The 7 scariest real haunts in New Jersey

Sure, there are lots scary costumes, eerie sounds, monstrous movies and killer candy around Halloween time.

But what about the real thing — places that are actually haunted? We shouldn’t forget about them because if we do and we accidentally enter into such a realm, we might feel the cold touch of our undoing on our shoulder.

It wouldn’t be pleasant.

Thankfully, the folks at www.newjerseyhauntedhouses.com — who are based on Long Island, a pretty scary place itself — have compiled a list of the creepiest, the scariest, the most blood curdling real haunts in New Jersey for your perusal in this wicked season.

Some are open to the public and other are closed, forever to hold their tortures within. Readers, if a place is closed to the public, please don’t go in — we love you just the way you are.

Conant Park — 383 Conant St., Hillside, Union County Department of Parks, 908-527-4900 (open to the public): The park is said to be haunted by faceless ghosts who drive around in a van and kidnap girls. The girls are too frightened to tell anyone what happened to them, so the ghost get away, according to lore.

“It’s creepy stuff,” Russell said. “I’m starting to get spooked.”

Stephen Crane House — 508 4th Ave., Asbury Park. www.thestephencranehouse.org (open to the pubic): Stephen Crane, an Asbury Park native, famously wrote “The Red Badge of Courage.” He also wrote at least one newspaper article on Jersey Shore ghosts called “Ghosts on the New Jersey Coast,” so it’s appropriate that people say his house haunted.

“There’s the curious fact that you just can’t keep a bottle of scotch in the house,” said writer Tom Chesek, the home’s caretaker and author of “Legendary Locals of Asbury Park.” “By which I mean that any time we’ve had some of the noble nectar here at this onetime stop on the Temperance tour, we’d find the bottle intact, but mysteriously drained of its contents ... even when sealed and packed inside a gift box. So I tread lightly beneath the parlor portrait of Mrs. Crane, and keep watch over Arbutus Cottage as I burn the midnight oil through the wee and witching hours of the overnight.”

Lakehurst Hanger No. 1 — Route 547, Lakehurst (not open to the public): What happened to the souls of victims of the Hindenburg crash and inferno? Many still dwell inside Hanger No. 1, Russell said.

“Many people believe that ghosts don’t know that their ghosts, they just act normally,” Russell said. “They’re inside waiting for the next airship to come.”

Get me a one way ticket outta here.

Shades of Death Road — aka Route 611, Allamuchy Township (open to the public): A long history of misfortune on this stretch of highway, from robberies to murders to even an outbreak of malaria have bewitched travelers for centuries. The nearby Ghost Lake doesn’t help matters.

“It’s one of more really haunted places,” said Cait Russell, editor of www.newjerseyhauntedhouses.com.

Proprietary House —149 Kearny Ave., Perth Amboy, www.theproprietaryhouse.org. (open to the public): The Proprietary House was once home to William Franklin, the last Royal Governor of New Jersey and illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. It’s home today to quite a few spirits, including a Revolutionary War soldier.

“There’s a ghost of a little boy there and that’s particularly creepy anyway, but little kids add an extra scare factor,” Russell said.

Seabrook-Wilson House — aka the Spy House, 119 Port Monmouth Road, Middletown. www.monmouthcountyparks.com (open to the pubic): I spy a ghost at the Seabrook-Wilson House in Middletown, also known as the Spy House.

“That place is supposed to be super haunted,” Russell said. “The ghosts there like to scare children. There are allegedly 22 active ghosts that people have seen in there. People have seen a ghost boy look in the window.”

Look out for the ghost of the woman in white carrying a baby and the ghost of Captain Morgan, too.

Union Hotel — 76 Main St., Flemington (not open to the public): Lots of things going bump in the night at the now-closed Union Hotel

“People hear sounds of singing and they see doors closing and kids running in the hallways,” Russell said.

The Union Hotel is across the street from the Hunterdon County Historic Court House, where Bruno Richard Hauptmann was tried, charged and convicted of the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s baby son. They called it the trial of the century.

“If you like history and this this kind of stuff, you’ll love it but it’ll give you the creeps,” Russell said.

Chris Jordan: cjordan@app.com.