There's a haunted town in America that's entirely abandoned and is illegal to visit
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Roanoke Tales
Are the ghost stories surrounding the town in Connecticut just tales, or are they the reason it's illegal to visit?
The fact it's illegal to step one foot inside a town in the southern New England state probably makes it all the more enticing to some horror nuts.
However, to those of us who scream in frustration as we watch someone go to investigate after hearing a noise coming from downstairs, the spooky stories about this town are enough to send your hands over your eyes.
Advert
In the early 1740s, a group of people settled in the area located in a portion of Cornwall, CT.
Many of those people were from a family called the Dudleys, and so aptly named the town - can you guess? - Dudleytown.
Located in a valley called the Dark Entry Forest (the name really says it all, doesn't it?), the valley was used as a farm until the 19th century, until many residents eventually left in search of more fertile land.
And it's just as well they did leave, because others weren't so lucky. Cue the scary music.
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. 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 neighbor.
In 1804, a general named Herman Swift was living in the town when his wife, Sara Faye, was struck by lightning while on their front porch and died. Grief-stricken, the general himself also passed away.
Over the years, more and more residents died, and a number of people came 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.
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.