Mount Misery got its name not from the eerie legends surrounding it but actually from it's terrain itself. In the early days of Long Island it did not make good farmland and became more of a crossroads between farming communities. Because of its hilly nature and the difficulty wagons had of passing through it, it began to be called Mount Misery. Sweet Hollow Road is also linked with the Mount Misery legends and is only a few blocks over from it in the same region. The legends mingle somewhat so most people combine the two.

There are many legends concerning this area. Some of the most common are the traveler stories. These are people seen or experiences encountered no the road. Some say there is a woman in white who haunts the area and you will see her walking on the side of the road, but if you stop or turn around she will not be there. She also likes jumping in front of cars. This may actually be linked to an old hospital in the area that burned down with this patient inside. Another story says that if you park under this small bridge you may see kids hanging from it, an echo of a past suicide. There have also been reportings of a phantom cop who stops drivers along the road. Everything sounds OK until you see that the back of his head is missing. Others say if you park under the Northern State overpass and put your car in neutral, it will be pushed back up hill. There is also supposedly a horseback riding camp nearby and one of the female campers was supposedly molested by the counselors but her father would not believe her and in angst she killed them all and then hung herself from this same bridge.

There are also stories about a demonic dog like creature sometimes called a hell hound that lurks in the woods. It is all black, large, and with glowing red eyes. Some say if you see it you are going to die.

On top of all that you will also find mention of Men in Black. These are not the Wil Smith look-alikes from the movie. They are odd people dressed spotlessly clean in black suits that never get dirty or wet even in the rain and mud. This happened to one woman up in the hills of Mount Misery. She was visited by two strange men who walked up her muddy driveway in the rain and yet their car, shoes, suit, and hair were all perfectly dry and looked freshly cleaned. They proceeded to ask odd questions about relationships, family, and other mundane things. It was almost like they were studying human behavior. Are they aliens, secret government agents, or the result of overactive imaginations?

Last but not least, like many other locations on L.I. Mount Misery has its very own "Mary's Grave" story. It supposedly takes place in the old cemetery along side the road but some say the real cemetery is just across the street buried in the woods. Supposedly there is a statue that is haunted and Mary will either be seen by the status or the statue will appear to have moved. This legend appears to have crossed over with the "Lady in White" so that her name became Mary too and the details of either of their deaths have become very sketchy. Many of the stories concerned have at least 2 different variations due to the fact they they have been around for so long and passed on by so many people.

We had some experiences ourselves. One friend has her car stuck in the woods and while trying to get out of the mud said something was shaking her car. This was of Mt Misery Rd near a shack with supposed small red handprints inside. Once going down Sweet Hollow Road at night we noticed the orange road signs had "Help Me" written on them. The area in general used to feel a lot eerier but has lost some of that due to development.