As one of the oldest states in the whole union, Connecticut certainly comes with no shortage in history or ghost stories. Given the state's lengthy history, some tales span as far back as the 16th century, longer than many other current states' own lifetimes. The Constitution State hosts an entire collection of cursed and haunted objects at the famous Occult Museum, established by demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. This list explores some common legends and ghost stories passed around in creepy Connecticut.
The Dudleytown Curse
Dudleytown, also known as the "Village of the Damned" was co-founded by the Dudley family – a family allegedly cursed back in England in 1510, when Edmund Dudley was beheaded for conspiring to overthrow King Henry VIII. A scourge was put on his descendants, ensuring death and tragedy would surround them. With or without the Dudley’s, Dudleytown seemed to be a magnet for freak occurrences. The town featured an unusual amount of disappearances, cases of insanity, and bizarre deaths.
Around 1759, a mysterious plague swept through the town and took the lives of many.
Allegedly, General Herman Swift, who had served under George Washington in the Revolutionary War, had lived in Dudleytown. In 1804, his wife Sarah Faye, was struck by lightning and killed instantly on their front porch. The General himself went insane and died soon after.
John Patrick Brophy was one of the last residents of the town. Many had already moved away, died, or simply vanished. The Brophy family seemed to become the curse's new focus. Starting with the death of his wife, the "curse" also caused both of his children to vanish into the forest just after their mother’s funeral. The Brophy’s house ended up burning to the ground and Brophy himself soon vanished into the forest as well. He and his children were never found.
By the 1900s Dudleytown was completely deserted and the forest reclaimed much of the village. But the dark entity driving the curse was still out there. So when Dr. William Clarke came to Cornwall, fell in love with the empty forest, and purchased 1,000 acres including Dudleytown, the beast began to stir. One summer Dr. Clarke ran off to New York and left his wife alone in their home. He returned 36-hours later to find her completely insane and rambling about creatures living in the forest. She committed suicide soon after. Today, supernatural enthusiasts visit Dudleytown in hopes of capturing proof of ghosts, demons, and the creatures in its woods.
A Haunting In Southington
The Snedeker family moved into a Southington, Connecticut home in June 1986. After settling in, they discovered their new home was once a mortuary called The Hallahan Funeral Home in the 1920s. Mortuary equipment still existed in the basement, along with a graveyard in the backyard and creepy photographs of corpses found in one of the dressers. The family soon began hearing strange noises and eventually they saw ghostly figures appear. Carmen Snedeker described the beings as having high cheekbones, black eyes, and long black hair. Another entity seen in the home had white hair, wore a tuxedo, and his feet were in constant motion.
The scene in the movie, The Haunting In Connecticut, where the younger child, Bradley gets spun around uncontrollably on the gurney, actually happened to the eldest son, Phillip. Despite being weak from cancer, he attacked his cousin, ended up hospitalized for 45 days, and was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia. It’s believed former funeral workers committed also necrophilia, providing the source of the evil presence. However, according to the current owner, Susan Trotta-Smith, it’s all Hollywood nonsense.
Little People Village Of Middlebury
A crumbling village of tiny houses resides in the woods of Middlebury and naturally, speculation about its curious origins turned into urban legends of the creepy variety. What appears to be a throne also exists, which, according to local lore, will curse anyone who sits in it to die in seven years. One explanation tells of a man who was married to a witch who began fraternizing with fairy folk in the woods. The woman demanded her husband construct stone homes for her spirits of the woods, so he did.
Another story leaves out the witch wife and claims a man living alone went mad. Hearing the voices of little people commanding him to build the village supposedly drove him insane, and he eventually took his own life. Many believe the spirits of the tiny, mischievous beings still lurk in the ruins of their little village. If you’re there long enough you’ll hear their whispers and be driven insane yourself.
A Tribe Of Melon Heads Roams Wild
Melonheads are legendary beings and urban legends in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Connecticut generally described as small humanoids with bulbous heads who occasionally emerge from hiding places to attack people.
The Melon heads were originally abandoned children whom Dr. Crow decided to take care of them at his facility in Kirtland, Ohio, but ended up experimenting on them. During their stay there, Dr. Crow performed torturous experiments on them, injecting chemicals into their brains that caused their craniums to grow in a grotesque form.
The children developed hydrocephalus, causing them to become mentally handicapped with some going insane. After years of abuse, the Melon Heads killed the doctor and escaped the facility. While the legend spans much more land than just Milford, Connecticut, there have been much more sightings there, even having the locals nicknaming Zion Hill Road, Melon Head Road. According to locals, a tribe of humanoids with giant heads lives on the outskirts of town. Like something out of The Hills Have Eyes, melon heads are uncivilized and dangerous, living in the wild like animals and have apparently been spotted in various parts of Connecticut, Ohio, and Michigan.
Piano Music Playing From Underneath Salem's Gardner Lake
Upon first glance, the legend is more weird than eerie. Gardner Lake is famous for the fully intact house that sits peacefully at the lake bottom 30-feet deep. The house is said to have sunk after an ingenious attempt by its inhabitants to move it across the frozen lake, when they took a day long break only to return to melted ice and a sinking home. What's creepy about this legend is that the family was unable to get its heaviest possessions out of the house, including their piano. To this day, fishermen on the lake claim to hear odd, faint, piano music with no source. All agree that the melodies come from below the surface.
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