Thursday, April 28, 2011

PDF Zines

Tired of paying for shipping? Zines are now available as a printable color PDF.
Available as a single issue for $3.00, or get a subscription and have one sent to your e-mail every month.

For ordering info. click here!
B & W zines still available on Etsy!
Shop us in person at B.B. Bellezza inside Building Character.
Help to support local and indie business, and have fun going Outta the Way!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Gravity Hill Lewisberry, Pennsylvania

In the small town of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania lies a strange road that most of the locals know about. Pleasant View road or ghost hill, as it's commonly referred to, is what is known as a gravity hill. There are lots of these hills around the world, including one in Bedford county, Pennsylvania that the county uses to attract tourists. The county of York doesn't advertise theirs, nor do they encourage the tourist traffic there.

If you never experienced a gravity road, or have never heard of one let us explain. On a gravity hill, you put your car into neutral and it rolls back UP the hill. Bottles, balls, or empty cans will appear to roll uphill. It seems impossible. It seems to break all laws of gravity. There is no real explanation for this phenomenon, other than that it is an optical illusion. Since I am not a surveyor, I'm not positive of this, but it certainly seems to be the most likely explanation.

As with most of these places there are tales of ghosts and the supernatural at work. The most often told tale associated with this mysterious spot involves the local football team. The story states that in the 1970's the local high school football team lost the brakes on their bus. The bus continued to roll through the intersection, and ran over the adjacent hill top. There were no survivors. To prevent this from happening again, the deceased football players push your car back up the hill so you don't meet the same fate as they did. It's said that if you put a a white powder or flour on the hood of your vehicle you'll see hand prints. Outta the Way has tried this and all we noticed was a mess. But until the day we can hire a surveyor, we're gonna continue to believe it's the lineman of the local football team pushing us back, push 'em back, waaayyy baaacckk!!
More local Outta the Way places

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Abandoned Route 61 in Centralia




The Route 61 highway traverses travelers approximately 81 miles north and southbound through the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Though there's a small stretch of this road that hasn't been used for travel in over 15 years. Though it's still a hot spot... literally! In 1994 the department of transportation rerouted a mile long stretch of this road after being severely damaged by the underground mine fire in nearby Centralia.

Today the road is a popular destination for urban explorers and apparently aspiring graffiti artists,though I wouldn't call much of it art. The road has an extremely haunting appeal to it, I personally kept feeling as though someone was following behind me. Walking down this lost highway gives you a very eerie feeling, not sure if it's from the noxious fumes emanating from below the asphalt, or the buckling of the highway but I kept getting the feeling of vertigo. Seeing the man-made destruction that's taking place here is a sight to behold, both from the obscene graffiti, to the mammoth coal industry that helped to build a town and also destroy it!




Zine featuring Centralia & other nearby Outta the Way places.

Video of Route 61

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Witches/Devils' Triangle

*WARNING* The following tale is quite graphic and may not be suitable for children!

Located near the lush greens of the Rolling Pines golf course sits a wooded area full of decay and darkness. This tiny patch of woods is thought to carry a dark, and morbid history. Commonly the area is referred to as the witches' triangle. This is due to it's association with hangings during the 19th century. Some young ladies from the area used to congregate in the woods here. The locals fearing a nationwide spread of witchcraft abducted the teenage girls. They were then hung from the same trees in which the young ladies enjoyed frolicking amongst.

Though other locals tell of a even more sinister tale. Some refer to this wooded grove as the devils' triangle. These stories stem mainly from the decrepit farmhouse and barn that still rest on this forbidden property. There's an extremely disturbing tale of a family who once resided in the home. One somber evening, in a fit of pent up rage a mad husband portrayed acts of violence amongst his family members that is truly gruesome. The stories claim the man both sexually and physically violated his unsuspecting victims before hacking their bodies into pieces. He then proceeded to sprawl their blood allover the walls of the home. The man then vanished into the darkness of the trees where he would end his own life.

There are many who doubt the validity of either of these stories, and there are just as many who claim to have felt an extremely dangerous energy emanating from this mysterious thicket. Whichever you believe these urban legends are keeping the youth of Berwick excited as they dare each other to enter this house of horrors. It's also keeping the local police department busy issuing citations for trespassing!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Hooded Grave Cemetery Pennsylvania



So what do vampires, werewolves, grave robbers and the wealthy all have in common? No, this isn't a joke. They're all part of the mystery of the Hooded Grave Cemetery. Two of the gravestones in this rural resting place are encaged in what resemble large Victorian era birdcages. But why you may ask?

That's a question that holds much speculation. A few believe those buried in these graves may be vampires. Originally the cages had locks on them, leading to the assumption they weren't trying to keep people out but to keep the dead from escaping. Some believe these cages were installed to keep out werewolves. A few of the locals believed they were in the area, killing their livestock. They thought by caging the graves they would keep the wolves from desecrating the deceased bodies.

Most believe that the cages were built as a show of wealth. The cages are quite elaborately designed and quite ornate. The family members of the deceased in these caged graves were active in the iron ore business, a very lucrative business during the 19th century. But the most logical reason these cages exist is to keep out grave robbers. During the mid 19th century young corpses were in high demand. The city of Philadelphia at this time was the epicenter of medical science and studies. With well over 1,000 medical students a good corpse was often difficult to find. It became nearly a rite of passage for young medical students to rob graves of their corpses.

So what's the truth? I'll leave that up to you to speculate on, or you could read more in volume 20 of Outta the Way. Whatever your conclusion, you can be sure author Anne Rice would be greatly inspired by these mysterious graves from a past century!

Video of Hooded Grave Cemetery, click here!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Columbia County, Pennsylvania



In the 20th zine of Outta the Way we take a hike into the mountains of Columbia county, Pennsylvania. First we'll stroll back up a hill and defy the laws of gravity in a sleepy rural town with an ancient name. Next we'll pay a visit to a remote church with enough urban legends to send a tingle up your spine, and keep it in your mind forever. Then it's off to a creepy cemetery to find a set of graves hidden beneath iron cages. Lastly we take a quiet peaceful stroll along a tiny riverbed to discover an historical and architectural landmark.

So get outta the way, we're going Outta the Way!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Gravity Road: Bedford County Pennsylvania

Looking for a place to defy gravity? Located on the back roads of New Paris, Pennsylvania lies one such spot. On Gravity Hill Road you can watch balls, bottles and liquids roll uphill. If you’re brave enough, you can put your car in neutral and roll right up the hill with it.

Gravity hills are located throughout the world. They are located in Barbados, Scotland, Portugal and Korea, as well as hundreds of other locations. >Though most don’t advertise theirs as a tourist stop as much as the County of Bedford. The Visitors Bureau offers maps, t-shirts, bumper stickers and even hats advertising the location.

The apparent finding of this particular spot seems pretty likely.Shortly after World War II, the local postman put his automobile in neutral while he sorted the daily mail. What an amazing surprise he got when he then realized he rolled up the hill.

So how is all this possible? Is it a magnetic pull, an optical illusion, a lack of gravity or spirits pushing you back? We think we know the answer but suggest that you just give a visit and decide for yourself.

More on Gravity Road and other nearby Outta the Way spots

Magnet Hills & Gravity Hills

Gravity: We can all comprehend it; even the youngest child rolling a ball understands it. But what if I told you there were places on Earth where these laws of gravity no longer existed. What if you could watch a ball roll uphill, or even see liquid slowly move in the opposite direction! What if I said you could put your car in neutral and accelerate back up a hill without the help of the engine? Would you call me crazy? A few who know me very well may, but not for these reasons. Truth is these places exist all over the world!

Commonly they are referred to as gravity hills, magnet hills, or mystery spots. A few are even popular tourist destinations, but most are found in rural locations and are really only known by the locals. With these mysterious spots are also lots of legends, usually referring to paranormal or supernatural powers at work. Many tales involve friendly spirits actually guiding your car away from a danger that awaits. Others believe these places have a strange magnetic field, which attributes to the attraction of more spirits, but also has a strange magnetic pull on your vehicle. The most common and most sensible theory on gravity hills is that they're simply an optical illusion. The land layout and the surrounding landscapes actually fool your eye into believing that gravity is actually being defied and objects are rolling uphill.

I'm guessing Isaac Newton isn't going to be rolling in his grave anytime soon. But you can be assured that Outta the Way will keep looking for these mysterious places and will still enjoy them with utter amazement. Will also keep our theory to ourselves that it's really Newton's spirit just playing a cruel joke on all of us!

Gravity Hill Video Click Here!