It is Halloween season and nothing is more "Jersey" at Halloween than the Jersey Devil. It is our legend and every Halloween you'll see lots of references to the legend. It all began back with the Leed family in South Jersey.

 

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According to Wikipedia, "The legend states that Mother Leeds had twelve children and, after finding she was pregnant for the thirteenth time, cursed the child in frustration, crying that the child would be the "devil". In 1735, Mother Leeds was in labor on a stormy night while her friends gathered around her. Born as a normal child, the thirteenth child changed to a creature with hooves, a goat's head, bat wings, and a forked tail. Growling and screaming, the child beat everyone with its tail before flying up the chimney and heading into the pines."

 

 

 

 

Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
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So while we are on the topic of Halloween and New Jersey folklore, I remembered growing up and in school, we would see a movie that was all about the Jersey Devil and the legend of our very own "Pine Barrens" monster. Whenever it was Halloween or we had a last-minute substitute teacher, we would see the movie "Mother Leed's 13th Child". It was a documentary-style film that was shot here in South Jersey.

 

 

Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
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I remember all of us when we were really young, being very scared while watching this film. My wife mentioned how she was a little freaked by the part of the movie that had creepy 17th-century music and scary illustrations of the Jersey Devil. I thought the scenes of people walking at night through the Pines scary and of course that odd scream the Jersey Devil makes, always scared the kids in class. Now when I look back and watch this mock documentary I have to laugh, but as a kid, we were wide-eyed and not laughing lol.

Did you see this movie? do you remember being scared as a kid? fun Halloween memories growing up here in Jersey.

 

 

 

 

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LOOK: How Halloween has changed in the past 100 years

Stacker compiled a list of ways that Halloween has changed over the last 100 years, from how we celebrate it on the day to the costumes we wear trick-or-treating. We’ve included events, inventions, and trends that changed the ways that Halloween was celebrated over time. Many of these traditions were phased out over time. But just like fake blood in a carpet, every bit of Halloween’s history left an impression we can see traces of today.

 

 

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