The Jersey Devil’s Haunted Woods

by Kathleen Anne Lafferty

Fast Facts

Number of Scenes: 12

Price: $10

Dates: Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday Nights in October and October 29th – 31st.

Hours: 7 PM to 11 PM Fridays, Saturdays and Halloween, 10 PM on all other days

Contact: Eileen Mack

Phone: 856-232-3905

Location: Williamstown, NJ, one mile south of the Black Horse Pikeon Clayton Road just past the Williamstown Middle School.

Web Site: www.JerseyDevilsHauntedWoods.freeservers.com

Williamstown historical information provided by Michael J. Launay of New Jersey’s History Mysteries and contributed by Rayne Roberts. “The Jersey Devil” poem contributed by Eileen Mack.

In semi-rural southern New Jersey along the Black Horse Pike lies a former glass-making town of the 1930’s called Williamstown.  Seated in Gloucester County, the only standout along the way that marks Williamstown is the tall Geet’s sign that marks the diner of its namesake.  The town’s current name was chosen in 1842 in honor of Deacon Israel Williams, who had, incidentally, chosen the name that Williamstown replaced, Squankum (Native American, meaning “place of the evil god”).  Since that name change took place, the town has not been much noted for its power of darkness.  That changed eight years ago.

In October 1993, the Jersey Devil’s Haunted Woods was born in Williamstown, the vision of Eileen Mack.  It began as and remains to be a family affair, supported by her husband Jim Mack, along with sons, sister, friends and other family, all of whom formed the foundation of this annual Halloween event.  An extension of that family has become the many staff members who have, in the more recent years, lent their talent and efforts to the production – many of which have come to refer to Eileen as “Mom.”

The idea for Haunted Woods was an offshoot of Eileen and Jim’s glow-stick and glow-necklace business.  “Around this time of year (fall), we would get calls from people having haunted events,” Eileen explains.  “One of the people working for us, Charlie, went to Jason’s Woods (a Lancaster, Pennsylvania haunted event and hayride).  He suggested that we should have a haunted event.”  The idea was frozen for a couple of years amidst a difficult search for a suitable location.  A chance discussion of her search with an employee, Anthony Novak, provided the connection between Eileen and a site in historic Williamstown, which was owned by Anthony’s then father-in-law-to-be, Joe Genova. “And the rest is history.” exclaims Eileen.

The next step was a name for the event. Aside from the obvious fact that the site exists in the geographical heart of Jersey Devil lore, the history of the name involves Jim’s friend Jack.  “When we asked Jack to come to work for us at the Haunted Woods, he said ‘Yes, and I have somebody who will be the Jersey Devil for you.”   It seems that at a party recently given by Jack, a guest arrived in the costume of a mythological character Pan.  “Pan had hooves with long legs, almost like a horse, and he was bare-chested,” Eileen begins.  “He had horns and big wings.” Jack’s neighbors had been calling the police, reporting that they had seen the Jersey Devil. “He looked like the real thing,” recalls Jack.  And so was born the “Jersey Devil” of Eileen’s Haunted Woods.

The legend of the Jersey Devil is a mysterious one.  The variations on the myth are too numerous to cover in brief.  However, some of the most popular facets of the tale are depicted in the following poem:

The Jersey Devil

She cursed the day she and Leeds were wed.
Heavy with life she held her head
and cried to the midwife, silent and grim,
"Twelve children I have given him!

Still young, I am old, and sick with wear.
Twelve hungry mouths, twelve burdens to bear!

I was fair and strong when the banns were read,
with velvet cheek and flaxen head,
sparkling eye and silken of limb,
but I had to go and marry him!

What would I give to escape this life ?
to have no pain, be no man's wife,
no children to tend no chores to be done,
to be young once again, to have some fun!

Oh what I would give to end this birth,
this horrible weight; this obscene girth!

I'd like to bear the Devil's child ?
all claw and fang, all fierce and wild ?

Such sweet revenge to see Leeds' face
when he finds a beast in the baby's place."

The wood fire leaped and began to crackle,
the room was filled with a demon cackle.

The woman screamed and the quiet returned
In the dim, still room her pale eyes burned.
She shivered and shook with fear and dread.
"I didn't mean it, those things I said."

"Hush my dear, " the midwife said,
"Your labor's begun, best go to bed."

The woman writhed on her dank, soiled cot.
The fire blazed and the room grew hot.

It bathed the walls in a hellish red.
The midwife swabbed her damp forehead
and drew the child from its mother's womb.
A hideous shriek ripped through the room.

A claw shot out and scratched the cheek
of the midwife, now too numb to speak.

It slashed and tore, and left her dead,
Then turned and lifting its horse-like head,
gave a sanguine smile to its mother there,
a giggling idiot, twisting her hair,
her youth regained, but to no avail,
It stroked her face with its serpentine tail,
gave a practice shrug of each leathery wing,
then flew up the chimney in one great spring.

Now it prowls the pines in the damp of night,
when a gibbous moon spends its sickly light.

A child of darkness who leaves in the sand,
a cloven hoofprint, the mark of a hand,
a broken branch, or a claw. . .who knows?
But the wise pinewoodsman never goes
alone in the Barrens late at night.
He fears the heron's azure flight;
avoids the red orchid, passes it by;
leaves it to suckle the carrion fly;
starts at the sudden crack of a twig.
Something is moving there-something big!

There are charms to be carried. Don't tempt the fates,
The Jersey Devil watches and waits!

Author unknown

Unlike other haunted events in the Delaware Valley Region, which consist of hayrides and/or Haunted Houses, the Jersey Devil’s Haunted Woods is a unique 45-minute Haunted Trail through the woods and much more.  Arriving at the event site alone is a grand October pleasure. The entrance is marked by a classic hearse, beyond which a bright bonfire glows.  Wait time moves swiftly as the guests are entertained outside the convincing “Haunted Castle” facade by the Haunted Wood’s renowned Wicked Witch (played by Eileen’s sister, Denise).  A seasonally appropriate sonic ambience is provided on special dates by live bands (including The Fun Ghouls, I Will I, and Live Not On Evil in 2000, and Citizen Sane scheduled so far for 2001), and live DJs (with Philadelphia’s DJ Schmitty in 2000, and the Haunted Wood’s own “DJ Nightmare” slated for 2001), and even more being planned for the Castle’s Court in this year.

To begin, the tour groups are brought into a room where they meet their “tour guide,” whose entrance is always made in a unique, unexpected fashion.  It is all outdoors from there as they embark on a series of dark and disorienting wooded paths, through which they will have the frightful pleasure of experiencing a dozen elaborate scenes.  Several past favorites join a new lineup of terror each year, keeping perennial visitors on their toes with new fun and surprises.  Repeat visitors in the same season get to experience the clever variations played out nightly in some of the scenes, which keeps the attraction fresh for performers and guests alike.  After the hair-raising tour, guests can relive their experience other patrons sitting around a real bonfire, roasting marshmallows and sipping hot chocolate available from the adjacent concession stand (complete with hot foods such as chili and hot dogs, as well as soda, and snacks).

At the end of the night, the staff gathers around that same bonfire to share their favorite frights of the night, affirming the camaraderie that makes the event work so well.  “I can’t be everywhere in the woods at once,” Eileen starts, “so when we sit around the fire and tell our stories, and the actors say what happened with this group or that group, we really enjoy it.”  Perhaps this is the most important element of Eileen’s success at the Jersey Devil’s Haunted Woods.  “I like that people get entertained…I want to please them, and when I see that they’ve been scared…that they really liked it, and when they exit and say it’s the best [haunted event] they’ve ever seen, that makes me feel good.”  This basic principle is one that has worked well for the Jersey Devil’s Haunted Woods. The event has enjoyed a steady increase of visitors each year it has been in operation, giving everyone much to look forward to in 2001…

Kathleen Anne Lafferty is a Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia area photojournalist, with fifteen years’ experience working at many levels of the Haunted Attraction industry. Currently she is a contributor for Slambook (a dark arts and subculture ‘zine), and is assistant directing an independent feature film project being shot in West Philadelphia.  She can be contacted via email at KLaff13@aol.com.