I am not much of thrill seeker and not into believing in paranormal activity, but it seems after hearing dozens of stories of unexplained activity then it must be true. There are many legends of Payne Road and the house that once stood, but no one really knows the truth. The house unfortunately burned down in 1992 so today the only thing that stands are the chimneys that stood on either side of the house. There also used to be a bridge on that road, but that has also been tore down and paved. But just because something is torn down doesn’t mean paranormal activity goes down with it. Since the house burnt down new houses have been constructed around the area, but no one will build on the actual location of where the Payne house once stood. It has been also stated that still to this day when crossing over where the bridge used to be if you turn off your car and try to restart it the car won’t turn on.
This legend interests me because of its location being so close to where I live and I wish I had a nail bitter story that happened on my visit to Payne Road, but I don’t so I had to settle on someone else’s story. I found this one to be the most intense story and gave me goose bumps as I was reading it. It is a very vivid story so I hope you guys enjoy. Don’t let it give you any nightmares!
The “so-called” legend of Payne Road dates back to the 1900s where farmer named Edward Payne and his family lived on Payne Rd in Rural Hall, NC. He had some depression problems and lost his mind and killed all his servants and their families and then killed his wife and children.I have been down Payne Road once before and I just kept driving I don’t know if these stories are true and truthfully, didn’t want to find out.
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| This the part of Payne Road where the bridge used to be. |
“From this point on is my own personal account of Payne Rd. We drove up Highway 52 to NC66 toward Rural Hall and turned on the road that was once called Payne Road it is now called Edwards Road (the name of the road was changed because the county was tired of chasing the thrill seekers away and they named another road in the area Payne Rd instead.) There is a fork in the road where the main road goes left and to the right is a small road that is now blocked off with a huge iron or steel gate that is always locked. Well the gate was not there in October of 1994. I know it is there now because in 2001 I was asked by some friends to prove my story and I was unable because of the gate. Anyway, beyond that gate the road turns to a dirt road and there is an old grave yard on the right side of the road. We stopped at this grave yard and screwed around a little bit but nothing happened there.  |
| The Cemetary |
We went down the dirt road about a quarter mile or so and the pickup pulled over. The road would circle around and come back up the left fork in the opposite direction to the same road we were on. While she our friend was telling us about her story, a painfully putrid smell surrounded us. When we started talking about the smell we began hearing things in the woods like tree branches breaking as if a deer were there. Then it sounded like a herd of deer. We started freaking out! The noise was like we were in a tunnel. We ran back to our cars and drove down the dirt road in the only direction we could go. I remember going right at the fork in the road. The pickup started to slow down as we came closer to a bridge. Everyone in my car and the car behind me got out and walked up to Debbie's side of the truck. She was still upset from the incident at the brick steps yet her husband seemed to think the whole thing was hilarious. We were scared but not ready admit it yet. The bridge was barely a bridge. It was simply a 15 to 20 foot long wooden bridge that did not seem to cover anything but the ground. I remember wondering why they did not just make that part of the dirt road. I asked Debbie how the farmer hung servants from the bridge because it seemed like there was no space to hang anything from it. She told us to look around because they were not hung from the bridge but somewhere close to the bridge. While we were looking around for where Mr. Payne could have hung anyone the smell came over the bridge more rotten than before. All of a sudden it sounded like acorns or rocks were hitting our cars only there was nothing. This is the point when I became very afraid. Debbie started to flip out and was yelling for her husband to leave. We all jumped into our cars and proceeded to follow the pickup. Something was hitting my car as if I was driving through branches. It sounded like someone slapping the windows really fast all around the car. We were freaking out!! The pickup was going so fast I could not keep up because all I could see was an extremely thick dust trail. The car behind me was right on my tail. I was scared he was going to rear end me. It took about 2 minutes or so to get back to the place where we turned right at the fork. The invisible things were still pelting my car. These noises lasted until we made it to the paved road. The dust cleared and we saw Debbie and her husband waiting on the side of the road in front of the cemetery. I pulled up beside them and said we were going to stop at the store. We did not say much because Debbie was crying.
All three cars stopped at the first gas station on the main road. When I came out of the store my jaw dropped. Our cars were extremely dusty from the ride and there were hundreds of hand prints all over my car and the car that was behind mine. The pickup had some on the back where there was dust but not like mine or my friends. The hand prints were in the dust, intertwined like a puzzle. None of them were overlapping. Some were huge and some were baby and children sized. There were baby hand prints on the roof of my car!! Hand prints where everywhere. The biggest one I could find was right beside my head on the driver’s side window. My friend’s car was covered just as bad and we were all, even Debbie and her husband, talking about something repeatedly hitting our cars. We showed the guy that worked at the gas station and he said we were crazy to go down there. This was before the days of cell phone cameras and the store did not sell disposable cameras so we decided we would take pictures when we got home. The ride down the highway blew off all the dust and with it the hand prints.”
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| These are the chimneys that are left standing after a fire burned down in the house in 1992. |
Scared yet? I know I was. There are so many stories that people say have happened on their experience down Payne Road, but no one has the same story so in a way it’s hard to really say if this legend is true. It depends on how much you will believe, but it is enough for me to believe and enough for me to stay clear.
The shed behind the house
