The 5 spookiest car rides for a haunted road trip
20th Sep, 2024
The weather has officially turned, and Halloween is well on the way. And if you’re a big fan of all things eerie, the UK is steeped in ghostly folklore – as indeed we’ve covered before! So if you’re thinking about celebrating the spooky season with a creepy drive on some of Britain’s most haunted roads – well, have we got a couple of good suggestions for you right here at Scrap Car Network. Strap yourself in, and make sure you don’t take a wrong turn down any of these hair-raising highways…
Pluckley Village, Kent
Pluckley Village, located in the heart of Kent, holds the title of one of the most haunted villages in England. Its winding lanes are often bathed in mist at this time of year, giving the place a distinctly foreboding feel. It probably won’t surprise you, then, to learn that the village is supposedly home to over a dozen ghosts haunting various locations – including that of a highwayman who suffered the grisly fate of being run through with a sword, which pinned him to the tree where he died.
One of the eeriest places to drive through is the infamous Screaming Woods. So yes, as you might expect, what it lacks in subtlety in more than makes up for in sheer spook factor. (After all, if you’ve ever been keen to enjoy some calm summer vibes and the quiet beauty of nature, your first port of call is probably seldom going to be the ‘Screaming Woods’.)
In case you’re wondering, it’s here that the locals claim to hear the cries and wails of long-lost souls. The atmosphere is thick with fog, and supposedly the sensation of being watched can become overwhelming. Navigating these narrow country lanes after sunset, especially in the autumn months, might just send shivers down your spine. Keep an eye on the rearview mirror – some things may be closer than they appear.
The A75 Kinmont Straight, Scotland – the ‘Ghost Road’
The A75 in Scotland, particularly the stretch known as the Kinmont Straight, is often referred to as the most haunted road in Scotland (or sometimes by the even catchier moniker of ‘the Ghost Road’). This isolated highway has been the site of numerous strange and terrifying experiences over the last fifty years, with drivers reporting bizarre sightings of phantoms, ghostly carriages, and spectral animals. There are plenty of tales of various figures – sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs – stepping out in front of cars, only to vanish at the moment of apparent impact.
One particularly creepy incident was reported by married couple Garson and Monica Miller, who spotted the figure of a middle aged man by the roadside, apparently wearing a hessian sack folded over his head. If that wasn’t unsettling enough, his hands were outstretched in the direction of the car, with what looked like a rag in his hand. The couple were terrified they’d hit him, but when they went back to find him, he was gone. A police report was filed, but nothing ever came of it.
Another of the most famous reports came from the Ferguson brothers, who witnessed a terrifying variety of phenomena in a single journey – including, and we quote, “an old lady who ran towards the car waving her outstretched arms,” as well as a “screaming man with long hair” and a variety of beasts, such as great cats, wild dogs, goats, more hens and other fowl, and stranger creatures, all of which disappeared within moments.
The whole experience began with a mysterious hen flying towards the windscreen, vanishing at the point of impact, as well as a spectral furniture van appearing in the middle of the road, only to disappear seconds later. OK, so those last two were presumably a lot spookier than might sound to us. Still, it probably left the brothers Ferguson with a lot of questions. Personally, here at Scrap Car Network, we’d like to know: what really did happen to that chicken that crossed the road?
Blue Bell Hill, Kent
Blue Bell Hill, also in Kent, is notorious for its chilling ghost stories, particularly those involving long-dead hitchhikers. Winding through the chalk hills near Maidstone, this stretch of road has a notorious reputation as the place where many have encountered a young woman dressed in white. Legend has it that she’s the spirit of a bride who died in a tragic car accident just before her wedding.
Now, some people swear blind it’s the ghost of Judith Langham, who died in a car crash on that road in 1965. The real story is a bit more complicated – the fatal crash really did happen, with three casualties, but the bride-to-be was actually named Suzanne Brown. Judith Lingham (not Langham) was one of the passengers. The other passenger, Patricia Ferguson, was killed at the scene, but Judith and Suzanne died a few days later in hospital. In the many decades since, the tales of the latter two girls have become tangled in constant retellings, making the ghostly “Bluebell Bride” a strange amalgamation of two tragic figures.
Whatever the specifics of real events, sightings of the bride have persisted over the last half century. Some people have spotted her crossing the road in front of them, only to disappear at the last second. Even more unsettlingly, some motorists have actually reported picking her up, only to find that she vanishes from the car without a trace. There are also reports of phantom accidents, where drivers claim to have hit a pedestrian, only to find nothing when they pull over to check.
Till death do us part, indeed.
B3212, Dartmoor, Devon
Perhaps the weirdest phenomenon in a very crowded field, Dartmoor’s B3212 road is famous for the legend of the “Hairy Hands,” which have spooked drivers for generations. The tale describes a pair of disembodied, hairy hands that suddenly take control of the steering wheel, causing drivers to veer off the road. The eerie landscape of Dartmoor, with its rolling moorlands and unpredictable weather, makes for an especially sinister setting, as you could easily find yourself alone on this winding road for miles.
The first reports of the Hairy Hands date back to the early 1900s, and there have been numerous accidents on this stretch of road over the years. (It’s worth noting that cars didn’t have power steering back then, which suggests quite frightening things about the strength in those freaky furry fingers.) Whether the legends are true, or simply the result of unfortunate crashes on a dangerous road, there’s no question that driving along the B3212 at night will be quite a spectacular test of your nerves. Watch out for any backseat drivers looking to lend a hand…
The M6 motorway
The M6 motorway might not seem like an obvious contender for a haunted road trip, but it’s become notorious for its number of ghostly sightings and strange occurrences. Spanning from Rugby in the Midlands all the way to Carlisle, the M6 is one of the busiest roads in the UK, but still harbours eerie secrets that have baffled drivers for years.
Among the most frequent (and memorable) reports of paranormal activity are the sightings of Roman soldiers marching across the motorway. The M6 is built along an ancient Roman road, and many believe these spectral soldiers are apparitions of the past, trapped in an endless loop, doomed to repeat their last march before perishing in some long-forgotten battle.
One particularly strange detail is that some of these soldiers are seen half-submerged into the ground, marching up to their knees, as if through water. This seems weird until you consider that they were possibly the ones who probably built those roads in the first place, and those roads are then constantly overlaid with new materials over the course of decades. So after centuries, our roads going to be quite a bit higher than they were originally – but those ghostly legions are still walking along the original tracks.
And of course, besides spooky centurions, there’s plenty of your bread-and-butter ghost stories – spectral figures darting across the lanes, only to vanish before any impact occurs. There are even accounts of phantom vehicles suddenly appearing and disappearing without explanation.
It may not quite be the highway to hell – but by all accounts, it’s probably one of the closest things we’ve got.
Ghostly sightings have caused their fair share of wrecks in the past – so fingers crossed your car avoids that fate, and simply putters gently to a stop one day. Whatever the case though, if you realise you need to scrap your car, we can always help here at Scrap Car Network. Our mission is to get you the very best price for your car – all you need to do is enter your car reg and postcode into the fields on our site, and we’ll get you an instant online quote before you can say cash for cars. It only takes a few seconds. Curious to find out how much your car is worth?
