J A C K S O N   H O U S E

Fear can be headier than whisky, once man has acquired a taste for it --Donald Downes

Jackson House, Jackson, New Jersey

explored & photographed by: Shady

When I found out that there was an abandoned & reputedly haunted house just minutes from the apartment we lived in in Jackson, I just couldn't resist the urge to see it for myself... so I packed up my camera & equipment, and bravely (or stupidly, heh heh) set out all alone to check it out...

The Jackson House lurks at the end of McCurdy Lane, a very narrow lane cutting through a heavily wooded area. Many of the windows are boarded up; some gape like empty eye sockets. There is something especially creepy about the attic window just under the peak of the roof! It even seems like the trees are purposely casting spooky shadows across the house, and the house itself seems to just sit there, silently watching you...

There are some strange things to be found in the woods surrounding the house, like ropes and chains hanging from the trees and a rusty & charred chair that I definitely wouldn't wanna sit in!! As I walked around the house, a half-dozen huge crows were swooping around and cawing loudly at me from the trees above. This was really creepy, believe me (those of you who saw Jeepers Creepers may have an idea of what I'm talking about, heh heh!!)! Then, I was in the woods behind the place when I distinctly heard something moving near me through the trees... again, very creepy. I discovered the source of the noise just a few seconds later as a big buck leapt out of some bushes and ran off into the woods, spooking the HELL outta me!

I decided to check out the inside of the house, and climbed into the front room through a window; it was extremely dark & gloomy inside, sometimes I had to use the flash of my camera just to see what was in front of me! There was cryptic graffiti and weird splatters and drips of something all over the walls. The infamous self-playing piano was still there... complete with eerie handprints and drips of wax and other unidentifiable stuff all over the keys, and the scrolled roll of music paper from the piano was strewn all over the floor.

I heard spooky scratching sounds coming from inside the walls, which I assumed (I hoped...gulp!) was birds, mice, and/or some other creatures. I decided to go see what was upstairs; halfway up I turned and looked down into the room behind me and it was pitch black down there! I shot a pic anyway (above, second from right) and it was so dark, my flash just barely lit it up! I also saw an open doorway that was black as night beyond... I stuck my arm into the darkness & shot a pic with the flash, and I saw that there was another narrow stairway leading down somewhere below that was producing a cold draft...

I stopped and took a pic of the second floor landing, which was also littered with debris and old furniture. The first room was really freaky because there were footprints across the ceiling! I tried to snap a pic of it, and you can kinda see them (above, left), but it's much scarier looking at them in person, because you can see them very clearly in a walking pattern across the ceiling. Another room had piles of old furniture. There were big holes in the ceiling where you could see up into the attic, which for some reason was the creepiest part of the house to me. The attic stairs were really trashed and un-usable, but I don't think I woulda wanted to go up there even if it was possible.

I must admit, this place is spooky. Most of the windows are boarded up, so the house is murky & dark even in the afternoon! The place was silent as Death, as if the house itself was holding it's breath. Broken glass crunched SO LOUDLY under my feet in the silence as I moved through the upper rooms, it was unnerving. I kept waiting to hear the awful sound of glass-crunching footsteps from somewhere behind me in the darkness... brrrr!

After a few minutes inside I finally decided I had been in the Jackson House long enough, so I headed down the stairs to the first level, past the ominous old piano, out the window and back out into the much-welcomed sunlight! I walked around the outside of the house a little bit more, and I found even more ropes and other oddities hanging from the trees. The very shadows on the ground had wicked shapes, too. The entire place has a cold air of forbidding both inside and out.

And when I left, the crows were still there... eyeing me watchfully as I drove off down the narrow, shadowy lane.

Our visitor Jadar sent in the following about Jackson House, "Hey, suprised to find another group of us night hawks around Jackson. Well, here is some of my story about the infamous Jackson House. A couple years ago a large group of my friends of the time and me were all hanging out as usual. Two of the kids we were hanging out with mentioned the house. An hour later we said what the hell and decided to go. We went in look around for a few and bounced. It was cool but nothing too interesting or out of the norm except the piano. Against our best judgment (due to stories about people calling the cops) three friends and I decided to go back a few weeks later (I think). We decide to explore more of the house this time. Went upstairs which creeped us out and then we decide to check out the basement... Me and my one friend stay in the kitchen while the other two go down. A few minutes later I hear my friend calling my name with a rather spooked out tone of voice. I turn around and look in the direction he is. The front room (living-room?). Instantly I was a spooked as him. The room was filled with a blue light which completely lacked a light source. No corona, nothing... Both me and my friend turn our heads to call the other two up and get the hell out of there. When we turn our heads the light was just gone. We got the hell out of there as quick as possible of course. The reason we haven't gone back thou isn't the light, on our way walking to my friends Jeep we were stopped and questioned by the cops about what we were doing there. They ran our names and made us wait for a while then let us go."

Note from Shady: it's very interesting that Jadar mentions seeing a light in the living room- if you look at the photo below of the Jackson House post-fire, there seems to be a strange glowing object floating (?) in the middle of that very room!

U P D A T E:   A P R I L   2 0 0 3

Jackson House severly damaged in fire- at around 5:30 p.m. on April 16, 2003, a blazing fire started somewhere on the upper floors of Jackson's most infamous "haunted house"... cause unknown. It took  Jackson Fire Company No. 1 about an hour to put out the inferno, leaving much of the structure damaged. There is talk that the place is now slated for demolition.

Our Virtual Scoob Lloyd sent us these four pix of the Jackson House, post-fire. As you can see, the upper floors are pretty much destroyed...

Lloyd also said, "I should mention that if anyone is gonna try to go inside, be very careful. I noticed the floor on the side door entrance is practically rotted out. With the water damage, it might just give way. The piano is still there, almost unharmed. And the police and neighbors seem to be keeping  more closer eye on the place. We were there for only ten minutes, and as we were leaving, a cop car was pulling onto McCurdy Lane..."

A special thanks to our friend Lloyd for sharing these fascinating pix with us... head over to his website- Psycho New Jersey- to check out more of his great pics of Jackson House, as well as some other creepy NJ destinations! Tell him Shady sent ya *wink*

Jackson House. Guardian crows... strange twisted shadows... a self-playing piano... creepy darkness everywhere... make your desktop into a haunting tribute to this abandoned spooky treasure with a JH wallpaper!

Apparently, the creepy old house at the end of the shadowy lane has had an influence on others besides me- click here to listen to an awesome song called McCurdy Lane, which was actually inspired by Jackson House!

Special thanks to DJ Baboon for sharing his music with us- thanks, man!

Do you have any background information or stories to tell about this abandoned site?

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