Holcomb Road is a rural road in Wood County, Ohio, located near the village of Pemberville and close to State Route 199 (sometimes referenced in connection with the Wayne area). The stretch most associated with local lore runs through a dense, wooded section often called Holcomb Woods—a relatively isolated canopy of trees that creates a tunnel-like effect for drivers. The road dates to the mid-19th century; in 1857 it functioned roughly as a dividing line between Montgomery and Freedom townships, and an earlier petition referred to a related route as Isaac Hemminger’s Road. The surrounding landscape is typical northwest Ohio farmland that was once part of the Great Black Swamp. Local historian and museum educator Mike McMaster has researched the road’s history and the origins of its legend, noting that no documented school-bus crash matching the popular story appears in historical records. The woods themselves are on private property, and visitors are advised to respect boundaries and road rules.
Reported Hauntings and Folklore
The dominant legend claims that a bus full of schoolchildren was traveling Holcomb Road when the driver became enraged (versions vary: sometimes over a personal dispute involving a farmer and a dating issue, sometimes for unspecified reasons) and deliberately steered the bus off the road into the woods. The bus struck a large tree; the driver was killed on impact, and the vehicle burst into flames, killing the children. Subsequent reports describe the driver’s face appearing imprinted on the tree, the sounds of children’s screams in the woods at night, phantom headlights (sometimes a single headlight) that approach and then vanish, glowing red eyes among the trees, electrical anomalies (radios scrambling or cell phones losing signal), and the sensation of being watched or bumped. Some accounts instruct visitors to park facing a certain direction, flash headlights three times, and watch for the approaching light.
Local investigation by McMaster and others has found no evidence of such a crash. One theory points to an old small blue bus once owned by a nearby resident that local youths may have set on fire out of boredom, which could have seeded or reinforced the story. The legend has appeared in books, websites, podcasts, and personal accounts for decades and inspired the 2018 documentary film The Legend of Holcomb Road. Paranormal groups such as Fringe Paranormal have visited the site and reported the atmospheric woods but no clear confirmation of the specific phenomena. The tale is widely treated as an urban legend rather than a verified historical or paranormal event.
This road is in northern Ohio near Pemberville and just off highway 199. I was on a trip to visit my sister who lives near Toledo and we were looking for some supposedly haunted place to check out. We did some research and found this road, which is only about 20 minutes from my sister’s house. We decided to check it out for ourselves.
We heard the stories about this road tell of a tragedy involving a school bus accident and the death of several kids and the driver. It’s been told how you can see red eyes in the woods along with children looking at you through the trees. There have also been reports of a phantom light floating toward you if you stop and park at the entrance of the woods or that the single light may chase you out of the woods.
Well, we didn’t see any red eyes. We got there right around dusk and drove down the road the first time. We were nervous of course because we had read all the stories. As we headed toward the woods, we noticed a vehicle approaching us. Oddly enough, it was an old school bus. That was freaky, but it really was a bus. We watched it as it drove past us. Besides the bus, the first time we just drove through and nothing really happened. My sister snapped pictures as I drove. It was kind of funny though how when I looked in the rear view mirror I saw a single headlight behind us. When I pulled over to turn around, we were passed by a beat up old truck with a busted headlight. I guess you could say we did get followed by a light.
The trip back was much more exciting. It was dark by this time and we decided to drive very slowly so my sister could take some pictures on the other side of the road. We were really creeped out by this point. The place is very dark and has an erie feeling about it. I was almost at a complete stop when my sister looked at a picture she has just snapped and yelled “Get the #*@! out of here!”. So I did. I wasn’t sure what was up because I had been focused on driving and didn’t see anything. She said she had seen someone looking back at her in the passenger’s side mirror. We got out of there in a hurry and didn’t bother to look back.
When we looked at the pictures, we did see some strange things. Is that a child looking at us from the woods? What is that weird green light? What exactly is that in the mirror? I have posted some pictures here. It’s really hard to see anything on the mirror picture, but you can see it if you look in the camera. I don’t know what’s up with the infamous Holcomb road, but if you’re looking to scare yourself silly, maybe you should check it out…