The Scariest Thing In New Jersey Is Revealed

We have all seen a lot of unsettling things here in the Garden State, but what is the scariest thing in New Jersey? That answer has been revealed.

When Twenty Two Words set out to find the scariest thing about each state in America, their focus on New Jersey focused on a bone chilling story that most of us are at least familiar with.

It's the story of a deadbeat, drunk man's wife, according to History, who's wife, Mrs. Leeds cursed their 13th child. The story goes on to say the baby turned into a devil and escaped through the family's chimney, and the New Jersey Devil was on the loose.

There are still reports of New Jersey Devil sightings throughout the state, and some of the stories are just plain frightening, and the sightings have been reported for almost three centuries now here in the Garden State.

There are a handful of examples of these sightings in an article at nj.com, and there is enough there to keep a lot of you awake at night. And just to give you an example of how he New Jersey Devil has held a grip on our state, in 1909, there were 1000 reports of sightings in the southern part of the state.

One thing I had never heard is the theory that Benjamin Franklin himself concocted the scheme since the Leeds were competing with Franklin's Farmer's Almanac. You can read more about this at History Collection.

And if you think this is a South Jersey thing only, you might want to know that the New Jersey Devil sightings have happened deep into Monmouth County, including a sighting in Hazlet in 2008.

And by the way, you can see a map of sightings around the Garden State at Google Maps. Check it out to see how close to you the closest sighting has been.

I guess not everyone loses sleep over the tale of the New Jersey Devil. After all, we did name our hockey team after it.