Printfresh Team’s Favorite Scary Stories

The tales of the Jersey Devil can be traced back to 1735 when the Leeds family gave birth to their 13th child, a boy born cursed to take the shape of a monstrous creature. He grew quickly in size and with a screech flew out of the window and off into the swamp. To this day, people still tell stories about sightings as he swoops through the woods and causes mayhem across the state. 

We originally released our Jersey Devil print in collaboration with the Lokal A-Frame, an amazing cabin in Maurice, NJ. They approached us with the idea to create an illustrative robe that celebrated the Pine Barrens and this iconic New Jersey monster. We had so much fun digging up descriptions and historic depictions to try to figure out how we wanted our “devil” to look. I wanted to keep the spirit of the lore (some deal breakers were a goat’s face, wings, hooves and a forked tail), but also paint a creature who was a little more approachable than some of the really scary illustrations out there. 

Lynzi (Editorial Copywriter): I LOVE a good mystery and I cannot get enough of interesting conspiracies (the Georgia Guidestones, lost colony of Roanoke, etc.) especially ones that are featured on my favorite crime podcasts. One of the tall tales that really sticks with me is “Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?”. In 1943 a group of boys in the countryside of England found a skeleton deep inside a hollowed tree, leading to endless questions about who this woman was and why on earth did she get into the tree?! 

Sophia (Director or Marketing): My tall tale isn’t so much a story… rather it’s a place! Living in Philadelphia you have easy access to Eastern State Penitentiary. Since the infamous prison closed in 1971, it’s constantly been at the center of plenty of ghost stories and rumors of hauntings. When you take a tour through the Penitentiary today it’s impossible not to get the chills, especially when you hear about the different noises, voices and even ghostly figures people claim they experience throughout the cell blocks!

Molly (Senior Design Operations Coordinator): My favorite spooky story is “The Girl with the Green Ribbon.” Any millennial will remember reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Essentially, a girl falls in love with a boy, who questions why she always has a green ribbon around her neck. She refuses to share her secret until the moment is right. On her deathbed, she removes the ribbon. Much to her lover’s surprise, her head falls off! Looking back on this story as an adult makes me laugh, but this was the stuff of nightmares for any ‘90s kid!

Bea (Graphic Designer): As a teenager, my friends and I would go on what we called a “Valley Ride” just off the border of Delaware and Chadds Ford, PA. Going on a spooky ride at night was the perfect way to entertain ourselves in our boring suburban town. The drive takes you on a windy road lined with trees that bend away from the road, opposite the direction of the sun. It’s known as “Devil’s Road” and the creepy vibes are undeniably there, so much so that the horror movie ‘The Village’ was filmed in the woods surrounding the area. To add on to the already creepy look of the area, The DuPonts once owned a mansion and a massive chunk of land lining the windy road. This mansion was known as the ‘Cult House.’ As you move farther away from the mansion the trees start to lean back into a more natural upward shape. It is said that if you trespass on their private property guards wearing trench coats and black hoods or men in blacked out window trucks chase you off the property. I would highly recommend digging more into tales of this area, there is a lot of spooky lore to explore with this one.

Nina (Senior Web Merchandiser): I’m from New Jersey, so naturally I gravitate towards the Jersey Devil lore. I grew up in South Jersey going down the shore to Long Beach Island, traveling through the Pine Barrens on Route 72 where the Jersey Devil “lives.”  It’s really fun to scare yourself while in a car traveling down this road and looking out the vast woods of trees and tricking your eyes into seeing something. I also listen to scary podcasts and recommend Spooked podcast if you want to find your next favorite spooky story. 

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