ONONDEGA, N.Y.      The "13 Curves" are a section of Cedarvale Road in Onondaga, N.Y. west of Interstate 81 in Syracuse that has long been reputed to be haunted by the spirit of a young bride killed in a tragic auto accident on her wedding night whose spirit wanders the area looking for her husband who also perished in the crash. Conflicting legends have it that the groom was a responsible, well-heeled sort who could afford the luxury of driving a 1940 Packard Super Eight Limousine, said to be the finest car on the road in that day and age. Other accounts say the couple was in a horse-and-carriage at the time. Yet another tells of his being drunk behind the wheel of his vehicle.         It is a dark, lonely and very treacherous stretch of road with many sharp drop-offs along its edge. Also adding to the danger are the trees that line the very edge of the paved surface. Drivers need to stay alert and focused on this particular portion of the road. Needless to say, it has been the actual sight of numerous modern-day accidents which no doubt have added to its legend.         Like many roads of this type it has one particularly perilous corner that locals have named "Dead Man's Curve". This is the 7th of the 13 curves and is where the fatal accident is said to have occurred on - depending who's telling it - a) a snowy night in the early 1940s; or b) Friday the 13th.         Tales of the phantom woman abound and some residents like Dolores Collard claim to have actually witnessed the apparition. In an interview on the Sci-Fi Channel's "Real Scary Places", she tells of sitting in a car with her mother and father and another couple at 12 years of age when they suddenly came upon the figure of a woman in white with a veil covering her face floating across the road at the 7th curve. Cries went out to alert the driver to the woman's presence, but it was too late. As the car was about to strike the woman, she instead passed right through the vehicle unharmed, astounding all its occupants who noticed a coldness that filled the car at the same time.         While no actual record of this tragic wedding night accident can be found, reports of the phantom figure persist. It should be noted that the sightings were said to occur only on Halloween (leading many local teens to "haunt" the place on that night), but this "fact" seems to be more of an embellishment by some locals as have certain other details surrounding the sightings. Reports of a ghostly figure in the woods and a face being seen outside the passenger window of a moving car are just a couple of the accounts that have been related. There have also been tales of seeing the young woman appear in the rear-view mirror sitting in the backseat, sometimes covered in blood. The range of emotions the bride is said to display ranges from sad and forlorn to angry and aggressive.          Yet more local folklore relates details of the car crashing down a ravine and into a creek with the groom being beheaded. A local farmer then comes upon the young wife who is carrying her husband's head in her hands and proceeds to collapse and dies at his feet.         While some local newspaper accounts seem to indicate the story was fabricated by a town resident some years ago, the legend and the stories continue to this day. In 2000, the AP issued a story on the 13 Curves that related a sighting of the spectral woman by Syracuse resident Angie Styb who said of her experience, "It was exciting, shocking, exhilarating - and a little frightening. I know it was real."

THE 13 CURVES