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Melon Heads is the name given to creatures found in long-running urban legends in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Connecticut.
They are described as small humanoids with bulbous heads who occasionally emerge from their hiding places to attack people.
Different variations of the legend attribute different origins.
Legend in Michigan
The melon heads of Michigan are said to reside near the ruins
of Felt Mansion in Laketown Township. According to one version of the legend, they were originally children with hydrocephalus
who lived at the Junction Insane Asylum near Felt Mansion. The legend explains that, after enduring physical and emotional
abuse, they became feral mutants and were released into the forests surrounding the asylum.[1] The Allegan County Historical
Society asserts that the asylum never existed;[2] however, the story has been part of the local folklore for several decades.
Laketown Township Manager Al Meshkin told the Holland Sentinel that he had heard the tales as a teenager, noting that his
friends referred to the beings as "wobbleheads". Some versions of the legend say that the children once lived in the mansion
itself, and that they retreated to a system of underground caverns.
Legend in Ohio
The melon head stories of Ohio are primarily associated with the Cleveland
suburb of Kirtland. According to local lore, the melon heads were originally orphans under the watch of a mysterious figure
known as Dr. Crow (sometimes spelled Crowe or Kroh[3]). Crow is said to have performed unusual experiments on the children,
who developed large, hairless heads and malformed bodies.[4] Some accounts claim that the children were already suffering
from hydrocephalus, and that Crow injected even more fluid into their brains.Eventually, the legend continues, the children
killed Crow, burned the orphanage, and retreated to the surrounding forests. Today, some believe that the melon heads may
be sighted along Wisner Road in Kirtland and Chardon Township.[4][5] The legend has been popularized on the Internet, particularly
on the websites Creepy Cleveland and DeadOhio, where users have offered their own versions of the story.
Velvet Street (a.k.a. "Dracula Drive") is the dirt road where the Trumbull Melonheads supposedly
lurk.
Legend in Connecticut
Saw Mill City Road is the dirt road where the Shelton
Melonheads supposedly lurk.Several variatios of the Melon Head myths can be found Fairfield County, Connecticut. Most instances
can be found in Trumbull and Shelton, but other instances can be found in Monroe, Seymour, Weston, Oxford, and Southbury.
There are two primary Connecticut variations.
According to the first variation of the myth Fairfield County was the location of an asylum for the criminally insane
which burned down in the fall of 1960, resulting in the death of all of the staff and most of the patient. however 10-20 inmates
were unaccounted for, having survived and escaped to the woods. The legend states that the Melon Heads appearance is the result
of them having resorted to cannibalism in order to survive the harsh winters of the region, and due to inbreeding. According
to the second variation, the Melon Heads are descendants of a Colonial era family from Shelton-Trumbull which was banished
after accusations of witchcraft were made against them. The family retreated to the woods. As with the first legend, this
variation attributes the appearance of the Melon Heads to inbreeding. In Shelton, the Melonheads supposedly live on Saw Mill
City Road, while in Trumbull they supposedly live on Velvet Street (which is affectionately referred to by locals as "Dracula
Drive"). Both are old dirt roads, surrounded by woods, in close proximity to bodies of water. A popular dare among teenagers
in the area is to have someone drive down one of these roads at night and park, or even worse, have a passenger get out of
the car and then drive away without them to give them a good scare.
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