Further Reading For The Jersey Devil
About
The Jersey Devil, sometimes (but hardly ever) called The Leeds Devil is a cryptid reported by residents of New Jersey to haunt the Pine Barrens region of Southern New Jersey. It is described as head of a goat with wings, walking on its hind legs. It is also said to have a forked tail and clawed hands on the end of short, stubby arms. Witnesses claim that it has a blood curdling scream and moves extremely fast. In many ways, it is remarkably similar in description to the legendary Puerto Rican Chupacabra.
The legend has its roots in the 1700’s with a resident reportedly named Jane Leeds who gave birth to a horrible deformity as her thirteenth child. Supposedly, born a normal human child, the child changed before the Leeds’ eyes, murdered the midwife that delivered the baby, and disappeared up the chimney in the family’s home, disappearing into the forest and haunting New Jersey ever since. The state hockey team, The New Jersey Devils are named for its legend.
Boring, fun-killing skeptics are quick to point out that witnesses are probably misidentifying animals commonly found in the wilderness of The Pine Barrens and that origins of the myth with the Leeds family is probably born from local disdain for the Leeds family at the time.
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