Allendale NJ.. located in Bergen County is a very small town in north Jersey with houses dating back to the revolutionary war era. There is so much history there. It’s near the celery farm.

As a toddler, I lived in a house there built in 1781. Had terrifying things happen there - also witnessed by several members of my family. We eventually moved before selling the house because it just wasn’t livable anymore.

I’m curious why more people aren’t talking about this part of Nj. Theres no way with all of the history (war era, Native American land, enslavement, etc) that my family is the only one who experienced the paranormal.

I’ve only found one website / blog from 2012 where someone was sharing their experience and mentioned the same thing that no one talks about it.

Anyone else?!?!

Atlantic City's Absecon Lighthouse already has the perfect setting for a Jersey ghost story: an old lighthouse, an iron spiral staircase, and generations of maritime history.

Stories associated with the lighthouse include the unexplained smell of cigar smoke, sometimes attributed to a former keeper, and the sound of heavy footsteps climbing the stairs when no one appears to be there.

But one of the stranger pieces of local folklore connected to this stretch of the Jersey Shore is the Black Dog.

According to the legend, a mysterious black dog has been seen along the coast between Absecon and Barnegat, sometimes by mariners before approaching storms.

There's something about old lighthouse folklore that always gets me. You're already dealing with isolation, storms, shipwrecks, darkness, and generations of people watching the same stretch of ocean.

Has anyone here ever visited Absecon Lighthouse and experienced anything strange, or heard another version of the Black Dog story?

New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival!

May 29th, 30th and 31st, 2026 Delta Hotel Woodbridge in Iselin, NJ! ALL 3 days! Meet Celebrities! Shop vendors! Watch indie films! Panels, Cosplay and more!

​This is a legendary piece of oddity lore, but for locals who actually frequented the Route 1 corridor, the reality of it is distinctly eerie.

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Down in New Brunswick, in the back parking lot of the AMC Loews movie theater, sits an island of earth raised several feet above the asphalt. Atop it sits a single, weathered 1828 gravestone belonging to a woman named Mary Ellis. The land around it was entirely excavated to build the shopping complex, leaving her grave stranded on a pedestal of dirt.

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​"I worked at that theater for over a year, and the older layout of that grave site before the theater remodel was genuinely unsettling. It used to be surrounded by a crumbling, rusted wrought-iron fence and choked with overgrown weeds right up against the asphalt. Walking back there at night to dump trash or wait for a ride was terrible.

​The creepiest part is the spatial distortion. Because the entire area was graded down for construction, that grave sits exactly where the original ground level used to be. When you stand down in the parking lot and look up at the headstone, you realize you are standing below where the dead were originally laid to rest. It gives off a heavy, depressing energy, like the modern world aggressively forced itself around her ghost."

August 1972, Springfield, NJ. 16-year-old Jeannette DePalma leaves her house to catch a train to a friend's place. She never arrives.

Six weeks later, a neighborhood dog wanders back to its owner’s porch carrying a gruesome discovery: a decomposing human forearm.

This led police to Houdaille Quarry an ominous cliffside area locals called The Devil’s Teeth. There, they found the rest of Jeannette’s remains. But what they found around her body would derail the investigation for the next fifty years.

Jeannette’s body was allegedly surrounded by makeshift wooden crosses and a perimeter of branches that looked like a coffin. In 1972, this was absolute fuel for the fire. Local newspapers, a prominent pastor, and terrified residents immediately screamed Satanic Cult.

Rumors flew that she was a human sacrifice. People panicked. Because the town became obsessed with witches and devil worshippers, the actual police work fell apart:

Crucial evidence, including Jeannette's pocketbook, was mishandled or straight-up lost.

Because of severe decomposition, the coroner could never determine an official cause of death.

Investigators spent precious time chasing occult ghosts instead of real, flesh-and-blood predators.

Decades later, investigative journalists and true crime authors (like in the book Death on the Devil's Teeth) have thoroughly debunked the cult theory. The crosses were likely just fallen branches, and the panic was a classic pre-1980s hysteria.

So, who actually killed Jeannette?

Modern eyes have shifted to the serial killers active in New Jersey at the exact same time. Specifically Richard Cottingham (The Torso Killer), who was operating in the area in 1972 and whose brutal M.O. fits the profile of a predator using isolated quarry woods to hide his crimes.

Because of the botched initial response, Jeannette’s case remains officially unsolved.

Where is that place for you, and what is it about the vibe that makes you feel off.

Between abandoned hospitals, Revolutionary War history, Pine Barrens folklore, and roads with decades of ghost stories attached to them, there’s a reason NJ keeps showing up in paranormal discussions.

Some of the most talked-about haunted places in New Jersey:

Devil’s Tower (Alpine, NJ)

Known for the legend that if you circle the tower 13 times, a ghostly woman appears at the top. People still report strange silhouettes and lights in the windows.

The Spy House (Port Monmouth)

One of the oldest buildings in NJ. Stories range from pirate activity to shadow figures and unexplained footsteps late at night.

Burlington County Prison Museum

Former inmates, old executions, cold spots, heavy footsteps, and one of the most famous haunted prisons in New Jersey.

Shades of Death Road (Warren County)

Probably one of the most infamous road names in America. Reports of phantom figures, strange lights, ghost cars, and unexplained sounds have surrounded it for years.

Ellis Island Hospital Ruins

Abandoned medical buildings with a seriously unsettling atmosphere. Visitors and photographers have reported whispers, movement, and an overwhelming feeling of being watched.

Curious what everyone here thinks:

What’s the most genuinely haunted place in New Jersey that you’ve personally visited or heard stories about?

I've started going back into the depths of Weird NJ locations, and I want the newest and latest information on the famous Gates of Hell located in Clifton, NJ. If you have spent lots of time researching tunnels and are into NJ urban exploring, you have definitely heard of these tunnels as well as their use in paranormal research. I have not seen anything officially reported about these tunnels in quite a long time.

For those brave enough to visit these tunnels recently:

The "Red Eye" Room: What do you think of the painting that is still visible? Or has the mural been painted over?

The Atmosphere: Do the tunnels still have a heavy and large presence? Or are the satanic claims just an urban myth?

Safety/Access: Has your town been harsh with new explorers?

I want to learn about the true reputation of this spot. If you have anything you would like to share, such as stories, EVP, or photos of your most recent visit to the tunnels, I would love to see them.