My letter to the editor of Weird NJ:

On Monday, July 30^th, my girlfriend Raquel and I went to the drive-in movie theatre in Warwick, NY. It was about an hour away, but we got there: right off of NJ Rt. 23 through West Milford.

On our ride home, around 10:30 p.m., we both felt very uneasy as we drove through the woodsy area. I noticed that there were “Road Closed” signs referring to Clinton Road, detouring them to the road we were on: Warwick Turnpike.

It was a clear night, no fog, but very dark. I was driving with my high beams on until I saw another driver coming toward me, also with his high beams on. We both turned them off. As we approached each other, my girlfriend and I saw something in the road. Apparently, the other driver did also because we both slowed down and came to almost a complete stop about 15 – 20 feet from each other.

Now, keep in mind, the road in front of us was very well lit from headlights on both sides. As we looked to see what was in the road, we could see something walk in front of my car and then his headlights, but it was almost as if it absorbed the light; like it was a shadow. I could only see what looked like animal legs pass in front of our lights. It was so weird to be that close to something in a well-lit area and not be able to definitively assess what I was looking at. As soon as it passed both of our cars, it disappeared!

My girlfriend and I both said to each other, “What was that?”, as we drove away in a hurry. I put it out of my mind and just kept driving.

When I got home later that night, my younger brother had brought over a copy of Weird NJ that his girlfriend had given him that same night. He told me about some of the highlights: Devil’s Tree, Annie’s Road, and Clinton Road. When he turned to the page about Clinton Road and I saw “West Milford”, I made the connection: that was the same road that I was detoured from!

As I read on, I saw a picture of a wolf and read a few words describing the ghostly animals that haunt the area. I immediately jumped up from the table and took a few steps backward. My brothers thought I was joking at first, but soon became equally weirded out as I explained to them the details of my encounter with some creature in West Milford.

I’m not an idiot and neither is my girlfriend. We both are very-well educated and have never done drugs or alcohol or even smoked. My girlfriend and I are convinced that what we saw was a ghost creature.

July 31, 2007

http://www.weirdnj.com/stories/_roads02.asp

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The editor replied a few days later confirming, in his opinion, that it was, in fact, the hellhound of Clinton Road.