Streets of Fear: Spook Rock Road
Today’s stop on FEARnet’s Streets of Fear is New York’s infamous Spook Rock Road! Located in Rockland County, NY, Spook Rock Road is host to scores of sordid ancient stories, tales of revenge, and strange hauntings. So travel with us as we wind down Spook Rock Road!
Spook Rock Road gets its name from Spook Rock, a large rock formation most likely created by Lenape Tribes. Some say the infamous rock was a signal rock for the Native Americans, who would have added rocks and boulders to it to store food and supplies. A more sinister tradition, however, holds that Spook Rock was actually a sacrificial stone. It’s this belief that leads to some of the grisly tales that surround Spook Rock and Spook Rock Road.
The leading legend of Spook Rock is a story of revenge that came about when Dutch settlers arrived in the area. (“Spook” is old Dutch for spirits.) According to legend, the natives of the area thought that one of the Dutch had seriously wronged their tribe, and decided to take revenge. Apparently they kidnapped the settler’s teenage daughter and brutally sacrificed her. Immediately after her death, they realized they’d not been wronged by the settler. Now this story leads to one of the most popular hauntings in the area.
The story follows that because of the wrongdoing, the girl’s spirit haunts the area. There are varying accounts of how the spirit appears. Some say a girl in white hovers over the rock, quiet and innocent, simply seeming lost. Others claim that a vengeful spirit wreaks havoc on the area on the anniversary of her death!
Add to all of that stories of cars lurching out of control on the road, and people saying the area holds a not-so-peaceful eerie feeling, and it looks like we’ve got the makings of a bona fide Street of Fear. Check out our Spook Rock Road episode to find out all the terrifying info!
