In the depths of Connecticut lies a forbidden secret—a haunted town shrouded in mystery and barred to all. The eerie tale dates back to the early 1740s when settlers, predominantly of the Dudley family, established Dudleytown in a region of Cornwall, CT, nestled within the Dark Entry Forest—a name that sends shivers down the spine. Originally utilized as a farm, the town witnessed a decline in the 19th century as residents sought more fertile lands.
While the exodus might seem innocuous, Dudleytown harbors a darker side—a sinister reputation for death and despair. Nathaniel Carter, upon relocating to the town, saw six of his kinfall victim to cholera. Their attempts to escape the town’s curse led to their demise on new lands in New York. Gershon Hollister, constructing a barn for his neighbor, William Tanner, met an abrupt end in Dudleytown. Tanner himself succumbed to an obsession, recounting tales of nocturnal creatures emerging from the woods—a narrative shared by his neighbor.
In 1804, General Herman Swift, residing in the town, lost his wife, Sara Faye, to a lightning strike on their porch, and grief-stricken, he, too, perished. Tales of mysterious creatures lurking in the tree line multiplied over the years, coupled with the demise of more residents.
By 1900, Dudleytown was a ghost town, abandoned as its inhabitants either succumbed to an unknown fate or fled. Dr. William Clarke, discovering the town in 1918, intended to use it as a second home. However, after a trip to New York, he returned to find his distressed wife claiming creatures inhabited the woods. Fleeing Dudleytown, Clarke established the ‘Dark Entry Forest Association’ to preserve the remains, making it illegal to visit and deter trespassers.
Today, only cellar holes and stone foundations stand as silent witnesses to Dudleytown’s haunted past. The town, concealed behind legal barriers, continues to beckon the curious, with some daring souls reporting phantom touches from unseen hands as they attempt to breach its forbidden gates.
