In Maryland’s historic Ellicott City, the locals whisper tales of a stranger kind of haunting, one involving the ghost of a vehicle. For decades, the Demon Truck of Seven Hills Road has terrified residents, and when you hear the stories of their encounters with the four-wheeled phantom, you might find yourself afraid of ghost cars as well.
Just behind Ellicott City, often referred to as one of the most haunted cities in America, sit seven hills with a twisting, two-lane road running through them. It’s long been said that those who drive the stretch of pavement at night, hitting the seventh hill at the stroke of midnight, should beware the Demon Truck, a jet-black vehicle driven by a faceless entity. Those who’ve encountered the Demon Truck say it appears out of thin air, barreling down the road at a hundred miles an hour, hellbent on causing your vehicle to crash.. and crash they have.
“My brother Tim was one that lost his life on this road in 1971,” local resident Barb Pollihan sadly reflected on an online message board. “He wasn’t driving but with a group of teens that were joyriding. I can still see the picture of the twisted car on the cover of the Catonsville Times. Please don’t try to hit the 7th or any of the hills at anytime. This tragedy haunts me to this day.”
Seven Hills Road, actually named College Avenue, has claimed the lives of dozens of young drivers in the last decade alone, and injured hundreds more. A quick scan of Maryland newspapers turns up countless articles of car accidents on the legendary road outside Ellicott City, the majority of which can be linked to “Hill Hopping”, a late-night hobby linked to the Demon Truck summoning ritual. The deadly hills have seen so much vehicular carnage that it seems as if the ghostly truck was born out of the very act of death itself.
On October 11 of November 2011, a family of four decided to investigate many of Ellicott City’s dark legends for themselves. After the sun went down, they hopped in the car and set off for Heartbeat Bridge (site of a local Crybaby Bridge legend), stopping to search for the ghosts of the abandoned Potapsco Women’s Institute, before deciding that it was time to test the “Ghost Car Myth”. It was an investigation that almost turned deadly.