'Screaming Mimi' ghost closer than you think

If you are from the northwest Ohio area, you have likely heard some variation of the legend of Screamie Mimi, Screamy Mimi or Screaming Mimi Bridge. There are so many versions about the supposedly haunted bridge. Local historian Lisa Swickard said her parents were teenagers in the 1940s and the legend was not around during that time. "I think it is safe to say the legend started in the late 1960s, maybe early 70s. I remember the legend when I was in school," Swickard said. Swickard remembers the legend being about a young girl, ages vary from five-years-old to teens," she said. "The girl was said have lived in the house on the hill by the bridge. "Legend said the girl died a tragic death, either by accident or through suicide," she said. In this variation, Swickard said you were supposed to stop your car on the bridge, located in Pleasant Township about five miles from Old Fort High School. Next, you had to beep your horn three times, flash the lights three times and then roll down the window and shout "Screamy Mimi." After completing the ritual, it was said that Mimi would come up from the wooded side of the bridge which would kill the battery. Then you would see bright eyes in the woods and hear screaming. Other legends over the years have been vastly different. One story is that teenagers strung a piano wire across the road, decapitating a motorcyclist riding past. Another version is that Mimi haunts the bridge because she was forced to kill her baby out of wedlock by throwing the baby off the bridge and into the water, which drove her insane. Perhaps the most dramatic version states that Mimi was beheaded and thrown over the bridge by her husband so he could get her inheritance. But no matter the variations on the story, Swickard remains skeptical of the truth behind the tales. "My grandma burst my bubble -- nothing ever happened there," she said. "It's all just urban legend, but it's fascinating to see how much the legend has changed over the years." Regardless of what version of events you have heard, one can't help but wonder what actually happened there.