Supernatural Friday: Towns and Cities with Names To Scare You or Freak You Out!

While working on my latest nonfiction ghost book, I discovered a section of Enon (in Chester, Virginia) that is also known by Screamersville.

Screamersville? Yes, Screamersville. There is even a page for it on FaceBook. There are some stories behind why it is called by this. Couple are ghost stories. One that the free Blacks who lived here earlier in the 20^th century, are calling from their graves in a cemetery or two hidden back in woods behind some apartment buildings now there. Another concerns that the earthbound spirits of  Civil War soldiers who had their limbs amputated at a Civil War hospital that was on the land of what is now Point of Rocks Civil War Park.

But this is not the only town or land with such a scary or weird name.  Here are more:

Bad Axe, Michigan
Bat Cave, North Carolina
Black Cat, Arkansas
Blood, New Hampshire
Bloody Corners, Ohio
Bloody Springs, Mississippi
Boos, Illinois
Casper, Wyoming
Cricket Corner, New Hampshire
Cricket Hill, Georgia
Cut Off, Louisiana
Dead Mans Crossing, Indiana
Dead Women Crossing, Oklahoma
Deadman Crossing, Ohio
Deadman Landing, Florida
Deadmans Corner, Maine (there’s also one in Wyoming)
Deadwood, Oregon
Death Valley, California

Devil Canyon, California
Devil Town, Ohio (Rumor has it the Devil wasn’t such a nice guy. So we’re wondering why so many towns honor him.)
Devils Backbone, Connecticut
Devils Corner, Michigan (there’s also one in Wisconsin)

Devils Crossroads, South Carolina
Devils Den, Wyoming (there’s also one in California)
Devils Elbow, California (there’s also one in Michigan and Missouri)
Devils Gap, Nebraska
Devils Ladder, Idaho
Devils Lake, Michigan (there’s also one in North Dakota)
Devils Slide, Utah
Devils Tower, Wyoming—Remember the Devils Tower as a mashed potato sculpture in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind?
Erie, Pennsylvania
Frankenstein, Missouri

Fresh Kills, New York
Goblintown, Virginia
Half Hell, North Carolina (so it’s only half fire and brimstone?)
Hell, Michigan—is the only place where Hell freezes over..\

Hell For Certain, Kentucky

Hell Hollow, New Hampshire

Hells Corner, Ohio
Ghost Town, Texas
Ghost Creek, Texas
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

Little Hell, Virginia
Looneyville, Minnesota (there’s also one in New York, Texas and West Virginia.)
Monster, The Netherlands

Pumpkin Bend, Arkansas

Pumpkin Center, Alabama (also ones in Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina,

Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia.)

Pumpkin Hill, New York

Pumpkin Hook, New York
Pumpkintown, South Carolina (also North Carolina, Tennessee, and West

Virginia)
Red Devil, Alaska
Satan’s Kingdom, Massachusetts (there’s also one in Vermont)
Scary, West Virginia
Screamer, Alabama (also Tennessee)
Seven Devils, North Carolina
Shadow Hills, California

Slaughter, Delaware (also Louisiana and Tennessee)

Spider, Louisiana

Spiderweb, South Carolina

Spook City, Colorado

Spook Hill, Maryland

Tombstone, Arizona

Skull Valley, Arizona

Skullbone, Tennessee

Skullhead, Georgia

Skull Run, West Virginia

Skull Creek, Wyoming

Transylvania, Louisiana

Transylvania Beach, Kentucky

Transylvania County, North Carolina

Witch Hazel, Oregon

Witch Lake, Michigan

How some of the towns got their names:

Bad Axe, MI: Back in 1861, two surveyors set up camp in the area and came across a badly damaged axe. To mark the site, they made a sign that read “Bad Axe Camp”, hence the city’s name was born and was officially established in 1905.

Bat Cave, NC: This is the home of Bluerock Mountain, otherwise known as Bat Cave Mountain. It features a cave that houses several species of – you guessed it – bats! Fun fact: This mountain is reportedly the “largest known granite fissure cave in North America”. Sorry, it’s not open to the public.

Casper, WY: Commonly referred to as “The Oily City”, Casper’s name originated from Lieutenant Caspar Collins who was killed in 1865 by enemy forces. Nope, that’s not a typo, folks, at least not on our part. The change in spelling is due to a typo that was mistakenly submitted when the town name was officially registered with the state of Wyoming.

Cape Fear, NC: Widely recognized as the name of a 1962 thriller (and its 1991 Martin Scorsese remake), Cape Fear is a tiny town halfway between the larger metros of Raleigh and Fayetteville. Cape Fear’s name dates back to a 1585 expedition in which a ship became stuck behind the cape. The crew was afraid they’d wreck, giving birth to the name Cape Fear.

Deadwood, OR: This small town takes its name from nearby Deadwood Creek, an area known for a series of wildfires caused by dead timber snags along the water.

Frankenstein, MO: Sorry to burst your bubble, but this small town does not take its name from the popular square-headed monster. It’s actually named after Gottfried Franken in honor of the land he donated to build a church back in 1890.

Sleepy Hollow, NY: Located on the coast of the Hudson River just minutes from White Plains, Sleepy Hollow was known as North Tarrytown up until 1996. At that time, residents voted for the name change in honor of local author Washington Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.

Slaughter, LA: The name of this small and fairly new Baton Rouge town comes from an award-winning fictional novel by Michael Ondaatje. Buddy Bolden: Coming Through Slaughter, is largely based on the legendary New Orleans jazz musician.

Slaughters, KY: A simple bet is how this town earned its name. Augustus G. Slaughter won a card game, ultimately winning the right to name the town as well as the local post office where he served as postmaster from 1860 to 1865.

Tombstone, AZ: During the late 1800s, U.S. Army scout Ed Schieffelin searched the area looking for “valuable ore samples”. Around the same time, three army officers were killed by Indians. Schieffelin’s friend told him, “The only rock you will find out there is your own tombstone.” Ed continued his search, eventually locating a stash of silver ore. He named this spot Tombstone, which became the name of the town. It’s since been dubbed “The Town Too Tough to Die.”

Have you seen places with weird or scary names, not mentioned on here. Can be anywhere in the world. If so, do leave a comment.