Holcomb Road in Wood County, Ohio is nestled within what Michael McMaster, local museum education coordinator, calls “a big, creepy woods,” making it the perfect setting for an enduring urban legend. That legend inspired the 2018 documentary film “The Legend of Holcomb Road.”
What is the Holcomb Road urban legend?
The story goes that a bus full of young children lost control, careened off the road, and crashed into a large tree deep in those woods. The driver died instantly, and the children perished as the bus burst into flames.
An undeniable tragedy, but one made all the spookier by tales of passersby who claim to see the driver’s face imprinted on the tree the bus struck, hear children’s screams echoing through the night, and witness phantom headlights that vanish as they reach the tree. The legend also includes radio stations suddenly scrambling and cell phones losing signal in the area.
Fact or fiction?
But is this just a legend, or did these horrific events actually occur?
McMaster is one of many who has pondered the mystery of Holcomb Road.
“People have been going out there for a long time,” he told The Courier. “I get calls every September and October from reporters and media wanting to know about the ghost story.”
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However, McMaster admits he has never been able to verify the existence of a school bus crash on Holcomb Road. “I’ve never been able to pin down a school bus,” he explained, citing a former school bus driver who said there was never a route in that part of Wood County.
“I don’t think there was a bus crash”
There was, however, a small blue bus kept on land by Holcomb Road, a popular hangout spot for teens who played scary pranks on one another. That bus was reportedly set on fire by local youths and later towed away.
McMaster believes that elderly residents who remember the bus crash might actually be misremembering that blue bus incident, influenced over time by the repeated tales of the school bus tragedy.
“I don’t think there was a bus crash,” McMaster says. “I think they’re remembering the urban legend, and the stories continue to be told.”
Paranormal investigators visit Holcomb Road
In 2018, paranormal investigators Don and Kelly from Fringe Paranormal visited Holcomb Road, sharing their experience in a blog post.
They described the woods as resembling “a portal into another dimension,” though their investigation turned up no faces on trees, no children’s wails, and, despite no mention, their mobile phones apparently worked just fine.
If you want to explore the mystery yourself, “The Legend of Holcomb Road” documentary is available on Amazon Prime Video.
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