Hollywood and Glen Rock

Every town has some sort of Urban Legend that fuels gossip or inspires scary stories at sleepovers and campouts. In the case of Glen Rock, it would be this house.

Situated on the corner of a rather busy street, this cement home, with its red tile roof and ornate trim, appears more likely of a Hollywood, California address rather than one in sleepy Glen Rock, New Jersey.

For some reason, every time I drive or walk past this place, Norma Desmond of "Sunset Boulevard" fame comes to mind. Can't you just see her standing out on the upstairs veranda, dressed in a flowing white dress with a wide-brimmed hat, silk scarf, and dark sunglasses?

What makes this house legendary is the sordid history of the now deceased owner, and how someone placed a car-bomb in his vehicle and ended up blowing up the garage, but not the notorious mafia man targeted for the hit. Somehow, he managed to die on his own several years later, but the house has remained vacant ever since the explosion.

For whatever reason, the garage still sits in smoke-stained pieces on the rear grounds, and despite the price being lowered several times over the past few years, there have been no takers of the property.

Maybe it's the busy street, or maybe the place needs too much work.

Or maybe, it truly is haunted by the ghost of the man who built it, and the cries of tortured souls rise from the basement when the moon is full.