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This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart Choice make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy.
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A Mochi moment from Sadie who writes I'm not crying, you're crying. This is what I said during my first appointment with my physician at Mochi because I didn't have to convince him I needed a GLP one. He understood and I felt supported, not judged. I came for the weight loss and stayed for the empathy. Thanks, Sadie. I'm Mayra Amit, founder of Mochi Health. To find your mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com.
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Join Sadie is emoji member compensated for her story. You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hey everyone and welcome back to the into the Dark podcast. I'm your host Peyton Moreland. I'm so glad you are here and you are listening. Thank you guys for the continued support. If you didn't know, into the Dark is a true crime podcast that also ventures into all things dark, spooky and creepy. And before we get into all of that, we always start with my 10 seconds. Garrett was actually gone this weekend. He went on a little golf trip with his friends, which meant I was home alone with Daisy this weekend. And let me tell you a little bit about how that went. Number one, you would think that Daisy was being ripped away from her mama bear. When Garrett leaves town, okay? He left for the rest of the day. If I walked in the room, she left. She was so mad. She wouldn't sit by me. She wouldn't cuddle me. Nothing. I'm like, girl, I'm not even the one that left. Wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep. So then is throwing up stomach acid because she refuses to eat her food because she's in rebellion because dad's gone. But there were a few good things that came from staying home alone and that was that. Not once ever this weekend was there one big light turned on in my house. Lamps and candles for me only. This is like one of the biggest. You know how when you choose to live with someone, there are parts of living with someone and like that everyday life and you know, homing that you disagree with or becomes a little weird. I feel like because Garrett and I got married so young, we kind of discovered how we home together. But the one major, major difference that we have is that I hate any Source of light that is connected to the ceiling. Call it the big light. Do not flip that on. My house needs to be lit by candles and sconces and lamps. That's all I want. I have them in every single room because it's that important to me. No, this is what I tell Garrett. That light hurts my eyes because I have little baby blues. Okay. I always tell him when he flips it on, you don't know what it's like to have these baby blues, how overstimulating that bright light is. So, yeah. Anyways, my house was appropriately lit this weekend, and that was the only good thing that happened. I'm sure there were other things, but me and Daisy didn't sleep. It just felt weird. Just felt like it wasn't supposed to be like that. So we are both very grateful that Garrett is home. All right, now that all of you have learned how to appropriately light your house, let's jump into today's episode. Now, before we get into it, I just want to give you a trigger warning that this episode includes discussions of suicide. So please listen with care. Now, I don't know if everyone is on the same Tick Tock that I am on, but when I tell you the tinfoil tales of Tick tock are crazy these days, I'm talking everyone in Hollywood, all the female actors are actually men. Have y' all seen that one? Okay. They just go on and on. And honestly, like to go through it, go through the comments, everything. And one that all I always feel shows up, like, with a long history is that certain families can be cursed or certain land can be cursed. And I don't know if you can believe it or not. You know, the Kennedy family kind of has a lot of that stuff going on. But I'm gonna tell you about a place that supposedly has this going on. So this story begins all the way back in 1747. That is when a man named Gideon Dudley, he buys some land in northwestern Connecticut. He is looking for a new town to live in because his family recently fled from England. And they did that because, according to legend, all of his ancestors are cursed. Literally left their country hoping to get away from this family curse. Now, all of this goes back to 1510, so over 200 years earlier. That was when a man named Edmund Dudley decided to rebel against the King of England. And this revolt failed. And rebels were all arrested and executed. But before Edmund himself could be beheaded, he had to face an even worse fate. According to the lore, someone placed a curse on him to punish him for this disloyalty to the king. I've also heard rumors that the curse wasn't only about the rebellion, that Edmund and his family may have been dabbling also in witchcraft, which who knows what that means in the 1500s. But either way, the curse says he and all of his descendants will suffer and die horribly for as long as the Dudley family bloodline survives. Now, sure enough, Edmund is put to death a short while later, and then all of his children and grandchildren begin to suffer from terrible luck afterward. Some die very young of diseases or freak accidents. Others are convicted of crimes that come with the death penalty. And by 1747, Gideon is one of the only surviving descendants of Edmund Dudley. He has two brothers, but it only seems like a matter of time before they're going to meet their fates, too. So Gideon knows about this family curse, everyone is dying, and he wants to prevent this however he can. So he's moved from England to the American colonies, hoping that if he gets far enough away, the curse can't follow him. But he doesn't know where to live. Now, Gideon doesn't have any friends or acquaintances in his new country. So rather than settle down in a strange city, he actually buys this plot of land in the middle of a Connecticut forest. It's very remote and far from any other towns or cities, and he plans to establish a settlement there which is named after himself. He calls it Dudley Town because back in the day, you can literally just create a city. And then he tries to entice other people to move to Dudleytown with him. He hopes that if enough people settle here, they will open their own businesses and establish a thriving economy. And this has become his chance for a fresh start. Now, I just want to say, right out the gate, Gideon actually goes on to live a long, happy life. Nothing seriously bad ever happens to him. So in a way, he did break the curse. That said, he can't help but notice that the land he bought is a little odd. Let me give you an example. Dudleytown sits right between two hills. They're both very tall, and they cast shadows on the town all day long. I mean, even at noon, which is supposed to be the brightest part of the day, Dudleytown is dark. And on top of that, the community that moves there is oddly quiet. I mean, it is in the middle of a forest. You would expect to hear birds singing, leaves rustling, insects buzzing. But even with people and animals and bugs alike, everything is silent. And there's no explanation for this. But it does come across like there might be something weird about the land. Except Gideon's happy and successful, so he does his best to ignore this and kind of ignore the uneasy feelings. He kind of believes he's broken the curse. Except then things start going wrong when his brother Abiel moves to town. He builds a house of his own in Dudleytown. And before long, Abiel actually begins developing symptoms of a serious mental health condition. He's not well enough to take care of himself. But for some reason, his relatives decide not to help him move into the city to get professional treatment. Instead, the Dudleytown council actually seizes his property and agrees to take care of him until he dies of natural causes. And this is very difficult for Gideon to deal with because his brother moved to Dudleytown. And then immediately something bad happened to him. Can't help but wonder, is this the curse striking? Did it follow us? Or is this just a coincidence? But then tragedy falls on another man who has nothing to do with the Dudleys, who but does live in Dudleytown. His name is Nathaniel Carter, and he lives in Dudleytown. He's lived there for five years total from 1759 to 1764. And during that time, he gets married, he has children, he starts a business. Except one day, Nathaniel has to travel out of Dudleytown for a work trip. And when he comes back, he finds that his family is dead. Now, accounts from this time are inconsistent. Some say his relatives all contracted the police plague and died of illness. Others say that while he was gone, someone broke into his home, murdered his wife and all of his children. This account says there's no clear motive for the crime. It's just a horrible act of brutal, random violence in Dudleytown. So it is hard to say what killed them, murder or plague. But we do know he leaves Dudleytown, comes back, and his entire family is dead. Now, Nathaniel is heartbroken. Of course, he decides he can't stay in Dudleytown surrounded by these memories. So he packs his bags and moves out of town, hoping to grieve and then start over somewhere new. Except almost immediately after Nathaniel gets away, disaster strikes again in his new town. A violent conflict breaks out. He actually ends up dying in the fight. So now Nathaniel is dead and people start wondering, did he get cursed from living in Dudleytown, a town that was created by a family who might have brought that curse with them and implanted it into this soil? It's hard to say for sure if you're a last minute shopper like me. You know the feeling. Shelves are empty and ideas are running low. But Aura Frames is the solution. With a gift that feels personal, Garrett and I have gifted Aura frames to many members of our family and it always is something that just is a special Christmas gift. And it's easy. It's right there, you guys. So if you don't know what to give someone in your life, give them an aura frame using my code. Okay? You can upload unlimited photos and video. You just download the Aura app and connect WI fi. So you can literally upload pictures to your family members or a frame that's in their house. You can even preload photos before it ships. So when they get it, there is already pictures on there and there's a gift box included. Every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box with no price tag. So it really is is the perfect gift. And you can gift it to your parents, your grandparents so you can stay a part of their life for a limited time. Save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get 35 off Aura's best selling Carver Matte frames named number one by Wirecutter, use promo code Peyton. P A Y T O N at checkout. Okay, you guys, that's 35 off using my code. That's a U R A frames.com promo code Peyton. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames do sell out fast, especially around this time. So order yours now to get it in time for the holidays. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Please, please, please. Terms and conditions apply. All right, you guys. An ad and you may have heard of Hellofresh. They are the number one meal kit in America, making home cooking easier with chef crafted recipes and fresh ingredients delivered straight to your door. I know I've said it before, but Hellofresh is truly one of my main constant times in my life where I am cooking at home. But guess what? Hellofresh has also doubled its menu. Now you can choose from 100 options each week, including new seasonal dishes and recipes from around the world. They've also made it healthier. It fills. You can feel great with an even healthier menu. And tastier, get steak and seafood recipes delivered every week for no extra cost. Now with three times the seafood options. And the thing about hellofresh is you don't have to be an amazing cook or you can be an amazing cook and you're still getting quality food. And honestly, it's fun. It's one of my favorite date nights is to get a hellofresh meal and cook it with Garrett. We both do our little part. It is so fun. So the best way to cook just got better. Go to hellofresh.com peyton10f10m spelled P A Y T O N 10 the number fm now to get 10 free meals plus free breakfast for life, one per box with active subscription free meals applied as discount on first box. New subscribers only. Varies by plan. Again, that is HelloFresh.com Peyton10FM to get 10 free meals plus free breakfast for life. But it seems more likely that this is happening when you hear about a man named William Tanner. He lives in Dudleytown, right next door to Abiel's house, actually. And according to reports, he also has mental health problems. His friends and neighbors say he's always seeing things that can't be real, like monsters in the woods. I mean, by now, the locals have actually given the wilderness surrounding Dudleytown a name. They call it the Dark Entry Forest because it's always dark there. Like the town itself, the forest sits in the shadow of the two nearby hills. And no matter what time of day it is, the trees are always gloomy and unlit. Honestly, this town kind of sounds like a horror movie. And to hear William tell it, the forest is also home to something evil, supernatural, and monstrous. Most people shrug his warnings off. They assume he's just hallucinating, experiencing delusions. But he doesn't seem like a threat to himself or anyone else. So most of his neighbors actually leave him alone to continue living his life in Dudleytown. But then, in 1792, William decides he needs a new barn near his house, and he asks the neighbor to come over and help him with the construction project. Nobody knows exactly what happens next, but we do know by the end of the day, William's friend who came over to help is dead. And when people ask William what happened, he tells a story that just sounds wild. According to him, he and his friend were working on the barn when a frightening monster with sharp claws and teeth ran out of the forest and towards them. It attacked the friend, and William was too frightened to save his companion. He could only stare in horror as the creature killed his neighbor. And then, once his friend was dead, he says the animal ran away, back into the Dark entry Forest. Now, obviously, the people of Dudleytown don't believe this. They're like, so he's just hallucinating still. And when they look at the friend's injuries, they say it's actually more likely that he died in a bad fall, that he might have climbed up a ladder in order to work on the barn's roof and then slipped and fell. There are actually no signs of foul play, so they close the case. But for years, Afterward, William continues to maintain that his friend died in a monster attack. And the creatures are going to come back any day to kill the rest of them. And he actually repeats these warnings up until his own death. And afterward, countless Dudleytown residents begin to die in tragic and unexpected ways. And it's just. It's a lot of death for such a small town. One local woman is reportedly standing on her front porch during a storm. A blast of lightning strikes, killing her. It seems to defy explanation. Because there are so many tall trees around. The laws of physics suggest the lightning should have hit anywhere else. So perhaps something supernatural was happening. Reports say her husband is so shocked and unsettled by her death. That he then checks into a mental health hospital. Other accounts talk about early settlers dying of suicide, Freak accidents, murders. I mean, the stories of Dudleytown go on. This is real, you guys. Like, the history of Dudleytown has this dark cloud over it. I do want to say, in fairness, though, it's the 18th century. Disasters happen all the time. Death, disease, horrible accidents. This is common. And if bizarre, sudden deaths were the only dark element of Dudleytown's history, We can kind of explain it away. Except there's more to the story. See. In addition, Dudleytown is also going broke. When Gideon first bought the land, he thought it was an ideal location in terms of resources. There were a ton of trees. There was always a demand for lumber in Connecticut. There were a ton of nearby companies that built ships. And they were willing to buy as much wood as they could get their hands on. The timber could also be sold to nearby factories to be burned as fuel. So basically, there's a lot of money to be made by mining the ore in the hills nearby, Selling it to the country, or, you know, even the wood. The problem was, this region was so remote, it cost a lot to ship iron and wood to potential buyers. So this cut into profits, and businesses struggled to stay competitive. While the local factories bought fuel from Dudleytown for a while, they actually eventually decided to move closer to industrial centers. And they got to be so far away that it didn't make sense to sell to them anymore. And in a matter of decades, Demand for Dudleytown products basically dries up entirely. It's almost impossible for anyone to make money on the area's resources. Nobody can grow crops because the soil quality is bad. And every winter is brutally cold and miserable. It's always dark. So locals begin to move to other towns where there are more opportunities. The population is shrinking. And like I said, there were never a lot of people to Begin with Dudley town never grew big enough to incorporate as a legal official town. The community only ever had 26 households at its largest point. And by the mid-1800s, the settlement is basically disappearing entirely. As of 1901, there is only one family left in Dudleytown. The patriarch is John Patrick Brophy, and he lives with his wife and two adult sons. They are literally the only people in this now abandoned town. They want to buy supplies or sell goods. They have to travel through the dark entry forest to get to another town or to find anyone else. And even though they're very isolated, John's wife got badly sick one day. Turned out to be tuberculosis, which doesn't have a known treatment or cure at the time. So she suffers for days before finally passing away. It's all just eerie and scary, and everyone's dying. So John contacts the people in a nearby town to arrange a funeral. And that's when he learns that there were actually rumors going on surrounding his sons. Allegedly, both of them had stole some inexpensive items from people who lived in another town. So John isn't too concerned about this. If the allegations are true, the crime's pretty minor. It's unlikely that his sons would ever go to jail for this. They would probably have to pay a fine. So it's just gossip, nothing official. Which is why John sets aside any concerns about the legal issues of, you know, venturing out to a different town and focuses on grieving his wife. He lays her to rest at the funeral and goes home with his sons. But then a day or two later, the boys say they need to take care of some chores in the woods. And this strikes Jon as strange because he doesn't know what his sons would be doing in the forest days after their mothers died. But he's like, okay, whatever, Go. I'll see you later. Except he never hears from his two sons again. It's like they vanished without a trace in the woods. And when he walks through the trees near his home, he sees no evidence of an accident or an animal attack. Remember, John's sons were born and raised in Dudley town. They knew the area well. They probably wouldn't get lost. So John reaches out to everyone he knows to ask for help, but nobody seems to be really caring. They all think Jon's sons just went on the run. Maybe they didn't want to deal with the legal consequences of their alleged theft or the reputation it had given them. Except this makes no sense to John. He's like, there's no reason. There's no reason. John tells everyone who Will listen that something strange happened to his children days after his wife died of tuberculosis. But nobody takes him seriously. So finally he announces, you know what? I'm just gonna figure out what happened for myself. He's the only sole person left in Dudleytown. John plans to walk into the forest and search for evidence. But then people slowly start to discover he's disappeared too. Nobody ever learns what became of him, or if he learned the truth about his sons. If anyone ever thinks to search his home for clues, they're out of luck. Because a short time after John disappeared, the house actually catches fire. To this day, nobody knows how this happened. But the structure burns to the ground and takes any remaining evidence with it. And this is the last disaster to strike the settlers. By this time, nobody else remains in Dudleytown. And the community has now become completely abandoned. A community that was founded by a supposed cursed bloodline. It actually doesn't stay this way for long though. This next detail is wild, but it's true. Okay, almost immediately after John's house burns down, a married couple decides to buy a cabin in the now completely deserted ruins of Dudleytown. For context, it's about 1900 by this time now. The husband is Dr. William Clark, and he is one of the early 20th century's leading experts on cancer. More importantly, he and his wife love getting in touch with nature and being able to go on vacation in remote areas. So during one trip through Connecticut, they actually pass through the dark entry forest. And they each get a gut feeling that this is where they're meant to be. They want to move here, put down roots. They buy a vacation home in Dudley Town and resolve to come back here every time they need a break from their day to day life. And for almost two decades, this works out for them. Anytime they get a long weekend or a few days off in a row, they drive to Dudley Town and enjoy the peace and quiet of an abandoned town. Literally, nobody else lives nearby. No one has a reason to come visit. The Clarks are very isolated and they love it. It's a cozy getaway. The two of them are staying in their cabin in the summer of 1918. Except then someone gets in contact with Dr. William and says that one of his patients is experiencing a medical emergency. And even though he's on vacation, William knows he has an obligation as a doctor. So he tells his wife, hey, I'm driving back into town. I just gotta go treat this sick person. I'll be back in a day or two and you can stay here. Now. Sure enough, William gets to the Hospital. He handles the emergency. And just 36 hours after he left the cabin, he drives back. Except he can tell almost instantly that something has changed.
