Must be a duppy or a gunman! The 'Haunted' Highway

O. Griffiths, Contributor

"Awrite me bwoy," quipped Maas Sheppy as we drove towards Balaclava in St Elizabeth. He pointed to a dilapidated church building that perched precariously on the side of the hill. This stretch of roadway snaked along as treacherous as a serpent and as dark as vampire's blood. It was said that many a traveller broke down at that particular spot in Mile Gully, Manchester, as if to ensure they experienced first-hand the various chilling experiences that the location had to offer.

Don't ask me why, but Maas Sheppy offered to share the legend behind the haunted church. The churchyard was riddled with broken gravestones, dilapidated doors and windows, and bats flying around as if to ward off unwelcomed churchgoers. If and when you get a chance to peek inside, you would see a sermon conducted by the inhabitants of the cemetery.

Nevertheless, Maas Sheppy's story today is not about the haunted church, it is the comical spin of a man who got a ride in the back of a coffin bearer's truck and got the scare of his life ...

'It was a rainy late night in the middle of August when an open-back Leyland truck was transporting some coffins from a wood shop to a funeral home in Shiloh.

The rain eased and a stranger hitched a ride in the back of the truck. After driving for a few miles, the rain started pouring with a vengeance. In an attempt to avoid the imminent soaking, the stranger hopped into one of the coffins and drew the cover, shutting himself inside the box.

After about half an hour of driving, another stranger decided to hitch a ride in the back of this truck. He was most delighted as missing this ride would leave him no option but to make the 20-mile, 3-hour walk to his home in neighbouring St Elizabeth. While the vehicle bumped and jolted along the slippery hillside towards Appleton, the last hiker thought he saw the lid on one of the coffins slowly sliding off but he was sure it was the reflection of the moonlight dancing through the leaves as the truck passed beneath the massive pear trees. Then suddenly, the head of a man popped up from the coffin and looked in his direction.

"Boss, de rain dun fall?" the "thing" in the coffin asked the poor man.

Well, it must be A DUPPY or A GUNMAN but the hitchhiker never stopped to find out. For the first time in his life, the truck driver witnessed that a man could actually bail off a fast-moving vehicle on a slippery hillside without falling and hurting himself! Not even Usain Bolt could catch this one!