Blue Mist Road
If you find yourself in Pittsburgh and are in for an adventure, set your GPS to a place deep in North Park known officially as Irwin Road. All is not as it seems in this area. Locally, this road is known as Blue Mist Road, a name derived from a strange fog that manifests itself and causes the otherworldly to appear out of the shadows.
Origins of Blue Mist Road
Death has always stalked this road, emerging from the dark woods like a predator. Disease was rampant in the early days, when fever and consumption would steal the life from anyone who crossed its path. Murder, most foul, was even known in this rural area. This fear was known even in its beginnings, in the early 1800s, when Irwin Road was a simple dirt trail. Even today, a five-mile stretch of this road has never been paved. Here, the woods are deep and hold many secrets.
Deep within these woods lies an old cemetery with gravestones dating back to the early 1700s. Many of these weathered stones are very hard to read. There are two, however, that possess a charming yet tragic tale.
Death does not discriminate. A couple once madly in love was parted in death, killed by disease. Their love, however, was unbreakable, and these two tombstones lean towards each other, a testament to their undying affection. On nights of the full moon, the graves come together and touch as the ghosts of these two lovers dance around the graves, finally together forever in the afterlife.
The Dark Arts
All along this unpaved section stands huge trees that serve as silent sentinels guarding a smattering of old farmstead foundations long forgotten. Of course, legends grew from this obscure past, and colloquial folklore claims that one of these foundations belonged to the home of a witch, and it was in these woods that she practiced her dark arts.
Even today, her ghost is rumored to appear out of the blue fog that is said to cover Irwin Road from time to time. Indeed, many locals claim it was this witch that opened a portal to allow dread and evil to seep into the land, and the mist is the curtain between dimensions.
From early on, this area was known to be haunted, and because of this, clandestine meetings took place in the woods along Irwin Road. Eventually, around 1915, rumors say that the Klu Klux Klan became involved in the area. They used the woods for rituals and lynchings. Some locals even suggest that sacrifices were made in these woods to dark entities.
Whatever truth lies in these claims, the spirits of the dead have never left the road and have haunted it ever since. According to legend, if you drive to the end of Irwin Road and honk your horn three times, you will summon the spirits of the dead, who will make sounds, appear as orbs of light, or manifest as full-bodied apparitions.
Spirits Don’t Play Well with Others
There is the local tale of a young man who attempted to summon the ghosts of Irwin Road back in the early 1970s. Of course, as the story goes, he was showing off to his girlfriend. At first, it was all just fun until the young couple began to hear noises emanating from the woods, followed by a deep blue mist that rolled over the road and engulfed the car. Any attempt at fleeing was in vain as the car eerily wouldn’t start. In a frenzy, the young man jumped out, popped the hood, and tried to fix the problem. However, there was no problem, at least with the car.
After a brief moment, the delirious girlfriend, shaking inside the car, hears a loud thud. She called out to her boyfriend, but she got no reply. For hours, she sat trembling in the car, alone, surrounded by the blue mist. Just before dawn, the young lady heard a dull tapping on the roof of the car.
Thinking this was her boyfriend, she shakingly unlocked the door and stepped out of the car. Her eyes slowly raised to the branches overhead, and in the gathering light, as the mist dissipated, she could see the body of her battered and bloodied boyfriend hanging above the car.
A Legacy of Horror
There does seem to be true evil afoot along Irwin Road. Natural death and homicide took many lives, a legacy of horror known all too well. Along the paved section, some homes remain, but few are without tragedy. One family had a father who suffered from severe depression. After losing his job one night, the distraught father came home and murdered his whole family.
Was he possessed by the spirits that come with the mist? Whatever the cause, a curse pervades this road, and many families have left to avoid its sinister heritage. This terrible crime has affected the road’s legacy.
If you decide to go down Irwin Road, aka Blue Mist Road, it is better you do it in the light of day. When the sun sets, and darkness descends, this area becomes another world. Strange lights are often seen, whether glowing orbs that drift through the trees or hover ominously overhead.
In the darkness, strange sounds are heard, and they creep out onto the road. Sometimes, you may feel like a dark presence has overtaken the road. There are stories of strange creatures that come out at night and scare people away, hulking hair-covered monsters that congregate in the shadows. These are the legends of the Blue Mist Road.
Sources:
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/haunted-street-pittsburgh/
https://www.trytoscare.me/legend/blue-mist-road-pittsburgh-pa/
