Hello, it’s me, Brady, your resident Ghost Hunter here again to tell you all about one of the most horrifying nights of my life. It happened last Friday night when I went out with Jeannette and my friend who we will call Laurne to keep her anonymous.

Look at the bridge above. Does it look scary? How about at night? It is located at the Bowman’s Tower Hill located between Washington’s Crossing and Newhope just outside of the city. The bridge is allegedly haunted by several discontented spirits who committed suicide or were murdered. Most recently, a young pregnant woman supposedly killed her young child by throwing the child off the bridge, then killed herself and another unborn child by jumping herself. Supposedly if you drive by there at midnight and roll down your windows, you can hear the wailing of a child. Also, several ghost hunters reported seeing a shadowy figure just beside the bridge that disappears when you approach it.

Here is a map of the area.

So we decided to find this bridge around midnight on Friday night. Now, let me preface this by saying that Laurne claims to be a “feeler,” or someone who can detect the presence of ghosts without actually seeing them. She had a really bad experience at the old Jim Thorpe prison earlier this summer. Another story for another time.

So I’m driving up to this covered bridge, and I have a really bad feeling about it. And Laurne promises me she’ll have me turn around if there’s something that’s going to go down. I turn for the Bowman’s Tower hill and we are now looking for a tiny road on the right (the only one where you can turn right). And as we come upon this little dirt road, we see that there is a giant iron gate blocking the dark road. So I am now driving further, now looking for a place to turn around, when Laurne (who had been quiet for several minutes), suddenly starts screaming:

GET OUT! WE’RE NOT WANTED HERE. TURN AROUND! WE HAVE TO LEAVE.

So I do a quick u-turn and we are now bolting down the hill when suddenly Laurne starts shivering. It’s really, really scary, especially since I had the heat on full blast in my cavalier. I turn back onto river road and Lauren now has both of her hands over her shoulders and pushing them against the back window as if to be pushing something behind her away. And she’s mumbling and shivering and crying:

LEAVE US ALONE. WE WERE ONLY GOING FOR A DRIVE. YOU AREN’T WANTED. YOU AREN’T WANTED.

And in between whimpers she tells me to find a lit parking lot quickly. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the Washington’s Crossing/Newhope area when everything is closed up, but there are no lit parking lots. Except for one place…The Washington’s Crossing Inn. So now I’m bolting for that place.

I have a Catholic rosary in my pocket that I had to Laurne because I’m really freaked out. Jeannette is ready to cry. And Laurne is now squeezing my rosary as tightly as she can and pushing it against the back window and Jeannette and I start to pray:

OUR FATHER…HAIL MARY…MEMORARE…ALL THE SAINTS…PRAY FOR US…

And Laurne is now shivering and crying and I feel a tingle on my ear. And I can feel the demon’s cold hand run down my left side as I drive. And I know it is there.

I have only once ever been this scared in my life.

So what do you do when you’ve got a bug in your car that’s annoying you? I open the window hoping the spirit will just go out the window. The tingling stops, but now both girls are shivering.

And I get to the parking lot as Laurne is obviously struggling with something. She tells me to find a lit spot away from people. Lit for our own comfort and away from people so this damn spirit doesn’t follow somebody else. She tells me to close the window and I refuse. She insists, and I do. She repeatedly tells this spirit — later explained as a miserable old man just looking to see what we were doing and liking that our car was warm — to leave. That he’s not wanted. We all say to leave.

Then she drops her head…and it is gone. She tells us he is now away from us. That he’ll hang out for a little with other spirits in the back corner of the parking lot before making his way back to Bowman’s tower.
She hands my rosaries to Jeannette and asks if they are hot. Jeannette is afraid to answer, so I take them and they feel alright. So I can put them away. And that is it.

We drop Laurne off, then I go to my place and pack a bag and go to Jeannette’s. I was not about to sleep alone that night. Wish I could tell you this was a Halloween joke, but if you are looking for something to do tonight, you can go to the old covered bridge at Bowman’s tower.

Just go at your own risk.

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