Delaware – Ghost Justice
In 1744, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware, Samuel Chew, died. In life, Justice Chew had been mercilessly mocked for his last name, with some people making exaggerated chewing movements and people loudly going “ah-CHEW” and faking sneezes, proving that bullies throughout the ages have been equally annoying.
After dealing with annoying bullies his whole life, Justice Chew’s spirit wasn’t ready to move on, so he haunted people in Delaware, a specter in flowing black robes, by making people sneeze uncontrollably. The resourceful towns people sent Chew’s spirit to rest by throwing another funeral, this one completely with an empty casket and all the respect Chew didn’t get in life. No one had reported sneeze haunting since.
You missed the boat on New Jersey! THE JERSEY DEVIL is most definitely the official haunting creature of the Garden State. Long before NJ was even a state, the legend of the Jersey Devil began. It was the 13th child of Mrs Leeds, who had no desire for another baby. According to legend, she cursed the baby even before it was born. At its birth, the creature assumed otherworldly dimension and flew up the chimney of the home. Since then, the Devil regularly haunts the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, frightening all it encounters. On the eve of a National tragedy, the Devil is said to appear at many varied places in the state to warn of evils to come (most notably in December 1941, just before Pearl Harbor.)