Morbid - Gordon Cummins: The Blackout Ripper (Part 1)

Episode Date: January 9, 2025

In response to the onset of German bombing raids during World War II, many of England’s most vulnerable citizens evacuated or were temporarily evacuated out of urban areas to safer, more rural parts of the country. Those who remained in the cities would ultimately spend years enduring wartime blackouts, periods where the city was plunged into complete darkness in order to prevent German bombers from easily identifying their targets. The blackouts were a significant inconvenience and safety risk for everyone, but for at least one Londoner, they offered a perfect opportunity to enact his darkest fantasies.Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesBolton News. 1942. "Is 'killer' at large?" Bolton News, February 14: 1.Campbell, Duncan. 2010. "London in the blitz: how crime flourished under cover of the blackout." The Guardian, August 28.Driscoll, Margarette. 2022. "Ranmpage of the Blackout Ripper." Daily Mail, November 24.Evening Standard. 1942. "Accused of murder of 4 women." Evening Standard (London, England), March 26: 8.Evening Telegraph. 1942. "'Killer' theory in wave of London murders." Evening Telegraph (Derby, England), February 14: 8.Herald Express. 1942. "Cadet's defense in murder trial." Herald Express (Devon, England), April 28: 1.Hull Daily Mail. 1942. "London murders." Hull Daily Mail, February 11: 1.Imperial War Museum. n.d. Imperial War Museum. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-nation-at-a-standstill-shutdown-in-the-second-world-war.Liverpool Daily Post. 1942. "Another London murder." Liverpool Daily Post, February 14: 1.Storey, Neil. 2023. The Blackout Murders: Homicide in WW2. South Yorkshire, England: Pen and Sword.The Citizen. 1942. "Cadet sent for trial." The Citizen (Gloucester, England), March 27: 1.—. 1942. "'Evidence was overwhelming'." The Citizen (Gloucester, England), June 9: 8.—. 1942. "Fresh Jury to be sworn in." The Citizen (Gloucester, England), April 24: 1.The Times. 1942. "Airman charged with three murders." The Times (London, England), March 13: 2.Venning, Annabel. 2017. "The Blackout Ripper; under cover of the Blitz." Mail on Sunday, January 29. Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash KelleyListener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra LallyListener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, weirdos. I'm Alina. I'm Ash. And this is morbid. It's a cryptids morbid episode. It is. And I'm so excited for this one. I feel like we've been talking. I think we've like mentioned that we were going to do this episode and we've been working on them for some time. I like, I took some out of the running. I put some back in the running. And then I ended up just focusing on one particular cryptid. That's exactly what happened to me because. Oh, did it really? That's literally what happened to me because when you first look them up, it always feels like, all right, there's really not a lot on this. Right. I'll just cover a few and we'll get through it. And then I started like really digging into this. And I was like, wait a second. You were like, oh, shit.

There's a lot more on this. Oh, shit. So I think we're going to be, we're just going willy-nilly like where these cryptids are from. But we are going to be covering, at least I'm going to be covering one from Braxton County, West Virginia. Ooh. Yeah. So you know it's going to be good. I was trying to think about the map in my mind. I'm really bad at geography. So that was what that long pause of silence was. I was like, what's happening right now? Is everything okay? So fun fact, I was trying to think about if Ohio and Michigan are close to West Virginia. Okay. That's it. Yeah, I mean, you're not far off. That's it. That's the thought. All right. Well, I'm glad you had that thought. Yeah, my ear popped at the same time. So congrats to me, too. Because I was like, should I pause recording? Are you about to have a thought? No, I'm glad. I'm glad.

I was thinking about the map and then I had like, my ears are all fucked right now and I had a big burst in my ear and I was like, ooh, I'm alive again. I'm like, oh, I can hear. Okay. Yeah, fun. Well, that's fun. And, you know, I would, this was brought to my attention because we're going to be talking about the flat woods monster. Ooh, hoo-hoo-hoo. Yes.

So the, or excuse, yeah, the flat woods. Sorry, I thought it. I didn't know if it was flat wood or flat woods. It's flat woods. Oh, yeah. You said it. You said it. I said it, right.

I was good. You said what you said. I said what I said, and that's all that I'll say. It's not. I'm going to say more. I wish you said, and that's all that I said. And that's it. I always say it wrong.

You always wish I said something different than what I actually said. Am I micromanaging you? You're micromanaging me. Is this hostile? I quit. I quit. That's it. You just throw your iPad at my face.

This is it. I'm done here. I'm done. I'm interested to hear this. All right. So this was sent in by listener Haley. Hi, Haley. Haley, after reading this email that you sent, I love you. and I want to be friends. You just seem rad. Like, you're hilarious. I want to be friends with Haley,

and I don't even know what Haley's talking about. Haley's hilarious. And her child is really adorable. So this was named West Virginia has the best cryptids. Change my mind. You can't. Amazing. And I won't even try to. See, I love that energy of like, I believe in this. It doesn't matter if you do. But that's it. Yeah. So this says, hello to my most favorite weirdos. Hi. Insert obligatory and necessary, you guys effing rock and your stuff. show is my favorite and I have a creepy obsession but don't call the po-po. I'm mostly harmless. Ha-ha. Me too. My name is Haley and I live in north-central West Virginia. I'm always bummed when you have listener tales and I think to myself, why doesn't anything spooky or true crimey happen to me that

I can write it about? Okay, maybe not true crimey, but I dig a ghostly visit or an alien encounter or something. However, on a recent show, you mentioned that you wanted to talk about cryptids. And I was like, yes, queens. Legit. West Virginia. has a buttload of cryptids. She is not wrong. Yeah, I actually saw some from West Virginia when I was looking. Of course you did. I grew up hearing stories about Mothman, which we are planning to cover Mothman, but he needs his own episodes. I want to do that one and I want to do it like right. Go for it. Like just go ham on it. You know, creepy-ass giant flying black thing with red glowing eyes that chills in Point Pleasant West Virginia. It is probably the most well-known of the West Virginia cryptid, so I won't go into that one.

Can I say, sorry, you paused, but like very briefly, and I just went for it. I do feel like Mothman, this is a weird thing to say. I don't know if it's like my state of mind right now. I feel like Mothman has Zaddy energy. Okay. All right. It was a weird thing to say. I won't argue with it.

Do you know what I mean? I will, like, sign for it, but I will. You don't know what I mean, though? Like, you don't have to sign off, but like, do you get the sentiment? I get the sentiment. I get the sentiment. He's just like, she's making a very, uh, I guess Zaddy energy type move.

Just like he's got it. He's big. He'll take care of it. She's just wafting her arms back and forth, which I don't know. I kind of like mothband. I get it. All right. Sorry.

All right. There you know. I just needed to take that. Super quick boss. You had to get something off your chest. You had to confess something deep and dark to everybody. And you did that. I appreciate it.

I had to interrupt. Well, Haley said you can do your badass research thing. If you would like to cover it, sending vibes, please cover it. Well, there you go. Okay. It was Haley's vibes that made us do that. It was. However, Mothman isn't the only thing that brings all the crypto zoologists to the figurative

West Virginia yard, though our monsters are better than yours. And they're like, it's better than yours. And there's Haley. I am 33 and me and my daughter compete in pageants all over the state. Don't judge. Mama loves a fancy dress, a shiny hat, and unreasonably high heels. I'm also a lawyer, and you know what they say. Never underestimate a woman with a shiny hat and subpoena power.

Okay, maybe I only. say that, but they should. They should say that. I'm obsessed with you also at this point. I'm like, I want to be your friend. Let's be friends. Anyway, there was a point to that sidebar as my pageant ventures often lead me to the beautiful town of Sutton and Braxton County, West Virginia. In this charming little town, there are not one, but two separate museums each dedicated to a different West Virginia monster. Oh, hell yeah. First, there is the Flatwoods Monster Museum. And don't worry, she's going to describe it a little bit, but I'll get into like the details of my thing. Okay. The Flatwoods, monster, affectionately called Braxie by fans, was a creature encountered by some kids and a mother

in the 1950s. Think alien encounter, like literally. He was said to be super tall, have red skin and green clothes and float. They also reported a strange weird smell. After running for help, others went to the scene to see only some marks on the ground and then the same weird smell. It became local and national news and lives on in West Virginia as one of our lesser known yet beloved cryptids. There are various monster themed things all over the county, including several brachsy chairs that you're supposed to find and take pictures with. I've only found three so far.

Three is a pretty great find, I would say. Three is my lucky number, so I think it's great. There you go. I'm attaching a few photos I took at the museum, including one of a sign with a very stern directive, that there are to be absolutely no seances. Oh, shit. I need to know why. The last time I went, I asked the employee why the stern

warning. And though she did not know, she suspected, as I do, that there is some great story behind that warning. There has to be. She said she would find out. And I thanked her while simultaneously threatening to come back next time with my own Ouija board if I didn't know why I couldn't. I'm really curious. I'm really curious. I love you. I'm really curious if the rule would be enforced, as it would definitely be the most metal thing to get banned from a business for. It definitely would be, I think. I love that. The second museum is the Bigfoot Museum. West Virginia is pretty much just a giant beautiful forest,

so it's no surprise that there are many, many Bigfoot sightings across the state. Bigfoot feet. Big feet. The museum features Bigfoot-based art, accounts of sightings, casts of Bigfoot footprints found all over the state, and many more Bigfoot-themed things. I'm attaching a couple of pictures from that museum as well. In fact, next week is the Bigfoot Festival in Sutton, which I am told will pay homage to all of West Virginia's cryptids.

Wow. That sounds awesome. That sounds like it would be so much fun to go to. These are just a couple of the West Virginia cryptids, but there are many more, including Bat Boy. Yeah, like the musical. Ha ha. There are also many ghostly and haunted places. Look into the Greenbrier Ghost. Who's haunt. Oh, I love that one. Whose hauntings made it into a court transcript and helped prove the ghost had been murdered. It's a great story. That may be what I cover next, actually, because you just inspired me so hard. Can you? Because now I need to know. I don't. don't think I've heard of that. We got to. The, or the Moundsville prison and the Trans-Alegany Asylum,

which we covered in one of our live shows. Oh, yeah. Both are haunted A-F. And of course, there's the site where the West Virginia University co-ed's bodies were found, Sons Heads. Hella close to my house, by the way. Oh, sure. You know, y'all should just come to West Virginia and do a whole damn spooky, weird-ass show. I'll even treat you to a pepperoni roll and some local blackberry wine. Yes, please. Blackberry wine, say no more. Yes. Anyways, thanks for reading if you did. and I hope that you enjoy my photos. Keep it weird. I very much enjoyed your photos.

Shut up. They're the cutest. Shut up. It literally has a sign at the museum that says absolutely no seances. Thank you for your cooperation. Oh my God. I love it. I love it.

It's got big foot. Oh my God. Your child is the cutest. She's so cute. This is just, this is awesome. And she won that big tiara. Hell yeah, she did. She brought home the bacon.

Yeah, she did. Good for you, man. Go, baby, God. So now that we have a little bit of a, you know, a locals perspective on the whole thing. Yes. Let's go into the Flatwoods monster, a.k.a. A.k.a.a.a.a.a.a. or Braxie County Monster or the Phantom of Flatwoods. I do just need to point out that there is only one green monster.

Thank you because I was thinking that the entire time. I will never refer to it as the green monster because there is only one home of the green monster. And that is Fenway, Motherfucking Park. Motherfuckers. That's where I am. I was waiting for you to say Fenway Park because then I was going to say motherfuckers. There it is. We did it twice. We did it twice because Boston. So we are in Flatwoods, West Virginia, and Braxton County.

So twas dusk on September 12th, 1952, when Ed and Fred May, adorable. Ed and Fred, shut up. Brothers 13 and 12 respectively were outside on the front lawn of Flatwoods Elementary School. They were playing with their pals, Neil Nunley, and Teddy Neal and Tommy Hyler. Adorable. They were all between the ages of like 10 and I think like 16, all of them all together. Suddenly they saw something in the sky that appeared to be either on fire or just pulsating red. But they all say they believe it was on fire.

Oh, wow. Like a fireball. And they all described it as a fireball that was at least the size of a house. Jesus. Like a small house. Oh, my goodness. So they're all like, what the fuck. So they watch it.

And it looks like this flaming space object lands on a hillside on or near. G. Bailey Fisher's Farm. So it stopped, like, it kind of just like went, it wasn't going like crazy fast like an asteroid. So they said it went and then it stopped its forward motion, hovered for a split second on a hillside, and then went down like it was landing. Weird. So it like stopped its forward trajectory very quickly. It knew where it was going. It was exactly. It was intentional. So they said the red light was still visible behind the hills where it landed. So they could just see this red pulsating light coming from the hillside. Now the maze later said again that this was not an asteroid, not a shooting star, not some kind of space thing. Not a UFO. That you could,

they believe it might have been a UFO, but they believe it wasn't something that could be explained away like, oh, I saw a meteor. Yes. Because they said it wasn't super fast. It just floated down and intentionally landed. So they immediately run towards it, but they stop on the way to grab the mom of the Mays brothers, Kathleen May. And they wanted her to come. come with them, which was really responsible for 1952, I think, because I feel like back then kids would just, like, run off into the wild blue yonder and, like, never tell anyone. So, like, good for these boys. Good job. Definitely. Yeah, you've seen standby me. Respectable. So Kathleen was like, wow, that sounds very safe and, like, something I want to take you two boys. Like, thank you

for grabbing me for this. I love it. But Kathleen was described as super playful, like very kind, but a very feisty woman. That's what everyone said. Fiery. She sounds great. She's got fire in the She was also fiercely independent after she had divorced from the boy's father in recent years. And she was motivated only by caring for her family. And she did it on her own. And she did it really well according to everybody. I love that. But so when her boys came running and were like, I saw spacecraft crash into that hillside, she was like, let's fucking go.

Let's go. Let's go girls. Which what an odd. But boys. And she, that's a mom right there. That's a cool mom to be like, all right, let's go into the woods and find this fucking spacecraft. Also, is this a movie? Right? It sounds like it, but it's real.

No, no, no. But like, has a movie been made? There is movies that have been made about this. But she got seven, so she was like, all right, let's go. But on the way, she got 17-year-old family friend and distant cousin of theirs who was like visiting the family. And he happened to also be a member of the National Guard. His name was Eugene Lemon, known as Gene. They also got what they described as the community dog. Like it was a dog that was like everybody's dog, Richie, to come with them, too.

He just kind of like wandered with them and they were like, cool, Richie, come on. So this squad hikes on over there and immediately when they arrive in the vicinity, they start to smell rotten eggs. Like they start to smell sulfur. Yep. And it gets worse and worse and worse. Their eyes began burning, they said, and it felt like the air was heavy. Is it when you smell sulfur, that's supposed to be like signify like a demon, isn't it? Yeah, that's definitely, it definitely is like associated with demonic activity.

which has been brought up in this scenario, but mostly they believe this is like some kind of alien encounter, I think. Now a word from our sponsor. I feel like we've been talking so much about burnout lately, but guys, it's like life can be so overwhelming. And a lot of us are burned out and we don't even realize it. If you're feeling like not motivated at all, if you're feeling super irritable all of a sudden or you're just super tired, maybe check in with yourself because you're probably experiencing burnout. Everybody experiences it. And a lot of people think that it only has to do with like your work, like you only get burned out from work.

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slash morbid. That's better h-E-L-P dot com slash morbid. They said it was almost like this gas was surrounding them. Ooh. Yeah. And it was still red and pulsating. And it was definitely as they got closer to it, the size of a small house. There was a ground mist that leaked from the area of the landing site, and it was surrounding

them as well. Strangerthings.com. Truly stranger things. Guys, stranger things is so good. I can't get over any need to come back. It's so close to coming back. I'm ready for it. Okay.

I got to start. You got to start. I know. I'm busy. So I'm busy. I'm booked and busy. It's worth it. So Richie, now this is really sad.

Oh, no. Just warning. Great. Richie, the dog, ran towards the mist and toward the egg-shaped craft that was pulsating in the center of the site. When he got close to it, he suddenly stopped and started to howl. And then ran back down into town away. from the site, like just pieced out of there.

Okay. He was found later by people in the village and he was vomiting uncontrollably. Oh, no. He was taken to a vet and he died unexplainably. Do you think it was like radiation? Well, that's what, as we'll see, this, something was leaking out of here for sure. Oh, shit. So suddenly when Eugene Lemon shown his flashlight towards a sound that was emitting from behind

them, because they're all staring at this craft being like, what the fuck is this? They hear some weird sound behind them. So he flicks his flashlight over there. And there was an old wooden gate. And when they turned, they saw it. It was floating above some of the tree branches and seemed to be searching the horizon for something or just surveying it. It was a 10-foot-tall creature with a red-colored head that was the shape of a spade. What?

And it was pointed at the top like a spade. It had glowing eyes, like glowing green eyes. And gnarled arms and hands, or at least things that they were like protrusions that looked like arms. arms or hands, but they were all gnarled up and they looked kind of like stringy claws kind of thing. Even stranger, it was wearing what was described as green metal armor like a dress almost. What? It almost looked like it was wearing like a metal dress. It was floating above the ground and it was shrieking.

Oh, my goodness. For a second there, it was giving me like my life as a teenage robot vibes, but things changed. It changed very quick. You're like, I don't know what that is. And now it's just shrieking above the trees. Well, later in an interview about this incident, Kathleen May, the mom, said when Gene's flashlight beam hit the creature, it lit up like a Christmas tree. What? Now, it saw them, like when they flashed the light over and it started hissing.

No. And Kathleen described the hiss as frying, like frying bacon in a pan. Yeah, like a hiss. And it tried to hover over to them. No, get away from me. They all ran the fuck out of there. It's 10 feet tall. How do you run away from that?

They just got the hell out of there. In fact, one of the Mays brothers said there was a six-foot-tall fence down the hill where they were running and it had a gate. But he was laughing during an interview later talking about this one, like now, like when he was a wilder. And he was doing an interview with small town monsters, which is like a documentary crew that I'm going to talk about their documentary in this too. It's really interesting. And I tell I'm going to recommend you check it out because it's very interesting. They really talk to a lot of people involved in this and I loved it. Cool.

And it's called the Flatwoods Monster documentary. Why? I don't know why they chose that, but I guess maybe find out in the documentary. Cool. But they're great. And in this, so in this, one of the Mays brothers said he read in the paper that his mom jumped that six-foot dolphins. And in the dock, he's like, she was an athletic type, but I don't know if she was that athletic. It was like so funny how like amazing these stories.

Oh, yeah. They turned so crazy. Now, they swore that this poisonous gas was leaking out of this thing. They were like something was leaking out of it. Yeah, something happened to that, pupo. Yeah, in a newspaper actually described it as oozing evil. Oh. Now, Gene Lemon dropped his flashlight screaming and ran the fuck back, which made them all lose

it and run back too. Like, this thing was coming at them. They were gone. Kathleen later said in an interview, quote, it was a hideous sight and I wished I had not seen it. Oh. Now, the maze boys believe it was a mechanical thing. They don't believe it was a living organic thing that they saw.

And they said it came off very mechanical and even described it as having almost like portholes that had lights behind them. What? So they believed they were like, it seemed like it was something that was sent out of this craft to like survey the area and maybe had something organic inside of it, but that it was like an armored kind of outside. It was invadersim. That's what it was, I bet.

You remember that. Yeah, I do remember that. It was that. But they said, to this day, they believed this was a mechanical thing that maybe had something organic inside of it because it was pretty, like, sentient and detected them when they were there. So they were like, they felt like there was something inside of it controlling it, maybe. Wasn't the government? Well, the government gets involved.

The government always gets involved. Of course they do. No, once they, so once they had got back home, they summoned Sheriff Rock. Robert Carr and one of the co-owners of the Braxton Democrat, which was a local newspaper, his name was A. Lee Stewart. So Stewart said at the site, because they went back to the site to go check this out. So Stewart said that at the site, there was a, quote, sickening burnt metallic odor still prevailing. So they still smelled this thing. Get your mask on. Yeah. The sheriff and some deputies said there was also a sickening smell, but that's it. They didn't see

anything. They just smelt it. Now, according to Braxton, West Virginia website, for days, a few of them were sick with nausea and vomiting and sore throats. What? Gene Lemon had vomiting and convulsions the entire evening after returning home, and he had throat irritation for weeks. And this family confirmed this. This is definitely something extraterrestrial because it's giving me, remember when we did the black-eyed children and all the after effects of that? And the woman and her husband developed all these crazy symptoms. Yeah, and this tends to be a thing with like extraterrestrial things. It does. It does. And in fact, a doctor who treated a lot of them said that their symptoms actually resembled people who experienced or were exposed to mustard gas. Oh, shit. Yeah.

Now, Stewart also published in the newspaper, quote, those people were the most scared people I've ever seen. People don't make up that kind of story that quickly. No. Because they called them immediately over. And they were like, all of them had the same story and they were all freaking the fuck out. Yeah. And it's like, well, look at this giant thing. Yeah. Like we didn't just create this. Exactly. And then put mustard gas around it to ooze. Exactly. So there was another report of this that came out later the same night. Oh. So Edith and George Snitowski, they were a couple and they were driving through the same night of the incident. They were driving through the area. And they were reporting something wild. So they were from New York and they were

driving through the scenic route on their way through West Virginia on a trip. I think they were like going to Ohio or something. They drove through a road that went between the towns of Frametown and Gas Away, which are two incorporated towns in Braxton County. They reported their car suddenly stalled, even though it had just had the battery replaced in preparation for this trip. Then their baby, who was with them in the car, started to gag. Oh no. And a smell that was putrid like sulfur, was overpowering all around them. Oh, shit. So George gets out and he opens the hood because he's wearing, and like Edith is taking

care of the baby. And he's where there's something in the car that's like burning or something. He's like, something's going on. But he said, then he saw a huge flash of light from the woods to the side of him. And he looked towards it. And he said he suddenly started becoming lightheaded and he started vomiting from the smell. And so he stumbled back to the car. And as he's coming towards the car, he hears his wife screaming.

Oh, my God. And he's like, what is going on? And she's saying, turn around this something behind you. Oh, I just got chills at my back. He turned behind him and saw a giant creature eight to nine feet tall. He said it was floating with no legs that he could see. It had a bloated body and oversized head with spindly arm-like protrusions. But he said he didn't get like details were hard to make out.

And it was gliding rapidly towards him. My God, what the fuck? So he jumped in the car and he put Edith and their child. on the floor of the car, and they just hid and cowered together. He just, like, put himself over them, and it floated past their car and into the woods. Can you imagine if it, like, floated by and just, like, nana, nana, boo-boo. Hey, bitches. And then just went and off into the...

That would be kind of, I call it. I'd be like, I love this thing. Serving extraterrestrial realness. I love it. But it went by, and when it floated past the car, he said it seemed to run its, like, spindly arm thing against the hood. The next morning, because they were like not getting out of that car.

Never. The next morning they got out, there was a brown burnt spot on the hood where he had touched it. Ew, and you know what that sounded like too. Yeah, it's gross. Now, another report of this was there was another farmer in the county who gave a story from the same night said he saw a big

craft, like aircraft, and he watched it pulse red and orange for 10 to 15 minutes in the hillside. Yeah. He said it looked like it was getting weaker and weaker, and after 20 minutes, it was only a pinpoint of light. And then eventually when he looked again, it was gone. Yeah, because it went back to outer space. It left. Now, another guy said, he saw it come, land in that hillside, and he said he watched it leave. So a lot of other residents said they had also seen it go across the sky at the same time that all the maize kids had seen it.

The sheriff, Robert Carr, conducted interviews in the area, which is how they got some of these reports. And Jean Lemmon's mother said when the whole thing occurred, their house shook violently, and the radio cut out for 45 minutes. Oh, I love how spooky this is. Isn't this super spooky? I was like, damn, this is like intense. And the director of the local board of education filed a report saying he saw a strange aircraft take off from the area at 6.30 a.m. the next morning. And this was after the whole incident had occurred. Weird. So the next day, September 13th, the Westford Virginia National Guard from Gasaway was activated and sent out to the site by the United States Air Force. Shut up.

The Special Forces operation was led by Captain Levitt. Apparently they did find evidence that something was there, and they were ordered to send it to the Pentagon. Oh, shit. There was a 20-foot impression in the ground, like a crop circle almost, where everything was flattened. There was greasy stuff on the grass in this impression, and it smelled like burnt sulfur. And did they ever determine what it actually was? Well, he was promoted to Colonel Leavitt years later. So, you know, this is like a guy who's like on a shit.

And he still maintained that all this was true. He said, I was there. I smelled it. I touched it. And he said the government never released the result of the testing that they were doing on that substance. That is not fair. Secret secrets are no fun.

Secret secrets hurt someone. And in this case, they hurt everybody. Yeah. Now, later that year, Kathleen May and Jean Lerner, and spoke with a TV show, We the People. And on this episode, they revealed a sketch of a monster done from their descriptions, and you can see it in Google if you Google this. And it's like a very weird looking monster.

Now, according to a really fun and creepy documentary that I mentioned earlier, called The Flatwoods Monster by Small Town Monsters, some people think that if the Flatwoods monster ever returns, then it would spell disaster. They believe it would be like a really bad omen, and that this would mean like the end of everything. This thing is so creepy. Isn't it weird looking?

And if it means the end of everything, then I'm scared. Yeah. Now, Ed and Fred May are featured in the documentary I mentioned, which I'm going to link the doc so you guys can get it if you want to. And they both say they are totally fine with people being skeptical about what they saw and experience. They're like, we don't care. I'm not.

We know what we saw. But they said, and from what I've seen, a lot of people believed them. Like, this is not something that was just brushed off as like, oh, these are. people are crazy. Well, because it would be one thing if, like, they were the only people that had this experience. This is a big group of people. This is, yeah, it's like, it seems like people across the towns saw something at least. And had very similar descriptions. That's the thing. Not even, like, they were all pretty much the same. Well, and then Kathleen May later claimed she received a letter from the Pentagon.

Fuck yeah. Assuring her that the evening everyone had experienced the whole thing was they had experienced seeing experimental rockets that were government sanctioned and there was nothing else to speak about and that she should stop telling the story that she's telling. Oh. And she was like, bitch make me. And then she just kept saying it. Because she was like, those were not experimental rockets. How do you describe?

She was like, are these experimental rockets, do they have aliens on them? and are they also equipped with like a mustard gas type substance that you're poisoning people with? Like what? Yeah. Like, do you want to explain any of that? The damage control you tried to do here? Like, good effort. Now, what's cool about Braxton County, West Virginia, is they really embrace this cryptid.

Yeah. I love it. The sign for the town says, welcome to Flatwood's home of the green monster. Which, like, lie. Let's change it to the Flatwoods monster, I feel. Wally doesn't live there. Because Wally does not live there. Our Boston heads know.

Thank you. But you know, love it. Love that they're embracing it. Love that for you. Yeah. Plus your heart. Which apparently, we got an influx of messages that that is not always. It's not always a mean.

It's not always snarky. Oh, okay. Hey, we learn something new every day. I guess you just say it however the fuck you want. Yeah. Say whatever the fuck you want. I was going to say, much like everything else, just do it however the fuck you want. Do it however you want to.

Now, they used to also have a three-day music festival that was like about the Flatwoods Monster. Why did it stop? They don't have it anymore. I'm not really sure why. That's lame. But they do a lot of things. They have a really intense museum about it created in 2017. That's still there.

That's what the museum that our listener, Haley, told us about and sent us pictures from. I want to go. Sounds great. I want to go too. I'm really into it. And I guess it's like dedicated to all the lore, the history, the tales. It's a ton of paraphernalia from it. Love.

It's really cool. In 1973, the Braxton County Junior Chamber of Commerce had lantern covers made by like a local artisan that looked like Braxie and they would put them over like the lanterns like so they're really going for it and it was part of a fundraiser which is cool sick they seem to be using this as like a way to like do some good i think which is cool um and to celebrate this unique cryptid the braxton county convention and visitors bureau has created what our our friend haley let us know about the brachston county monster chair projects they set up landmarks that are actually 10 foot tall chairs that look like Braxie. You're supposed to find them and it's like a fun game. They're all

painted differently so you can make sure you see them all. You're not seeing the same one. And apparently, according to a website I stumbled upon called terror daves.com where this guy Dave goes through these cool places. What up Dave. Hey Dave. Dave went to these locations. Of course Dave went there. Yeah, Dave's always going there. He said there's also QR codes at each location where you can scan it and it'll give you some history and information about Braxie and the whole thing. I think QR codes are like the coolest thing that's happened lately. Yeah.

Are they new? I think they're like relatively new. Okay. I thought so too. I love a good QR code. Yeah. I mean, they have to be like somewhat new because like we haven't had that technology for a while. That's really cool.

Yeah. And you can like find out more about it. So it's like a fun little hunt you can do with like your kids or like something cool. Now what I also found very interesting about this is I. I guess he was featured in like the Flatwoods monster has been like at least the likeness has been featured in a couple of games like video games. Yeah. And there's one that's very interesting.

It's in the Fallout 76 video game, which I know I've heard of Fallout before. If you want to know where you can find it if you happen to play or if you want to because now I kind of want to play it. Because I know I have some gamers listening right now and like I want you to know where you can find the Flatwoods monster in it. Let me tell you were a game, baby. Well, if you're in the Fallout 76 game, you can usually find one of the Flatwoods monsters at Abbey's bunker in the Wire, also near the Southampton Estate. Interestingly, I saw there was also a sighting in the game southeast of Spruce Knob channels on a cliff.

Why I found that interesting was because during researching real-life sightings of Braxie, there was a possible sighting of one landing in the James Knob area of Braxton County as well. And I wonder if that's coincidental or if the game did that on purpose. Like put it in a knob. You know? A nod to the knob. Exactly. A nod to the knob. Also, they have been spotted in the game in the Savage Divide region and somewhere in the sunny top ski lanes in that game.

Huh. And finally, you can find one usually spawning near the converted munitions factory in the game, obviously. Thank you for that. I found this information at gamewatcher.com. So check out there if you want to find more information about it because they let you know about it. Fun. Apparently there's a hostile and a docile version of the Flatwoods monster in the game. So, like, good luck if you find it.

Yeah, some of them just chill and, like, float away, I guess, and the other ones will, like, attack you. And I guess it's part of, like, a mission. But they're purple in the game, like, purple and misty and, like, kind of pretty. All of them, all good and fun. The ones I saw pictures of, at least. But go check it out if you're a gamer and let us know how it went. I want to know if you were able to defeat the Flatwoods monster. and that is the entire story that I could find about the Flatwoods monster.

That's cool. I've definitely seen the picture of it before, but I hadn't heard the story. Yeah, that's it. Wow, I like that. I love it. I want some more of it. There you go. I want to go to West Virginia and see this museum.

Well, first we have to go to Ohio, Michigan, and Connecticut. Let's go. Because the melon heads are there. The melon heads. So the melon heads are like kind of a crypted, kind of human, kind of ghost. but all legend, baby. I love that. So they are native, like I just said, specifically to Ohio, Connecticut, and Michigan.

I'm from Michigan. Every time. Every time. I'm from Michigan. I'm from Michigan. So what you need to know about melon heads, as they're like really cruelly called, is that they now occupy the wooded area, specifically around the old felt mansion and the abandoned asylum

that used to be known as Junction Insane Asylum in Holland, Michigan. Okay. In Ohio, they are said to occupy an area of woods near, it's either Wisener or Wisner. I'm going to say Wisner. Yeah, it feels right. Yeah. Near Wisner Road in Kirtland. And in Connecticut, they obviously occupy a road that has become known as Dracula Drive.

Yeah. Yep. Its real name is Velvet Street, and I happen to be obsessed with that. Both of those are, they go hand in hand, so that makes sense. I think of Velvet and Dracula. It should just be like velvet Dracula Drive. Yeah. Name change requested.

Dracula's Velvet Drive. Thank you. There you go. We got it. Ooh. I like that better. Yeah. Look at that.

Two heads. Better than one. There we go. Now, supposedly they're like a bit mischievous in some stories. Like they're, they just want to have a little fun. They won't even hurt you. Yeah. And other stories, they're going to like rock your world.

They're going to scare the shit out of you. Okay. I don't know. I don't know. Get you a melon head that can do it all. Not, not both just at all. just everything. Now, so why are they called Melan Hensel? Why? Because I'm picturing something very terrifying. You're correct in that. Okay, cool. But there's a couple different theories to go over. So buckle up.

I'm buckled. To get into the first one, we have to talk about this doctor, Dr. Crow. I don't actually think there's any evidence that this man truly existed, but I do think like the creation or idea of him was actually inspired by another doctor who did exist and has connections to this tale that we will talk about. Okay. So this. So this. The story goes that Dr. Crow, he worked out some kind of deal with this nearby medical hospital, excuse me, they're all medical, mental hospital. And in turn, he ended up acquiring care of some of these patients who were being treated there. Now, the problem with that was that he didn't actually want to take care of these patients himself.

He wanted to perform different experiments on them. Oh, but as a good doctor should. Yeah, specifically on their brains. Oh. So he got to work straight away in some kind of, like, like Dr. Satan underground layer. Dr. Satan, good callback. You're welcome.

I did that specifically for you. For the Zomb. Yeah. But none of his experiments were working out like he was hoping. And all of the patients that he worked on, they ended up suffering from the same condition because of all this failed work. Since he was fucking around with their brain so much,

over time they developed hydrocephalus, which is simply a buildup of cibro spinal fluid in the brain. I was wondering if hydrocephaly was a problem. part of this? It certainly is. Yes. It's the biggest part of this. It is it. It is. Now, so this led to their heads becoming swollen and misshapen and also led to brain damage, which made these people completely unaware of what was really happening to them. Oh my God, that's horrible. But in turn, it made it easier for Dr. Crow to control them. Of course. But from time to time when he was working on one person, another one would wander out of the layer. And eventually people in the area started to

become aware of the melonhead's presence. They didn't realize what was actually happening, like, to these people, and they just thought that it was some kind of monster. Yeah. And that's when they started becoming known and around the area as melon heads. Oh, okay. Now, in another variation of the story with Dr. Crow, he's actually, like, a good dude. Oh. And he's living in the woods with his wife. Okay. So I love that he gets, like, two very distinct, like, stories about him. He gets three raps. One of them is totally, like, whatever. and then the other two are like horrific. Cool. Okay.

This one is totally whatever. All right. So he's loving in the woods with his wife. The town comes to them with these children that have hydrocephalus and they're not really sure like what to do and they're like, doctor, you must know. And like, you know, Mrs. Crow, you're a fine woman. Can you help us? So they're like, all right, we'll take them in.

Like what else are we going to do? We want to treat their brain trauma that they're having. Yeah, of course. You know? But it doesn't seem to work. Like they can't really do anything to change it. So they're like, you know what, let's just like take these, take care of these kids as they are. Usually hydrocephalus will lead to death.

Yeah. But not in this case. Okay. So over the, overtime, the wife, Mrs. Crow, becomes like really close with all the children. But as she's starting to look at them as though they're her own children, they're getting bullied by all kinds of people in town calling the melon hens. Oh, that's sad. It's so sad. I mean.

What does a good mama do? protect her young. Hell yeah. And Mrs. Crow was no damn exception. She would read any motherfucker to filth if they messed with her babies or if they made fun of them. Yeah. And because of that, the children really started looking to her like she was their mother. And this, like, beautiful bond over the years happened.

I love this. And they became incredibly close and lived happily ever after. Oh, my goodness. Not true. Oh. They didn't live happily ever after because Mrs. Crow already was an older woman when the town approach and said like, hey, can you help us? So they didn't have a lot of time with her before she passed away. And when she did pass, they didn't really know what to do with themselves.

Like, yeah. And they have fluid in their brain so they're not acting as if like you and I would. Yeah. They just become fully panicked and kind of just start running around the small cabin. Yeah. Panicked and just not knowing what to do. And the doctor's trying to like wrangle them all up and calm them down, but it turns into this full blown frenzy. And in the frenzy, somebody or somehow a kerosene lantern got knocked over and the entire cabin caught fire and everyone inside died. Oh. Now, the belief is that if you go out to the woods where all this happened, you could run into the ghost children that are all stuck there for eternity. That's horrifying and I hate it. Yeah. I don't want to run into them. I don't either. Especially not if they like burned in a

fire. Yeah. Like I'm good. No. No. Because already they were having a lot going on. Yeah, this is just not going to be a great thing to come across. It's not. No. So we got one more variation. This one is horrific. As if the other two aren't.

Yeah. I mean, the first one, it was like started off, or the second one, excuse me, started off like so beautiful. Yeah, totally did. Bonds and shit. Yeah. This one, there's no bonding. Oh, good.

There's still Dr. Crow. I don't know where his wife is in this one. She ceases to exist anymore. But he still lives in that weird little cabin in the woods. And this one is deep dark and hell of disturbing. Oh, good. So in this one, he was performing these, like, super janky operations, mainly on pregnant women. Oh.

Because it was such a janky operation, a lot of the women and also their babies didn't survive. And the babies that did survive, he was, like, doing all kinds of weird shit to them. So they got hydrocephalus. Yeah. It just became horrible. And over time, they would pass away, and he would bury their bodies in the woods next to his home. Now these days people will see ghosts of those babies that he worked on that didn't make it and that they became like deformed during the process.

And people will also hear cries coming from the area. And according to Weird U.S., which is like a really fun source, like they have a ton of information about different cryptids and creepy shit. But now, according to them, there's a bridge where the cabin used to be and it has officially been inducted into Cry Baby Bridge for Gade. Always a crybaby bridge. Always. I created that club, like the crybaby bridge brigade, not like the baby's crying. Oh, okay. I was like, you're going to have to explain that to me because I don't understand why you're making a lot of babies cry.

No, I would never. I love babies. Who doesn't love babies? I don't know. People that throw them off bridges. I guess. So I think the reason why so many of the stories about the melon heads include the mention of like some crazed doctor is because the mansion that I mentioned in the beginning of the story felt mansion. actually was owned by a doctor originally. Okay. Dr. Dorfelt, that's the name. Now, since there are sightings in the area around Felt Mansion, and there's also an abandoned asylum right near the mansion, it like kind of works for the story. Oh, yeah, for sure.

You know? So Felt Mansion actually has quite a history. When the Felt family was done residing there, it became the St. Augustine Seminary for boys, and this was around the year 1949. Now, one boy that went to school there told the Grand Haven Traylor. Tribune that this was when the whole melonhead saga kind of began, but it had nothing to do with the ghosts of children who burned in a cabin because of some crazy doctor and actually had more of an academic meaning.

Oh, okay. Yes, he told them. He told them, quote, rumors start because of the unknown. The melonheads were actually seminarians at St. Augustine's Seminary in the Felt Mansion. The local kids called us that because it was a private school and we were brainy. Oh. But what is the truth? What's the truth?

I don't want to believe that. It's just because you're, like, smart. Yeah, like you guys are just melon heads. They'd call them melonheads because you got big brain. Oh, you got your big brain in your cranium. I'd be like, yeah, I'm a melon head. What? Yeah, bitch.

I don't know. I like to believe that there's, like, actual melonheads. I don't really like to believe that, like, they came about in the way that they did, but... I just want to believe that there's some totally, like, just different creature with just a big bloated head. Yeah. That just walk around scaring the shit out of everybody. And it has nothing to do with Dr. Crow. No.

No kids. No. No, like hydrocephalus. Like, nothing. I don't want any of that. I want, I want, I want weird ass cryptids that have nothing to do with real, real life. And just, just wandering around, scaring the shit out of me with their bloated heads. I also want that. Yeah.

Did you look at pictures, by the way? I did. The pictures don't give me, like, child vibes. They give me, like, like, um, like the wrong turn vibes. Yeah, exactly. That's what they gave me. I was like, okay. That, if you just give me that with no backstory to why they are the way they are,

I'd rather that. Yeah. Well, so after the seminary school ceased to exist anymore, Michigan actually bought the property. I think it was around the late 70s that this happened. And at that point, they actually converted the mansion into a prison. Oh. Now, for some reason, the prison only stuck around a little less than 20 years and was sold to Lake Township around the late 90s, allegedly for a dollar and the promise that they would

preserve it. I love that. A dollar and a promise. We love it. You get a whole ass mansion for it's a dollar value. Yeah, there you go. So now it is actually on the National Register of Historic Places. Oh, look at that. But throughout the years and all the changing of hands, the sightings of the melonheads, whether they were ghosts of seminary Brainiacs or ghosts of mistreated orphaned children. They've never stopped. I want them to be ghosts of seminary brainiacs now. I've decided. I think they are. And side note, one of our listeners actually wrote, wrote in about the felt mansion and told us that now it's used as a wedding venue and it's like also a museum. But they catered a wedding there, this listener, and they said, quote, the wedding was going on and we

were inside setting up. I was carrying silverware and saw a reflection of something white in the hardwood floors coming around the corner. I stopped and waited for whoever it was to pass, but as I got closer, no one was there. I got a crazy cold rush and had goosebumps everywhere. I looked everywhere and there was nobody in that part of the house. What? They also said that a woman who lived in the mansion before it ended up being like a wedding venue museum, one day this woman opened her door and this is gross and horrifying. She found a deer leg on her doorstep like all chewed up.

What the fuck? Like somebody had like chewed on it. And then just left it for? And then just left it. Damn. I can't imagine that's a good sign of things to come. It feels like a bad omen. I don't know.

I feel like it's probably part of the room. reason why she no longer lives there. Probably. Yeah. But people who have visited the mansion like these days, they will see curtains moving, even though no one's inside. They hear like footsteps as if they're being followed and like heavy breathing or they'll see shadows while they're in the woods and around the mansion. Now, one of the ones I saw reported most actually like experiences comes from a book that I think we've referenced before. It's Weird New England by Joseph Citro. Hell yeah. intro. So in this story, six girls from Connecticut, Sue, Kim, Deb, Karen, Megan, and Jen are driving down what road? The Dracula Velvet Road? Dracula Drive. Hell yeah. Now, they're driving

around. They're telling tales of the melon heads and all kinds of other legends that have come out of Dracula Drive over the years. It's the 80s. They definitely have Cindy Lopper bumping. You know, girls just want to have a good time. Oh yeah. They're playing. And running up that hill by Kate Bush. They're on it. Running up that hill. Yes. But anyway, they're driving around and all of a sudden one of them has this really great idea.

They're like, oh, my God, guys, we should just like pull aside. We should park the car and just get out and explore. It'll be so much fun. And you know what we all say? Shut up, Jen. Yeah. Shut the fuck up, Megan. But no one asked you, Megan.

Sit down, Jennifer. So nobody said that. They were like, great idea, Meg. They all park. They get out. They're at a silly, goofy mood, exploring, probably just trying to scare the shit out of each other. Yeah, it sounds fun. And they're making their way down the path a little ways away from their car.

But as they're, you know, vibing, as they're vibing, a serious vibe check occurs. And the vibe is no longer a persuasion of vibe that you would actually want to vibe with any longer. It is no longer immaculate. It is, the vibe has not, has not remained immaculate. Has been tainted. Yeah. And it was tainted by the, they hear a car door. slam. More specifically, their car door. Oh, no. So they look around, but all of them are accounted for.

No. So who the fuck just did that? Well, no time to figure that out because as they're trying to, the car starts driving at them and seems to have no problem running them down if they don't jump out of the way. Luckily, they do. And as the car whizzes by them, they catch a glimpse of the people inside. And they would later describe these people as, quote, child-sized humanoid, dressed in ragged clothing. and with humongous heads and wide eyes that glowed with an orange light. It's funny to you? You're a, you're a mall. You just got carjacked by a bunch of kids with huge heads.

Big heads in Elena's eyes. Like, that's in my eyes. I'd be like, what the fuck? Like, why did these children just take our car? Well, I've found it creepy. And if it sure is. If it's not creepy enough, you all the passengers inside like all those little little demon kids with the heads they were giggling

menacingly and like almost demonically it's a joy red you know they're all having a blast that's actually like exactly what they described at us now they never found their car but luckily they were able to haul ass out of those woods and they live to tell the tail and their melon heads just stole their car straight up jacked their car they never found their car wow their moms must have been so mad. And when you tell, if my kid came to me and was like, a bunch of melon heads took my car, I'd be like, get in here right now. Like, are you kidding me? What'd you do? But honestly, I might believe my kids because I'd be like, well, like, I'm sure you want your car. And I'd be like, that's a weird, that's a weird lie to tell. If you went with that. I know. But it could be,

like, the listener tales that's going to come out either next week or like next year. I don't remember. Next year. But, um, yeah, I lost it. I was going with that. COVID brain is still a thing. What did, what the fuck? I don't know where you. I hate when that happens. It makes me feel like I'm like losing my brain. Yeah, I don't know where you were going with it. Yeah, me either. So we'll catch you in next week. But anyways, I found a bunch of experiences that people have had with melon heads on this website called Mysterious Universe. I'll link that article so that you guys can read some more of them. That one that I just told was also featured on there. But with that, I want to get into one of our very own weirdos experience

with melonheads. Yes. And this was sent in by a listener named Kristen. All right, Kristen, bring it. Not saying their last name because they didn't say whether I could or not. So they said, hi, Ashton Elena. I have begun listening to your podcast during quarantine working from home and it has quickly become addicting. I love your relationship and it makes me wish I had an older sister. Only child here.

Anyway, I had to tell you this story for my teenage years. It took place in Holland, Michigan, outside in the dark at a place called the Bowl. Ooh. In 2010, my best friend Ashley and I knew of a place in Holland, Michigan on the beach called the bowl. Lots of teens post high school would go there to hang out because it was secluded and on the shore of Lake Michigan. It was not marked by any, it was not a marked place by any means. You had to drive around a two lane twisty road to find a small pond and that's where you parked on the side of the road. No streetlights were present. We'd grab our

backpacks full of shitty beer and blankets and set off into the woods. You walked a barely visible trail winding all around until you'd reach a huge sand hill. Side note, the shores of Lake Michigan have sand dunes everywhere and they're beautiful. This hill was no joke. I swear it was almost a 90 degree angle and it was high as hell. It took 30-ish minutes to climb and if and that's if you were not a dumb smoker like lots of us were. Once at the top you would see over the tops of the trees for miles. You could see the downtown buildings of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was 32 miles away. It was so cool. Then the other side was a long gradual sand hill. You could almost run down to a pit of sorts. and then the lake was on the other side.

It made for a super secret of place to camp or have a fire or even skinny dip, ha ha. So saucy. I know, so sauce. So Ashley and I went to the bowl, just her and I. It was Friday night about 11 p.m. by the time we got there. I remember how dark it was. And something inside of me was telling me it was not a good idea to start on the trail when it was already dark. She was ticked.

We drove all the way there 30 minutes and I was refusing to get out. We drove home and found some other dumb shit to do. But the next day, we decided to go back again. We left about 5.30 p.m. We got there, walked the trail, climbed the hill, and voila. It was awesome. We climbed around, I drank, she smoked, we took pictures of each other with our digital cameras because what else do you do when you're 19?

It was about 9.30 p.m. when we decided to go home. We packed our stuff, including snacks and blankets and, you know, whatever else we brought. When you have to descend that steep-ass sand dune, I mentioned, it was almost too hard to walk down if that makes sense. It was so steep. It was like your steps were jumps. And when you reached the bottom, it was so much darker because you were under the trees at this point. It was a lot darker than I thought it was.

Insta scared. We were walking down the trail to the car and Ashley and I started to get quiet. We could tell that something was following along with our footsteps to the right of us in the woods. Somehow that's like almost scarier than behind you. Yeah, I hate that. It was very audible because there were leaves and branches being stepped on, though we could not see any. in the dark. But if we stopped, the other footsteps stopped. This was our worst nightmare. We were in the middle of nowhere and no one would have heard us or helped if we needed it. The footsteps continued

and the sound was to my right only about six feet away. I was both paralyzed with fear and fighting the urge to run. Ashley somehow kept her fucking cool as we were being followed and probably stared at by whatever the fuck this was. For some reason, maybe for the snacks, I had a butter knife in my bag and I swung it around slowly while we walked and I pulled it out. Better than nothing, I guess. It is. We laugh about that to this day, a butter knife. It was obvious to the both of us that this thing was not an animal. It was walking with steps similar to ours. It felt like we walked for over an hour like this until we got to the road. Ashley set off her car alarm on her key fob and we ran to the car. I don't know how long we sat there freaking out with the doors locked before we drove home.

but she and I have a pact. If something paranormal or other wordly happens to one of us, the other will believe them. So we jumped online and started looking for anything in Holland, Michigan, to explain what could have happened. And yikes. The Felt Mission, excuse me, the Felt Mansion is an old abandoned house very near to where we were at the bowl, and it's rumored to be haunted, like I told you. It's fucking spooky. It's been used as a home, a Catholic prep school, purchased by the police department, la, la, la. there's also a building near it called Junction Insane Asylum.

This place is also terrifying. And then they went in to explain what the melonheads are, but I already told you. And they said, they wrote, that's from Wikipedia, of course. And had we known that, we would not have fucked around at night there. I had chills just typing this because we were so close to where this asylum was. Here's some photos from inside the asylum right now that are spooky as fuck. We'll try to see if we can post those. There you go.

And then they said, with all the folklore of stories and people seeing slash almost see people seeing slash almost seeing these feral ass creatures. I feel like this could almost be a whole episode. I don't know, but I don't know, but this email is the tip of the iceberg and I will find a picture of the bowl to send you so that you can better understand it. And then they said, forgot to include an important detail. When Ashley and I were at the bottom of the hill on the bowl part of the dune, we left our bags and stuff at the top because we were the only ones there. As we were walking up, Ashley swear she saw the top of several heads peeking over the side of the hill. No. She could only see the tops of them as we were so far below at the bottom of the hill. We joked then that it was other people as they were leaving us. Excuse me, we joked then that it was other people as they were leaving and they noticed people were already there and didn't want to share the same space. But it was probably the melon heads checking us out. Yep. Lots of people claim that they hide out in the woods and are good at being undetected because they know the land inside and out.

Oh. It gives me such wrong turn. It does. That's all I can think of is wrong turn. And I just can't imagine, like, obviously, like, not knowing anything about this whole legend and, like, seeing, like, some people and, like, talking about it being like, oh, ha-ha, they probably don't want to share space with us. And then being, like, looking back later and being, like, were those fucking melon heads? Yeah. Like, just being like, what the fuck? Because you only saw the top of their head. No, the top of their melon heads. And she said it was, like, a few people. Like, imagine, like, just, like, looking back and being, like, seven melon heads were just, like, like, sizing my shit up. I hate it. So creepy. I hate it so much. So creepy. Oh, yeah. Kristen. Kristen. Holy shit. Melan heads. Flatwoods monsters.

Galore. Remind me to both never go in these woods where these things are and also to go in because I want to see you. Yeah. I want to vibe a vibe that is the viziest of vibes. There you go. Vibes. Well, guys, that was the Flat Woods Monster. Yep.

And this was the melon heads of Ohio, Michigan, and Connecticut. And if you guys have any. other experiences that you want to write in about this? Let us know. Like, maybe we can share another one next time we do more cryptids. I was going to say, because we can start the next cryptids episode with any further ones that you guys have for these ones. Yeah. And if you have any cryptids recommendations, just write like cryptids recommendation to morbid podcast at gmail.com. Or if you, you know, if you have like experiences like we just have, send those to. Yeah. Because we've gotten a lot of flesh pedestrian experiences. So we will definitely be touching

upon those at some point. But we'll let you know. Maybe when we talk about like a certain ranch. Yeah, a ranch. A ranch. A ranch. You were definitely going to go like, a ranch. A ranch. But yeah, this was fun.

This was. I definitely want to do some more cryptids at some point because it's just, it's just all fun. It's just all fun in games. It is. We're all mad here. Until somebody gets abducted by an alien that's wearing a metal dress. Yeah, that's the expression. Yeah.

So we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not's worth that you get abducted by an alien wearing a metal dress because that would really suck for you. And it's somewhere that you go hiking in the woods and you see the melon heads and you're not sure if they're the melon heads. But then you go home and you find out that those might have been the melon heads. They were. Don't keep it that weird.