From Piney Folklore to Legendary Figures of South Jersey's Past Author William Lewis presents fascinating tales, revealing legends and beloved lore from the heart of Southern New Jersey.

In the course of its extraordinary history, the Jersey Devil has been exorcised, shot, electrocuted, declared officially dead, and scoffed as foolishness--none of which has had any effect on it or the people who persist in seeing it!This mysterious creature is said to prowl the lonely sand trails and mist-shrouded marshes of the Pine Barrens, and emerge perioducally to rampage through the towns and cities of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, leaving many communities in near-hysteria.The authors show that while a few appearances have been out-right fraud and others have likely been the result of mass hysteria, this creature has been seen by enough sane, sober, and responsible citizens to keep the possiblity of its existence alive and tantalizing.Over 50,000 in print

Pull up a chair or gather round the campfire and get ready for 35 creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences from times past. Set deep in the Pinelands and Ramapo Mountains, along the Atlantic coast, and in historic towns like Burlington and Springfield, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have you looking over your shoulder again and again. New Jersey folklore traditions are kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser and in artist Paul Hoffman's evocative illustrations. You'll meet ghosts and witches, hear things that go bump in the night, and feel an icy wind on the back of your neck on a warm summer evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to grandma's, this is a collection to treasure.

Phantom pirates, water monsters, and mythical snakes figure prominently in this collection of eerie tales from the Garden State. From this state’s bucolic, rolling farmland to its heavily populated shore come a variety of stories and legends, including a murderer whose body parts were used for medical (and other) experiments, the “White Pilgrim” who died of the disease he believed he could never get, and an Indian chief who used a swastika to protect a group of defenseless schoolgirls.

A provocative look at the mystery surrounding the Jersey Devil, a beast born of colonial times that haunts the corners of the Pine Barrens—and the American imagination—to this day. Legend has it that in 1735, a witch named Mother Leeds gave birth to a horrifying monster—a deformed flying horse with glowing red eyes—that flew up the chimney of her New Jersey home and disappeared into the Pine Barrens. Ever since, this nightmarish beast has haunted those woods, presaging catastrophe and frightening innocent passersby—or so the story goes. In The Secret History of the Jersey Devil, Brian Regal and Frank J. Esposito examine the genesis of this popular myth, which is one of the oldest monster legends in the United States. According to Regal and Esposito, everything you think you know about the Jersey Devil is wrong. The real story of the Jersey Devil's birth is far more interesting, complex, and important than most people—believers and skeptics alike—realize. Leaving the Pine Barrens, Regal and Esposito turn instead to the varied political and cultural roots of the Devil's creation. Fascinating and lively, this book finds the origins of New Jersey's favorite monster not in witchcraft or an unnatural liaison between woman and devil but in the bare-knuckled political fights and religious upheavals of colonial America. A product of innuendo and rumor, as well as scandal and media hype, the Jersey Devil enjoys a rich history involving land grabs, astrological predictions, mermaids and dinosaur bones, sideshows, Napoleon Bonaparte's brother, a cross-dressing royal governor, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.

Composed, for the most part, from sketches that were published in the Courier-Post newspapers of Camden, New Jersey, Beck provides us with a series of stories of towns too tiny or uncertain for today's maps. Together, these sketches help to create a more complete picture of the history of New Jersey. A connecting skein of untold or little known wartime history--the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the conflict of North against South--runs through most of the sketches. Many of the sketches concern the pine towns and their people, "the pineys" who lived in the Jersey pine barrens.

Emitting shrill cries and leaving its footprints in mud and snow, it has roamed the Pine Barrons of South Jersey for almost three hundred years. It is usually said to resemble a composite of several different animals, but it walks upright and us believed to be the child of a human mother.What is this mysterious creature? The Jersey Devil, of course! More than twenty years after their first book about the Jersey Devil was published, James McCloy and Ray Miller, Jr.'s, new research into this phenomenon continues to intrigue readers. Does the Jersey Devil actually exist? Or is it simply a hoax? Open Phantom of the Pines--if you dare--and decide for yourself.

Presents legends and lore of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, an area occupying roughly one million acres.

An entertaining look into the haunted history of the New Jersey coastline.

What is the authentic Long Beach Island? If you were to list all that you love about this 18-mile-long New Jersey sandbar --favorite things, its rich history and lore, family attachments that may go back generations, beach, ocean and bay activities, lost youth and carefree summers, spiritual sunrises and spectacular sunsets -- would that distill LBI to its essence?There is so much that is lasting, true and timeless about this Island. Although the experiences and feelings are different for everyone, one fact can not be denied: the emotional connection to LBI is real and deep and as permanent as a tattoo. It is a bond.All Things LBI: Faves - History - Legends - Lore celebrates this bond with observations, past and present moments, cultural vignettes, memories and delights -- with 480 photographs and images. Loosely organized into sections like: "The Beach and All That Makes It So," "All Things Bayside," "Weather, Storms, and Shipwrecks," the book also includes natural history, town legends and landmarks, remember-when nostalgia, and the special quality of the off-season. Long-time locals will recognize much; new visitors will be clued-in; young and old will relate. Breezy, evocative and cleverly written, inclusive not exclusive (because no one really wants to keep it to themselves), this chunky gift book captures the real Long Beach Island. All-encompassing, yet admittedly incomplete (how could it ever be complete?), the 183-page hardcover also includes blank note pages at the end for readers to record their own favorite LBI things.As the book observes: "Those three letters.... They're loaded with meaning, longing, and emotion. They represent more than just a physical place. More than an identity. They are attached to your soul. ...Wherever you are in the world, if you know what those letters mean, they will transport and connect you."