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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Troll Bridge and other Saline legends...

As you know, I have been thinking about scary stories this week. Not because I'm morbid, or dark, or adventure seeking, but because I need to have a good one to tell at the bonfire this Saturday. I'm not brave enough to follow the tips I mentioned in my last post in order to create my own scary story, but I was thinking that we have plenty of scary story material right in Saline!

My friend Valerie went on a "haunted Saline" tour a couple years ago. The tour was given by a couple of ghost hunters and visited several sights in Saline. I'll tell you a few highlights of the tour along with some scary stories I know about the area. Let me know which you think is the best, i.e. the sppoooookiest.

The Troll Bridge
Way out in the country in Saline, there is a bridge in the woods locally known as "the troll bridge." The legend is this: years and years ago, a couple was driving home late at night. Their car broke down on the bridge so the husband got out to get help. He never came back. Hours later, his wife got out of the car and found her husband's body behind the car. Her body was found later that day. All the bones in their bodies were broken, and apparently the only logical explanation is that trolls did it. Personally I've always thought this one was ludicrous, but I still get spooked whenever I drive over that troll bridge.

The Cannery Houses
Down the street from the Troll Bridge there used to be a circle of houses off the road. They were destroyed a few years ago. No one knows when or why (did you like that detail? I made it up.), but at some point the houses were abandoned. My friends and I checked them out once when we were in high school. There was still furniture in them, magazines on the floor, and every other normal thing you'd find in a house. The people living there just seemed to have vanished.

Funny story: once, in high school, my friend Fred and I were driving my dad's truck past the houses, trying to spook ourselves. As we got closer to the houses, a branch broke off a tree and landed in the back of my dad's truck. Fred jumped, grabbed my arm and screamed. He'll never admit it, but it's true.

Oakwood cemetery
So, I've never found the grave yard particularly spooky, but Val told me it was on the haunted Saline tour. The ghost hunters have recorded a woman's voice saying, "Get out!" (yikes)

Union School
This school is straight up creepy. My aunt works there and has seen books fly off her book shelf for no reason. This school was also included on the haunted Saline tour.

Can you tell the stories are getting shorter? It's because I'm getting creeped out! Anyway, let me know which of these is your favorite, and I might tell it around the campfire. Don't be scared though (Emily), because they're all just products of people's imaginations running wild. Well, the troll bridge story might be true. It sounds the most probable anyway.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wha!? I had no idea all of this spookiness was going on right in Saline. A troll bridge? YIKES! Now I'm on high alert! The scariest thing for me was back in Girl Scouts, we had a haunted house at Heather Roush's house, and that was WAY spooky!

Katherine said...

I can't believe that you thought the troll bridge story was ludicrous. It's TRUE! Though I'm not quite sure how they knew that the wife waited for a while before going after the husband. Seems like she'd be in no state to tell anyone that little tidbit.I guess autopsies and all that medical mumbo-jumbo could prove it. Or ESP.

Anonymous said...

I am definitely scared.

I think my problem stems from watching far too many spook movies as a child. I seemed to have built up a mental collection of scary images that still haunt me today.

Elizabeth Downie said...

Sarah, I thought you were with us when we went to check out the cannery houses? I know Andrea, Abi, and Kelly were there. We rode our bikes from Kelly's house. We got busted for trespassing - a spectral in old timey overalls walked slowly through the houses to tell us we were trespassing. He later turned out to not be a spectral, but it was still scary. Also, have you never been to the troll bridge!??

Anonymous said...

I think you need to tell a story about the questionable red stain on the floor of the MR fallout shelter...

Elizabeth Downie said...

Yeah, Justin - that one really is scary. What about the time we were down there and we thought we heard a ghost, but it was just Kevin?

Anonymous said...

Yes, those guys are in Proselyting clothes. They have another Missionary video. When I find it I'll post it on your myspace!

Anonymous said...

I'm mighty glad I wasn't with you at those spooky houses...I'm so creeped out just reading about them via the blog!! Altho, should I be mad that you didn't invite me along? Or, is that fodder for another blog entry titled "All the times I ditched Sarah." :)

Elizabeth Downie said...

I'm sure we invited you, but you were probably grounded. ;)

Don't worry, I'll take you on a tour of haunted Saline asap.

Anonymous said...

You know that I have the "Free Sarah" box still, right?? :) I think that single gesture solidified our life-long friendship! :)

I'll wait for an official tour of Haunted Saline...and I'm not going with you alone!! :)

Anonymous said...

I would like you to take me to go see the troll bridge some time. I never knew saline was so scary either. I was by the voice saying "get out!" How can I take one of those ghost tours. I pay money for that.