Phantom of the Pines: More Tales of the Jersey Devil
Product Description: Emitting shrill cries and leaving its footprints in mud and snow, it has roamed the Pine Barrens of South Jersey for almost three hundred years. It is usually said to resemble a composite of several different animals, but it walks upright and is believed to be the child of a human mother. It is often associated with witchcraft and devil worship, yet it sometimes travels in the company of beautiful golden-haired girl. And it has lent its name to everything from small businesses to a professional hockey team.
What is this mysterious creature? The Jersey Devil course! And in this brand-new collection of fascinating legends and lore, you will learn more than ever before about New Jersey's most infamous resident.
More than twenty years after their first book about the Jersey Devil was published, James F. McCloy and Ray Miller Jr.'s, new research into this phenomenon continues to intrigue readers. Using historical accounts and interviews with New Jerseyites, many of whom were eyewitnesses to the creature's actions, the authors try to piece together the mystery that is the Jersey Devil.
Despite the variations and contradictions that have shaped its story through the years, one thing is certain: the legend of the Jersey Devil is not likely to disappear anytime soon. And as one believer notes, "Behind every tradition...there's something real." Does the Jersey Devil actually exist, leaving its fearsome mark throughout the region? Or is it simply a hoax, grown to epic proportions through years of storytelling? Open Phantom of the Pines-if you dare-and decide for yourself.
Subjects: Social Science, Sociology, Literature: Folklore/Mythology, Folklore & Mythology, United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic, Folklore, Monsters, New Jersey,
a good source of mythological information for someone to build great ideas on
Growing up near (and sometimes in) the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, it is safe to say that I have had a fascination with the Jersey Devil all my life. First, it started as a natural childhood monster fascination (the same thing that had me watching Godzilla movies and being unable to fall asleep with the lights out), and over time it simply became an interest in how ideas survive through the ages, as well as how they morph and change from person to person.
This book is a great collection of the multitudinous versions of the Jersey Devil myth, along with connected legends and stories of sightings to document the wide variations that have occured over time. Even the shape and form of the Devil himself is in contention--from something serpentine to humanoid. The authors set down the wide array of variations with an almost anthropological removal. Rather than going for cheap conclusions or pale insinuations of a real monster out there in the pines, the authors relish in the array of tales that are out there as a kind of history of New Jersey storytelling. Their proper tone keeps the evidence convincing, and I became impressed with their thorough work and had no doubt that their research was authentic.
In the end, though, I did leave wanting some kind of summation of things beyond the information provided. Obviously, this was not the point of the book itself, but I do hope that it has been (or will be) the fodder of some analysis of Jersey folklore that looks at the drive behind the legend--what truths about New Jersey can be found in the proliferation of the Devil myth? McCloy and Miller have done great work laying down the foundation. I am waiting for someone to build the spires atop of it.
Interesting book on a convoluted topic.
I never realized how complex the Jersey Devil phenomena is until I read this book. You get the feeling when reading this book that the Jersey Devil is an amalgamation of several different crytpozoological elements (a little Bigfoot activity here, a little Thunderbird activity there, and a lot of that ugly cow, pig, kangaroo, dragon, goat-mix thing activity everywhere). I guess the only way to distinguish the Devil from his crypto brothers is to assume that he/she is represented by the continuing accounts of the "ugly cow, pig, kangaroo, dragon, goat-mix thing". Personally, it seems easier to believe in the existence of Bigfoot or the Thunderbird than to believe in the existence of the Jersey cur. Keel descibed wndows of paranormal activity and maybe South Jersey is such a window where Bigfoot and the Thunderbird and the Jersey cur all cross paths. I'm not doubting all the accounts beacuse that's a futile argument. It just seems more difficult to believe in the biological adaptivity of such a creature if it did physically exist. Regardless, this is a great, quick read. The authors seem to be knowledgeable of the subject. All in all it's a pretty good book on a topic which has too many loose threads.
A Fair Book; A Frustrating Topic
Allow me to introduce myself briefly; I am an amateur investigator of the weird, strange, and the generally paranormal. My attitude is to always keep an open-mind, and to believe that anything that is logical can be true, whether or not it follows the grain of conventional science. In fact, I find that many a time, the skeptical story may be less logical and believable than the "outlandish" explanations that there are paranormal forces at work in our world.
Now on to the topic at hand: "Phantom of the Pines," a book by James F. McCloy and Ray Miller Jr. I should first say that I had very little exposure to the topic of the devil in my prior reading. I'm much more well read on the "classics" of cryptozoology and the paranormal, by authors such as Coleman, Shuker, and Keel, on the more traditional topics of lake monsters, bigfoot/sasquatch, mothman, UFOs, and so on.
In regard to the material covered, I found that without a doubt Miller and McCloy are experts on the subject. The book leaves no doubt that they've done their homework on the Jersey Devil, and contains countless notable events throughout the modern history of the devil, including an extensive treatment of multiple possible origins. This being their second Devil book, it leaves no question that they're more than capable of accurately representing the Devil's history. In terms of writing style, I found it quite readable, and was pleased to see that the authors did maintain a healthy distance from the material presented. While I admit I've not yet finished the entire book (now over half way through), they have fully refrained from opinionated text. The text is primarily a compendium of quotes and references, not of the author's opinions, and I find that extremely important in any book on the paranormal. The reader can definitely draw their own conclusions.
This brings me to my complaint: my conclusions. In all honesty it is a complaint with the legend of the Jersey Devil itself, rather than with the authors of this book, however I think it's fair to lay out all grievances as I find it may impact the pleasure of future readers just as it has impacted mine. The authors mention more than once that the Devil is a wide-spread and popular myth, and yet it has not received the same attention as the other paranormal topics I mentioned earlier. I have quickly come to the conclusion that there are multiple "problems" with the Jersey Devil myth, and perhaps this is why it has not been treated very equally.
First of all, the Devil is clearly a hybrid between a folk tale and a crypto- or paranormal incident. Creatures like the Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster do not have backstories or folktales associated with their coming into being, or their life. They are accepted as a scientific or zoological problem because their witnesses treat them as fellow earth creatures rather than fables. On the contrary, the Devil has a rich history of mythology. Stories, many different and varied versions, have been handed down in Jersey for many generations telling of how this "devil" was actually born. This then intermingles with real eye-witness sightings of the paranormal, so you have a clear case of a folktale which has also somehow come to life. Now even I, as a very open-minded person, have trouble dealing with such a situation. Either it's a folk tale or a real creature, but not both.
Secondly, I find it blatantly obvious that the Devil has been used as a blanket explanation for a huge variety of paranormal events in the Jersey area, no matter how unrelated. The authors themselves take you through countless examples of "Devil" sightings which range from 6'' tall human like creatures, to 25' long dragons, to blatantly obvious Bigfoot encounters, and everything in between. And yet despite the vast diversity of the experiences, they're all explained away as an incarnation of the same "Devil". I find this to be not only frustratingly illogical, but a crime against any real investigation that might otherwise have taken place. Rather than attempting to categorize the weird goings on as one might in any other portion of the country, we instead find every strange event in the area simply shrugged off as the work of the same enigmatic creature that apparently has no form nor function.
Now to tie my rant on the Devil in with this book specifically, I found the clear problems with the myth were quickly frustrating as a reader who came in hoping for at least a story of a semi-believable creature. I was extremely annoyed when the authors would recount an obvious sighting of the Bigfoot family, and credit it to the Devil instead. And for that matter, the fact that nearly every account in the book dealt with a different description of the "same" creature was very intellectually frustrating. Furthermore the authors made almost no attempt to categorize what was witnessed in any logical way. In a chapter which actually contains "Bigfoot" in the title, they simply used it as an excuse to recount more Devil sightings, rather than make a logical comparison of the topics. Finally, the recounting of the initial folklore behind the Devil was frustrating to me, although it was hardly the authors' fault for including it. As a person of science I had expected to be reading of empirical evidence of a creature, not the old wives tales I was presented with.
So in summation, I found the "Phantom of the Pines" to be physically successful as a work: readable, with authors of good integrity and expertise. Unfortunately I was very unpleasantly surprised with the subject matter, and don't plan on continuing to read into the topic of the Jersey Devil. The lack of any logic or tact behind the creature left me more than frustrated, and I would much rather dedicate my time to topics which can be approached scientifically and logically. I would only recommend this book or this topic to those with a healthy interest in New Jersey folklore, but those looking for something scientifically paranormal should look elsewhere.
My favorite cryptozoological monster ...
Aspects of Phantom of the Pines are slightly cheesy, but ultimately, the Jersey Devil has to be my favorite mythical beast. The accounts of parents not allowing children to school for fear they'd be prey of the monster are as chilling as they are silly.
The JD has a long, rich history. You can say that sasquatch encounters go back to Native Americans, but the "wild man" hairy hominoid stuff is very Jungian. The Devil is its own beast.
This is a fun, worthwhile introduction to the terrifying creature. You don't need to be from Jersey to appreciate the Devil.
Awesome
fascinating book - definately recommend it - especially to native New Jerseyians...
