Bruce Springsteen really loves Halloween – he loves it more than songs with the word ‘born’ in the title and he loves it more than muttering about AIDS.

In fact, Bruce Springsteen loves Halloween so much that he’s decided to dress up as the devil and release a brand new vaguely spooky song entitled A Night With The Jersey Devil on his website for free, just because today happens to be Halloween.

It’s a clever move. And it’s prompted other old rockers to follow – next week Rod Stewart will release a song called Bonfire Night (Of My Heart) on his website, followed by Huey Lewis posting a song called I Give Thanks To You, Baby on November 27 and then Elton John releasing Woo, It’s The International Year Of Astronomy! on January 15, just because he couldn’t wait an extra month and do one for Valentine’s Day, the impatient sod.

When Bruce Springsteen likes something, he has to go out of his way to display that love to everyone. For instance, Bruce can’t just be quietly fond of, say, the notion of shagging an old whore up the bum – he has to actually go and write a song about it. There are probably other examples of this, but the whore-bumming is the only one that springs to mind at the moment.

Oh, Halloween, too. Bumming whores and Halloween, they’re the two things that Bruce Springsteen likes enough to write songs about. But only those two things.

We don’t know why Bruce Springsteen likes Halloween so much. It’s probably because both ‘Springsteen’ and ‘Halloween’ end with ‘een’. That also explains Bruce’s other main loves – queens, spleens, teens, screens  and Charlie Sheens.

Anyway, in the Webthump earlier today, we mentioned that Bruce Springsteen wasn’t doing a big Halloween display at his house this year because of fears of overcrowding. That news was probably incredibly disappointing for anyone who a) lives quite close to Bruce Springsteen’s house, b) likes Halloween and c) thinks that standing outside the house of someone richer than them and gawping at plastic cauldrons is an acceptable way to spend an evening.

But Bruce Springsteen doesn’t want to disappoint anyone – not even if they’re as essentially worthless at the people who go and look at all the decorations on his house – and so he’s come up with a clever backup plan. Bruce Springsteen has recorded a special new Halloween song and put it up on his website for free. MTV reports:

It being Halloween and all, the Boss is … offering a new song and video called “A Night With the Jersey Devil.” On his Web site he writes, “Dear Friends and Fans, If you grew up in central or south Jersey, you grew up with the ‘Jersey Devil.’ Here’s a little musical Halloween treat. Have fun! Bruce Springsteen”.

Yeah, nice try Bruce Springsteen, but we can see right through your little plan. ‘A little musical Halloween treat’ indeed. It’s just an excuse not to give children any trick or treat candy isn’t it, you massive tightwad. Well, it’s not going to work, because we can guarantee this exact scenario will be played out at least 50 times tonight:

Kids: “Trick or treat!”

Bruce Springsteen: “What? No. Didn’t you see my website today? My treat to you is the song A Night With The Jersey Devil, which I recorded as a little musical treat.”

Kids: “Yeah, we saw that. To be honest, we thought it was a lazy and somewhat derivative blues standard that you clearly hadn’t put much thought into, accompanied by a video that does little more than reference the fact that you’ve seen the promo to Hurt by Johnny Cash at least once. With that in mind, Mr Springsteen, we’d probably prefer some Haribo.”

Bruce Springsteen: “But… but… the song. I don’t have any Haribo.”

Kids: “It’s a trick, then. Egg him, boys.”

Watch A Night With The Jersey Devil by Bruce Springsteen now.

Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts, odd sightings or just the plain unexplainable.

This week: Cryptozoology/Odd Sightings

Cryptozoology has a stuffed-full menu of weird creatures that have had dozens of sightings all over the world. The Jersey Devil has got to be one of the best known, but it seems it's sightings don't happen quite as much as others in its great big monster family. Once though, almost a hundred years ago, a whole bunch of firemen hosed one right off a roof.

Then it attacked a dog and got shot at by police. Quite an experience from all we've read.

Bigfoot, modern-day cavemen, frog people and the Clutchbone – they're all members of the monster family, most with historical sightings as well as modern ones. The Jersey Devil is on that list too. Wikipedia sheds some light on the matter:

"The Jersey Devil, sometimes called the Leeds Devil, is a legendary creature or cryptid said to inhabit the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many variations."

What we believe may be the most intriguing encounter with the beast involves a time it meandered onto the roof of a local fire chief's home. Two men out for a walk saw it up there and apparently reported it to the fire department. In the book Phantom of the Pines: More Tales of the Jersey Devil, author James F. McCloy gives us more detail:

"Soon the fire department arrived and turned the hose on the Devil. At first it fled the water by running down the street about one hundred and fifty feet. Then it turned, and to the panic of its tormentors charged at them. Sticks, stones, and other missiles had no effect on the rampant Devil, as it bore down upon the frightened crowd. Fortunately for them, the creature suddenly spread its wings and soared over them, disappearing into the night."

The Devil then flew off and attacked a dog in a woman's backyard. Said woman heard the commotion and freed her pet with a swinging broom stick. This encounter ended with two policemen trigger pulling in the direction of the monster, but to no effect. Once again it disappeared into the night.

One thing that sets the Jersey Devil apart from other 'mystical' creatures is that some people claim to know where it lives. Once again we turn to Wikipedia for details:

"An important piece of the Jersey Devil legend concerns its supposed home at the Blue Hole located near Winslow, New Jersey. According to popular folklore, the blue hole is not only bottomless but also acts as one of the many gateways to Hell. The water in the hole is abnormally cold, even during the summer months, averaging only 58 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. In addition, the hole is said to have a whirlpool effect on any person who enters it."

Physical descriptions of the creature very from small and ape-ish to giraffe-like. It seems in most cases it's agreed the creature has wings, but that seems to be the only constant. It seems to run away from people without too much effort, so don't lose sleep over all this if you live in southern New Jersey, but just the same, if you're going out at night, be sure to check the skies.

Read More:

JERSEYANA; Once Upon a Time, the New Jersey Devil Meant More Than Hockey – The New York Times