Anyone who knows me, knows that I love my home state. Afterall, you have a little bit of everything in Jersey...the city, the country, the shore. It's also the land of urban legends...ghosts of prom queens, murderous albinos, and mysterious flying saucers. I'm sure that most kids grow up hearing stories about local oddities and whatnot, but somehow, I think New Jersey kids grow up hearing the most stories of all. Afterall, Jersey is the home to the grandaddy of urban legends...The Jersey Devil.

Or maybe it was just me. It probably helped that I had a dad who was intrigued by Jersey legends. He would drive us up to one of North Jersey's famously haunted churches on a suspiciously breezy night, roll the windows down, and tell us to listen for the ghosts (I swear I heard them!) Or would bundle us up to take a drive down to the reservoir to look for UFOs (I know I saw them!) It made for some of my favorite childhood memories.

In highschool, my friends and I would investigate some of the spookier legends for ourselves...driving through the grounds of old insane asylums, visiting "Annie's grave," and checking out the oh-so-eerie, Gravity Hill and Devil's Tower.

After living in Hoboken for a few years, I decided to salute one of their local urban legends...the Hoboken Monkeyman. With help from Dave, I created an online store dedicated to the marauding monkey-beast that terrorized Hoboken in the 1980's. My dad would've been proud.

The folks over at Weird NJ love all this stuff as much as I do. Their site, as well as their magazines and books, are devoted to all that is weird and Jersian, and now they are accepting stories and legends from all over the United States for their "Weird USA" series. Whether you are from the area, or just fond of the strange and unusual, check out their site - and share your weird stories too.