The Tape Library - Archive of the Paranormal & the Unexplained - America’s Real-Life Village of the Damned | The Horrifying Legends of Dudleytown

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

Deep in the forests of Connecticut lies a village lost to time — and to something darker. This is the story of Dudleytown, a place plagued by insanity, disappearances, and whispers of an ancient curse. In this video, we explore the chilling history, the twisted fates of its inhabitants, and the legends that refuse to die. Support the channel with Patreon - www.patreon.com/thetapelibrary Do you have a supernatural story to share? Drop me an email at [e-mail] You can check out The Tape Library in audio form on all of your favourite podcast providers. Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thetapelibrary Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thetapelibrary Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Tape-Library/100094332411836/ Archive of the Paranormal, the strange and the unexplained. The Tape Library brings you the creepiest stories, to keep you horror junkies up all night. True scary stories of ghosts, cryptids, UFOs and true crime. Additional footage and audio from Evanto, Artgrid, Epidemic Sounds, Singularity, Midjourney and Pexels. Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio and the youtube audio library.  All other footage used under fair use. Sources The Legends of Dudleytown Gary P Dudley Ghost Hunters - Robert David Chase/ The Warrens Dudleytown: Voices from the Dark Forest by Dr. William C. Dunlap Haunted Connecticut by Cheri Farnsworth https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/nyregion/the-view-from-dudleytown-a-hamlet-that-can-t-get-rid-of-its-ghosts.html https://ghostvillage.com/legends/dudleytown.shtml Connecticut State Historical Society Archives FindAGrave.com and genealogical databases (e.g., Ancestry.com) The Cornwall Historical Society The Litchfield Enquirer  The New York Tribune 00:00 A Poets Vision 05:11 Welcome to The Tape Library 06:27 The Curse Begins 09:46 Dudleytown 21:50 Last Man Standing 23:49 The Clarkes 29:08 The Legend Grows 35:22 What Really Happened? 42:09 Wrapping Up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was the late 1800s. A man was travelling alone through Wisconsin on this horse, looking for inspiration. He was a poet, but one who was struggling with his art, unable to find something to spark his imagination. But he found it that day, in a dark place. As he trotted down the path, he noticed the sounds first. There weren't any. It felt like he had entered a vacuum. The birds no longer chirped, the wind no longer whistled through the trees.

Then he noticed how dark it was. The trees surrounding the path seemed to completely blot out the midday sun. Not just the usual darkness of a forest though. This felt like another level, like he had almost entered a tunnel. The path beneath his horse's hooves turned to shale and broken stone, unnatural in its shape and direction. he dismounted instinctively, tethering the animal to the remains of a dried, nearly dead branch. Then, ahead, he saw a ridge, he climbed. Loose rock gave way beneath his boots as he scrambled up.

At the summit he stopped. Breathless, with sweat on his brow despite the chill that clung to the shadowy trees. Below him lay a shallow valley. sparse remnants of chimneys jutted from the forest floor like teeth in a long dead mouth stone foundations clung to the earth half swallowed by moss and rot and yet the poet smiled he imagined it not as it was now but how it might have once been a cluster of buildings smoke rising from homes laughter echoing through the trees a village like any other But where were the people now? A tremor seemed to spark beneath his ribs. Not fear, not exactly, but something like dissonance. Like a wrong note played on a familiar song,

he closed his eyes letting the image settle, trying to hold on to his vision of this happy place. He could feel inspiration growing in him as he pictured the life here, children skipping between homes, A dog barking, warm light spilling from windows. But then, it shifted. The laughter deepened, not joyful now, but mocking. Twisted, malevolent.

The children's faces grew pale, their eyes empty. The chimney began to belch black smoke, but the warmth of the fire was gone, just soot, just ruin remains. He looked to the sky. Dark clouds blotted out what little daylight there was. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Then he noticed the chaos below. He saw a woman cradle a baby, but the infant's head fell unnaturally, skin grey, milk dripping lifelessly from its lips. A man staggered forward with a pitchfork in hand, blood pouring from slashes that seemed to have no source. his wife rushing to comfort him as he slowly died in her arms. The trees began to twist in his mind's eye, curling down towards the village like fingers. Then there was the flaying. Men tied to trees. Their skin being removed by a blade while they screamed for mercy, but he couldn't see who was holding the knife.

It was just darkness. All of it imagined. Yet it somehow all felt so. real to him, but in his actual reality there was no storm, no thunder, just a soft wind brushing his cheek, and a smell, faint, sour, decayed, not rot, not exactly, but the memory of it, like a place where death had once lingered and refused to fully leave. He opened his eyes, the ruins were still quiet below him. fled. Not with a scream, not in panic, but with urgency. He left the ridge behind, his feet

stumbling over the shale. His horse skittish as he mounted and turned towards the road that would lead him away from those woods, away from that silence. He never returned, but he never forgot either. The poet didn't know it, but he had stumbled upon the remains of what would go on to become, one of the most famous ghost towns in all of America. This is a story of generational trauma, of the struggles of attempting to start a life in an alien land. Is this a tale of curses, of ghosts, of demons, or a series of unfortunate events and an urban legend that has gotten out of hand? Well, let's try and figure that out together, shall we?

Get yourself a warm drink, dim the lights and get comfortable. It's time to delve into the horrifying legends of Dudley Town. an apparently haunted sight that is illegal to even visit. Welcome to the tape library. If you are new to the show, I will just briefly explain how I come at these topics. I always want to focus on the story first. The claims made by the people involved or the legends that have come from a certain place. Then later we will look at potential issues with the stories and other explanations.

I want to reiterate this because there is quite a lot to unpack with Dudley Town. This is a story that takes us from the modern day all the way back to the 16th century. Well, it does depending on which origin for this village you want to follow. But for now we'll stick with the most commonly used account. The world was beginning to change. The Middle Ages had come to an end and Europe was entering the early modern period. And it seemed a nobleman by the name of Edmund Dudley was plotting to change the world himself. reasons behind why he did it or how he intended to do it are apparently lost to time,

but Edmund intended to overthrow King Henry VIII. Old Henry obviously had quite a passion for beheadings, so once Edmund Dudley was captured, it seemed his fate was sealed. However, the story goes that the courts and the public were so outraged by his plot that someone at his trial shouted that they placed a curse, not just on Edmund, but one. that would affect his entire family line from this point onwards. With this information being spat at him, Edmund was then taken away to meet the executioner's axe. It seemed that Dudley family had aspirations for power. He was just a young boy when he saw his father executed, but John Dudley, Edmund's son, would grow up to be an integral part of the monarchy.

He was the Duke of Northumberland and led the government for King Edward the 6th from 1550s. to 1553. Edward was just 15, when he fell seriously ill and had no heirs. But before his death, he named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as the next in line for the throne, a fact that his half-sisters did not like. This was intended as a way to stop the country falling back into Catholic rule. John Dudley saw an opportunity. He married his son, Guilford, to Lady Jane Grey. Some saw John actions as him trying to seize power for his own family. Others claim he was just following the wishes of the young king. But when the king passed away, the country was thrown into a short period of turbulence, as the two sides of Mary, King Edward's sister, and Jane, attempted to get themselves

in the best possible position to rule. John marched at East Angula to capture Mary, but soon found himself outnumbered and quickly surrendered. John Dudley was arranged to be executed for high treason, but before doing so he was seemingly forced to publicly denounce his Protestant faith and declare his allegiance to the Catholic Church. A detail that was used as a very powerful piece of propaganda for the new Catholic Queen Mary. Dudley also begged for mercy for his five sons.

John Dudley was beheaded, as was his son, Lady Grey's husband, Guildford. Within the hour of her husband's death, Lady Grey, the nine-day queen, was also executed. But the remaining Dudley's executions were called off, and they were eventually released. Many members of the family would go on to play prominent roles in English society, but the reputation of the once noble family was never the same, and their power was greatly diminished. It was one of these released men,

Robert, whose son William, first came to America around 1630, and the Dudley lineage began to spread across the new world. In 1745, a man by the name of Thomas Griffiths purchased half a parcel of land in Cornwall, Connecticut. It wasn't the greatest of locations to attempt to build a settlement. The area was covered with an extremely thick forest and rocky land. In fact, Cornwall as a whole wasn't really suited. to farming and the entire area struggled as the years passed. The location Griffiths had purchased was in a valley, surrounded by free mountains. This land in the shadows of the Appalachian foothills was a hard place to live, but it didn't

stop settlers heading there. Within a couple of years the Dudley family called the place home and most of them had names that seemed to be designed just to torment my pronunciations. brothers Abiel and Brazili arrived, apparently looking for a new place to call home after returning from the French and India War before Gideon and Abijah Dudley came to join them. Then came Martin and Lafayette Dudley. This influx of Dudleys led to the village officially adopting the imaginative name of Dudley Town. Although of course they were not the only families there. They were joined by the Carters, the Paterson's, the Andrews, and eventually 26 families began to call the area home.

Dudley Town was never actually a town. The residents would use the church, town hall and cemetery just down the road in Cornwall, but they began turning Dudley Town into a true settlement, building homes and roads out of either end of the valley, one of which was called Dark Entry Road, and referred to the almost suffocating darkness of the forest that bordered the settlement. Early on John Andrews built a stone wall, one of the only remaining traces of Dudleytown that still remains today. Initially it seemed to be a happy place. They knew this would be tough land to farm and a hard place, particularly in winter to live. But the community really banded together.

The details of what came first are a very important. blur muddled up into decades of stories and folklore. Was it the madness that came first? Making people see things, hear things that weren't there, or were they there from the beginning? Many people over the years have reported the sounds of whispers, gently travelling on the breeze through the trees. Was it these whispers that the residents heard first? Or did they see them? Time and time again the same story seems to emerge from Dudleytown. Figures in the forest, shadowy beings. Most described them as human-shaped, others as some kind of animal. Whatever they were, they would come out at night and just watch, standing in the tree lines, observing the residents,

silently. But any time someone would venture deeper into the forest to try and figure out who was there, there would be no one. Just the eerie silence of dark entry forest. The apparent curse of Dudley Town hit the residents of this small settlement throughout the second half of the 1700s, and as such details are minimal. Abby L Dudley was long thought to be the first resident to fall foul. of the curse. He was considered a man of intelligence and strong will, and he built a modest home by

himself and lived a quiet life. But over the years something changed. Abiel reportedly began to suffer from episodes of paranoia and hallucinations. As time went on, his mental condition worsened. As it did, he saw himself falling deeper and deeper into debt. He was eventually deemed insane and lived out his final days in poverty, isolation and confusion. Some local accounts suggest that neighbours avoided his home entirely, citing unsettling noises that seem to come from the woods around it, whispers in the night, shifting shadows in the corners of the eye. He died alone, but his house remained,

and empty, at least for the time being, monuments. to the first Dudley Town victim. His neighbour Nathaniel Carter didn't put much stock in these claims and purchased the house himself after Barzelli Dudley put the place up for sale to try and recover some of Abiel's spiralling debts. But life in Dudley Town wasn't easy for the Carter family from this point on, and they became one of the first to abandon the settlement. He could see this place had no future,

and the oppressive feeling that hung over their heads grew too much for Nathaniel. There is debate about whether the hardship of the place was what drove them away, or if there was something left over in the house, from RBL's slow descent into madness. Either way, Carter and his immediate family left Dudleytown and moved to a remote region near New York, leaving behind their 13-year-old son Nathan, who ultimately turned out to be the lucky one, at least initially. Nathaniel believed that he had escaped the darkness of Dudley Town, but it seemed the curse had followed. Not long after the move, tragedy would strike.

Native American raiders attacked their homestead. Nathaniel had been out hunting and returned to his cabin to find a horrifying sight. His wife had been killed by an axe to the head. His infant son had been murdered, along with two others who had been sick in bed. Nathaniel was subsequently captured and scalped. Their three other children were kidnapped and taken to Canada. Two daughters were eventually ransomed and returned. The son, David Carter, was raised by his captors.

He later married a Native American woman and eventually returned to the US where he became a respected judge on the Supreme Court. Many say David escaped the curse, but the rest of his family did not. Back in Dudley Town in 1774, an unidentified epidemic swept through the household of Andonarum Carter, Nathaniel's brother. Within days the entire family was dead. Locals feared the illness might spread, but it didn't. It remained confined to that one single household. The suddenness and isolation of the deaths unnerved the remaining residents. Gersh and Holisholson, a labourer, was working on constructing a barn for his neighbour, William Tanner. While the details are murky, what is known is that Hollister died under strange circumstances

during this construction. Some historical records imply it was an accident, a fool from the structure, perhaps. But other accounts suggest something far more sinister, that Hollister was pushed, or that a dark force in the forest had somehow intervened. William Tanner, the man for whom the barn was being built, was reportedly traumatised by Hollister's death. He was accused by some of murder, but there was no evidence to prove this was the case. But for whatever reason, the details of Hollister's death deeply troubled him. In the aftermath, Tanner began exhibiting disturbing behaviour. He spoke frequently of seeing figures in the woods.

At night, neighbours claimed to hear him talking loud. to unseen entities, holding conversations with someone or something no one else could see. Tanner also warned others of a growing malevolence in the forest. He claimed that something evil had taken root in the surrounding land, watching from the tree line, waiting. Many dismissed his words as the ramblings of an old man tormented by guilt or grief. But life in Dudley Town was quickly becoming different from the envisioned picture of freedom and prosperity. And some started to believe Tanner's words. Residents were losing their minds, falling down dead from a variety of ailments.

Financially, the entire community was struggling. Those that moved away were not always clear of the effects of the village. Rumours about the Dudley family being cursed began to spread like. wildfire, although interestingly, it seems the other residents of Dudley Town faced the worst outcomes, which made some question this narrative. Was this the result of some old cursed placed upon an ancestor of the family centuries prior? Or was it something else? Something residing in these woods, or something in the mountains that was coming down and affecting them? Had they unearthed?

something by claiming this valley as their own, maybe it already belonged to something else. Something that was much, much older than any curse. Tanner wasn't alone. More and more residents claimed to see figures walking through the forest at night. The early 1800s brought another eerie tragedy. General Herman Swift, a Revolutionary War veteran who served under George Washington, resided close to Dudley Town after the war. In 1804 while standing on the front porch of their home, Swift's wife Sarah was struck by lightning and killed instantly. The event shocked

the entire town. After her death, friends later described General Swift as a changed man. He withdrew from public life and according to some sources, eventually descended into a fragile state of mind. What one newspaper described as becoming slightly demented, although others claimed that he had totally succumbed to madness. In 1813, another epidemic seemed to strike Dudley Town. Once again it was unexplained, hitting the town before suddenly vanishing yet again. But this time it wasn't affecting one family. Dozens were killed, including half of the Jones family in one fell swoop. Horace Greeley, the famed editor of the New York Tribune and one-time presidential candidate, married Mary Cheney, a woman born in Dudleytown.

Their marriage which began with optimism ended in tragedy. In 1872, just one week before Greeley lost his bid for the presidency, Mary took her own life. Her long struggle with mental illness accumulated and acquired, and devastating end. Some pointed to her roots in Dudley Town as the origin of her despair. Those that remained in Dudley Town mourned the loss of another one of their own, taken again by a darkness that they could not explain. Crops continue to fail, farm animals mysteriously vanished,

and reports that those figures in the woods kept being made, the sounds of voices on the winds kept being reported. Was it just the harshness of the land that was causing all this misfortune? Or was it those creatures? The watchers in the forest. One by one, every resident of Dudley Town left, died or was lost to madness. Leaving behind just one last family. The Brofys.

John Patrick Brophy was the head of this household. Brophy liked the idea of Dudley Town. It was only a short walk. down dark entry road to the town but the village gave him the isolation that he craved. He planned to raise a flock of sheep and live a peaceful life with his two sons and his wife, but something strange started to happen. One by one all his sheep were missing. Then his wife passed away. Some say of unknown causes, others believe she caught tuberculosis. But shortly after this, his sons vanished. There were reports of a theft in this

in the nearby town, and many assumed the boys must have done it and run off to avoid capture. But John would never hear from his sons again. There were those who believed that the forest had taken them. John remained in his small farmhouse alone. When he would venture into the village, the locals would comment on his clear worsening mental state. His eyes would be wide. He looked as though he hadn't cleaned himself in weeks. His clothes ripped and muddy. He would mutter to the locals about things he was seeing, things he was hearing. Then one night the townsfolk saw flames coming from the other side of dark entry forest.

They rushed as quickly as they could to find the Brophy farmhouse was a raging inferno. No sign of John Brophy was ever found. Some of the locals believed he was overcome with grief and burnt the place down to the ground. before turning and vanishing into the darkness of the forest, never to be seen again. For years no one wanted to call Dudley Town home. The locals all were now very aware of the apparent curse, and stories circulated about the odd things that happened to its residents, and the idea that something was living in those woods that drove them all out. That was until a cancer specialist by the name of Dr. William Clark discovered that,

the area and purchased around 1,000 acres of land on Bald Mountain, an area that contained a significant part of Dudley Town. His story may be one of the more widely known legends of Dudley Town. In the early 1900s, Dr. Clark, a respected New York City oncologist and professor at Columbia University, sought a tranquil retreat from urban life. He and his wife Harriet discovered the secluded forested area known as dark entry forest, encompassing the remnants of the now abandoned village of Dudley Town. Captivated by its serene beauty, they purchased the land and constructed a summer home, envisioning peaceful getaways. All that remained of the settlement that was once there was a few crumbling walls. Dr. Clark began work on constructing his new home, but he did run into a strange,

problem. Any time he contacted builders that were close to the area, they would hear where the job was and immediately turn it down. So Clark ultimately decided to build the home himself, splitting his time between working in New York and building a house in this darkened forest in Connecticut. It was completed later that year. And every summer from that point on, the Clarks would come to the forest, spending their time hiking and swimming in the beautiful surroundings. It was everything they had ever dreamt of until the summer of 1918. They had been in the cabin for a few weeks, but Dr. Clark was called back to New York because of a medical emergency. Dr. Clark said that there was no need for them

both to go and that Harriet should stay at the cabin, telling her he would return as quickly as he could. Dr. Clark would only be gone for 36 hours. before returning to the area by train. But his wife wasn't at the station to greet him. He instantly felt uneasy and quickly rushed to the forest on foot. As soon as he entered the forest, Dr. Clark knew something was wrong. The familiar, comforting feeling he had always gotten upon entering his picturesque land was gone. Replaced with something darker, something suffocating.

He reached a clearing where the house was, and discovered that his front door was slightly ajar. He pulled it open, taking a step into the darkened property, calling out for Harriet as he did. That was when he first noticed it, the sound. He couldn't quite figure out what it was at first, but then his senses came to him, and he identified it. It was laughter. But it felt wrong. It was exaggerated, demented laughter, echoing around his home. He realised the laughter was coming from upstairs. So he slowly crept up the steps,

creaking as he placed his foot on each one of them. But the laughter didn't stop at the sound of someone entering the home. He followed the sound of the high-pitched laughter to the bedroom, pushing the door open he didn't immediately see her but Harriet was in the room alone curled up in the ball on the floor staring at William as he entered her mouth stretched to an almost impossibly wide grin

as she laughed and laughed as though she were no longer in control of her own body the outcome of Harriet Clark appears to differ depending on who you talk to. Some say she lived out the remainder of her years in asylum, but the more widely reported claim is that Dr. Clark took his wife back to New York, where she would eventually take her own life. Either way after returning from the cabin, Harriet was never the same. She would never tell William exactly what happened in those 36 hours. All that he could get out of her was one detail, that she had seen them in the forest.

shadowy figures, watching her. According to the legends, they were the last residents of Dudley Town, but not the last visitors. Far from it. The story of Dudley Town began to spread wider once it was included in a 1938 book called They Found Away. And it seems its reputation built up slowly over time. Initially the stories drew local teenagers who wanted to do. show off to their dates and share the ghost stories of the long-forgotten village. Numerous of those visitors would go on to make reports to the local sheriff.

Reports of strange screams in the forest. Creatures made out of mist, some with pig-like faces. Girls were grabbed by unseen hands. One story involved a 17-year-old boy who had been in the forest one night, drinking beer with his girlfriend. He had left her alone. for a moment to relieve himself when he claimed he was attacked by something he described as a beast with blood-red eyes, clawing the boy across the face before running back into the forest,

leaving him with a deep gash across his face as he stumbled back to his girlfriend, covered in blood. Interestingly, this event was enough for the boy's family to move away completely from the area. Stories continue to spill out from the forest, although many chalked them up to simple ghost stories, pranks and urban legends. But others took it much more seriously. Eventually, sometime in the 1970s, the decision was made to remove Dudleytown from all maps, apparently in an attempt to dissuade others from visiting. This didn't stop Connecticut's most famous paranormal experts from making a trip up there with a TV crew in the 1980s though. Despite the crew's equipment, apparently strangely not working when they arrived, the account of Ed and Lorraine Warren's visit was published

in the book, Ghost Hunters. The Warren's recounting is surprisingly grounded in a lot of ways, although they do sprinkle in some of their trademark claims. Lorraine admitted that it was hard to really know what was going on with Dudleytown, that the event's events that took place there had been so blurred by myths and scary stories. Ed said he couldn't say if there was any truth to the claim of curses, but they did note a strange feeling while being there, like there was something off about the atmosphere. Then, as is often the case with the Warrens, despite admitting that it was impossible to know what parts of the story were true, they began to blame demons. Ed believed that if there weren't demonic forces that

work back in the early history of the place, there certainly were now. Lorraine claimed that there had been a motorcycle gang operating in the area for a number of years, who had been performing satanic rituals in the mountains surrounding Dudley Town. They also made claims of hearing reports of people seeing hoof-footed creatures in the forest, and also described a different possible source for the curse. They spoke of a Massachusetts governor called Thomas Dudley, A man who had a hatred for Quakers, and who during his time as governor had many men unjustly executed. One of these men apparently placed a curse on Dudley before being put to death. Thomas Dudley was discovered some years later, or what was left of him anyway, he had been hacked to death.

His killer was never found. The warrants believed that there was something very dark in the town. but that it was the work of people messing with forces that they didn't understand, and not any sort of curse. The stories continued, claims of cryptids being spotted, of UFOs, of ghosts walking through the forest late at night. Various investigators visited over the years, some more professional than others, and countless thrill seekers entered the forest,

hoping to encounter something for themselves. The interest seemed to reach a pinnacle in the late 1990s, with the release of the Blair Witch Project, with many claiming that Dark Entry Forest had been the inspiration for the movie, although I'm not sure there's any real basis for this. Eventually, the organisation that now owns the forest closed the area to the public, and to this day it is illegal to enter the former site of Dudley Town.

The company that operates it is known as Dark Entry Forest Inc. There appears to be a few reasons why they closed it. There are residents who are part of the organisation that live on the land and were reportedly not happy about ghost hunters, wandering through their gardens at all hours of the day and night, looking for the fabled Dudley town. Others have suggested that it was to preserve the beautiful forest. Apparently vandalism was becoming a huge issue.

The area was being destroyed by those coming to see if there were any truth to the stories. Road names were changed, but this did nothing to stop people. So eventually the organisation believed the only way to stop them completely was to remove the public's access to the area. This, however, in many people's eyes made the mystery all the more compelling. The people involved in Dark Entry Forest Inc. appear to be a secretive bunch, and most of their identities are kept out of the public records. although Dr. William Clark was one of their original members.

It seemed just a few short years after Harriet's passing. Dr. Clark had a new wife and was still heavily involved in Dark Entry Forest Inc. happily spending time in the place that that had apparently driven his wife insane. This, along with many other details, have led some to believe that there is some sort of cover up underway, that the organisation that runs the forest knows more than they are letting on, and will do whatever it takes to keep the public away from the truth that is residing within the darkened forest. So what really happened? Well, in a case like this, it's very difficult to answer every facet of the legends surrounding Dudley Town.

But let's begin with striking a few details off first. To begin with the Warren's involvement. It seems prior to the Warren's, the connection of Thomas Dudley to the area had never been made, and has since generally been ignored by those researching the area. It also seems that there were no prior references of who footer creatures, or demons prior to the Warren's recounting of the story. If they have made these details up or not is impossible to answer. The chapter on Dudley Town in the Warren's book tells of numerous stories such as the poet visiting the town. the teenager having his face slashed by a large creature and the satanic bikers.

But no names or information about these witnesses is provided, leaving very little to really sink your teeth into. One man has seemingly made it his mission to debunk the entire Dudley Town story. What makes this so interesting though is that he is one of the descendants of the Dudleys. Gary P. Dudley has written a book The Legend of Dudley Town. and prior to that a website that details all his research into the story, which in his view is largely nonsense. Gary has gone through the records and seemingly can't connect the Dudley's that arrived in Dudley Town with Edmund Dudley at all,

suggesting they are not descendants of his and that the curse story doesn't really add up. Many of the residents died of natural causes, including the majority of the Dudleys, some many years after leaving the village. Through records he was able to discover something about two of the men who were reported to have gone insane, one was 90 years old when he died, the other over 100. Not just pointing to the fact that the reported insanity could very well be exaggerated accounts of an elderly mind, or even dementia, but also that the Dudley curse seemingly let at least a few people live long and full lives. He points out numerous factual errors in the accounts, such as the

fact that the Dudleys were returning from the French Indian War, but strangely managed to do that before the war even began. Mary Greeley seemingly died of lung disease, not by taking her own life, and it seems there is little evidence to suggest that she was actually born in Dudley Town to begin with. Dr. Clark's wife did apparently take her own life in New York, but if this were really caused by some sort of supernatural event, why did he continue to not just stay in the area, but attempt to preserve it for others? He was also not the final resident of the town, as many have reported.

Few have called it home since, but these rare residents do exist, one of whom was referred to as the Dudley Town Hermit by some locals. Interestingly, this man also claimed that the ghost stories were all just made up nonsense, and that he hadn't experienced anything of note. The Native American attack on the Carter family apparently did happen, although obviously far away from Dudleytown. Similarly, it seems Sarah Swift was struck by lightning, but she and the general actually lived on the other side of Bald Mountain,

and not in Dudley Town. That strange little story just seems to have been, muddled up into the accounts. At the end of the day you have a handful of unfortunate events taking place over the course of over a hundred years, which doesn't feel all that remarkable when you take a step back. Gary Dudley believes that all of the supernatural accounts stem from the short story published in the 1930s and that it has simply snowballed from there. And that snowball keeps rolling on. It seems like every few years the story, the story is story of Dudley Town gets the new lease of life, whether that is the initial news reports

and stories in books of legends, or the accounts of the warrants, or in more recent years the video by Mr. Ballin, which is now arguably the most wide-reaching version of the Clark story, at the time of writing, it has reached over 8.5 million people. But there are some who believe, much like Dark Entry Forest Inc. that Gary Dudley is seen. simply trying to muddy the waters, that while some of the exact details might be incorrect, that doesn't discount the personal experiences, countless people have claimed to have had in Dudley Town and the surrounding area over the decades, that for some reason there is an active effort to keep what is going on in a dark entry forest a secret.

That if they really wanted to discredit the story, they should at least open the area up to scheduled official tours, rather than keeping it all under lockdown, something that seems to only make people more eager to visit. There are people who still sneak into Dudley Town. I wouldn't recommend it. In many cases, people see cars towed away and fines issued, and it is said to be a particularly dangerous walk, especially at night. But still, there are those who ignore the signs and go, and they claim to see things, sense things, but overwhelmingly they report feeling like they are being watched. Many even claim to see figures following them,

walking in the tree lines, but when they go to see who it is, the forest is empty, empty, silent, and above all, dark. Maybe Dudley Town was just a place that was hard to find. farm. It had a good running but eventually it just didn't make financial sense for people to keep fighting against nature in this isolated plot of woodland. Maybe there truly was a curse, that the Dudley lion was destined for misfortune, and that followed them to this new home. Or maybe, as I said earlier, the Dudleys had nothing to do with it. Maybe they simply chose the wrong forest to call

home. Maybe, as so many have claimed, that the Dudleys are long gone, but the watchers in the woods still remain. That's all for this entry into the tape library. It's been a while since we got into a real historical legend-based topics that this was fun. It really reminded me a lot of port lock in some ways. If you want more ghost town stories from me, I'll include a link to an episode I did on a few of the more notable ones. It's always really interesting trying to figure out where the true ends and the legend begins. As always, I want to hear your theories on this. Is the story of Dudley's Hound simply that? A story? Or do you think there is more to this location than meets the eye? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. I'm playing around with a few

different ideas for the next episode. But if all goes to plan, I think we're going to be getting into a really creepy, unsolved mystery from the time of World War II. So hopefully I'll be back with you all soon with that. Of course, if you enjoyed this episode, you can help me out massively by clicking the like button if you're on YouTube, or leave me a rating if you are listening to the podcast. It's a really small thing, but it helps the show grow and keeps me making these for you. And of course, if you haven't already, then please do click subscribe. If you ever want to get in touch with me, you can reach me through.

DMs on Instagram and Patreon, or through the email address in the description. I don't always get a chance to respond to everyone, but I do try my best. Also, I put out a post about this, but I still seem to be getting comments and generally quite angry ones about this. Every week I get people claiming they can't watch my videos because they are locked for members only. Unfortunately, I can't control which videos YouTube shows you on your homepage, but all episodes are available to watch for free on the channel. The members-only ones are simply the exact same episodes, but with ads turned off. If you see one and you want to watch that video, just click the channel and you will find the same episode to view for free. They are also always released at the exact same time so there's no waiting.

It's frustrating that YouTube seems to be recommending the members' videos to non-members. I get that it's a bit confusing, but I do not have any additional content behind any sort of Paywall. Before we go, there's just time to thank the wonderful supporters who keep the tape library going. Our tape library archivist, Umico Grimm, West Virginia Vegetable Man, Tina Est, Crimson Diem, Detective, Sirius Watt, Stephen Lutman, Sean Miller, Sandy Lusk, Sa Galkali, Restock 1331, Quirky Joseph, Pixelina, Peter McCann, Monty Montes, Mirichard, Midiazabine, Emmy Bartley, Lady Bet Noir, Juno, Judith Hacker, Joseph Condola, Jolly, Jolly, Juryor, Gabrielle, Eric Salas, Dagan Odolig, Dominic D'Angeles, Destiny M, Dawn Swan, Dala, Crystal Edwards, Ashloves Books, Alfredo Sandoval and Adlin.

Our lead archivists, Xavier Rangel, Vaniel, Tyler Michael, Tracy Terello, the original dear. Ridiculous, Old Soul Like Mine, Plague Doctor Is In, Melissa Harrison, Lord William, London Grace, Creepy Candy, Brian Baker, Amy Stubblefield, Alex O'Neill, Alex Goldberg, and 1,000th Ghost, and our very generous, grand, overseers, the God Emperor of Mankind, Morning Rain 2619, Leah Carmela, Katie, Harrison Yoga Lord, Bad Diddley, and Agent 355, and a huge thank you to all the junior archivists and YouTube members as well. As I mentioned in the last episode, I've been having some issues with Patreon, so please do get in touch if there's anything wrong with your shout-out.

Thank you so much to the hardcore few who make it to the very end of each episode. I always appreciate you guys the most. Until next time, my friends, are you sure there isn't someone watching you from outside? Pleasant dreams.