Ghost Story- United States

One of the people that I asked for a ghost story was one of my friends who lived near the supposed haunted area of my hometown. He lived next to a wild area called Turnbull Canyon. Although the area looks like relatively normal, there are many freak stories that originate there. First off, he told me of the spooky stories he has heard about the place. He had heard these stories from some of his friends during middle school and was particularly interested as he lived right in the middle of Turnbull Canyon.

I’ve heard many creepy stories about this place, specifically having to do with cults or rituals. Along Turnbull Canyon, there’s this really windy road that people like to race on. Anyways, I heard that there was a murder that took place along this road. There aren’t very specific details, but I’ll tell you what I know. There was this young woman, probably in her teens, that liked to hang out alone. When she was wandering around Turnbull, she was captured by these cultists and was marked as a sacrifice. These cultists then did something terrible… they tied her to the back of a car, still alive and conscious, and drove down Turnbull Canyon. After they were done “sacrificing” her, they dumped her lifeless body in a public street and sped off. Now, I’ve heard of encounters along this road where the woman’s ghost would be seen standing in the middle of the street. At night while driving, the surroundings would suddenly get all cold, and as you went around one of the many twists and bends, the ghost would be standing there trying to stop people from going on that road. The murderers were never caught, and as long as they roam free, the ghost will continue to seek revenge.

            My friend went further to explain that there supposedly has been many murders that take place in Turnbull Canyon, as it is a quiet, uninhabited place where people would not be noticed by others. I then asked him if he had ever experienced anything there himself, as he lived only a few houses down from the end of the aforementioned windy road. He agreed to tell me but kept on saying that he was unsure of what he saw.

One night, as I was in the car with some of my friends, we decided to head back to my house to hang out after dinner. Being on a different side of town, we decided to take the windy road of Turnbull Canyon, as it was faster than the normal route I took to get home. We all joked about how we might see a ghost or something, but we were just trying to scare each other. Anyways, as we started driving down the road, it got really dark. I reasoned that the moonlight was being blocked out by the trees overhead and there were no street lights on this road. As we passed Hell’s Gate, which is this large creepy black gate on the side of the road that leads to who knows where, I saw this eerie glow out of the corner of my eye. I looked out the window and I saw this glowing figure of a man that was hanging on a noose on a tree by the road. Of course I only caught a glimpse of it as we were driving pretty fast, but I freaked out. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I glanced at my friend sitting next to me and he looked scared too, confirming that I saw what I saw. My friend driving the car didn’t see it and wanted to turn back, but the rest of us refused. To this day, I’m pretty sure I saw the ghost of someone who was hanged there, and I try to avoid that road as much as possible.

            He also told me of animal carcasses and remains he saw one time in front of Hell’s Gate, but was too sickened to investigate thoroughly. He told himself that it was just an accident caused by a car running into the animal or some other reason. Turnbull Canyon is a scary and unnerving place and there are many different stories associated with the place, mostly linked to murder of some sort. I figured that most of the ghosts associated with Turnbull are the supposed victims of these murders, and their possible desire for revenge. Although I can’t be sure that there are actual ghosts at Turnbull Canyon, a murder or a discovery of a corpse in the canyon definitely seems to perpetuate these ghost stories among the locals. The atmosphere that the place gives off at night may also help explain why people see ghosts. Perhaps it might not be a bad idea to take the time and avoid Turnbull Canyon, even if it means the journey home is a few minutes longer.