UNION — Weird NJ is a travel guide and magazine to places you won’t find on any tourist attraction pamphlets. Places that are weird, odd or unique are celebrated in the magazine.
Mark Moran, who co-publishes the magazine with Mark Sceurman, recently paid a visit to Vauxhall Branch Library.
Vauxhall Branch Library manager Gabriel Ramos said he discovered the magazine while shopping at the now defunct record store Vintage Vinyl.
Weird NJ publishes twice a year and is currently on issue No. 64. It started as a self-published newsletter in 1989. “There was no such thing as social media,” said Moran. “(Cell) phones weren’t invented yet. In 1993, people didn’t have computers. Weird NJ was born with a typewriter and putting a staple through the pages.”
Stories were passed along by word of mouth.
For example, the Devil’s Tree in Bernards Township. The tree is believed to be cursed. “If you touch it, a tragedy will fall upon you,” said Moran. “It’s alleged if you try to chop the tree down, you’d die on the spot.”
Moran continued to explain that, back in the day, people would go to places in the middle of the night. “They’d go on an adventure,” he said. “We have ancient mysteries right here in New Jersey.”
He spoke about the Jersey Devil. He described it as “a beast said to be born human in the Pine Barrens.” It was alleged to be the 13th child of a mother. She cursed the baby and it started to grow a tail and hooves. “It looked like a flying deer with bat wings,” he said. “People believed it.”
Merchants and Drovers Tavern in Rahway was rumored to be haunted, Moran told attendees. “The place has a real reputation. People who spent the night can tell some chilling stories.”
Moran spoke about the block of granite at the gravesite of Ray Tse in Linden. The stone is a full-sized Mercedes. Tse had an older brother who promised to buy him one when he got his license. Tse died before his 17th birthday, however, and this is the way his brother honored his promise. “Detail is incredible,” said Moran.
Tse is buried in a mausoleum in front of the carving.
Bruce P. Berman has an unusual grave monument in Rahway. He was an artist and special effects animator. Before his death, he designed his own headstone, which features 3D scans of his own face and hands. The headstone also featured his website.
Local heroes are people who are a little different in a strange, fascinating way, explained Moran. Those known in Union County include Charles Addams of Westfield, the famous cartoonist who created The Addams Family; and John List, also of Westfield, who killed his wife and kids and then left them in the house. List was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” in 1990, which led to his arrest. He went to prison and died there.
During the Satanic Panic in the 1970s, Gregg Sanders killed his parents with a hatchet then went up the tower in Watchung Reservation and threw himself off. “He didn’t leave much of a note, except to say, ‘I’m sorry,’” said Moran.
Moran shared some examples of “roadside finds.” He said, “Odd, roadside things seem completely out of place in the modern age.”
He talked about places such as Jungle Habitat and the Terry Lou Zoo in Scotch Plains. He said, “You don’t see little family-run zoos anymore.”
When Bowcraft Amusement Park on Route 22 in Scotch Plains was abandoned, Moran said he felt ‘a sadness,’ a real sense of loss. The abandoned area has been redeveloped.
In conclusion, Moran said, “You can see dozens of these things in one day. It’s like a wonderland.”
Visit Weird NJ at: https://weirdnj.com/.
Photos Courtesy of Vauxhall Library and Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
