A cornucopia of urban legends have attached themselves to this hair-raising-named rural avenue, its neighbouring bridges, and the cemetery of the same name. Along the road, visitors have reported seeing phantom vehicles and a dog with glowing red eyes. According to legend, the railroad bridge was the scene of a deadly school bus accident, as well as more than one hanging. These hangings have also been attributed to an older wooden bridge along nearby Sweeny Road. In one gruesome story, a van full of children coming back from a birthday party spun out of control and plummeted off the side of the bridge. The driver, who was wearing a clown suit, can still sometimes be seen clawing his way back onto the road. The cemetery at the end of the road is said to be visited by a wide variety of phenomenon—from orbs, to a phantom dog, to a vanishing barn, to the disembodied laughter of children and electrical malfunctions. Blood’s Point was named after Arthur Blood, the first white settler of Flora Township. Some locals maintain that he brought a curse with him that remains to this day.
Hornet Spook Light - Near Joplin, Missouri
Since the 1860s, an old road near the Oklahoma border has been the scene of one of America’s most famous spook lights. The Hornet Spook Light, as it is known, appears in an area called the Devil’s Promenade. The light, which rushes, bobs, and weaves down the road, is described as being bright, hot, and about the size of a basketball. In the 1950s, a reporter who witnessed the light described it as a diffused, orange glow. Hundreds of people have seen the light. It has been photographed and investigated by scientists, but so far no one has been able to explain what it is. According to legend, however, the light belongs to the ghost of an old miner whose children were kidnapped by Indians in the early 1800s. He set off into the Devil’s Promenade with a lantern to search for them and never returned. Others say the light is the spirit of an Osage Indian chief. The Hornet Spook Light became so famous that a small museum was once dedicated to it.
Paulding Lights - Watersmeet, Michigan
Since at least the 1960s, visitors to the forest around Watersmeet and Paulding in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have reported encountering a strange red light. It is said to rise up like an ember, grow in size and intensity, and then disburse in a haze. This phenomenon is repeated almost nightly, week after week. The Paulding Light became so well known that Ripley’s Believe it or Not offered a cash reward to anyone who could determine its origins. Unlike other spook lights, this one has been recorded on film by the local media. Its first reported sighting was by a group of teenagers in 1966. They claimed the light shone so brightly that it lit up the interior of their car. Ten years later, Elmer Lent and Harold Nowak had a more dramatic encounter. They saw not one, but two lights that alternated colors between red and green. The smaller light appeared to move around the other. Some researchers concluded the Paulding Light is nothing more than car headlights reflecting off the unique terrain, but most locals strongly disagree.
Maple Lake Lights - Springs, Illinois
Maple Lake is a man-made body of water roughly half a mile in width. With its wide, curving shores and tranquil waters, it is a deceptively peaceful place. Over the years, Maple Lake has acquired a reputation for the unusual. Visitors have reported seeing strange lights hovering over the lake, and there have been at least two homicides and four drownings there. Stories of strange lights have circulated for decades. “An inexplicable red glow has been seen oozing around the shoreline, between the trees and above the sand,” ChicagoTribune reporter Howard Reich wrote in a feature story on Halloween 1980. This “oozing” glow was later described as small and was said to hover in the one particular location in the middle of the lake. According to most contemporary accounts, the spook light is most often visible from the Maple Lake Overlook along 95th Street between 10:30pm and 12am. Onlookers report that the red light shines brightly for a few precious moments before it disappears.
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