Six spooky drives for Halloween

Have you ever been driving – alone and on a dark, stormy night, clearly – and suddenly had the feeling you might not be alone in the vehicle soon after all?

Ever observed a spectral kind at the side of the road? Or been tailed by a ghostly coach and horses?

If not, then take a trip along one of these roads this Halloween weekend…

A75, Kinmont Straight, Scotland

The most haunted highway in Scotland has been providing motorists the willies for more than 50 years now, and so frequent are reports of paranormal activity that it’s now identified as ‘the ghost road’.

So what can you expect throughout a drive along the A75? If the stories are to be believed you’ll see anything from screaming hags to eyeless ghouls, as nicely as an unearthly assortment of animals, horse-and-carriages, and phantom figures emerging from the dark.

One particular extended-distance lorry driver was so traumatised at seeing a procession of emaciated males and females pulling handcarts along the roadside that he gave up on the haulage industry altogether as he couldn’t cope with any far more nights alone in his cab.

Stocksbridge by-pass, close to Sheffield, England

Stories of this spooky stretch of single carriageway began back in 1989 whilst it was nonetheless being constructed, when a couple of security guards reported seeing a group of young children in antiquated clothes playing under Pearoyd Bridge.

When they went down to investigate, the youngsters were nowhere to be noticed and no footprints had been left in the muddy ground on which they were playing.

The subsequent evening the exact same watchmen saw what appeared to be a monk on the bridge, but when they drove towards it the figure vanished.

And this wasn’t just a couple of negative nights for the watchmen as there have because been several sightings of Victorian kids at the roadside and the monk is said to have hitched a ride with some poor, unsuspecting motorists.

M6 motorway, England

It is a tiny disappointing to discover that the UK’s most haunted carriageway is not a secluded country road close to an ancient battlefield, but is in fact its longest motorway – the M6 – which has observed far more spectral sightings than any other road.

Motorists have reported sightings of ghostly Roman soldiers wandering the carriageway, the wraith-like figure of an upset lady trying to hitch a ride, and eyes peering out from bushes about the scene of a mining disaster close to Manchester.

Probably most worryingly of all are the reports of a phantom lorry driving the wrong way down the carriageway – if you happen across this apparition, it could be worth looking out for a “How’s my driving?” sticker and letting his employers know.

A229, Sussex to Kent, England

This stretch of the A229 is another contender for England’s ‘most haunted’ road as police have fielded calls from numerous a distressed motorist who have run more than a pedestrian – most notably a lady in white, spine-chiller cliché fans – only to lose track of the body.

There are also reports of a ghostly hitchhiker loitering about the Reduced Bell pub close to Maidstone – so if you choose up a passenger and he disappears before you reach your destination, there’s a likelihood you have had one particular also several spirits.

A9, Scotland

This road runs in between Falkirk and Thurso, in the far north, and is either haunted by an array of Victorian apparitions or is favoured by elaborate fancy dress celebration-goers.

Among the different sights spotted along this stretch of Scots highway are an ornate coach and horses, comprehensive with bewigged footmen, and a despondent horse-rider decked out in Victorian clothes – could just be he’s late for the celebration and he can not get a signal on his sat nav.

A541, Flintshire, Wales

If you drive along this impossibly dark stretch of country road in North Wales, look out for the ‘woman in white’ – presumably not the exact same one particular knocking about on the A229 – who fell down a properly and died although operating away from her stately property at Plas Teg to elope with a neighborhood farmer.

To make matters worse, the ghost of the farmer boy is also mentioned to stalk the region. So fearful was he that he would be accused of his lover’s murder he hung himself – not only saving the village the bother of a kangaroo court but also giving it yet another ghost to help terrify the life out of passing tourists.

Once you’ve taken your road trip, why not attempt a single of these spooky stopovers?

Six spooky drives for Halloween