Hitchhikers of The Devils Stairs

The area known as “The Devil’s Stairs” has more than its share of ghosts. In this weeks story, I tell the tale of a few ghosts that seem to want to get away from the stairs.. Or maybe they want to keep you there…

In the early part of the 1900’s a man named Wilcox was headed home one dark night when he approached the stairs on horseback. Suddenly, he felt someone land on the horse behind him. Before he could turn to see what it was, two hairy arms wrapped around his waist. His terrified horse began galloping as fast as it could and when they reach the Oak Grove Church about a half mile south of the stairs, the creature vanished.

Something similar happened to Mr. W.T. Dollar. As he passed the site something landed on his horse behind him. His horse bolted down the road until it reached the church. There, it stopped without Mr. Dollar telling it to. He looked behind him, but whatever it was that spooked his horse was long gone. After coaxing his horse the rest of the way home, W. T. discovered that there were marks on the flanks of the animal. Whatever had hitched a ride that night had left it’s leg prints on the animal.

One night in the 1930’s a man died after his car left the road near the stairs. Since then many people have reported picking up hitchhikers along the road, only to have them vanish after passing the area. Others have looked in their rearview mirrors to see a face grinning back at them from the back seat. When they turn around, there’s no one there.

Once, not that long ago, a dispatcher for the local police was driving over the Buffalo Creek bridge when she heard the back door of her car open. Fearing someone had just climbed in her back seat she turned to look, but no one was there. When she arrived at her job, she was shaking and “as white as a ghost” as one officer put it.