Jersey Ghosts: We've Got 'Em

'Tis the season to be afraid, very afraid, especially if you talk to local writer Elias Zwillenberg. The Maplewood native and Columbia High School grad is the author of the recently published collection of ghost stories and creepy tales New Jersey Haunts.

"I was a true suburban child—even belonged to the Cub Scouts," recalls Zwillenberg of his childhood. Maybe that's where he picked up his fondness for ghost stories. Or maybe he was born with it: Zwillenberg's grandfather worked for EC Comics, publisher of cult favorite 1950s and '60s comics such as "Tales From the Crypt" and "The Vault of Horror."

"I'm not the only writer in my family," Zwillenberg told Patch. "I think my talent came from my grandfather who worked for EC, DC and Marvel Comics. Not that I was directly influenced by him, but by that genre and that era. There was a purity in their storytelling."

Zwillenberg is the youngest of six kids. "I have two half-brothers, two half-sisters and a step-brother," he said. "By the time I came along, my parents were intolerant of noise and they encouraged me to express myself quietly. Since I couldn't play guitar, I wrote. I always wanted to express myself. I was always writing and telling stories and I discovered the Internet at an early age. I could write anything I wanted there. Or be anyone I wanted."

While writing on the web, Zwillenberg played with identities. "I usually posed as someone older, someone I would want to be. I was always told that I was a good writer and now I'm dedicating myself to writing."

New Jersey Haunts, as the cover notes, "explores many of the legends, myths, ghost stories and haunted locations that have kept New Jerseyans awake at night for generations." 

Zwillenberg retells these spooky tales in a wry voice, always keeping the reader interested and anxious to turn the page and read the next story and the next. In all, there are forty with the haunts pretty equally distributed between north and south Jersey.

Said Zwillenberg, "I tried to represent the state as evenly as possible, but to me the creepiest stories took place in northwestern New Jersey. There are pretty great haunts there—foggy cranberry bogs. In the northwest, there are barren places littered with industrial wreckage that are frankly terrifying."

He originally became interested in ghost stories when living in Paterson. "The place was filled with hulking relics of building." Zwillenberg was inspired by the factories, the old silk mills, now Section 8 housing. He said, "The Colt firearm produced in Paterson was once the most popular in the world. For several year, it was even known as the Paterson revolver, made only in Paterson." Paterson-obsession notwithstanding, Zwillenberg's publishing company wanted a book with broader appeal, so the idea of a statewide book was born.

Zwillenberg had a year to complete the project, but finished it within six months. Remarkable when you consider that he visited every location and checked out every story, depending upon the kindness of friends and family due to the fact that he was without a driver's license at the time.

"I visited and photographed every site in the book. I had to have the feeling and spirit of each location. I needed to know what each place smelled like before I began writing." Zwillenberg played web-based ghost hunter, visiting paranormal message boards to learn about stories. He researched those researching ghosts and even checked out the classifieds for ghost-busters.

Zwillenberg's advice to young writers wishing they were published is to be aggressive and believe in yourself. "I found full-time writing jobs because I was tenacious," said Zwillenberg. "I promised myself that I'd be published by the time I was 30 and this happened. Email me if you want to discuss writing or want to buy a personally autographed copy of New Jersey Haunts. I like to hear from people."