New Jersey, as far as I know, is the only state in the Union with an "official state demon." The Jersey devil, which is supposed to haunt the sparsely populated pine barrens that cover the south-central part of the Garden State, was adopted as the state's mascot in 1939.
Eat your heart out, Wolverine State, Badger State, Beehive State, Sunshine State and others! Only New Jersey has a devil all its own.The term "Jersey devil" refers to a conglomerate of themes from presumed historical writings, folklore, poplore and, most recently, urban legends. So, because of the legend's many variations, not everyone agrees how the devil of New Jersey looks or behaves.
Most accounts state that the Jersey devil was born to a witch living at Leeds Point in Atlantic County in 1735. Some versions claim that she cursed the child - her 13th - and it was born a monster.
Other sources say that the newborn was a seemingly normal child that sprouted batlike wings and other monstrous features such as a long tail; a dog's or a horse's face; cloven hoofs, pig's feet or claws; and sometimes a body shaped like a kangaroo's.
Depending on the account, the devil's size varies from a meager 18 inches tall to an impressive 20 feet in length.
But most agree that the creature can shoot flames from its mouth and that it utters blood-curdling screams as it flies through the woods.
The Jersey devil was a mere footnote in South Jersey history, representing the credulity of 18th-century folk, until 1909 when a series of supposed devil sightings inspired a Philadelphia entrepreneur to stage a hoax. He painted a kangaroo green, attached false wings to the poor creature and exhibited it in a cage strewn with bones.
The recent history of the Jersey devil belongs more to poplore than to folklore, as people ceased fearing devil visitations and started putting its image on T-shirts, postcards, buttons, menus and the like.
You can even buy Jersey devil cocktails in some South Jersey bars.
I recently heard from Charlie Simpson of Bensalem, Pa., who sent me two modern legends pinned to the old Jersey devil legend.
One is a horror tale, similar to "The Roommate's Death," that he calls "Thump, Thump, Drag." In it, two young girls are baby-sitting in a house "way out in the boonies." The title refers to the sounds one of the girls hears after the other leaves the house.
Once outside, the Jersey devil catches her friend and chops off most of her arms and legs, leaving her to "thump" and "drag" her way back to the house, where she finally bleeds to death.
Simpson's second story is the standard "Boyfriend's Death" legend - a story about a parking couple menaced by a maniac. In this version, it's the Jersey devil lurking outside their car.
I got other Jersey devil urban legends from Janice E. Brooks of Sharon Hill, Pa., who collected them while studying folklore at the University of Pennsylvania.
Brooks found teenagers telling a devil version of the classic "Hookman" legend as well as talking about a photograph snapped at the edge of a pine barrens swamp that revealed a monster standing in the shadows behind a person.
But Brooks' best example of the devil infiltrating an urban legend is a story about a girl staying in her house during a fierce storm. She is alone except for her dog.
Several times during the night she wakes, and her dog licks her hand. At dawn she finds that her dog has been killed, and written on the wall in its blood are the words, "Jersey devils lick hands, too."
I remind you that the usual punch line is "People can lick, too." But in this case the same story has a different culprit.
C) 1989 United Feature Syndicate Inc.