Horror writer Stephen King once stayed at a friend's (Peter Straub) house in Crouch End. The legend goes that after asking for a good place to go for a walk he was directed towards the old railway line, now called The Parkland Walk. While here he was inspired by the strange unsettling surroundings and the sculpture of a spriggan (a pan-like green man), which was pushing its way out of an old arched wall. King wrote the short story Crouch End, based on his visit to Crouch End, which was later adapted as an episode of Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, which included the spriggan in the introduction.