An investigator of Urban Legends has set out for New Jersey in the hopes of uncovering the truth behind the Jersey Devil and its controversy. With the assistance of Agnes Jenkins, Lisa Harp Waugh has been uncovering the stories that surround the mysterious creature and has come up with interesting new details on Haunted American Tours. The mystery as it continues is an unbridled series of stories that cover every element of the paranormal it would seem with theories ranging from a demonic entity to a sort of genetic experiment by an extraterrestrial source. Ms. Waugh’s investigation has uncovered a considerable amount of information from the residents of New Jersey themselves.
The batlike monster with the head of a horse and at least one row of jagged sharp teeth is rumored to soar above the area just outside and within the Pine Barrens where much of the region is rarely visited by humans. The creature is reported to attack livestock, leaving their grisly remains in formations that many would recognize as bearing occult significance as though a ritual had taken place there. Still others suggest the sites of violence were left in order to summon the strange creature. The report states that the creature generally gives off a stench so foul that it is unbearable at close range. Those who recall the birth of the creature from Mother Leeds suggest it was because she cursed it after bearing the weight of responsibility for so many other children. Others suggest the 13th child was fathered by the devil himself. And there are of course theories that it could be a sort of spirit of deception given form by some unknown force. The strange way it appears and seems to spread terror is just one of the mysterious aspects of this harrowing exploration into the dark stories of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens.
The investigation furthermore uncovered a tale of the creatures’ mysterious offspring as well which followed the exploits of these creatures as they ran cars off roads and murdered those on the highway in grisly ways. Fortunately, upon investigating to see if these stories could be confirmed there doesn’t appear to be anything suggesting this aspect of the story is true. There is also a tale of a girl who was institutionalized and thought to have been descended from the creature in what is now known as the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital. The hospital gained notoriety when a series of grisly deformations were found to have caused the deaths of several patients after Dr. Henry Cotton had infected limbs and teeth removed without anesthetic believing the infections to be the source of their insanity. The girl is said to be kept under lock and key according to some of the most dramatic legends uncovered by Ms. Waugh’s thorough investigation. It’s always interesting to take the approach of collecting stories even if they cannot be determined or can easily be debunked as a study of the human aspect of claims such as the Jersey Devil. As for the creature itself, the search continues for some who believe its existence to be real.
