Empire State canal (4)
I believe the answer is:
erie
'empire state canal' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for erie that I've seen before include "Spooky-sounding" , "North american lake sounds spooky" , "One of the Great Lakes" , "Lake between Canada and the US" , "The lake sounds weird" .)