I drove on some of the most haunted roads in the US, and my last stop was straight out of a horror movie

A few years ago, I wrote a story about the most haunted roads to drive in the US. I’ve been dying to visit them ever since.

Three of the spookiest roads — Riverside Drive (nicknamed “Annie’s Road”), Clinton Road, and Shades of Death Road — happen to be in New Jersey, within driving distance of New York City, where I live.

With the blessing of my editor, I embarked on a haunted road trip to check out the mysterious sites for myself. My partner came along to take photos so I wouldn’t have to walk through creepy streets in the middle of the woods alone.

I asked a few locals if they were familiar with the legends of “Annie’s Road.” A woman named Denise said she’d never seen anything there, but she warned us about our next stop, Clinton Road.

Denise said she’d visited Clinton Road with her niece about five years ago and warned us that it’s “super haunted.”

“I’m telling you, we went on that road one night because it was Halloween,” she said. “It scared the s— out of me, I swear I saw something. I literally thought I saw somebody watching us in the woods and run across the street right before our headlights hit.”

As we drove towards Clinton Road, I couldn’t help but feel like that character in a horror movie who is warned against visiting a haunted place but decides to go anyway.

You know, those characters that make you yell “Don’t go inside!” at the screen.

It seems obvious that if a place is said to be haunted, you should stay away, right? But something about ghost stories continues to draw people in.

At last, we began the 50-minute drive to our final destination: Shades of Death Road in Warren County, New Jersey.

Yes, that is the real name of the street. It was amusing to hear my GPS chirp in its peppy voice, “Turn right onto Shades of Death Road.”

We ducked into a store to ask locals about the road. I kid you not, the news playing on the radio inside announced that a body had been found nearby.

I froze. It was straight out of a horror movie.

According to the radio report, police were investigating a murder after the body of a 30-year-old woman had been found in the woods. I contacted the Warren County Sheriff’s Office for more information but have not yet heard back.

While we didn’t see any ghosts or experience any paranormal activity on our haunted road trip, the legends remain fascinating bits of folklore.

I do love a good ghost story.