There are many places around the world that are notorious. Perhaps the rumors and legends about them are groundless. But, as you know, there is no smoke without fire. Most likely, science is not yet able to explain what is happening.
In the USA, Connecticut, there is such a place - the small town of Dudleytown. People left it over 100 years ago. This is due to a string of unexplained deaths, accidents and disappearances of local residents.
Even if you do not even know about the ominous events that took place in Dudleytown, its location, without any horror stories, is in awe. Three mountains loom menacingly right over the city: Bald Mountain, Woodbury Mountain and Coltfoot Triplets, which prevent the sun's rays from penetrating into it either morning or afternoon.
In addition, Dudleytown is surrounded by such a dense and dense forest that it even received the name Dark Forest. Or maybe the cause of all the troubles should be sought in the name dudley town, similar to deadly town - "deadly city"?
DUDLEY'S CURSE
The horror stories of the damned city caught the attention of Hartford News reporter Dan Ackroyd, and he decided to conduct his own investigation to find out where Dudleetown's troubles began.
In 1993, Dan spent many days in the library, studying the files of newspapers published in the area 100 years ago. In addition, he talked with people who lived in the area. When the information received was systematized, the following picture emerged.
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It all started in England. In 1510, Duke Edmund Dudley was sentenced to death by Henry VIII for attempting a coup d'etat. The death of the duke was not enough for the king, and, according to legend, he turned to black magicians with a request to impose a curse on all descendants of the Dudley family.
And so the son of the Duke John, like his father, initiated a conspiracy against the king, for which his head was cut off. John's son, to avoid persecution, went to America with his family. In 1674, Joseph Dudley was born in Connecticut. The boy grew up, started a family, but, having turned out to be a domestic tyrant, once hacked his wife with an ax and ended his days in hard labor.
Cruelty was also a hallmark of his brother Thomas, who became famous for persecuting the Puritans. At that time, their beliefs were declared heresy, and the death penalty was imposed for this. So, Thomas was happy to administer justice with his own hands.
Joseph's four sons grew up and decided to leave for a place where no one knew the history of the Dudley family. In 1748, one of them bought a piece of land in a forested area of Connecticut. After 6 years, two more brothers joined him, and after a while a fourth brother bought land here.
In these places, they became the largest landowners, farmers rented land from them. Thus, in the middle of the forest, a village gradually grew, which was given the name Dudley Villa, and over time it turned into the city of Dudleytown.
For several years everything was calm, and then the Dudley brothers died one after another, and under very mysterious circumstances. William was suddenly struck by some unknown disease, his body was covered with ulcers and severely swollen. The pain was unbearable, the man suffered for a week and died. Alexander went on business to a neighboring village, but on a flat road the horse, obedient up to that moment, carried it. The rider fell and broke his neck.
Andrew, as usual, went fishing, and returned from there gray, with frozen horror in his eyes. For several days he was silent, and then he said that he had seen his late father on the lake, who ordered his son to kill his wife. After a while, Andrew disappeared and was never seen again. The fourth brother, Edward, was doing something in the barn when the fire started. He could not get out of the fire.
But there is other information, according to which there were no tragic deaths, just all the brothers became insane with age. And the city has nothing to do with the executed duke. Allegedly, the brothers are the descendants of an English judge, who sentenced many innocent people to death for witchcraft, for which their loved ones were cursed.
THE SEQUENCE OF DEATH
The tragic events in the city did not end after the death of the brothers. In 1792, the body of Gershom Hochtister was found on the farm of William Tanner. The body of the unfortunate man was mutilated, his neck was broken. According to the police, Gershom fell from the threshing floor, and the owner helped him in this.
Moreover, Tanner had been acting very strange lately, talking about demons coming out of the forest at night. And allegedly he himself saw how they tore apart a bystander. Either way, the police had no evidence. Tanner was not charged, but he soon went mad himself.
In 1804, the wife of General Herman Swift was heading to Dudleytown to visit relatives, suddenly a thunderstorm began, and the woman died from a lightning strike. The general's psyche could not stand the tragedy, he died in an insane asylum.
A little later, the wife of a famous American writer, a native of Dudleetown, committed suicide. This happened a week before the presidential elections, in which her husband ran. The reason remained a mystery.
And in general, people constantly disappeared in the city, sometimes even entire families. It was not possible to find anyone. People began to leave Dudleetown, frightened by the curse hanging over the city. At the end of the 19th century, only a few families remained here.
A certain John Patrick Brophy liked to boast that he himself was not afraid of the devil, that no one and nothing could force him to leave these places. But, as they say, do not be dashing while it is quiet. Soon Brophy's wife died of tuberculosis, then two of his children disappeared. And to complete all the troubles, the house burned down. John's body was never found in the ashes and was never seen again.
By 1899, Dudleetown was completely empty, and the abandoned land began to be overgrown with forest. In the 20s of the last century, the famous oncologist William Clarke and his wife settled in these places in search of peace and solitude.
Once he had to go away on business for several days. When he returned, he found that his wife had gone mad. She said she saw some kind of beast with three heads. The woman spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric hospital.
But there were also exceptions. One of the Dudleys - Abel - lived to be 90 years old. At one time he left the city, vowing that he would never return there. Moreover, the infamous William Tanner lived in the house where the misfortune with Gershom Hochtister happened. He died at the age of 104.
THE MADNESS OF THE BRAVE …
The cursed city continues to attract the attention of researchers and the curious alike. At the end of the 20th century, a television group visited these places, but they failed to photograph anything - people immediately felt suffocated, and the cameras refused to work.
In 1994, Dan Ackroyd came here - the one who had studied the history of the Dudley family a year before the trip. The hard-to-find guide flatly refused to approach Dudleytown closer than 3 kilometers. Dan had to go alone. The closer he got to the city, the darker the surrounding landscape became. The journalist’s legs were heavy, his ears were ringing, and the fog suddenly descended and did not allow him to see the surroundings.
In the fog, some shadows were barely discernible, sounds like whispers were heard. Nevertheless, Dan was lucky, and he was able to turn on the camera for a while and take pictures. And then, driven by unaccountable fear, he rushed to the place where the guide was waiting for him. According to the conductor, the journalist was absent for 5 hours. And his own clock was 3 hours behind.
When he got to the hotel, Dan watched the video. Imagine his surprise when, on the tape, he found a group of people in clothes of the 18th century, who fled in panic from a pursuing animal that looked like a huge dog.
Saliva flowed from the monster's mouth, its eyes flickering with yellow fire. Could it be that this was the monster that drove many of the inhabitants of Dudleetown mad?
SATANIC RITUALS?
Of course, where there is mysticism, there will definitely be someone who will try to explain everything from a materialistic point of view. Ghost hunter, Robin Barron, having visited Dudleetown, discovered a bloodied cow horn and stones with some symbols. In his opinion, satanic rituals were held here.
Demon specialist Ed Warren assumes there are no monsters. It's just that people are horrified by the ominous landscapes around the city. In addition, he believes that the city was built in a powerful geopathogenic zone. And all these visions are nothing but the impact of geomagnetic radiation on the psyche. It is no coincidence that so many people have gone mad here.
It is quite possible that it is, but how to explain what people see in the captured photographs and video materials?
Galina MINNIKOVA