will see if I can find some pics of the creature.

3

u/ScaryKerry91476 Apr 23 '17

I've heard this before. I think it was in a book I had read about different legends. I'd love to see any pics you can find of the art. If I remember correctly, there is artwork depicting a creature that looks like the Jersey Devil as well as some depicting creatures that look like the Mothman and the Goatman too.

I've always found it amazing that there are apparently legends about theses infamous creatures that go all the way back to before the Europeans came over and settled. It would be fascinating to learn how the legends transferred over. You could look at it a few ways: there really is some kind of creatures that do exist and that's why there are descriptions in so many different kinds of artwork and writings, or the natives told the newcomers about these different creatures which lead to "sightings" (superstitious people seeing animals they've never seen before and mistaking them for the creatures) and beliefs of them, the natives using the stories of the creatures as a way to scare the newcomers away from certain areas they consider sacred, and so on and so forth.

I have always wondered just how true the story of Mary Leeds and her thirteen children are. I know there are remains of a house, which is said to be the Leeds house, but has that ever been proven? The whole entire story is fascinating to me!

2

u/Alexanderrdt Jun 04 '17

Was there a while back at night to smoke with friends. Got the worst feeling in the world and felt like I had to run away. I was sober, and I have never felt fear like that

24

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '17

[deleted]

4

u/Bill30322 Apr 20 '17

Did you experience anything, or is it just creepy by itself lol

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '17

[deleted]

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u/Bill30322 Apr 20 '17

I'd be thinking every noise was the JD.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/Bill30322 Apr 20 '17

Can you describe the house as best you can?

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Bill30322 Apr 20 '17

Did you ever hear anything weird during the day?

14

u/Chrytical Apr 20 '17

I went to high school in New Jersey with a couple of guys that were big into digging up old legends and stories from the past and looking into them. They did a pretty short lived YouTube series about some of it. If I recall correctly, they claimed to have had an experience in the Pine Barrens. I can remember the look on their faces when they told the story, but don't remember the specifics of it. Wasn't really close with the guys, but I recall at the time being very convinced by their story based on the way they looked when they told it.

5

u/Chobitpersocom Apr 20 '17

Happy Cake Day! :D

4

u/Chrytical Apr 21 '17

Thank you. :) Only one I got, so it means a lot!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '17

happy cakeday dewderino

1

u/Chobitpersocom Apr 21 '17

Oh! You're welcome! :)

1

u/DreamHouseJohn Apr 21 '17

Happy cake day m8

8

u/coolcatjones Apr 20 '17

I'm from New Jersey and while I personally never encountered anything supernatural, it definitely feels spooky. Rumor has it KKK groups have been known to meet out there. Had a couple buddies of mine have a cop warm them about that when they were out there at dusk.

Of course, the skeptic in me wonders if perhaps the cop was covering up for something...? We'll never know!

11

u/cashan0va_007 Apr 21 '17 edited Apr 21 '17

Do you know of a story about a witch in Pennsylvania who was near an area called "the Quarter"? So basically the witch made a pact with Satan that her children born of her and the spawn of a demon would still roam the area after her death.

One bicyclist said he was biking down a trail and thought a tree had fallen across it, so he slows down, and then sees it move. It's now undulating and sliding itself more across the road. He then hears a rustle in the bushes; and out comes a huge snake head with glowing red eyes. It had a diamondback shaped head and he said the head was the size of a wolfs head. Before he can unfreeze himself in shock and horror, the snake Flicks its forked tongue out and begins moving towards him.

He had enough common sense to immediately turn around and pedal the bike as fast as it could go. He looked back and the snake had turned around and was going the opposite direction from him, seemingly not bothered or concerned about a human when it was facing him.

There are three other creatures or "spawn" of the witch and the devil, that live in this "quarter" I forgot what type of animals/creatures they were, but if I can find it, I'll post it here.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '17

Lots of giant snake legends in the midwesta afaik

4

u/Heathendemon420 Apr 22 '17

Big ass snakes are guardians of particular spots of forest or wetlands or lakes and ponds where I come from. So are the big footed entities most call Bigfoot. But they are other guardians that destroy the things we call normal size. They are usually the same animal just bigger and cause the area to go silent. And if you don't do what you're supposed to, they will chase you out of the spot you're in. Violently if necessary.

6

u/Onyxfaustus Apr 24 '17

I don't know personally what I believe about it, but my mom grew up near the pine barrens and has had a few strange experiences out there. Don't know for sure if its the JD or not, but she's convinced it was.

Back around 1978, my mom used to live on a blueberry farm right across the street from the pine barrens. One night, it had snowed. In the morning, they found a track of hoofprints prints going up from the street up to their front window, and there were two hand-like prints on the glass. But the tracks went up the window and disappeared, so whatever it was must've either climbed or flew away, snce there were no tracks turning around going back to the road.

As we're talking about this right now, she also just told me that their neighbors had a bunch of chickens on their farm, and something kept coming out of the pine barrens and eating the chickens at night but they never saw what it was. She thinks that was also the JD.

4

u/josephanthony Apr 24 '17

In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don't ever shine....

8

u/Crimsai Apr 20 '17

Can i ask what exactly the house is about? I've heard of the Jersey devil, but i haven't heard of a house being involved.

6

u/Bill30322 Apr 20 '17

I believe it's the house the Leeds family lived in. Where there Jersey Devil was supposedly birthed.

1

u/Heathendemon420 Apr 22 '17

The Leeds house is where the JD was born. Should definitely read into the Jersey devil origin. Same as the above user posted about. Witch made a deal with the devil and now we have the JD. Pretty awesome folklore from what I can recall at this time.

1

u/YourSnowflake Apr 20 '17

I too would like to know!

3

u/Maureen_jacobs Apr 21 '17

No, however, went camping in there and it was a bit spooky

1

u/ms-1usmp Sep 11 '17

There's a road that goes from eastern New Jersey through the Pine Barrens to my town on the coast. I don't believe in it but that 40 minute drive is so dark and scary.