February 3, 2025 • 21 mins
Dudleytown, CT. Deemed "The scariest place on Earth", holds a ghostly curse. It's haunted, and we have video evidence to prove it. These are the Dark Entry Woods. Join us in this most haunted place.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
Strange mysteries, unexplained phenomena.
And the shadows in between.
This is The InBetween Official Podcastwith your host,
Carol Ann!
Curses, insanity
and demons that roamthe dark forest shadows.
(00:38):
A place Dan Aykroyd calls, “TheScariest Place on Earth.”
But even with all of that drama,all I can say is it's the biggest
hullabaloo over a townthat wasn't even a town I've ever seen.
Welcome to The InBetween.
I'm Carol Ann, and todaywe're diving into the secrets of the Dark
Entry Forest, home to the infamous
(01:00):
Dudleytown, Connecticut.
So if Dudleytown wasn't a town,then what was it?
Well, it's an areathat is part of Cornwall Township
in Connecticut, inhabited by Dudleys...
Lots of Dudley's.
It all starts in 1747 when Gideon Dudley
(01:22):
buys some land outside the townof Cornwall.
By 1753, Gideon's two brothers,
Barzillai and AbielDudley buy more land nearby.
A few years later, another Dudley, Martin,also joins the clan.
Like I said, lots of Dudley's.
So Dudleytown becomes Dudleytown
(01:43):
not because it's a real town,but because of the number of Dudley's.
In fact, Dudleytownnever has any stores or churches.
Everyone has to go down the hillto Cornwall
for all of their goods and services.
Even their cemetery.
Originally, it's a farming community,although that turns out to be
a very poor decisionon the part of the Dudley's.
(02:06):
The land they choose to starttheir farms on is located right smack
in the middle of a bunch of mountains.
Word has itthat it starts getting dark by noon.
And the land is super rocky.
According to Isaac Stiles,an early Dudleytown resident,
“Nature out of her boundless store,s
(02:26):
threw rocks together and did no more.”
Not to mention that it's Connecticut.
It's got a longergrowing season than Alaska.
But it's not Mississippi either.
None of these things bodewell for good, healthy crops.
But over the years,they are joined by a few more families.
Then iron ore is discovered nearbyand along with some lumber sales,
(02:49):
Dudleytown has a little boom.
At its height, it boasts 26 families.
Not bad for a townthat's not really a town.
And I hear y'all barking at me out thereyelling.
Where's the spooky stuff?
Well, the Dudley's are the spooky stuff.
They’re cursed.
A curse that goes back 250 yearsin their family to their forefather,
(03:14):
Edmund Dudley, who was beheaded in 1510
for treason against King Henry VIII.
Which wasn't really treason at all.
See, Edmundhad been the money guy for King Henry VII,
and had become pretty wealthy himselfin the process.
When King Henry VII diesand is replaced by King Henry VIII,
(03:36):
lots of people in his court don't likethe way Edmund is spending his own money.
So they trumped up some treasoncharges and chop his head off.
Interestingly enough, Edmund's son, JohnDudley, orphaned at the age of seven,
grows up to become pretty tight
with Henry VIIIfor the last few years of Henry's reign.
(03:57):
Couple that with his years of serviceto the Crown
and John finds himself as the Regent,or kind of a temporary governor
for the new king,Edward VI, who's only 12.
So basically, he's running England
and he likes it a little too much.
Edward has two half sisters, Marythe first and Elizabeth the first.
(04:21):
Because remember, Henry VIIIhad six wives, but the sisters were both
considered illegitimate because Henryhad both of those marriages annulled.
Seeing ahead a couple of moves,John has his son Guilford
marry Lady Jane Grey,great granddaughter of HenryVII.
(04:41):
And with Mary and Elizabeth cutout of the line
of succession, next in linefor the throne.
Six weeks later, Edward VI dies and Lady
Jane becomes Queen, for nine whole days.
Mary the first says, “I don't think so,”and manages to persuade the Privy Council,
(05:02):
which is a groupthat mainly exists to advise either
the king or the queen to back heras the rightful heir.
And just like that, Lady Jane, Guilford,
and his dad, John,all lose their heads as well.
Couple the three generations of Dudleyheads in baskets
(05:23):
with the story that one of Guildford'sbrothers, who is a military
officer, comeshome from France with the plague.
Not THE plague,but a plague that only kills
maybe thousands instead of the 25 millionkilled by the Black Plague.
But still slightly embarrassing.
And voila, the Dudley family is proclaimedas being cursed.
(05:48):
Another of Guildford'sbrothers, Robert, decides it's
getting a little hot in the kitchenand gets the hell out of Dodge.
Couple of Dudley generationslater, William Dudley boards
a ship bound for the New Worldand settles in Connecticut.
He has a son, William,who has a son, Joseph,
who has 12 kids, three ofwhich are the three
(06:11):
Dudley boys that settle in Dudleytown,bringing the curse with them.
But things are pretty quiet for a while,until Gershon Hollister,
neighbor and friend to AbielDudley, is accidentally killed
during a barn raising for,or murdered in the house of, (not
sure which story to believe here)one William Tanner.
(06:35):
The next thing you know, Tanneris going off
about demon in the woods and goes insane.
And Abiel, now grief strickenfrom losing his friend Gershon,
soon follows suit and becomesa ward of the town of Cornwall.
His house and his land are sold to raisemoney for the town to take care of him.
(06:57):
The house is bought by Nathaniel Carter,who comes to town in 1759.
In 1774, a random plague
takes the lives of his kin,the Adoniram Carter family.
Not being able to shake the tragedy,
Nate picks up his family and leaves town.
But the curse follows him.
(07:20):
He moves to the Delaware wildernessoutside of colonial control.
He, his wife and their newborn child
are killed by Indianswho kidnap their other three children
and take them to Canada,and ransom the two girls.
But the boy, Nathaniel,remains and marries into the tribe.
(07:40):
Next on the tragedy bus is Dudleytown'smost famous inhabitant, General Herman
Swift, who served in the Revolutionary Warunder George Washington himself.
He moves into a house on the outskirtsof Dudleytown at the top of Bald Mountain.
In April of 1804, his wife,
Sarah Faye, is standingon their front porch during a storm
(08:04):
and is struck by lightning,killing her instantly.
After which General Swift is reported
to become “slightly demented.”
Another passenger on the crazy train.
The populationsteadily decreases through the 1800s.
Some attribute the demise of the town
(08:24):
to multiple mundane factors -the depletion of farmland,
the decline of the area'siron ore industry,
and the natural progression of citizensfollowing the seductive promise
of an easier life out West,rather than trying to farm crops
with no sun, which even persuades
(08:46):
the families of Abiel's brothers,Gideon and Barzillai.
By the late 1890s,one of the last residents is John Patrick
Brophy, whose wife dies of consumption,
which is just a nice way of sayingtuberculosis.
Then his two sons walk into the woods,
never to be seen again.
(09:08):
Now, it sounds like they did this
on purpose - more of a “going on the lamb”
kind of situation because they were bothbeing accused of theft.
But the theft they are accused ofwas for some sleigh blankets.
Really?
You're going to leave behind your familyand everything you own
(09:28):
to avoid the three whole weeks in jailfor that major offense?
I'll let you decide for yourselfif that makes any sense.
In any case, John's housethen burns to the ground
and he walks into the forest,never to be seen again.
That's pretty much the end of Dudleytown'sfull time residents.
(09:50):
But the beauty and simplicity of lifein the Cornwall area
becomes a magnet for New York's wealthyto come and spend their summers.
One such couple is William and HarrietClark.
William is the Professor of Surgeryat Columbia College
of Physicians and Surgeonsand the leading oncologist in New York.
(10:12):
In 1906, he and Harriettake a trip to the Cornwall area,
discover the Dark Entry Forest,which is the name of the forest
surrounding Dudleytown, and fall in love
with its trout filled streamsand mellow owl orchestra.
They immediately cough up the cash
(10:32):
to buy a thousand acres,including Dudleytown,
and get to work, planning their dreamsecond home in the woods.
But that process takes a little longerthan they thought it would.
William can't find a builder.
Of course,he thinks it's because the proposed
building site is a little ways offthe road.
(10:53):
It's not the easiest access
and that the local builders just don'twant to deal with the extra hassle.
So having dabbled in severaldifferent trades before becoming a doctor,
including carpentry, William decides,
“I'll just build it myself.” And he does.
And by all accounts,the couple is very happy.
(11:14):
They're spending as many weekendsand holidays there as they can.
But in 1918, life catches up with them
and William is called back to the cityfor some kind of emergency.
Harriet obviously doesn't want him to go.
And the thought of being in the woodsall by herself
kind of freaks her out a little bit.
(11:34):
But William promiseshe'll be back as soon as he can
and jumps on the next trainheading to the city About 36 hours later,
William comes back to the cabinto find his wife curled up in the corner,
hysterical, rambling about being attacked
by demons from the woods.
(11:56):
The couple goes back to New York,
where Harriet is reportedto commit suicide sometime later.
But this does not stop William from
continuing to visit his forested retreat.
And in 1924, he and some other area
landowners form the DarkForced Entry Association
with the stated purpose of preservingthe land in its natural state.
(12:21):
That association still maintainscontrol of the land to this day.
So how much of this is true?
All of it? None of it?All of it? ALL of IT!
Well, like most good stories,depends on who you talk to.
If you talk to Reverend Gary P.
Dudley, a descendant of the DudleytownDudleys, none of it.
(12:42):
He even wrote a book called “TheLegend of Dudleytown, Connecticut:
Solving Legends Through Genealogicaland Historical Research”,
with a more factual accountof the area's history.
According to Reverend Gary, thepeople are real, but the legends are not.
They're just natural occurrences blowncompletely out of proportion.
(13:05):
He says the hysteria all beganwhen a man named Edward C Starr,
who wrote a book called “AHistory of Cornwall, Connecticut:
A Typical New England Town”,included a two page section in the book
he called “Doom of Dudleytown”,where he proceeded to inexplicably
make up a bunch of nonsenseabout the town's history.
(13:29):
First of all, accordingto Reverend Dudley's research,
the Dudleys are not related to EdmundDudley.
So the curse may be real,but it's on different Dudleys.
Second,he says that people who allegedly went
nuts were peoplethat lived to a very old age,
and that dementia is a very real sideeffect for many who live that long.
(13:54):
And Sarah Fay Swift?
well, the odds are one in 15,300
that you will be struck by lightningin your lifetime.
About 270people are struck each year in the U.S.
alone.
And people had not begun to uselightning rods on houses yet,
so getting struck by lightning was,and is, not necessarily uncommon.
(14:20):
He says Harriet Clarke,wife of William Clarke,
is known to have had some kindof preexisting condition,
although nobody knows if it was a physicalor a mental condition.
But that she did commit suicidein New York because she could no longer
deal with the pain of whatever is thatshe was suffering from.
(14:41):
Also, some suggest that perhapsthe water in the area
had high metal content,thereby leading to some kind of toxicity.
And while we know that the area is knownfor its iron ore deposits,
it is extremely unlikely
that anyone would have gotteniron toxicity from the drinking water.
(15:02):
Not to mention the factthat the symptoms of iron poisoning
do not include anything close to dementia.
It is possible the water is contaminatedwith something else.
But at this point I would think thatthe state of Connecticut has run testing
on every water source in the state,and we would know by now if the water
(15:24):
in the area has tested positive for lead
or any other hazardous substances.
Okay.
That information is certainly foodfor thought
and it certainly is possiblethat details have been exaggerated
over the yearsfor the sake of a good story.
But what about today?
(15:45):
What about the storiesthat haven't been colored by time?
Keep in mind, I'm using the term “today”a little loosely, since
the area has been closed to the publicfor the last number of years
with much stricterpolicing in the last 10 to 20.
If you decide to go check it out,
you'd better eithersharpen your ninja stealth skills
(16:07):
or be prepared to be arrestedand/or fined for trespassing.
But there certainly are a fewrelatively modern tales
we can go to for “bootson the ground” information.
And the one thing that keeps coming upover and over is how quiet it is.
Many people who have braved the threats
(16:28):
of either arrest or demon attack
report that once you get into the trees,
a stifling stillness envelops you.
if that's not creepy enough,people have reported numerous physical
experiences, things like cold spots,
slaps by invisiblehands, pushes and shoves,
(16:50):
shadowy figures creeping around the woods- some even caught on camera.
No. Why is that?
In the early 1970s, the famous
or infamous, depending on your opinionof them, demonologists, Ed and Lorraine
Warren, videotaped a Halloweenspecial from Dudleytown.
(17:14):
They declared it “demonically possessed.”
Ed Warren said Dudleytown was “controlledby something terrifying.”
And now perhaps you're askingyourself, “If the curse isn't true,
where would all these modern dayexperiences be coming from?” Well,
it shouldn't be a surprise that the landwas once covered by Native Americans.
(17:34):
In fact,there are at least five tribes that call
Connecticut their stomping grounds,and then tribes within those tribes.
Considering the size of the state,
there are probably burial groundsall over the place.
And the Native Americans will be the firstto tell you
that bad things happenif you mess with their burial grounds.
(17:55):
Now, if you want to takea trip to Conspiracy Town,
plenty of people will tell youthat the first stop
is the Dark Entry Forest Association.
Who exactly are these peopleand why won't they let the public anywhere
near that little town?
In their defense, the release of the movie“The Blair Witch Project”
(18:18):
apparently sparkeda fresh wave of ghost hunters
and thrill seekersthat did nothing but trash the place.
That's when they went in to DEFCON five
alert status that they are still in today.
Now, I can't say that I blame themnecessarily.
The whole point of the associationwas to keep the land pristine
(18:40):
for future generations. Or was it?
Some people think that there is more to itthan that.
That the association knows something aboutthat land that they want to keep secret.
Freedom of InformationAct requests go unanswered,
The town of Cornwall says they have noland survey information on record,
(19:00):
and details about the associationitself are hard to find.
Why the secrecy?
What do they know that we don't?
just the act of telling peoplethat they can't come
makes them want to come even more.
So if their sole aim is to keep peopleaway, they're doing just the opposite.
(19:20):
If they would reverse course and maybe
offer guided tours or something,they would take away
that innate reaction of defiancethat is human nature.
Maybe even make some bank to boot.
That way,if the tours end up being uneventful,
people will get boredand move on to the next creepy thing.
(19:44):
But if they are eventful,
if physical experiencescontinue to happen,
don't you think that might beimportant information for the rest of us?
That we might just want to know
that a place exists that might help prove
what happens to the soulwhen the body is long gone.
(20:09):
Extra special
shout out to our first humanitarianlevel member.
Rich G!
Thanks, Rich.
So, what's your take?
Real? Not so real.
Let us know in the comments down below.
Speaking of strange family tragedies,this video is an epic
(20:30):
deep dive into one of the craziest familymurder mysteries of them all.
You do not want to miss it.
Until next time, be careful out there
and I will see youhere again on The InBetween.
Thanks for tuning into The InBetween Podcast.
Enjoy the full visual experiencewith me over on YouTube.
(20:54):
Just search for @TheInBetweentales.
I'm Carol Ann,and until next time, be careful
out there.
Strange mysteries, unexplained phenomena.
And the shadows in between.
This is The InBetween Official Podcastwith your host,
Carol Ann!
Curses, insanity
and demons that roamthe dark forest shadows.
(00:38):
A place Dan Aykroyd calls, “TheScariest Place on Earth.”
But even with all of that drama,all I can say is it's the biggest
hullabaloo over a townthat wasn't even a town I've ever seen.
Welcome to The InBetween.
I'm Carol Ann, and todaywe're diving into the secrets of the Dark
Entry Forest, home to the infamous
(01:00):
Dudleytown, Connecticut.
So if Dudleytown wasn't a town,then what was it?
Well, it's an areathat is part of Cornwall Township
in Connecticut, inhabited by Dudleys...
Lots of Dudley's.
It all starts in 1747 when Gideon Dudley
(01:22):
buys some land outside the townof Cornwall.
By 1753, Gideon's two brothers,
Barzillai and AbielDudley buy more land nearby.
A few years later, another Dudley, Martin,also joins the clan.
Like I said, lots of Dudley's.
So Dudleytown becomes Dudleytown
(01:43):
not because it's a real town,but because of the number of Dudley's.
In fact, Dudleytownnever has any stores or churches.
Everyone has to go down the hillto Cornwall
for all of their goods and services.
Even their cemetery.
Originally, it's a farming community,although that turns out to be
a very poor decisionon the part of the Dudley's.
(02:06):
The land they choose to starttheir farms on is located right smack
in the middle of a bunch of mountains.
Word has itthat it starts getting dark by noon.
And the land is super rocky.
According to Isaac Stiles,an early Dudleytown resident,
“Nature out of her boundless store,s
(02:26):
threw rocks together and did no more.”
Not to mention that it's Connecticut.
It's got a longergrowing season than Alaska.
But it's not Mississippi either.
None of these things bodewell for good, healthy crops.
But over the years,they are joined by a few more families.
Then iron ore is discovered nearbyand along with some lumber sales,
(02:49):
Dudleytown has a little boom.
At its height, it boasts 26 families.
Not bad for a townthat's not really a town.
And I hear y'all barking at me out thereyelling.
Where's the spooky stuff?
Well, the Dudley's are the spooky stuff.
They’re cursed.
A curse that goes back 250 yearsin their family to their forefather,
(03:14):
Edmund Dudley, who was beheaded in 1510
for treason against King Henry VIII.
Which wasn't really treason at all.
See, Edmundhad been the money guy for King Henry VII,
and had become pretty wealthy himselfin the process.
When King Henry VII diesand is replaced by King Henry VIII,
(03:36):
lots of people in his court don't likethe way Edmund is spending his own money.
So they trumped up some treasoncharges and chop his head off.
Interestingly enough, Edmund's son, JohnDudley, orphaned at the age of seven,
grows up to become pretty tight
with Henry VIIIfor the last few years of Henry's reign.
(03:57):
Couple that with his years of serviceto the Crown
and John finds himself as the Regent,or kind of a temporary governor
for the new king,Edward VI, who's only 12.
So basically, he's running England
and he likes it a little too much.
Edward has two half sisters, Marythe first and Elizabeth the first.
(04:21):
Because remember, Henry VIIIhad six wives, but the sisters were both
considered illegitimate because Henryhad both of those marriages annulled.
Seeing ahead a couple of moves,John has his son Guilford
marry Lady Jane Grey,great granddaughter of HenryVII.
(04:41):
And with Mary and Elizabeth cutout of the line
of succession, next in linefor the throne.
Six weeks later, Edward VI dies and Lady
Jane becomes Queen, for nine whole days.
Mary the first says, “I don't think so,”and manages to persuade the Privy Council,
(05:02):
which is a groupthat mainly exists to advise either
the king or the queen to back heras the rightful heir.
And just like that, Lady Jane, Guilford,
and his dad, John,all lose their heads as well.
Couple the three generations of Dudleyheads in baskets
(05:23):
with the story that one of Guildford'sbrothers, who is a military
officer, comeshome from France with the plague.
Not THE plague,but a plague that only kills
maybe thousands instead of the 25 millionkilled by the Black Plague.
But still slightly embarrassing.
And voila, the Dudley family is proclaimedas being cursed.
(05:48):
Another of Guildford'sbrothers, Robert, decides it's
getting a little hot in the kitchenand gets the hell out of Dodge.
Couple of Dudley generationslater, William Dudley boards
a ship bound for the New Worldand settles in Connecticut.
He has a son, William,who has a son, Joseph,
who has 12 kids, three ofwhich are the three
(06:11):
Dudley boys that settle in Dudleytown,bringing the curse with them.
But things are pretty quiet for a while,until Gershon Hollister,
neighbor and friend to AbielDudley, is accidentally killed
during a barn raising for,or murdered in the house of, (not
sure which story to believe here)one William Tanner.
(06:35):
The next thing you know, Tanneris going off
about demon in the woods and goes insane.
And Abiel, now grief strickenfrom losing his friend Gershon,
soon follows suit and becomesa ward of the town of Cornwall.
His house and his land are sold to raisemoney for the town to take care of him.
(06:57):
The house is bought by Nathaniel Carter,who comes to town in 1759.
In 1774, a random plague
takes the lives of his kin,the Adoniram Carter family.
Not being able to shake the tragedy,
Nate picks up his family and leaves town.
But the curse follows him.
(07:20):
He moves to the Delaware wildernessoutside of colonial control.
He, his wife and their newborn child
are killed by Indianswho kidnap their other three children
and take them to Canada,and ransom the two girls.
But the boy, Nathaniel,remains and marries into the tribe.
(07:40):
Next on the tragedy bus is Dudleytown'smost famous inhabitant, General Herman
Swift, who served in the Revolutionary Warunder George Washington himself.
He moves into a house on the outskirtsof Dudleytown at the top of Bald Mountain.
In April of 1804, his wife,
Sarah Faye, is standingon their front porch during a storm
(08:04):
and is struck by lightning,killing her instantly.
After which General Swift is reported
to become “slightly demented.”
Another passenger on the crazy train.
The populationsteadily decreases through the 1800s.
Some attribute the demise of the town
(08:24):
to multiple mundane factors -the depletion of farmland,
the decline of the area'siron ore industry,
and the natural progression of citizensfollowing the seductive promise
of an easier life out West,rather than trying to farm crops
with no sun, which even persuades
(08:46):
the families of Abiel's brothers,Gideon and Barzillai.
By the late 1890s,one of the last residents is John Patrick
Brophy, whose wife dies of consumption,
which is just a nice way of sayingtuberculosis.
Then his two sons walk into the woods,
never to be seen again.
(09:08):
Now, it sounds like they did this
on purpose - more of a “going on the lamb”
kind of situation because they were bothbeing accused of theft.
But the theft they are accused ofwas for some sleigh blankets.
Really?
You're going to leave behind your familyand everything you own
(09:28):
to avoid the three whole weeks in jailfor that major offense?
I'll let you decide for yourselfif that makes any sense.
In any case, John's housethen burns to the ground
and he walks into the forest,never to be seen again.
That's pretty much the end of Dudleytown'sfull time residents.
(09:50):
But the beauty and simplicity of lifein the Cornwall area
becomes a magnet for New York's wealthyto come and spend their summers.
One such couple is William and HarrietClark.
William is the Professor of Surgeryat Columbia College
of Physicians and Surgeonsand the leading oncologist in New York.
(10:12):
In 1906, he and Harriettake a trip to the Cornwall area,
discover the Dark Entry Forest,which is the name of the forest
surrounding Dudleytown, and fall in love
with its trout filled streamsand mellow owl orchestra.
They immediately cough up the cash
(10:32):
to buy a thousand acres,including Dudleytown,
and get to work, planning their dreamsecond home in the woods.
But that process takes a little longerthan they thought it would.
William can't find a builder.
Of course,he thinks it's because the proposed
building site is a little ways offthe road.
(10:53):
It's not the easiest access
and that the local builders just don'twant to deal with the extra hassle.
So having dabbled in severaldifferent trades before becoming a doctor,
including carpentry, William decides,
“I'll just build it myself.” And he does.
And by all accounts,the couple is very happy.
(11:14):
They're spending as many weekendsand holidays there as they can.
But in 1918, life catches up with them
and William is called back to the cityfor some kind of emergency.
Harriet obviously doesn't want him to go.
And the thought of being in the woodsall by herself
kind of freaks her out a little bit.
(11:34):
But William promiseshe'll be back as soon as he can
and jumps on the next trainheading to the city About 36 hours later,
William comes back to the cabinto find his wife curled up in the corner,
hysterical, rambling about being attacked
by demons from the woods.
(11:56):
The couple goes back to New York,
where Harriet is reportedto commit suicide sometime later.
But this does not stop William from
continuing to visit his forested retreat.
And in 1924, he and some other area
landowners form the DarkForced Entry Association
with the stated purpose of preservingthe land in its natural state.
(12:21):
That association still maintainscontrol of the land to this day.
So how much of this is true?
All of it? None of it?All of it? ALL of IT!
Well, like most good stories,depends on who you talk to.
If you talk to Reverend Gary P.
Dudley, a descendant of the DudleytownDudleys, none of it.
(12:42):
He even wrote a book called “TheLegend of Dudleytown, Connecticut:
Solving Legends Through Genealogicaland Historical Research”,
with a more factual accountof the area's history.
According to Reverend Gary, thepeople are real, but the legends are not.
They're just natural occurrences blowncompletely out of proportion.
(13:05):
He says the hysteria all beganwhen a man named Edward C Starr,
who wrote a book called “AHistory of Cornwall, Connecticut:
A Typical New England Town”,included a two page section in the book
he called “Doom of Dudleytown”,where he proceeded to inexplicably
make up a bunch of nonsenseabout the town's history.
(13:29):
First of all, accordingto Reverend Dudley's research,
the Dudleys are not related to EdmundDudley.
So the curse may be real,but it's on different Dudleys.
Second,he says that people who allegedly went
nuts were peoplethat lived to a very old age,
and that dementia is a very real sideeffect for many who live that long.
(13:54):
And Sarah Fay Swift?
well, the odds are one in 15,300
that you will be struck by lightningin your lifetime.
About 270people are struck each year in the U.S.
alone.
And people had not begun to uselightning rods on houses yet,
so getting struck by lightning was,and is, not necessarily uncommon.
(14:20):
He says Harriet Clarke,wife of William Clarke,
is known to have had some kindof preexisting condition,
although nobody knows if it was a physicalor a mental condition.
But that she did commit suicidein New York because she could no longer
deal with the pain of whatever is thatshe was suffering from.
(14:41):
Also, some suggest that perhapsthe water in the area
had high metal content,thereby leading to some kind of toxicity.
And while we know that the area is knownfor its iron ore deposits,
it is extremely unlikely
that anyone would have gotteniron toxicity from the drinking water.
(15:02):
Not to mention the factthat the symptoms of iron poisoning
do not include anything close to dementia.
It is possible the water is contaminatedwith something else.
But at this point I would think thatthe state of Connecticut has run testing
on every water source in the state,and we would know by now if the water
(15:24):
in the area has tested positive for lead
or any other hazardous substances.
Okay.
That information is certainly foodfor thought
and it certainly is possiblethat details have been exaggerated
over the yearsfor the sake of a good story.
But what about today?
(15:45):
What about the storiesthat haven't been colored by time?
Keep in mind, I'm using the term “today”a little loosely, since
the area has been closed to the publicfor the last number of years
with much stricterpolicing in the last 10 to 20.
If you decide to go check it out,
you'd better eithersharpen your ninja stealth skills
(16:07):
or be prepared to be arrestedand/or fined for trespassing.
But there certainly are a fewrelatively modern tales
we can go to for “bootson the ground” information.
And the one thing that keeps coming upover and over is how quiet it is.
Many people who have braved the threats
(16:28):
of either arrest or demon attack
report that once you get into the trees,
a stifling stillness envelops you.
if that's not creepy enough,people have reported numerous physical
experiences, things like cold spots,
slaps by invisiblehands, pushes and shoves,
(16:50):
shadowy figures creeping around the woods- some even caught on camera.
No. Why is that?
In the early 1970s, the famous
or infamous, depending on your opinionof them, demonologists, Ed and Lorraine
Warren, videotaped a Halloweenspecial from Dudleytown.
(17:14):
They declared it “demonically possessed.”
Ed Warren said Dudleytown was “controlledby something terrifying.”
And now perhaps you're askingyourself, “If the curse isn't true,
where would all these modern dayexperiences be coming from?” Well,
it shouldn't be a surprise that the landwas once covered by Native Americans.
(17:34):
In fact,there are at least five tribes that call
Connecticut their stomping grounds,and then tribes within those tribes.
Considering the size of the state,
there are probably burial groundsall over the place.
And the Native Americans will be the firstto tell you
that bad things happenif you mess with their burial grounds.
(17:55):
Now, if you want to takea trip to Conspiracy Town,
plenty of people will tell youthat the first stop
is the Dark Entry Forest Association.
Who exactly are these peopleand why won't they let the public anywhere
near that little town?
In their defense, the release of the movie“The Blair Witch Project”
(18:18):
apparently sparkeda fresh wave of ghost hunters
and thrill seekersthat did nothing but trash the place.
That's when they went in to DEFCON five
alert status that they are still in today.
Now, I can't say that I blame themnecessarily.
The whole point of the associationwas to keep the land pristine
(18:40):
for future generations. Or was it?
Some people think that there is more to itthan that.
That the association knows something aboutthat land that they want to keep secret.
Freedom of InformationAct requests go unanswered,
The town of Cornwall says they have noland survey information on record,
(19:00):
and details about the associationitself are hard to find.
Why the secrecy?
What do they know that we don't?
just the act of telling peoplethat they can't come
makes them want to come even more.
So if their sole aim is to keep peopleaway, they're doing just the opposite.
(19:20):
If they would reverse course and maybe
offer guided tours or something,they would take away
that innate reaction of defiancethat is human nature.
Maybe even make some bank to boot.
That way,if the tours end up being uneventful,
people will get boredand move on to the next creepy thing.
(19:44):
But if they are eventful,
if physical experiencescontinue to happen,
don't you think that might beimportant information for the rest of us?
That we might just want to know
that a place exists that might help prove
what happens to the soulwhen the body is long gone.
(20:09):
Extra special
shout out to our first humanitarianlevel member.
Rich G!
Thanks, Rich.
So, what's your take?
Real? Not so real.
Let us know in the comments down below.
Speaking of strange family tragedies,this video is an epic
(20:30):
deep dive into one of the craziest familymurder mysteries of them all.
You do not want to miss it.
Until next time, be careful out there
and I will see youhere again on The InBetween.
Thanks for tuning into The InBetween Podcast.
Enjoy the full visual experiencewith me over on YouTube.
(20:54):
Just search for @TheInBetweentales.
I'm Carol Ann,and until next time, be careful
out there.
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