Some years back my lovely better half and I watched this awful movie called THE 13TH CHILD. A slumming Cliff Robertson (Uncle Ben in the first SPIDER-MAN movie and 80s spokesperson for AT&T) plays a creepy ol’ dude who has a pet tarantula named Bruno. At one point while watching the movie I jokingly said to my wifey, ‘I think Bruno is the Jersey devil!” As it turned out, that was exactly the case. At the climax of the flick the spider turned into the Jersey Devil. As the closing credits began, I nonchalantly said to my mate, “You are aware that I was kidding when I said Bruno was the Jersey devil, right?”. She and I have made a running joke about that scene and that movie ever since.
The Jersey Devil will likely be making an appearance in the new season of WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, premiering on FX on July 12th. I infer this because the New Jersey Pine Barrens are advertised as a location where one episode will take place, and the Pine Barrens are the home of the Jersey Devil, and we have previously seen werewolves, trolls, witches, ghosts, a siren, etc. on the show, so the Jersey devil will fit right in. If the Jersey Devil as depicted in the show does not maintain a secret identity as a tarantula named Bruno, I will be sorely disappointed.
