Episode 37: Forbidden Dudleytown
Credit: Lindsay Lachance via Flickr.
Why bother hiding something away, if that something wasn’t worth exploring?
Episode Transcript
The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become. These words are just as true now as they were when Mark Twain first wrote them back in 1895.
Of course, our own morbid—if even childish—curiosities are to blame. I mean, the more we are told we can’t have something, the more it piques our interests. Because why else would it be forbidden, if it weren’t something worth having?
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I will level with you. Today’s haunt hits this nail right on the head. Of course, it may seem innocent enough at first, but trust me when I say that its grim reputation has sent many running for the hills. And yet by the end of the episode, I can almost guarantee that you will be dying to visit. All because I’m beginning this story with one indisputable message: you simply can’t.
Yes, you heard that right. The subject of today’s episode is more or less inaccessible. Not due to its remote location or even a lack of public interest. Instead, this haunt is hidden behind miles of police tape and no trespassing signs.
But even still, stories of ghosts, curses, and occult activity come flooding out of this so-called abandoned location year after year. Admittedly, some of these stories are more than likely the result of rumors and local gossip—fueled by the flames of the location's forbidden nature.
And yet I still find myself wondering: what exactly is going on in the woods of upstate Connecticut? And for that matter, why would this haunt be hidden away, if it weren’t something worth exploring?
I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned…
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I can’t help but find it fitting that today’s story—as grim and obscure as it is—takes place in the Dark Entry Forest. Surrounding the quiet town of Cornwall, Connecticut, this tract of remote land has been a wildlife refuge and thriving forestation project for nearly a century.
Back in those early days, Cornwall was considered highly desirable to more than a few New Yorkers who were pursuing a slower pace in life. Eventually, Cornwall’s population began to rise, and so did its demand for sustainable resources.
So came the creation of Dark Entry Forest, Inc. in 1924. And with that 750 acres of forest land was sequestered for Cornwall’s internal affairs. It was there, concealed beneath this dark canopy of trees, that the small hamlet of Dudleytown began to take root.
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Now in a more modern setting, Dudleytown may not seem like much. Just another ghost town in a region known for its abandoned locations. But, of course, I wouldn’t be mentioning it now if there wasn’t a bigger picture here.
You see, what was once a sleepy logging township, is now a privately owned property—one that is evidently hiding a few skeletons in its closet. Even in spite of its close proximity to the greater Cornwall area, the property is no longer accessible to the public. In fact, I’m not sure that you could find it on a map or even with your phone's GPS.
All we can really say for certain is that the property now sits empty—aside from a few rubbled buildings and overgrown footpaths. Now this is not to say that you couldn’t find Dudleytown if you tried. In fact, there are plenty of people who have explored these ruins, even in spite of their restricted nature. It’s just that you have to know where to look and be willing to face whatever is hiding between the trees.
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Now in order to understand the chilling complexities of Dudleytown, I think we could all use a bit of a history lesson.
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It all began in the year 1510. Well before Dudleytown was founded, before even Connecticut Colony was established, Edmund Dudley was living in England.
Now as near as I could tell, the Dudleys were a prominent family back in England. So much so that they sat close to the monarch on England’s social ladder. Of course, that would be all fine and well for most of us. But for Edmund Dudley on the other hand, well he was hoping for his family to be a bit closer to that action.
So at some point or another, Edmund began to plot ways in which he could overthrow the king and eventually a coup was formed. Now, of course, this was grounds for treason. So, when King Henry VIII took the throne following his father’s death, Edmund Dudley was arrested and eventually beheaded. But the story doesn’t end there.
Apparently, around this time, a few key members of the Monarchy’s inner circle were dabbling in the occult and witchcraft. So when word got out that Edmund had tried to steal the thrown, this group of practitioners placed a curse on the Dudley Family.
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So the story goes, this curse followed the Dudleys for centuries, all the way from England to the New World. You see, somewhere down the family line, the Dudleys moved away from England. And by 1639, one William Dudley was settling in Guilford, Connecticut.
For a while, all seemed well for William. Almost as if his family’s curse had been lifted by his transatlantic passage. Soon he started a family of his own, fathering four children with his wife Eleanor.
It was this branch of the Dudley family who would eventually find their way to the Cornwall area, and lay the foundations of the township that bore their namesake. Sadly, it was here where the good times would end for the Dudleys. Because as fate would have it, the curse had not been lifted in the slightest. And as we will soon see, it was all too ready to come back to haunt them.
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For transparency’s sake, I should mention that Dudleytown was never a town in its own right. It was more like a subdivision of the greater Cornwall area.
But at least in the beginning, Dudleytown was a thriving little community—one with a general store, a blacksmith’s shop, and a close-knit group of neighbors. So it’s really sad to think that Dudleytown was likely doomed from the very start.
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The trouble began with the Carter family. They were one of just 26 families who had taken up residence in Dudleytown shortly after it was settled.
Yes, you heard that right. Only 26 families, it couldn’t have been more than a few hundred people. So you can imagine how devastating it was when the entirety of the Carter Family suddenly died from a bacterial infection.
And so the community grieved. It was a heartfelt act conducted in blissful ignorance of the chaos that was about to ensue. These were just the first of many sudden and downright strange incidents that would soon wreak havoc on Dudleytown.
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Not long after this tragedy took place Abiel Dudley—one of the four founding members of Dudleytown—seemingly went mad. Without any warning or apparent cause, he simply took a stroll through the woods one evening and by the time he returned, he was no longer himself.
I guess Abiel encountered something out in the woods that sort of took over his mind. He would babble on and on about menacing voices and strange creatures, who were lurking in the trees just outside of town. And yet he was the only one who could see them or hear them.
I know it’s eerie when you think about it. But what’s even stranger is that more than a few Dudleytown residents followed Abiel down this road to madness.
For instance, in 1792 Dudleytown local Gershon Hollister fell to his death while building a barn for his neighbor, William Tanner. Not long after, Tanner began to claim that Hollister’s death was no mere accident and that a strange creature from the woods had actually murdered him.
On another occasion in 1804, prominent Dudleytown local Sarah Swift met her own untimely demise when she was struck by lightning while standing on her own back porch. In the days that followed, her husband too began to speak of creatures that were lurking in the woods.
So yeah, surely you can see the pattern that’s beginning to form here. Someone would tragically die then another would go mad—describing a creature that to me sounds an awful like a demonic entity. And to make matters worse, this cycle continued for another 30.
During this time, crops were failing and livestock would disappear at random. All while rumors of a curse were swirling around the community. So eventually, the once proud residents of Dudleytown were leaving the dark entry forest in droves praying to god that these misfortunes wouldn’t follow them past the tree line.
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Now I should mention that Dudleytown changed hands on several occasions since this initial exodus. And for the most part, these new caretakers didn’t last very long on the property.
Take, for instance, the story of John Brophy who moved to Dudleytown sometime in the 1800s. Accompanied only by his wife, two sons, and a small herd of sheep, Brophy made a home for himself on an expansive property that was said to be cursed.
I will be honest, a part of me does wonder if the Brophy Family went into this move somewhat blind. Maybe they had never heard of these rumors or perhaps they thought it was just a bunch of hocus pocus. But either way, the Brophy’s would be the next to fall victim to the curse.
You see, over time John Brophy began to notice that his sheep were slowly but surely disappearing. Then his wife died of consumption. Now I couldn’t find any record that Brophy went "mad" per se and I truly hope he didn’t. But it is worth mentioning that he and his sons disappeared shortly after the funeral.
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Now following the Brophy’s stint in Dudleytown, Dr. William Clarke purchased the property with his wife Harriett. The couple, who were full-time New York residents, had intentions of making Dudleytown their summer home.
For a while all seemed to go according to this plan. They would spend weekends at the property while their house was being built and eventually began taking longer trips to Dudleytown during the summer months.
Now bear in mind, Dr. Clark was a highly respected New York physician, so when he got called away from one of these trips to aid in a medical emergency well a couple didn’t really think much of it. Dr. Clark simply made arrangements to return to the city and Harriet opted to stay in Dudleytown.
He was only gone for about 36 hours, but by the time Dr. Clark returned, Harriett was no longer acting herself. She told her husband that she was attacked while he was away by strange creatures from the woods. Then, in a tragic turn of events, Harriett reportedly took her own life.
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Now while he was heartbroken by his wife’s passing, Dr. Clark remained a part-time resident of Dudleytown. From what I can tell, he became quite passionate about maintaining the property surrounding forest. So in 1924, Clark and a handful of local farmers founded the aforementioned Dark Entry Forest Association and focused the efforts of reforestation.
It was around this time that the rumors about Dudleytown were taken a bit more seriously—extending from the general Cornwall area to other regions throughout New England. As the decades passed, the area remained to be somewhat popular amongst local hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. But those who visited would often report what I can only describe as oddities.
According to these earlier accounts, Dudleytown as it stood abandoned was known to be deafeningly silent. Not in a tranquil or peaceful sense but in an ominous somewhat oppressive sort of way—almost as if the town is sitting inside a still, soundproof bubble.
It was these sorts of claims that drew rather negative attention to Dudleytown and the Dark Entry Forest. And by the 70s, it became somewhat of a popular destination for—you guessed it—paranormal investigators.
In fact, Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated Dudleytown for themselves, and by the time they were through, Ed was convinced that the area was a negative energy space. One that was home to a demonic entity.
Now I know there’s a bit of controversy surrounding the warrens and their career. But regardless of any reservations that we may or may not have, given the historical context here, I think it’s safe to say that Ed may have been onto something.
And if I’m being totally honest, things only got stranger for Dudleytown from this point forward. More on that after a quick word from our sponsor.
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It was during the 1990s when Dudleytown’s story went from eerie to downright bizarre. And by the looks of it, this turning point came to be after the success of one low-budget horror film.
The Blair Witch Project, as we all know and love, actually pulled a lot of inspiration from American Folklore and urban legends. Now I have always heard that the main inspiration behind the film was the Bell Witch Haunting down in Adam’s Tennessee, but upon further review, the film may have actually been set in the now infamous dark entry forest.
So after the release of this film, countless fans flooded into Dudleytown for a bit of urban exploring. And that really didn’t sit well with the Association. So in an act of retaliation, Dark Entry closed the area to the public in 1999.
From what I can tell, the official reason for this closure was due to an excess of vandalism. And as a general concept, I feel like that would have been a fair move on Dark Entry’s part. Although I should mention that by this time most, if not all of the buildings on the property were in ruins and there really wasn’t much to vandalize in the first place. So, at least from where I’m standing, this reasoning doesn’t exactly add up.
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Now even in spite of these restrictions, Dudleytown and the dark entry forest are still quite popular with paranormal investigators and urban explorers. Meaning that on the regular occasion, people will still trek through the woods in search of this ghost town.
If you’ve made it to this point in the episode, I’m sure it doesn’t come as a shock when I say that these explorers often leave with strange, if even horrifying stories to tell. But what’s surprising is that only some of those stories are about the ghosts.
According to a few of my sources, those who visit Dudleytown are often chased out of the property by unfriendly and often armed personnel. Others claim that a local cult now uses Dudleytown for, let’s say nefarious activities. You know, the sort that theoretically could conjure a demon from the depths of hell.
I know it sounds like an episode of Stranger Things. And if I’m being honest, I find these claims to be just as unbelievable. But you guys are well aware that I prefer physical evidence over a game of he said she said. So while we’re on the topic, let’s discuss the photo evidence—or should I say lack thereof—that’s coming out of Dudleytown.
You see, the vast majority of my sources claim that cameras of any kind do not work within the confines of the dark entry forest. Whether it’s your iPhone or an old fashion film camera, any photos taken here typically don’t develop. And if they do, the images come out looking eerily distorted.
Now for obvious reasons, there aren’t a lot of clear Dudleytown photos available for us to view. But there are a few of these aforementioned distorted images circling the internet.
Don’t worry, I have linked these images in today’s show notes at hauntscast.com. So if you’re curious, I encourage you to check them out. Oh and while you’re at it, do let me know what your thoughts are. Because honestly, something about these photos doesn’t sit right with me.
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Okay, I have to it admit. I may have been a bit harsh in my critiques of the Dark Entry Forest Association in the early segments. I mean, from an objective perspective, it does seem like they are first and foremost concerned with the conservation of this land. And that in and of itself is something I can get behind.
So as we end today’s episode, I feel as though I should caution you against any trips to Dudleytown. After all, this is a privately owned property with owners who do not take kindly to trespassers. In fact, they will often send away unwanted guests in the back of a cop car. And regardless of our opinions on the matter, they have every right to do so.
Of course, the property’s forbidden nature makes it somewhat more alluring. Because like I said at the top of the episode, why bother hiding something, if that something wasn’t worth exploring? But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should, right?
I know, I know, I’m not your mom or your keeper. So if you’re planning to visit Dudleytown, I guess there’s I can do to stop you. But hey, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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Credits
Sources
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