Are Sightings of the Red-Headed Hitchhiker on the Rise?
This story of the ghostly Red-Headed Hitchhiker of Route 44 was originally posted on our site a year ago, but it's circulating again right now. Is it just because it's October, which means it's officially spooky season and people just want a good, local ghost story? Or are people actually encountering this freaky apparition?
To be honest, I had never heard of this story before working here. I have our editor, Tim, to thank for that enlightenment. He hosts the Spooky Southcoast show on Saturday nights and leads paranormal investigations. He first mentioned this tale a couple of years back and every hair on the back of my neck stood up on end.
The stretch of Route 44 in the area of the Seekonk-Rehoboth line is home to the Red-Headed Hitchhiker.
"Locals have been reporting the Hitchhiker for decades, and the description is almost always the same: red flannel shirt, dirty jeans, boots, longish red hair, and a big, bushy red beard. But even more harrowing are his dark, empty, soulless eyes." - Tim Weisberg
I don't want to give away the whole legend, but I'll tell you that it involves this hitchhiker, dead silence, creepy laughter, and a vanishing act all tied up in a bow made of red hair.
*This story comes from the stage show 'An Evening of Ghost Stories and New England Legends.' Check out the documentary about the making of the show on Amazon Prime Video.
