{"id":1048,"date":"2021-03-24T18:12:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T22:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.writechriswrite.com\/?page_id=1048"},"modified":"2021-08-28T19:33:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T23:33:21","slug":"how-to-summon-the-butter-street-hitchhiker","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.writechriswrite.com\/index.php\/how-to-summon-the-butter-street-hitchhiker\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Summon The Butter Street Hitchhiker"},"content":{"rendered":"

(With all urban legends, the disclaimer \u201cDo not try this at home\u201d is a given. That being said, I could probably prevent copycats by changing some of the details so that even if you managed to find the right pickup spot you wouldn\u2019t be able to summon the Hitchhiker. But hey, if you\u2019re adventurous, go for it. If you follow the rules it\u2019s perfectly safe, but the knowledge you gain may not be.)<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"There\u2019s an urban legend in my hometown about the ghost of a hitchhiker on Butter Street that will appear if you follow a series of instructions. Once summoned you drive him to his destination, and if you play the game right, he will answer an unknowable question for you. If you play it wrong, well, don\u2019t play it wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s an old gravel pit at the end of Butter Street, the water there is the deepest blue. It\u2019s almost like staring into the ocean, that\u2019s how deep it is. More than one car over the years has been dredged up from the depths there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Officially these drivers all fell asleep at the wheel. Unofficially, the deaths from cars careening off the road into the gravel pit during the wee hours of the night only add more veracity to the urban legend. They were the poor souls who broke the Hitchhiker\u2019s rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

So far no one has pinpointed the origin of the legend. I\u2019ve reached out to the local historical society and searched through newspaper archives in the local library and haven\u2019t found any mentions of the Hitchhiker. It\u2019s a modern piece of folklore passed around coffee shops and diners in the early morning hours until it eventually made its way to high school cafeterias. It wasn\u2019t until someone posted about the Hitchhiker on a local Facebook group that people began sharing their experiences and the rules of how to summon him.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as more people shared their experiences, the details about the Hitchhiker varied from person to person. His clothes have switched up over the years, growing more modern. His speech doesn\u2019t reflect any particular era, no mannerisms or <\/span>23 skidoo<\/span><\/i> phrases to help date him. Sometimes he\u2019s in his late teens, sometimes he\u2019s much older. Even with these differences, everyone who claimed to have summoned the Hitchhiker swears that he was real.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only common thread in all the stories of the Hitchhiker is that he\u2019s always wet when he enters the car, followed by what were always his first words to the driver:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bad night for rain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To which you reply, \u201cIs there ever a good night?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He laughs, and that\u2019s when you know you\u2019re playing the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself. I should go back to how I got him in the car.<\/span><\/p>\n

The game starts by turning your car on exactly at midnight. Where doesn\u2019t matter, only when. And once the car is on, you can\u2019t get out, nor can you let anyone else in. Just you, in your car, at midnight.<\/span><\/p>\n

What comes next is a lot of waiting, because you have to be at the pickup point on Butter Street at exactly 3:00 am. That\u2019s right; three hours in the car. Those are the rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

With three hours to kill, a lot of people show up early and cruise the road so they can time getting to the pickup spot at exactly 3am. But as the urban legend has grown in popularity, the local police will pull you over if they see your car circle back down Butter Street more than once. The local cops all know the rules, so if they pull you over they\u2019ll have you turn off your car and get out of the vehicle, thus ending the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the night I decided to summon him, I filled up my car at the gas station at 11:45, then went in and took advantage of the facilities to ensure I wouldn\u2019t need to make any pit stops before 3am. Then I waited in the parking lot until it was exactly midnight and started up my car.<\/span><\/p>\n

I should add that it doesn\u2019t matter what type of car you drive, but a four-door car is better than a two-door or a pickup truck. You don\u2019t want to look directly at the Hitchhiker, not until the end of the trip. That\u2019s much easier to do if he\u2019s sitting in the back seat vs. sitting beside you.<\/span><\/p>\n

I drove in a big loop around the county until it was time to head to the pick up, avoiding any of the known police traps to keep from having to try again another night. I kept my Maps program running on my phone so I knew exactly what time I had to make my way to Butter Street. I can\u2019t imagine how difficult it was to be an urban legend hunter before realtime GPS maps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sidenote: you can play with the radio on or off, it has no impact on the Hitchhiker. Radio on is best\u00a0 if you choose not to engage him. He can get quite loud and belligerent if you won\u2019t talk.<\/span><\/p>\n

I pulled up to the pickup spot, stopped the car and then followed the summoning instructions. The rules posted online had small variations, but attempts that contained the following actions had the highest rate of success.<\/span><\/p>\n