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Featuring a haunting original score and spatial Dobie Atmos sound design, Bram Stoker's Dracula invites you to feel the terror of being hunted and the thrill of the hunt. Now on Audible, listen to the darkness. Go to audible.ca slash listen to Dracula. At MedCan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. A healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. MedCan. Live well for life. Visit MedCan.com slash moments to get started. Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morpid.
It's morbid in the morning, in case you couldn't tell from our voices. It's morbid in the morning. It's like very early morning. We haven't done one like this in a while. A while. And it's rainy out. Yeah, it's real spooky. It is. It's cold, though. It's like a very cold rain, which is disgusting. The holidays are upon us. Yeah, Thanksgiving is like in a minute.
It's like in a minute. In a minute. We did this early in the morning because chill girl is leaving on my honeymoon because I got married. Woo. A whole ass size-ic these days. A whole ass size-ic. Absolutely wild. It was such a good wedding. It was so much fun. It was so fun. It was so fun. I had the two best meetup owners in the entire world. Oh my God, I was one of them. I just got so many of the pictures. There were so many good pictures of us. There's one of you giving your speech and I'm just like, actually, there's one of you giving your speech and I'm looking unlovingly and then there's one of you giving your speech and I'm holding up a one finger. And I know exactly what it's like. Because it's for the Captain Crunch Slurpee that she literally told everyone and the fish tacos I told you we weren't speaking.
We're not talking about the fish taco. One time. The fish taco incident will remain unnamed. Thank you and good night. But no, it was so much fun and I had a blast. It was awesome. It was gorgeous. You were gorgeous. Drew was gorgeous. Drew was gorgeous. It was all that. He crowd surfed three times. It was amazing. It was epic. All right. So I said, why don't we do a little curse city curse town? Yeah, this town is...
wild like it's just a weird ass town it's not even a town is it it's literally not it's just like an area on top of a couple of fucking mountains it's like one of those unincorporated towns that are really fucking weird yeah it just got like called a town because of like the grouping of people that lived there yeah but they all went cuckoo nuts bananas allegedly and then i did find a listener tale of somebody that's visited hell yeah we're talking about dudley town in connecticut please be aware that i'm not encouraging you to go anywhere near there because that is illegal oh but this person i think went before it was illegal or went on the low And we're not going to judge them. Yeah, we're not judging them for that in any way. But on the low. In the forward times. Motion of things. I am encouraging you not to go. I just want to state that. I like what you just called the future. Yeah, the forward times. In the forward times. In the forward times. I am imploring you to not go because you'll get in trouble and I don't want that for you. I don't want that for you. It's expensive to get in trouble. Oh, no. Yeah, I'll let you know how much. But vamp for a sec because I need another sip of coffee. All right, I'm vamping because Ash needs a sip of coffee before she goes on. Did it. I found, I noticed this topic somewhere.
Yeah, because you were aware originally and then we did a little reverse. A reverse, reverse. But I'm trying to remember where I found it because I feel like... Was it in one of those weird books? It might have been in one of those weird books because it was one of those I was like, huh, this is interesting. And we're not saying like the book is weird. It's literally like weird New England. Weird New England. Weird Connecticut. Yeah. I think maybe that's what it was. It probably was. We're like, no, no, no, no, no, no. You said a TikTok. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was. I synced it. All right.
Well, that's cool. Yeah. And let's get into it. So deep in the woods near Cornwall, Connecticut, in a valley known as Dark Entry Forest. I'm already sold. Yeah. Are the remains of the small village of Dudleytown. Dudleytown was a thriving mining community. It was settled upon in the mid-18th century by British colonists, much like pretty much everywhere else around here. Yeah, you know. Yeah. The town provided charcoal and other minerals for the growing steel industry in and around New England. But by the late 19th century, the mining industry had shifted west. I think we all know about that. We learned about that in like 6th grade. The gold rush. The gold rush. And because of that, slowly but surely, the population of Dudleytown shrank until by the...
Early 20th century, there were only a handful of people living in this little, you can call it a village, it's like barely a village. Like a little hamlet. Yeah, kind of actually. By 1924, the village of Dudleytown was completely abandoned at that point. And it fell into the ownership of a private trust who wanted to restore the forest ecosystem to its pre-colonial health. So they set out on a little ecosystem. Makeover. Correct. Extreme makeover. Forest edition. I like that. So looking back, historians and other people familiar with this area chalked up the abandonment of this little town hamlet to a variety of social, economic, ecological reasons. But...
With that being said, there are people who think that those reasons, all those socioeconomic ecological reasons, are bullshit. And that the real reason the village was abandoned is much darker and far more supernatural in nature. Ooh. And I'm with them. And I'm with them. There are rumors of widespread madness among the villagers, unexplained deaths and other tragedies, and, of course, a curse that dates back to the founding of the village in the 1740s or actually possibly even before that. Huh. Regarding this one family. A woman to it. Now, today, the area is still said to be haunted, and despite being private property.
Private property. Private property. It has become a popular destination for ghost hunters and legend trippers who are determined to find out whether Dudleyton is a truly cursed village or just a victim of those shifting social and economic trends. Boo. Boring. Haunted. Cursed. All right. So let's get into it. Located in the northwest corner of Connecticut, the town of Cornwall was incorporated in 1740, like so long ago. And it was after multiple shares of lands were purchased at auction from Yale College. Cornwall. Yeah. And it was about a year or two earlier. Now, early colonists were initially drawn to this region for farming and the proximity to the Housatonic River.
But they learned pretty quickly that the mountainous landscape made transportation difficult and that it also limited the crops that could be sold outside of the area for that very reason. Now, the river did aid in transportation of agricultural goods, but most people in the area shifted their focus to other forms of business like education and mining. They were just a little more fruitful. Now, among those who immigrated to Cornwall were several members of the Dudley family. Dudley family, Dudley town. And in the early 1740s, they settled in this heavily wooded part of Cornwall that sat right on top of a high hill that in time came to be known as Dudley town.
I was kind of saying earlier, the name would imply that they ended up with their own whole last town or like formally recognized reason. Yeah. Yeah. But it was just an informal name that they gave to the settlement. I also love that they gave the name Dudleytown. Like their last name was Dudley and they're like Dudleytown. This is our town, bitch. It feels like, and I'm not equating them to him, but it feels like something Mayor Humdinger from Paw Patrol would do. That's a mom moment. Humdinger town. Brought to you by Paw Patrol.
Like I could see that happening. You know what though? That man. Right? That man. That man checks. No, sort of like how like an urban neighborhood, like a city neighborhood might gain an informal nickname due to the particular characteristic. That's exactly what it was. Like Beantown for Boston. Yeah, yeah. Which I didn't know why Boston was called Beantown. Really? I thought it was B-Town for the longest time of my life. Wow. Only about maybe five or six years ago did I learn. You were in your 20s? In my 20s.
20s or maybe like maybe late teens. But yeah, I always thought it was Beantown. Wow. But it's Beantown because we have a lot of baked beans here. That's hilarious that you did not know that. I also didn't know that like baked beans were like a Boston thing. Yeah. Boston baked beans. Yeah. Who knew? I did. You. You. But not me. Not I. Who knew? But now I do. Or, you know. No. Anyways.
Early settlers in the area included Thomas Griffiths, Gideon, oops, Gideon Dudley. Shut up. I said shut up over there. Shut up. Computer. Barzillay Dudley, Abel Dudley, and Martin Dudley, who were eventually followed by other families that would also settle upon the town.
Just wild ass names, though. Wild ass names. Barzillet is my favorite name ever. Barzillet is where it's at. Oh, my God. And I meant to text you. You know that French guy on the pronunciation? Yes, I love that guy. I looked it up and he goes, Barzillet. It is easy. Barzillet. He was like, you can do it. Thank you. Barzillet. Barzillet. It is easy. Barzillet. I don't know if it is. He always encourages. He does. I like him.
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Earn up to 15% cash back at stores like Sephora, Old Navy, Walmart, and Expedia. It's the smartest way to shop, plain and simple. Start your shopping at Rakuten.ca or get the Rakuten app. That's R-A-K-U-T-E-N dot C-A. Morbid is brought to you by Audible. Did you know Audible has a massive selection of ad-free true crime podcasts, plus thrilling crime fiction and nonfiction. Listen to the captivating This American Life podcast, best-selling titles from Michael Connelly and Agatha Christie, and Audible originals like the podcast Dr. Death, The Cowboy. Plus explore new releases like The Dinner Party, a pick-your-poison adventure by Freedom McFadden that has over 20 possible endings. It's the kind of story that keeps you guessing and coming back to hear what happens next. Whether you're deep into a chilling investigation, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, or an all-consuming mystery, there's always another story to pull you in.
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Now, at first, the settlers in Dudleytown tried to follow the path of other settlers in Cornwall by clearing large plots of forested land to establish farms of their own. However, after decades of tilling the soil and trying but failing to establish really any crops, the residents learned that for a number of reasons, the area was not well suited to farming, and it was definitely not as suited as the lower areas in the valley. And again, the natural limitations on transportation made selling the few crops that were successful very difficult. So unable to farm the land, the residents of Dudleytown turned to the only other potentially lucrative resource at their disposal. Iron ore. We all know it. We all love it. We all harvest it. We all live it. Yeah. You know? Ore. Ore. I don't even really know what iron ore is, do you? I don't know. I know that Bobby Ore was a hockey player. The more you know. In Boston. In Boston. Brought to you by Bean Town. Bean Town. And Bean Town. How about that? I mean, it both works. Get you a girl who can do both. Exactly. Connecticut was being settled by European colonists in the early 18th century. So it occurred to them that...
The western part of the state could potentially be rich with valuable minerals. I don't know what it is about the west, but like it's all about minerals. I know everything in the west. Even the western part of the eastern states are more fruitful. I don't know what's happening there. What's up with the west? I like the east personally. Me as well, personally. But the problem, however, was that extracting iron ore from the earth was a very costly, time-consuming process that...
after you got through the entire thing, could also prove unprofitable. Making a profit was real hard back in this day. It was. But fortunately, by the mid to end of the 18th century, the onset of the American Revolutionary War drove the need for locally produced steel for arms, which dramatically increased the potential for local mining. Ah, there you go. So, like, sad that war made that happen. I was gonna say, yay. For the residents of Cornwall living in Dudleytown, that demand for ore created a welcome opportunity to replace those failed attempts at farming, and soon the area became known for its active mining industry, and they were providing large amounts of charcoal to the growing mining industry.
Now, while the end of the revolution saw a dramatic decrease in the need for war-related iron production, the industrialization of labor that occurred throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries ensured that New England's mining industry wasn't going anywhere. And during this period, iron forges and industrial blast furnaces were scattered across the region, including two in Cornwall alone. And as one of the few areas in western Connecticut with a quarry, Cornwall, and the Dudleytown area specifically, became a really important source of charcoal to keep the regional furnaces operating. So they were really, really needed in this period of time, which meant they were really, really profitable. Like, we got a quarry. We got a fucking quarry, kid. Very Boston also. Yeah, it is. So everything's going great, right?
It's going great. For a little while. But by the end of the 19th century, the prosperity the residents of Dudleytown were enjoying, just like sliving on, began to decline before finally coming to a complete end in the second decade of the 20th century. Damn. Because toward the middle of the 19th century, the discovery of rich ore deposits in places like California and Nevada? Nevada, I think, yeah. Those had driven the mining industry out west, again, we all know it, and that took most of Cornwall's residents with it. Ah. So they were kind of fucked again. So soon after, life in the relatively isolated area of Dudleytown really became more of a hardship. Like, if you stayed, you were roughing it.
And if you didn't want to stay, you would relocate to be closer to the train system in the center of town. And those people just effectively abandoned their homes to eventually be reclaimed by the forest. Oh, damn. Which, like, there's something about the forest just eating up your house. Yeah, there's something about the forest reclaiming things that really just sets me alight. It fucks me up. Yeah. Because I just picture the forest, like, eating your house. Yeah, the forest is just like, don't mind if I do. Like, that's what I think. Just like, that's mine. My trees are going back there. It's like, damn. Yeah, the forest is.
She's a sassy bitch. She will. She'll just reclaim. Good for her. She should. Yeah. Now, by the early 20th century, there's like so many centuries, huh? So many. Only a handful of people still trying to manage a living in Dudleytown until the late 1920s when only one resident remained. Damn. One in this once thriving community. Unfortunately, the last holdout learned the same lesson of the early settlers and found the area impossible to farm. Eventually, he lost all of his income and had to abandon the farm and relocate closer to town. Poor person. I know. They have a name for him. I'm not going to say it because like it might be incorrect, but some books point to this one man, but then others are like, no.
People just, like, put him in there. Ah, okay. So I don't want to spread misinformation. You don't want to do that. Now, by the end of the 1920s, Dudleytown, like I said, had become completely abandoned. And at that point, it was purchased by a land trust known as Dark Entry Forest Association. That's fucked up. Metal. I love that. That's a private organization started by New York philanthropists. And their mission was to preserve the region's forest ecosystem. Dark Entry Forest. Oh, yeah. And their particular emphasis was on education. So they were like, we're metal as fuck, but we just like to teach you things. Well, that's a way to get people's attention. That's the thing. Like, I'm listening. Of course you are. Your middle name is Dark Entry Forest Association. Hell yeah, let's go.
Now, under the management of this land trust, the area once known as Dudleytown became a popular destination for New Yorkers who needed an escape from city life. They found Cornwall a convenient place to vacation or a place where they could commute into the city for work. And since taking over the region in the late 1920s, the Dark Entry Forest Association, they have planted thousands of trees and restored most of the once deforested region, basically to its pre-colonial ecosystem. Hell yeah, Dark Entry Forest Association. Yeah, they created a sanctuary for lots of bird species that had left previously in other wildlife. Oh, I love that shit. Or have they? Because people say that there's like...
no wildlife and it's like silent in those streets. They tried. Now, the decline and eventual abandonment of Dudleytown was a long process, resulting in a shift of economic opportunities and the increasingly infeasibility of the area, right? Exactly. Totally. Yeah. In simple terms, people chalk it up to the decline in the demand for charcoal, the inability to farm the land, and all of that led to making relatively isolated Dudleytown just an undesirable place to live. But. But ghost towns do have a way of, you know, getting our imagination to go wild.
And Dudley Town is no different. And maybe it's not just our imagination. I don't think it is. It's not. Because rumors of supernatural forces and curses started even before this place was fully abandoned. Hell yeah. Right?
So according to the Cornwall Historical Society, the earliest mention of The Curse of Dudleytown appeared in Edward C. Starr's 1926 book, History of Cornwall. People say, quote, Starr's account has formed the basis of every story published since then about Dudleytown. But they are quick to point out that his account doesn't make any mention of the supernatural. It just weaves together a myriad of accounts about life in the 18th and 19th centuries, presenting what he refers to as the doom of Dudleytown.
Now, his version of events start off very factually with the establishment of Dudleytown by the Dudleys, who actually were members of the British royal family. Damn. Yeah. According to Starr, the family actually fled England after the head of the family, Edmund Dudley, was hunted down and executed for his role in a plot to assassinate King George II. Oh, shit. So in some cases, people say that he was going to assassinate King George II. Other sources have it as King Henry VIII. Huh. So I think the timelines just got a little obscured there. Yeah. And I think maybe some sources, King Henry VIII is such a polarizing and like very like, whoa, figure that it's like.
throw him in there and it's like, oh, shit. Exactly, because he's also just, even if you don't know, like, anything about King Henry Gate, you know the name. Yeah. But the family feared that they would soon meet the same fate of being executed because they were associated with him. Hell no. So the remaining members of the deadly clan came to the colonies trading in, quote, title and fortune for a life of farming and brighter horizons in Connecticut. So they were literally like, we don't want to be associated with your plot to assassinate the king. We don't want to give everything up.
And just go live in Connecticut. Just go live in Connecticut and hopefully farm. And then when they got there, they were like, fuck camp farm. Camp farm. And we're royal, so what do we even do? Shit. Yeah, it's rough in it. Wow. They were like, let's go camping, essentially. Yeah, and then they were like, oh no, we don't have skills. It was kind of like Naked and Afraid, except they had some clothes. Yeah, Closed and Afraid. Closed and Afraid. Closed and Royal and Afraid. I would watch that. No, the legend was expanded a decade later in the 19... Excuse me. Shut up. Never. The legend was expanded a decade later in the 1938 publication. They found a way. They found a way. They found a way. Written by Iva Hunt, Sherry, and William Garigas. Garigas, excuse me.
According to Sherry and Garagas, after Dudley's attempted assassination of the king, a coven of British Satanists placed a curse on Edmund Dudley's bloodline, dooming them to a tragic existence no matter where they fled. I'm in. I'm into this story. We really think the Satanists of the time, if there were any, were going to place a curse on the guy that tried to kill the king. You would feel like the Satanists would be against the king. Yeah. Because he was all about the church at that point. Yeah, you'd think like some anarchy kind of stuff. Right?
I don't, yeah. I mean, I'm like, all right, let's go. Someone placed a curse. I believe the whole curse thing. I'm just like, I don't know if it was Satanist. I don't know if it was Satanist. I know, I feel like they'd be like, eh. You know? I feel like Satan, like real Satanists, they don't care enough to do that shit. Yeah, no. They're not bothered enough. I don't think they'd be rooting for the crown. Yeah, that's the thing. I think that's like the misconception about Satanist is that they are bothered. Yeah, they're not. They actually like not even believe in Satanism. Very unbothered. Yeah, it's not even like a real deity or any kind of like entity. It's a symbol. Like you're the deity, right? Yeah, like you worship yourself. That's hot. Right? I like it. And Satan's like the...
The like symbol of like, you know, kind of independence of free thought. That's cool. And Baffy, right? Like Baffy. Baffy. Yeah. He's a cool symbol. He is a cool symbol. I like him a lot. We have a picture with him at the satanic temple. I love Baffy.
He's cool. So according to American Hauntings, Inc., one of Edmund's sons, the guy that got assassinated, he also tried to take control over the British throne. Because, like, who wasn't trying to take control over the British throne? I mean, me. I wasn't. Well, you weren't alive. If you have been alive, me thinks you would have. Me thinks you would have fucked over that ground hard. But instead of threatening to behead anybody, this guy just meddled in him. That scared the absolute shit out of me. Oh, my God. That brought us back to early days of recording when my charger would just be ripped out of the wall and fall down all the time. That was my charger, everybody. Wow. That was my charger.
Falling out of the wall for no reason. Is that plug even usually loose? No. It's the curse. Yeah. It just flew out of the wall. That's spooky. That's spooky. I don't like it. Well, instead of threatening to behead anybody, this guy, one of his sons actually, just decided he would meddle into a marriage. Yeah. So he arranged the marriage of one of his sons to Lady Jane Grey, who I feel like we've talked about before. Yeah.
She's a very historical figure. Yeah. And at this point in time, she was supposed to be next in line for the crown. So he was effectively setting his son up to become king. Hell yeah. But unfortunately for them, after Edward, I believe it was the sixth, if it's V-I, if I's after the V, you add. So yeah, the sixth. So unfortunately for them, after Edward VI passed away, Lady Jane did become queen, but her reign was short-lived and she was actually beheaded along with John Dudley and his son, Guilford.
And Ayup. And Ayup. Later, John Dudley's other son, Guilford's brother, was said to have brought home a plague from France. He had been, like, fighting in France. Oh, shit. And when he came back with that plague, he killed his officers, his troops, like, spreading the plague to them, and essentially went on to kill thousands throughout the country because of this illness. Holy shit. Big yikes. Big yikes. Big target on your back right there. Wow, Dudley's. Dudley's not killing it, but, like, also killing it. Yeah.
So other accounts that emerged in the years that followed actually suggested that the curse began centuries earlier when Edmund Dudley was beheaded for attempting to assassinate King Henry VIII, like I was saying. And the family eventually was said to bring that curse with them to Cornwall when they fled New England. When they fled England. In time, the curse of Dudleytown would supposedly earn the region the nickname Village of the Damned. Oh my goodness. But other people think that nickname Village of the Damned started with a relatively simple murder. Either way, what a fucking nickname. Village of the Damned. If that's not a bad name already, what are the musical people doing? Village of the Damned. That's like a movie.
Yeah, is that a movie, actually? Yeah, Village of the Damned. Yeah, because it's like in Children of the Damned. Oh, I don't think I've ever seen those. Let me see. Hold on. Village of the Damned. By the way, while I have you here and we're talking about movies, I want to watch that new Thanksgiving movie. Me too. I want to see that. I really want to see that. That's been like 16 years in the making. Are you serious? We're just going to talk about Eli Roth for a second. Eli Roth did a short of that movie in Grindhouse. So it was like 16 years ago. So people have been waiting for it forever. It looks incredible. For the full length thing of it. And he finally was able to do it. And it looks, I've heard.
amazing things about it i've heard my girl sydney on tiktok horror chronicles by the way quick little shout out to her she has a podcast now oh shit called um i think it's called hello sydney the hello sydney podcast and she like she like goes through horror movies she's like so knowledgeable i've told you guys about her before oh that's cool so go listen to her podcast so i can blow up yeah because she's great but she said, and I trust her, that it was a fucking phenomenal movie and that she thinks John Carver, the killer in that movie, is going to be one of those, like, iconic killers. And I've been waiting for one of those. We haven't had one. Give me another one. I feel like the last Iconic Killers probably, like, goes through the story. Yeah, it's like, because you got to wait for the real good one to put him on the Mount Rushmore of killers. It's true. John had an argument about that the other day. Another pinhead belongs on there. And I said, John can't decide who goes on the Rushmore of iconic killers, but he can decide who goes on the Rushmore of 90s R&B. Exactly. And you just have to stay in your own lane. It's true. We stay in our own lanes here.
Exactly. But anyways, back to the Dudleys. Yeah. It all started with a relatively simple murder. After decades of struggling and ultimately, again, failing to farm that land, considerable tensions had arisen between the families in Dudleytown because they're all trying to make something happen that's not happening. Yeah, they're all aggravated. Yeah. They're all like Regina George and Gretchen Wieners over the fetch. Yeah. All of it all. Yeah, it's not going to happen. It's not. And neither is the farming. No, those tensions were said to finally come to a head in 1792 when Gershon Hollister was found murdered in a home owned by a man named William Tanner. Now, the weird thing is, Hollister's murderer is never named.
No one knows who really murdered him. And it's unclear why he was even murdered in the first place. But it is said that immediately after the murder occurred, William Tanner started to lose his fucking marbles and would go around just speaking all kinds of wild things to his neighbors about wild animals and demons living in the woods and saying they were responsible. Until he finally went completely insane and like straight up lost his mind. Wow. But before that, he claimed that some kind of unrecognizable animal killed Hollister in the forest or like attacked him. And then he...
brought him back into his home to try to help him, and that's where he died. Oh, damn. Other people say that he died building a barn, but that's boring. Yeah, that's boring. I think animal demon. Animal demon. Demon animal. Yeah. You know? Oh, shit. And this guy just went, like, mad afterwards. Damn. And it's like, animal demon, William Tanner. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Wow. But according to legend, Abel Dudley was the next to fall victim to the curse. Not long after Hollister's murder, Abel's neighbors noticed that he had become constantly distracted and also began decompensating until he, too, finally lost his mind altogether.
Wow. So he had to be taken away, actually, because he was talking about demon animals and just, like, all kinds of nonsense to the people. Like, people took it as nonsense. So there's, like, a consistent thread through this madness as well. Of demon animals. Yeah. Now, once he had been taken away, Abel, Nathaniel Carter and his family moved into Abel's house. Oh, shit. But they, too, became so disturbed by inexplicable tragedies that they just up and left and moved to Birmingham, New York, where they built a cabin. Holy shit. Now, I have, like, chills even just saying this. So they got out of there because something just so disturbed them in that house that they moved out of the state, you know, over to New York. Now, one day, while Nathaniel was in the village,
The home was raided and his wife and children were killed. And when he returned later that day, he was also killed. And according to the New England Historical Society, the unfortunate turn of events was likely linked to the Dudleytown case and even followed them all the way to New York. Holy shit. Isn't that nuts? Like somehow the curse rubbed off on them from living in the house.
Damn. Don't move into Able's house. Don't do it. Don't do it. Now, the madness continued a short time later when General Heman Swift, I believe his name is, a hero of the Revolutionary War, returned home after the war. He lived happily with his third wife, Sarah Fy, for a short time until she was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning. What the fuck? Struck and killed by a bolt of lightning, after which he, quote, went stark raving mad. Everyone's going mad. Which I'm like, if my man's got killed by a lightning strike out of nowhere, I might too also go mad. But it's like, who gets struck by lightning?
That's the thing. This is strange. And, of course, in Dudleytown. In Dudleytown. She's just, like, standing on her porch and got struck by lightning. Oh, my God. Now, then, there was the newspaper editor and one-time presidential candidate, Horace Greeley. I believe he was going up against Ulysses Grant. Oh, shit. Yeah. Now, in 1872, just one week before the presidential election, Greeley's wife, Mary Cheney, took a trip to her childhood home in Dudleytown. Oh, no. And hanged herself inexplicably. What the fuck?
According to everybody, nothing had been going on. There was the stress of, like, the presidential election coming up. But just went to Dudleytown to hang herself? Went to Dudleytown, to her childhood home. What the fuck? It freaks me the fuck out.
That's spooky. Yeah, it is. That's really spooky. I also realized that when you said Ulysses S. Grant that I was like, oh shit, like he's like my favorite president or something like that. Like, I don't know why I responded that way. I have no feelings about Ulysses S. Grant. I don't know a lot about him. I think he had a rock star mustache. All right, then oh shit. Did he? Ulysses. I think he did. I just realized my response seemed like I was a real like fangirl for Ulysses. It's a secret thing that we've never told you. The secret. Did he even? The secret thing. Oh no, his mustache wasn't even that great. No. No, he had like a mustache beard combo. Okay. Oh, I think I can picture him in my head. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Ulysses side quest.
Oh, I think he might have been good. I don't know. We don't have to get into that. That's okay. I felt like I should clarify. Yeah, you should. But I'm not like here just like thirsting for you. Not all up in you this season. I mean, he's a good looking man. If you were, I'd be like, okay.
But damn, this is all, this is a lot. And then, so he loses his wife after she goes and like, you know, hangs herself in her childhood home in Dudleytown. And then he loses the presidential candidacy. Or he loses the election. Yeah, because the curse. Damn. Terrifying. Now, this person is said to be the final victim of the Dudleytown madness. And she is the wife of Dr. William Clark. At MedCan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health. From the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today.
and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. A healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. MedCan. Live well for life. Visit MedCan.com slash moments to get started. The odds of encountering a tornado in Canada are 1 in 412,371.
But when the weather warnings take effect, you're running like the wind. But did you know that if you've had chicken pox, the odds of getting shingles are one in three? Why leave it up to chance? Ask your healthcare professional about Shingrix. The Shingrix vaccine helps protect adults against shingles. 100% protection not guaranteed. Adverse reactions may occur. Visit Shingrix.ca. One of the original founding members of the Dark Entry Forest Association. Oh, shit. According to legend, Dr. Clark took a short business trip to New York in 1924. And when he returned home to Dudleytown, his wife had completely lost it. And he literally had to like...
institutionalize her at this point. Everyone's going mad. She spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric institution. Wow. But she too referenced strange animals in the woods. Shut up. Before dissenting into complete quote unquote madness. Guys, what the fuck is going on with that? There's animals. Demon animals. Demon fucking animals. Something's going on. Now the madness that seemed to consume so many residents of Dudleytown was just one of the many inexplicable tragedies to befall the community. Death seemed to have taken a liking to Dudleytown from the very beginning. Yeah. In 1774, not long after Adoniram Carter settled in the area with his family.
every single one of them was killed by a mysterious illness. Shut up. The entire family wiped out. The entire family? Now, according to Sherry Reveille, I believe, it was the mysterious deaths of the Carter family that so disturbed Nathaniel Carter to the point that he also relocated his entire family to Binghampton. And that was the guy that had been left in New York, but then was killed in New York. Holy shit. Now, in the late 19th century, the curse also found its way to the family of John Patrick Brophy when his wife died of consumption. A short time later, the two Brophy children disappeared into the woods and were never seen again.
What? Their mother died of consumption, which like you can chalk up to a person. I was going to say like everybody was dying of consumption. But then the children disappeared into the woods and no one ever saw them again. You said two children? Two children. Just disappeared into the fucking dark forest. And no one. Where the demon animals are. And we're not done with this poor family. Oh. Because if those tragic losses weren't enough, the home in which the Brophy's lived then burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances. I mean, come on. Some people think that John Brophy's at the fire himself, which like at that point I would probably light my home in the fire too. But whatever the case, after the death of his wife and the disappearances of his two children, he left Dudleytown and was never heard from again.
I cannot get over the fact that these two children just disappeared into the forest. My children also will not go away telling the story. I'm... They just walked into... Like, the thought of people just walking into the forest and disappearing forever is just... Never to be seen again. Holy shit. Were the demon animals, like, beckoning them? That's the thing. Like, what was going on? Why'd they just walk into the forest? I don't know, but I hate it. And I know it's probably not on record, but I wonder how old they were and shit, like... I didn't see anything about their ages. But they're probably children, so... So it's like they were younger, and it's like they just walked into the forest. Into the woods, like, you would think...
around 10 or younger it's like even that it's like damn you just walked into the damn forest and never to be seen again never and then he was never heard from again after he just dipped after lighting wow potentially allegedly lighting his home ablaze wow so by the mid-1970s after people all the people had fled and nature began to reclaim the land all that remained of deadly town and i believe still today all that remains is a few cellar holes oh which is so fucking creepy and then one or two of the original dark or dirt roads which are also probably dark and the remnants of centuries old farms just scattered throughout the forest And that was by the 70s. Right now, you probably can't even find the farms. Damn. Now, after 50 years of ownership, the Dark Entry Forest Association had finally started to see the fruits of their labor, and the forest that was once Dudleytown gained a reputation as a popular destination for hikers and campers from around New England and beyond. But they weren't alone. By the mid-1970s, a growing national enthusiasm for folklore and the paranormal led literally anyone with an interest in the supernatural out into their communities to find evidence in their backyards of Dudleytown. In late May 1976, a reporter from the Meridian...
the Meridian Journal, excuse me, joined a parapsychology group from the University of Connecticut into the dark and tree forest where they spent a night in the remains of Dudleytown. This just like creeps me the fuck out. It's like barely anything, but it just creeps me out. Reporter Chris Campos wrote, it is a most unusually quiet forest. Not actually quiet, but practically silent. Except for the occasional gust of wind through the treetops, there are no sounds of life in the woods after dark. Not even one solitary cricket cracks that are on earthly silence after dark. Something about that fucking terrifying. Yeah, that fucks me because it reminds me of the...
Okigahara? Yep. The forest in Japan at the base of Mount Fiji. And it's so dense that it's so silent. Yeah, it's got that like just, that's why it's called like that like ocean of trees kind of thing because it's just like dead silence. There's something about, I can't even sleep in silence. I can't.
And especially like a forest. A forest should be when you walk in, because you think of like a forest around here that you walk in. And it's just like bustling with like, you know, birds chirping. Yeah, squirrels running around. The buzz of insects and like, you know, leaves rattle, you know, rustling. Yeah. And wind rustling through. Like there's always sounds. Right. And they're comforting sounds of a forest. Yeah. And to go into a forest and have it be dead silent. Dead silent. He said specifically after dark, you don't even hear like a fucking cricket. See, and that's at night that you hear nothing but sounds from the forest. We bring the dogs out at the end of the night. Oh, yeah. And the forest is fucking.
They're partying. It's a rager. I hear fucking owls hooting at each other. There's like all crickets. Coyotes. Coyotes. There's all kinds of shit. Like you want to hear something. You want to hear that shit. When you don't hear anything, I can't. That throws me for a loop. Yeah. And he said he was like, we didn't really experience anything supernatural like or that people I think would take as supernatural. But he said, quote, we all sensed a very uncomfortable, very uneasy and very frightening presence around us. I couldn't put their finger on it, but something was there and it was off. See, and I feel like, you know.
Your body knows when something's off. And it's like when you feel a heaviness in an unsettled kind of thing. I'm not kidding. My chills walk away. That's the thing. I feel like you know when something is amiss. You totally do. And something's amiss there. It is. Now, Campo's story actually got picked up by the wire service. And over the course of the week that followed, it appeared in newspapers across New England. And within a few years, the area, once known as Dudley, became known as one of the nation's premier haunted locations. Damn. As one reporter put it, one of the state's most melancholy map points. Oh, everybody's got a way of just making this the creepiest thing ever. The Village of the Damned. The Village of the Damned melancholy map point. Now, within just a few years, the legends had complete...
completely taken off and according to some the curse like we said began after the residents had moved to the village and had been placed by quote a dabbler in black magic causing those residents of cornwall proper to fear the village and all those who lived in it And similarly, the story about William Clark was moved forward by more than a decade to 1937. And upon his return from his New York business trip, his wife hadn't just lost her mind, but had, quote, seen something so terrible that her mind snapped. Ooh. Which, like, that's kind of what I think. Hey, I mean, I wouldn't put it. It's not shocking when you look at everything else. Exactly. No, by the early 1980s, ghost hunters and legend shippers and scavengers, they had all set up on corn while all looking to have firsthand experience with this haunted forest or to find some kind of relic that they could take away and possibly sell because this place was getting all kinds of street cred. Yeah.
Yet, for all the interest in the legend of Dudleytown, few people outside of Connecticut seemed to grasp what it was that they were looking for. Dodie Wolfe told a reporter from the New York Times, most people ask where Dudleytown is after having walked right through it. Oh, damn. So he was like, I don't know. Like, is it that crazy if you're walking right through it and you don't know? Yeah. But I think that's boring. I think it's just, yeah, it's whatever. That's even weirder. And when it's in your backyard, like, of course, you're gonna be like, yeah, there's nothing wrong with it. And it's like, that's even weirder that you can walk through a whole last, like, quote unquote town and not know it.
Like, that's even spookier. Yeah. Now, the granddaughter of William Clark, Wolf, like, so she's, like, a descendant of this Dudley Town area. Oh, damn. Wolf and her husband had received special permission from the Dark Entry Forest Association to do selective logging in order to help spur new growth. So she and her husband had a front row seat to watch this curious out-of-staters, like, influx wander around in search of the cursed town. Oh, shit. Now, some Cornwall residents were happy to embrace the legends of the cursed forest, and they welcomed visitors and, of course, their tourist dollars. At the Cornwall Library, books like Ghost Towns of New England were prominently displayed in order to aid the curious. Librarian Hildreth Daniel.
Of course you're a librarian. Fuck. Yeah, Hildreth. I'm obsessed with you. Be a librarian forever. Forever. Not the rest of your life, for the rest of eternity. I want you to just always be Hildreth. Always be Hildreth. Like, wow. But Hildreth said, they're all wide-eyed wanting to believe in ghosts. Me too. Yeah, Hildreth, me as well. I want to believe in ghosts very much. I love it so much. But the stories of the curse, according to one elder resident, were made out of a whole cloth, mostly by those who'd recently moved to the area. And according to this resident, they sit around and dream things up like this is just so that they can entertain their summer guests. But I'm like...
I don't know about that because I think everybody's starting to get a little bit irritated that like too many people are coming. Yeah. So now you're like, no, no, it's not haunted. Because it's like there's history to back it up that like a lot of shit went down there. Yeah. At the very least. And it's like, so. Something happened. I mean, there's some bad energy there. There is. And by the mid-1980s, stories of the supernatural experiences that people had in Dudley Town at this point began circulating widely. There were unexplained anomalies that showed up in photos taken in the forest, incoherent voices that seemed to start from afar and work their way closer, and strange shapes and subtle movements that people would catch out of the corner of their eye.
And of course, there was that eerie unnatural silence that was emphasized by the lack of bugs and wildlife. Yeah, that's weird. Wasn't there any wildlife or bugs? Yeah. Now, as time went on, the reports of supernatural occurrences grew to include a wolf-like shadow, quote unquote, that followed hikers but would always disappear if somebody tried to get a good look at it. Ooh. So it was like it was following you and then the second you sensed it was and turned your head, it would be gone. It would be gone. Like you knew something was following you. Ooh, spooky.
Yeah, very, very creepy. Now, after more than a decade of entertaining the ghost hunters and visitors seeking a brush for the supernatural, by the mid to late 1980s, the tone of Cornwall locals did become noticeably different. They were getting a little bit irritated with the influx of people. Trying to shut it down. I don't necessarily blame them. Like, if you live in a quiet town, that's your desire. Of course. To have an influx of people, you're like, fuck my life. Totally get it. I think that's also why they try to shut down any kind of thought that it could be. That's what I think. And I get it. I get it, too. I might do the same thing. But Cornwall Historical Society president Michael Gannett told reporters, there are some nuts who believe that sort of stuff.
It's us. We're the nuts. Also, rude. Rude. Very rude way of saying that. So rude. I'm kind of mad at you, actually. And he said, when the warm weather starts, they'll all be around looking for ghosts. Sometimes there's so many of them that I can't even get out of my driveway. Maybe they think there's an old saloon with a swinging door instead of a bunch of holes in the ground. Or maybe there's a fucking demon in the woods in your area and you're trying to hide it, Mayor. Yeah. And it's like, you know what? Here's the thing. I get it. You just said sometimes you can't get out of your driveway. That's fucked up. I get that. I'd be pissed. All right. But like, chill. And then even further, years later, he said in an interview with The New York Times, go to Dudleytown, they tell you. It's this real ghostly place. But the truth is, Dudleytown is a big fraud.
Whoa. Like, what did Dudleytown do to you? Ooh, yeah, that sounded like it was personal. Sounds like you had an experience that you want to chalk up to bakery. You don't want people blocking you into your driveway, so you're like, fuck this, it's a fraud. Exactly. So the increasingly frustrated and annoyed perspective of the Cornwall's locals aren't all that difficult to understand, like you said. What began decades earlier as like a campfire story told by hikers and campers had in the years that followed ballooned into this crazy macabre legend that was starting to attract all these visitors that locals were like, can you not? Yeah.
And by the late 1980s, locals constantly complained about the yearly influx of visitors who they said have damaged reputations and often lure polluters, litterers, and other undesirables. And that sucks. And that sucks. Because that can happen. Like, we've seen that happen in other places, like in Salem.
every halloween oh yeah the residents of salem have to deal with a lot of shit of course and a lot of disrespect that's the thing which is really fucked up if you want to go somewhere and experience it by all means respect but respect to the place that you are so desiring to go to yeah like what are you doing like there's always a few bad apples that fuck it up for everybody else yeah and according to joan and john leach lifelong residents of cornwall they said the real curse of dudley town are the legends themselves which have attracted everyone from witchcraft societies to motorcyclists who disrupt the flow of life in cornwall and rarely pick up after themselves yeah that's the thing it's like i don't care who you are witchcraft motorcyclists like whatever everything in between pick up after yourself just pick up after yourself and like keep it quiet after a certain But despite the complaints and frustration of locals, interest in Dudleytown and the curse only intensified in the 90s. And the legends got a big boost in 96 when a guy named Greg Soltes, I believe is how you say the last name, a college student from Wallingford, Connecticut, took some pictures in Dudleytown that he believed contained evidence of supernatural activity. Oh, shite. He ended up taking those photos to this like...
local and husband-wife duo from Connecticut. I don't know any husband and wife duos that are into the paranormal. And a Lorraine Warren ring a bell? Never heard of them. No. Well, they immediately, they're everywhere. They're everywhere. I love it. Good for them. I get it, guys. I'm like, go off. You guys are a hot couple. But they immediately recognize the potential of the photos and just like the fucking wildness of them. Lorraine Warren told a reporter, those pictures were the best I've seen of Dudleytown. For some reason, the spirits seem to be attracted to that guy. Ooh. According to the Warrens, Greg's photos captured electromagnetic energy that they referred to as ghost globules.
Ghost globules? Ghost globules. That's awesome. I fucking love it. They said this was proof that the area once known as Dudleytown was indeed a hotbed of supernatural activity. So fuck y'all who say it's not. Yeah. Now, with Greg's permission, the Warrens started using his photos in their presentations about the haunted forest. And according to him, his objective was to gather an abundance of evidence.
of the paranormal and hope that he might be able to convert all the skeptics. Yeah. Because he's like, I know what I saw, dude. And I know what like got printed out on my picture. Yeah. He told a reporter, there's going to be people who don't believe it, but I don't really care. I was there. I won't even say it's a ghost. There are other things that coexist that you can't see with your eye. It's understandable for people to be skeptical. I was. So this is literally somebody who went into that forest skeptical that they were going to experience anything and came out like.
completely confirmed yeah and the fact that he's just like i don't give a shit if you believe me i was there i was there i know like i know now for their part ed and lorraine warren agreed but they encouraged him to proceed with an abundance of caution he said i go there i observe i take some pictures and leave i think there are really bad places to go if i felt something like that i would leave and never come back the warrens say don't conjure up things in cemetery they say you have to have faith in god or in yourself which i like that they give you the option there there you go you can have your faith in god or have it in yourself have just whatever faith you feel is right yeah so whatever his intentions or the intentions were of anybody around him. By the 1990s, the residents of Cornwall had reached their limit when it came to the ghost hunters and the thrill seekers. And just the curiosity of it all. And the disrespect. I feel like if it was respectful and people were kind of like doing it in the right way, it wouldn't have been as big of an issue. But by then, the wooded area around Dudleytown had not only attracted countless paranormal enthusiasts, but also a large number of teens and those claiming to be occultists who held seances and gatherings in the area. And we're just...
They were running amok, basically. Yeah, a ruckus, you know? And in addition to being a general nuisance, the attraction was also posing fire hazards and other dangers on this private property, which the Dark Entry Forest Association was like, we're trying to reclaim. Save the forest. And save the forest and not burn it down. So that led them to close the area to public access in 1999. That I get. I get it. I get it, especially with the fire thing. It's like, your whole point is you're trying to save these ecosystems and this forest, and people are getting loosey-goosey with it. And it's like, only you can prevent forest fires. Exactly, and Dark Entry Forest Association was like, we can.
Exactly. Smokey gave us responsibility. Only us. So the closure of the area prevented some seeking out the old ghost town, but not everybody was disappointed by the signs noting that the area was private property. It's like the caves that get sealed off and people break through them and go in anyway. That's exactly what I thought of. That's the thing. There are literally signs all over this area that say you will be prosecuted, but people are like, I don't give a fuck. I don't give a fuck. And the success of films like The Blair Witch Project only encouraged a new generation of paranormal enthusiasts and would-be horror filmmakers to go out into their own communities like Dudleytown and try to make found footage horror movies. It sounds like it would be a cool place to make a found footage horror movie. Why would you not go into the most...
fucking haunted forest in America. And the reason why you wouldn't now is because I'm not encouraging you to because it's bad. It's bad. It's private property. Don't do it.
So despite their best efforts to keep people out of Dudleytown, the local authorities, they had a new generation of ghost hunters who, thanks to the legend circulating widely now on the internet, were determined to get into that forest. Fucking internet. I know. Connecticut State Trooper Scott Aiken told reporters in 2008, I would say we cite trespassers several times a month. Most of the trespassers we cite believe Dudleytown is haunted. A lot of them are looking for ghosts and stuff like that. At MedCan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today.
and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. A healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. MedCan. Live well for life. Visit MedCan.com slash moments to get started. The odds of encountering a tornado in Canada are 1 in 412,371.
But when the weather warnings take effect, you're running like the wind. But did you know that if you've had chicken pox, the odds of getting shingles are one in three? Why leave it up to chance? Ask your healthcare professional about Shingrix. The Shingrix vaccine helps protect adults against shingles. 100% protection not guaranteed. Adverse reactions may occur. Visit Shingrix.ca.
Now, if caught, first-time offenders typically receive a ticket for about $100, which that's a lot. Yeah. But then repeat offenders can receive even stronger penalties. In 2008, an 18-year-old was caught trespassing in Dudleytown late one evening, and due in part to having drug paraphernalia on him at the time, he was arrested and eventually charged $1,000. Oh, damn. So that's why I'm saying, like, don't do this. Don't do it. Yeah.
Because then, a few years later in December 2011, police arrested eight people from Maine and Massachusetts who trespassed into Dudleytown in order to film their own found footage horror movie titled Dudleytown Curse, The 49th Key. Obsessed. And when asked why they were even interested in making a movie about Dudleytown, they were like, because it's fucking cursed. Clearly. They were like, Dudleytown, this is a quote, they said, Dudleytown is a fascinating area. It's got this history that dates back to 16th century England. And one member went on to say, there's a lot of traction on the internet already. The local lore about it. We're interested in creating a cool story around the urban legend. I get that. And that's why people are interested. But again, but don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.
I did find a listener tale from one of our very own who did it, who happened to do it. I think it was way before it was illegal. You know what? Even if it wasn't, it was. It was. That's the story we are sticking to. You're fine. You're fine. So we've got...
Listener tales, ghosts, ghosts, cryptid, what the fuck happened in Connecticut? What the fuck happened? What the fuck happened in Connecticut? Presented in huge-ass font and double-spaced butterfly. It says, hey, ladies, I'm Mandy. Use my name. I'm so excited that you're reading this. I've been wanting to write in for a while now, but you know, I had a case of the lazies. Anyway, I love you both. I've listened to you for years and I appreciate everything you do. Elena, really quick, just wanted to share that one time. This is so fucking funny. My boyfriend asked me for a spicy dance. So naturally, I shook my ass from, I shook my ass to from the pinnacle to the pit. I'm literally obsessed with you. I love you.
that's why she pretty much pooed her britches when you said that that was your baseball oh my god i love you she said you rock oh yeah she goes and who mandy i love mandy today i'm gonna tell y'all about a creepy little spot in connecticut and it's scary as heck i live in central connecticut what up northeast pals hell yeah and i visited this spot in the western part of the state on a number of occasions and every time i go i find something real weird happens side note this area is restricted so death don't visit there after you hear about it wink wink but really cool but really the cops are there a lot so really don't and that's why i'm telling you like cops like are waiting for you and mandy is telling us like there's cops they're waiting for you like we don't do it so Mandy says, it's summertime 2001. I'm driving my Camry and jamming out to Godsmack on the radio with my high school friends in the middle of the night. And we decide to visit Dudleytown. Dudleytown is this old as fuck village from like Pilgrim Times or whatever. Now we know. There's your summary of the episode. Yeah, exactly. And legend has it that this is literally your summary for the thing. It's an old as fuck village from like Pilgrim Times or whatever. And legend has it that all these peeps got possessed by daemons or something weird. And then all exorcists and killed each other until the village got abandoned. Like what? It's super haunted. Summary of the, those are the show notes. Mandy goes, link attached. Talk about it on an episode. It'll be fun. I will. Here we are.
Now she says, so we drove up to this village because it's out in the middle of the woods. Side note, the road is called Dark Entry Forest Road. Isn't that the most metal street name ever? Yes. Yes, Mandy. And as we're driving, it gets really cool outside. Not exactly freezing, but enough to make you wish you had a light hoodie in the summer. Next, the radio crackles and goes in and out, which I, a skeptic, explain as, oh, we're in the middle of buttfuck nowhere. So that explains it. Next comes the fog, like big fog, slowly rolling over and over the road in puffy clouds that obscure anything more than five feet in front of us. We all have the chills and start to nervously laugh to mask a feeling of impending dread.
But here comes the really hideous part. We see something. An animal walking on the side of the road. As we get closer, we realize that we have no idea what kind of animal this is. My friends and I are squinting through the fog to try to see what this is as we slow down alongside it. The creature was as tall as a deer and very, very thin like a greyhound. It was sauntering like it was on a catwalk at Fashion Week. Oh, hell yeah. And its hip bones jetted out with every step, just swaying as it made its way along real slow. It had no ears. It had large feet.
No fur or hair, just grayish white skin. And the skin was so thin that it was almost clear. And in some spots, it was scarred and scabby. Ew. As we got closer, we cannot for the life of us figure out what this is, but we are uneasy at best. By now, the vibes had changed and we had all shut up because we were terrified of this freakish being. We were pretty much holding our breath as we approached and rolled up right next to it. We all had our eyes glued to this mystery creature. Just then, the creature turns its head very, very slowly. Oh no. Until it is looking right into the passenger, open passenger window of my car. We all pause.
And then it lunges at the window with a snarl, just narrowly missing the open window and hitting the frame of the car as we all shriek, even the dudes. I floor it and race out of there almost in tears from what just happened as the thing runs behind the car in the middle of the road. I know I hate it. Oh my God, I'm so stressed. Mandy says, what was that thing? Why did it attack us? Was it a cryptid? I do not know my dudes. It was a cryptid. My friends and I tell this story to anyone with ears and no one can tell us what we saw, but we seen it. We seen it. And it scared me to death. Naturally, I went back a few more times. Naturally. And weird shit happened every time. So I can share some more stories at a later time. And later is right now.
I was going to say, when's later? Later is right now. Later is right now. That made me laugh so hard because you know how some people will be like, I'll send those later. Mandy's like, right now. Right now. The next time I went, a few years later, I was with a different group of friends. We were giggling in the car on the drive up there when the weird fog and the chill crept up again and the radio died just like the first time. It's dead quiet in the woods, like people say, and nothing is around. We pull over to the side of the road and we were trying to get up the nerve to get out of the car and walk around the village or is it ruins? I feel like ruins are ancient, not pilgrim-y. Anyway, we're psyching ourselves up. We count down three.
two, one, and run. We scream and run around and feel real proud of ourselves for being masters of fear. Good job. We make our way back to the car after a while and head for home. My friend picks up her phone that she'd left in the backseat of the car while we pranced in the forest. A camera phone. So cool. But we pranced in the forest. She's got a new photo on her phone. It's a face. None of ours. Not one of ours. What the fuck? This face has glasses and none of us were wearing glasses. She asked who fucked with her phone, but we were all in the woods dancing in the moonlight when the pic was taken. So how does this pic exist? Who was in the photo? Who is it?
The picture had this bluish tint and the face was very pale, almost ghostly. We freaked out and drove back to civilization, loaded up on 60 bucks worth of Taco Bell and pulled an all-nighter, much too scared to sleep. We showed the picture to my sister, who's a big-time computer nerd, for her to analyze. She offloaded it to her computer using sorcery because who the fuck knew how to do that in the early 2000s? And when she did, the picture somehow deleted itself from both the phone and the computer.
Poof. Gone. Like it never existed. What? Sounds like lies. But the people I was with on these Dudleytown adventures will all swear to the accuracy. This shit happened. I don't know how to explain it, but nothing this weird has ever happened to me except for when I go to Dudleytown. What the fuck? Wild times, kids. I've got no answers for you. Anyway, hope you liked my tales. Love you. Keep it weird. Mandy. Mandy, I love you.
I love everything about you. And holy shit. I love everything about Mandy too. And the fact that Mandy experienced this wild ass creature that people seem to have gone mad after seeing. Yes. Like people were talking about demon animals in the woods. And that looks like that's a demon animal. Mandy literally said a cryptid, a demon. Like what is this? Like she described a demon animal. Like that's not, you can't figure out what it is. And that it lunged at them. It attacked them. It attacked them. So it's like all these people are going mad after this, probably because they were almost attacked by this demon animal. Well, and think of the one guy that died inexplicably. Yes. And like definitely didn't die setting up a barn. And the kids disappeared in the forest. Yeah.
Like, what the fuck? Fucking scary shit. Holy shit. I, for one, believe that Dudley Town is haunted. I know there are skeptics out there, but I believe it. Especially for those people to have those things happen to them and be talking about this crazy ass animal in the woods in like the 1700s. And then to have our girl Mandy go out there in the 20s. In the 20s. In the 20s. Or in the 2010s. Yeah. And see the same thing. Yeah. There's a reason that people don't want people going out into those woods. Exactly. It's because they don't want people to get eaten by cryptids. Yeah. And I don't want you to get eaten by cryptids or get a thousand dollar fine. It's true. So you know what? I trust my girl Mandy. I do too. I always have, always will. Me as well. So I trust her and it's haunted. It's haunted. That was a demon animal.
Holy shit. How fucking, like, that's so unsettling. And the whole time I was telling that story, I just couldn't get rid of my chills. Yeah, it's a very unsettling story. Absolutely. Wow. Terrible. Well done. Thank you. Well done. Thank you. Well, we hope you keep it weird. No, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But it's really you go to Dudley Town because you either get eaten by crutching or find a thousand dollars. Or get arrested. The police are waiting for you. There's too many bad things to happen. Love you. Bye.
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