Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Roanoke Tales
Topics: Ghosts, US News, Conspiracy Theories
Emily Brown
You've heard of a haunted house, but what about an entire haunted town?
There's an area that falls into this very category in Connecticut, but there's a pretty good chance you've never heard of it, because it's illegal to even step foot there.
The story of this haunting goes all the way back to the early 1740s, when a group of people, many of who were of the Dudley family, settled in the area located in a portion of Cornwall, CT and named it Dudleytown.
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It's located in a valley called the Dark Entry Forest - red flag much? - and was used as a farm until the 19th century, when many of the residents left for somewhere with more fertile land.
Now, that might not sound like a recipe for a haunting, but what if I told you that the town seemed to be a hotspot for death?
When one resident, Nathaniel Carter, moved to the town, six of his relatives became sick and died of cholera. The remaining family members left the town, only to be killed when they settled on new land in New York.
Another man, Gershon Hollister, was building a barn for his neighbor, William Tanner, when he died suddenly in Dudleytown. Then, Tanner himself is rumoured to have become obsessed with speaking about creatures coming out of the woods at night - a claim also echoed by his neighbour.
In 1804, a general named Herman Swift was living in the town when his wife, Sara Faye, and was struck by lightning while on their front porch and died. Grief-stricken, the general himself also passed away.
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Over the years, more and more residents died, as well as more coming forward with stories about seeing creatures in the tree line surrounding the town.
By the time 1900 came around, almost all of the residents had either died or left, and the town became completely abandoned when the members of the last remaining family died or disappeared.
A few years later, Dr. William Clarke came across the town and wanted to use it for a second home. After taking a trip to New York in 1918, Clark returned to the house to find his wife in distress, claiming there were creatures in the woods.
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Clark moved away from Dudleytown, though he helped create the 'Dark Entry Forest Association' to help preserve the remains of the habitat and the surrounding forest.
Today, only cellar holes and a few stone foundations remain in Dudleytown, and it's illegal to visit to prevent trespassers and vandals.
However, many people still attempt to make their way in, and have reportedly felt phantom hands touching them as they do.