Melon heads
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The melon heads are the subject of a long-running urban legend in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Connecticut. They are described as small humanoids with bulbous heads who occassionally emerge from their hiding places to attack humans.
Legend in Michigan
The melon heads of Michigan are said to reside near the ruins of Felt Mansion in Laketown Township. According to one version of the legend, they were originally children with hydrocephalus who lived at the Junction Insane Asylum near Felt Mansion. The legend explains that, after enduring physical and emotional abuse, they became feral mutants and were released into the forests surrounding the asylum.[1] The Allegan County Historical Society asserts that the asylum never existed;[2] however, the story has been part of the local folklore for several decades. Laketown Township Manager Al Meshkin told the Holland Sentinel that he had heard the tales as a teenager, noting that his friends referred to the beings as "wobbleheads". Some versions of the legend say that the children once lived in the mansion itself, and that they retreated to a system of underground caverns.[1]
Legend in Ohio
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The melon head stories of Ohio are primarily associated with the Cleveland suburb of Kirtland. According to local lore, the melon heads were originally orphans under the watch of a mysterious figure known as Dr. Crow (sometimes spelled Crowe or Kroh[3]). Crow is said to have performed unusual experiments on the children, who developed large, hairless heads and malformed bodies.[4] Some accounts claim that the children were already suffering from hydrocephalus, and that Crow injected even more fluid into their brains.[3]
Eventually, the legend continues, the children killed Crow, burned the orphanage, and retreated to the surrounding forests. Today, some believe that the melon heads may be sighted along Wisner Road in Kirtland.[4][5] The legend has been popularized on the Internet, particularly on the websites Creepy Cleveland and DeadOhio, where users have offered their own versions of the story.[6]
Legend in Connecticut
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The story of the Melonheads is an urban legend that also exists in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Most of the stories come from the towns of Trumbull and Shelton, but others also come from the surrounding towns of Monroe, Seymour, Weston, Oxford, and Southbury. There are two legends which explain their origin. The first story begins in 1860. Apparently at that time a high security mental institution was situated deep in the woods of Fairfield County, far removed from vulnerable homes and businesses. It exclusively housed the criminally insane. In the fall of 1960, the place burned to the ground. Strangely, all staff members perished in the conflagration, as did most of the inmates. However, about 10 to 20 inmate bodies were never recovered. An all out manhunt did no good; it was as if they had vanished entirely. Some think that the fire was a well-planned act of arson, and that the fugitives hid in the woods, successfully surviving an especially grueling winter... until their food ran out. Rather than return to civilization and incarceration, they turned to cannibalism. Supposedly the cannibalism combined with inbreeding caused their offspring to be born with swollen heads. The second story begins during Colonial times. A family from the Shelton-Trumbull area was accused of witchcraft and banished from civilization. Townspeople were forbidden contact with the ostracized group. Apparently the expelled assemblage was large enough so that brothers and sisters were able to begin repopulation efforts in the wild. In time, mental and physical mutations became obvious. The undesirable outcasts evolved into Melonheads. While most of the residents of the area don't really take the legend seriously, many of them do know where the Melonheads supposedly lurk. In Shelton, the Melonheads supposedly live on Saw Mill City Road, while in Trumbull they supposedly live on Velvet Street (which is affectionately referred to by locals as "Dracula Drive"). Both are old dirt roads, surrounded by woods, in close proximity to bodies of water. A popular dare among teenagers in the area is to have someone drive down one of these roads at night and park, or even worse, have a passenger get out of the car and then drive away without them to give them a good scare.[7]
Notes
- ^ a b Roel Garcia. "Beware of the 'melon heads'". The Holland Sentinel. October 30, 2006. Retrieved on December 21, 2007.
- ^ Mike LaVey. "The Legend of the Melon Heads". Weird Michigan. Sterling Publishing Company, 2006. 16.
- ^ a b Mark Moran and Mark Scuerman. "The Hideous Melon Heads". Weird US. Sterling Publishing Company. 2005. 61.
- ^ a b James Renner. "Mutant Melonheads Terrorize Kirtland". Cleveland Free Times. October 25, 2006. Retrieved on December 31, 2007.
- ^ Maggi Martin. "Guide to ghosts and goblins Doris Straka will retell myths and legends during a ghost walk in Lake Cemeteries". The Plain Dealer. October 2, 2000. 10B.
- ^ Brian E. Albrecht. "Does Hell Town really deserve its name?" The Plain Dealer. October 30, 2001. E1.
- ^ Joseph A. Citro. "Birth of the Melonheads" Weird New England. Sterling Publishing Co., 2005