1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,920
Now, picture a place where truth and tall tales tangle up so tight you can't tell one

2
00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:12,400
from the other. A place where old roads don't lead nowhere but deeper into the dark, where

3
00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:19,840
the past don't rest easy, and the trees whisper secrets best left unheard.

4
00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:26,160
This hears Helltown, Ohio, a name that don't sit right on the tongue like something foul

5
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:32,000
lurking just beneath it. Folks around here know this ain't just some abandoned patch

6
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:39,040
of land. Something happened here, something bad. But what exactly turned this town into

7
00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:45,480
a place of dread and mystery? What's buried beneath that soil, hiding in the shadows just

8
00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:51,120
beyond the firelight? And why is it that so many who step foot in these woods come back

9
00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:59,560
changed if they come back at all? On this here episode of America's Scariest Stories,

10
00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:05,240
we're digging deep into the dark heart of Helltown, Ohio, a place where history's been

11
00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:12,880
buried, conspiracies run wild, and something unnatural still lingers in the air. So, settle

12
00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:19,360
in, but don't get too comfortable. Because once you hear what's hiding in them woods,

13
00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:27,000
you might think twice forever driving through Helltown. Welcome to Kentucky Melodies America's

14
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:33,600
Scariest Stories, where we bring you ghostly legends, spooky haunts, and bone-chilling

15
00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:39,560
tales from all over this great land. These stories will have you looking over your shoulder

16
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:47,680
all night. So, pull up a chair, dim them lights, and let's dive into the eerie and unexplained.

17
00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:56,400
Ain't no ghost nor demon started the legend of Helltown. No, sir. It was the government,

18
00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:02,760
and what they'd done still don't sit right with folks around here. It was back in 1974

19
00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,760
when them Washington suits came down from on high, claiming they needed the land for

20
00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:14,640
some fancy new national park. Said it was all in the name of conservation, saving the

21
00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:21,520
trees and the critters. But let me tell you, what they did to them, people in Boston Township,

22
00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:29,760
ain't never felt natural. Ain't no ghost nor demon started the legend of Helltown.

23
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:35,200
No, sir. It was the government, and what they'd done still don't sit right with folks around

24
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:42,120
here. It was back in 1974 when them Washington suits came down from on high, claiming they

25
00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:48,840
needed the land for some fancy new national park. Said it was all in the name of conservation,

26
00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:53,600
saving the trees and the critters. But let me tell you, what they did to them, people

27
00:02:53,600 --> 00:03:02,880
in Boston Township, ain't never felt natural. It happened quick, too quick. One day, families

28
00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:08,960
was sitting on porches, watching their youngins play in the yard, and the next, the law was

29
00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:15,200
banging on doors, telling them they had to go. Some folks didn't even get time to pack

30
00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:22,240
up proper. They left meals sitting on tables, laundry still hanging on the line. Then came

31
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:29,480
the boards. The government shut them up tight, nailed plywood over doors, painted no trespassing,

32
00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:35,680
and big, angry letters on houses that had been lived in for generations. Whole streets went

33
00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:42,960
dark overnight. Them houses just sat there, empty, like tombstones in a graveyard nobody

34
00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:48,560
wanted to visit. That's when the whispers started.

35
00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:55,760
Some folks say it wasn't no park project at all. They say something bad happened out there,

36
00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:01,680
something the government didn't want nobody knowing about. Maybe it was a chemical spill,

37
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:08,160
something so wicked it poisoned the ground, twisted the things that walked upon it. Others

38
00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:14,280
reckon the suits was running secret experiments trying to make monsters out of men, or maybe

39
00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:20,760
mumbling with things best left alone. And then there's the darkest tale of all, the

40
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:27,400
one that says it wasn't about chemicals nor creatures, but something far worse. A place

41
00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:33,160
like Helltown don't get that name because of nothing. Some believe there's a hole in

42
00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:40,880
the earth out there, a door to something unnatural. And then folks in charge, they knew it. Knew

43
00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:48,120
it was open and wider, letting something through. So they shut it down, cleared the people out,

44
00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:53,840
boarded it up like it was just another house on another empty street. But let me tell you

45
00:04:53,840 --> 00:05:00,720
something, you can't just nail shut a doorway to hell. What they left behind wasn't just

46
00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:07,040
empty homes and lonely roads. They left something alive out there, something that still moves

47
00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:12,920
in the woods at night, whispering in the wind, hiding just beyond the trees where the lot

48
00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:20,040
don't reach. And that's how the town once called Boston became Helltown. If there's

49
00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:25,440
one place in Helltown where the devil done left his mark, it's that old church sitting

50
00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:31,920
at the edge of town. Folks call it the Boston Community Church, but ain't nothing about

51
00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:39,120
it feels holy no more. At first glance, it don't look like much, just another worn down,

52
00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:46,640
whitewashed chapel like you'd find in any old timey town. But don't let that fool you.

53
00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:52,240
That place has a darkness in its bones, ain't just stories neither. Plenty who've laid

54
00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:59,000
eyes on it notice something real strange about them windows, inverted crosses, twisted upside

55
00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:04,440
down like a mockery of what a church ought to be. Some folks say it's just the way the

56
00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:11,440
glass was cut, a fancy gothic design from way back when, but the locals, they ain't

57
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:18,680
buying that. They say them crosses ain't a mistake. They say evil took root in that

58
00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:24,960
church a long time ago. Strangers driving through at night claim they've seen hooded figures

59
00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:31,080
gathering outside its doors, standing in a circle, whispering in tongues that ain't meant

60
00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:38,600
for human ears. Some say they've caught glimpses of strange symbols carved into the old wood,

61
00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:44,640
symbols that weren't there before, and the ones who made the mistake of getting too close.

62
00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:49,600
They swear them figures turned to look at them all at once, like they knew they was

63
00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:55,880
being watched. A few foolhardy souls have tried to step inside thinking it was all just some

64
00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:01,840
ghost story meant to keep folks away. But every single one of them left different than

65
00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:08,960
they came in. Some say the air in there gets so thick it feels like it's crawling down

66
00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:16,160
your throat, trying to choke the life out of you. Others say you don't walk in alone.

67
00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:22,080
Something follows, a shadow that ain't yours, moving just out of sight, flickering in the

68
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:33,120
candlelight that don't exist. Then there's the whispers. Not loud, not angry, just there.

69
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:39,280
Soft, snake-like sounds slithering through the walls, cooing dark things, calling folks

70
00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:45,120
by name even when they know good and well ain't nobody in that place but them. Some

71
00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:51,080
say the voices are warning them to leave. Others, they think the voices are trying to

72
00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:57,240
lure them deeper to a part of the church no one's ever seen and come back from. So is

73
00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:03,120
it just another crumbling church abandoned like the rest of Helltown? Or is there something

74
00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:08,240
waiting inside patient and hungry, listening for the next poor soul who don't know better

75
00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:18,520
than to step through them doors? Not loud, not angry, just there. Soft, snake-like sounds

76
00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:23,920
slithering through the walls, cooing dark things, calling folks by name even when they

77
00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:30,640
know good and well ain't nobody in that place but them. Some say the voices are warning

78
00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:36,520
them to leave. Others, they think the voices are trying to lure them deeper to a part of

79
00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:42,920
the church no one's ever seen and come back from. So is it just another crumbling church

80
00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:48,480
abandoned like the rest of Helltown? Or is there something waiting inside patient and

81
00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:53,560
hungry, listening for the next poor soul who don't know better than to step through them

82
00:08:53,560 --> 00:09:01,480
doors? Now, deep in them tangled woods of Helltown, off a stretch of road that don't

83
00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:08,080
show up on no map, there used to be a rustin' old school bus, a hollowed out corpse, a yellow

84
00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:16,560
paint, peeled and scarred by time. But that bus weren't just metal and wheels. No, sir,

85
00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:22,760
they held something else inside, something that never left. Folks around here tell a

86
00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:29,240
story, one that'll chill the bones right out of ya. They say it was a cold autumn evening

87
00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:35,960
when that bus rolled into Helltown, packed full of school kids, laughing and chattering,

88
00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:42,120
oblivious to what was waiting for them. The driver, an old timer with a gut full of coffee

89
00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:48,800
and tired eyes, was taken a shortcut when the engine sputtered and died, right there

90
00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:56,200
in the middle of nowhere. The headlights flickered, then went dark. He told the youngens to sit

91
00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:02,960
tight, said he was gonna hike up the road and find help. But he never made it far,

92
00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:09,880
cause something was watchin' from the tree line. Ain't no one knows for sure what happened

93
00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:19,000
next. Some say it was a drifter, some madman with a knife and a thirst for blood. Others

94
00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:24,480
reckon it was the melon heads, them twisted, bulging-headed things that skulked through

95
00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:31,440
the underbrush, huntin' for something warm to sink their teeth into. All anybody does

96
00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:38,400
know is when the authorities finally found that bus, there weren't no children inside.

97
00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:45,680
Not one. What they did find was blood. Streaked, crossed the seats, smeared on the windows

98
00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:51,960
like tiny desperate hands that tried to claw their way out. A few backpacks and notebooks

99
00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:57,720
lay scattered on the floor, trampled like something had come through in a hurry. But

100
00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:05,240
there weren't no bodies. Nothing but an empty bus. And the feeling that whatever had taken

101
00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:12,080
them might still be close. That old bus sat there for years, swallowed up by weeds, its

102
00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:18,760
doors gaped open like a silent scream. Folks who wandered too close swore they saw small

103
00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:23,320
hand prints appear on the fogged up windows like something inside was pressin' against

104
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:31,520
the glass, tryin' to get out. Some claimed they heard soft giggling, unnatural and hollow,

105
00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:38,200
floatin' through the trees. One fella, braver than most, stuck his head inside one night

106
00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:44,240
on a dare. He came runnin' out wide as a ghost, swearin' on his mama's grave that

107
00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:51,240
he saw shadows sittin' in them seats, small, still figures, just starin' at him with dark,

108
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:58,800
empty eyes. Eventually, they took the bus away, hauled it off to God knows where, thought

109
00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:05,840
maybe that'd be the end of it. But people still hear him. If you walk them roads alone,

110
00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:11,440
late at night, when the winds just rot, you might catch the sound of tiny footsteps rustlin'

111
00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:17,760
the leaves behind ya. Or worse, you might hear laughin', a child's giggle, floatin'

112
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:25,120
from the woods, close enough to touch, but cold as the grave. Ain't no road in hell town

113
00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:31,440
more feared than Stanford Road. Round these parts, folks don't call it that, though. They

114
00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:36,880
call it the end of the world. Don't seem like much at first, just a lonesome stretch

115
00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:42,320
of pavement windin' through thick, suffocatin' woods. But the further you go, the narrower

116
00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:49,360
it gets, like the trees are leanin' in, tryin' to swallow you whole. And then, just like

117
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:58,800
that, it ends. A sharp, brutal drop-off, as if the Earth just decided to stop existin'.

118
00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:06,400
Ain't no signs warnin' ya, no guardrails keepin' ya back, just a jagged edge, waitin' for

119
00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:13,360
the fool dumb enough to go flyin' off into the dark. But that ain't the worst part.

120
00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:21,000
No, sir. The worst part is what happens when the sun goes down. Plenty of folks who drove

121
00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:27,600
that road at night came back shakin', swearin' up and down they was followed. They say,

122
00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:34,080
headlights blink on behind ya, out of nowhere, tailin' ya close, closer than any car oughta

123
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:42,560
be. But when ya hit the brakes, the lights vanish. Ain't no sound, no engine hum, nothin',

124
00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:48,720
just gone. And if you got the misfortune of ridin' that road at midnight, well, there's

125
00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:54,440
worse things than ghost lights lurkin' in them woods. They say somethin' waits at the

126
00:13:54,440 --> 00:14:01,680
very end of the road. A figure, tall and thin, wrapped in black, standin' right at the edge,

127
00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:10,520
facin' ya. It don't move, don't make no sound. It just waits. You stop, you blink. And when

128
00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:16,280
you look again, it's closer, closer than it oughta be. Closer than anything could've

129
00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:23,880
moved in that short a time. And if you sit there too long, frozen in fear, it'll come

130
00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:29,760
right up to your window. But by the time you open your mouth to scream, you're already

131
00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:37,640
gone. No one knows where them people go. Ain't no bodies ever found. No tire marks leadin'

132
00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:45,440
off the cliff. Just empty cars, doors wide open, still runnin', but no driver inside.

133
00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:51,160
Some say it's just the land playin' tricks on folks. The way the road twists, the way

134
00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:58,040
the fog rolls in heavy at night. Others reckon that drop-off ain't just a dead end. It's

135
00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:00,160
a doorway.

136
00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:08,480
To where? Well, no one's ever come back to say. Ghosts and demons is bad enough, but

137
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:15,880
what lurks in them there woods round Helltown? Now, that's a whole different kind of nightmare.

138
00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:20,280
Folks say something ain't right out there, that the trees don't just whisper with the

139
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:28,360
wind but with things that ain't supposed to exist. The worst of them? The melon heads.

140
00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:35,360
But no one rightly sure where they come from. Some say they was once human. Children, taken

141
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:41,600
from their homes, locked away in underground labs, twisted and tortured till they barely

142
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:50,040
resembled people no more. Heads swelled up big as pumpkins, eyes gone black and hungry.

143
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:55,640
Others reckon they always been here, hidin' deep in the brush, somethin' unnatural that

144
00:15:55,640 --> 00:16:04,160
don't belong in this world. But one thing's for sure, they're watchin'. Hikers come back

145
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:10,880
with stories of being followed, feelin' eyes on them from the trees, glowin' orbs peering

146
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:18,240
from the underbrush just past where the firelight reaches. Some hear rustlin', then the sound

147
00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:26,320
of feet, small feet, movin' fast behind them. If you turn around, there ain't nothin' there.

148
00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:34,920
But wait too long and you just might hear the breathin'. Low, raspy, close.

149
00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:42,080
And the unlucky ones? Well, sometimes folks go missin' out there, and when they do ain't

150
00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:48,160
nothin' left but shredded clothes and drag marks leadin' off into the dark. But the

151
00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:53,640
melon heads ain't the only things crawlin' round these parts. Some tell of a snake big

152
00:16:53,640 --> 00:17:00,880
as a tree trunk, slitherin' through the brush. A monster folks call the peninsula python.

153
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:09,160
They say it moves like a shadow, soundless, it scales black as sin, its eyes cold as death.

154
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:15,120
You don't see it comin', you just hear the leaves rustle, feel the ground shake, and

155
00:17:15,120 --> 00:17:23,280
then, nothin'. Cause by the time you realize what's happenin', it's already gotcha.

156
00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:30,120
And then, there's the beast. Some say it's a dogman, a thing that walks on two legs but

157
00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:36,120
sure as hell ain't human. Towerin' over a man, with fur black as coal and eyes that

158
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:41,720
burn like fire. Don't just chase ya, it hunts ya.

159
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:47,480
One fella claimed he saw it standin' in the middle of the road just past Helltown. Its

160
00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:53,840
head cocked sideways, its lips curled back in a snarl that looked too much like a smile.

161
00:17:53,840 --> 00:18:00,240
He hit the gas, tried to run it down, but the thing didn't move. Not till the last

162
00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:08,640
second. Then, bam, it was gone. He got out, swearin' he musta hit somethin'. But when

163
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:16,000
he checked his bumper, there weren't nothin' there. No blood, no fur. Just deep claw marks

164
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:22,840
raked across the hood. Now, tell me, if it ain't real, then why ain't

165
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:30,120
no one round here willing to walk em' woods alone after dark? Maybe it's all just stories.

166
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:36,520
Maybe there ain't nothin' in them trees but wind and shadows. But if you ever find

167
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:41,840
yourself in Helltown and you hear somethin' breathin' just behind ya, somethin' you

168
00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:49,120
can't see but you sure as hell can feel, don't turn round, just run.

169
00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:56,040
The bones of Helltown might be gone, torn down, burned up, buried deep. But let me tell

170
00:18:56,040 --> 00:19:02,680
you somethin'. The land remembers. Most of them old houses, the ones what stood empty

171
00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:09,460
for decades, rotten with secrets, they've been bulldozed. The roads, once lined with

172
00:19:09,460 --> 00:19:15,520
darkened windows and doors nailed shut, now lead straight into Cuyahoga Valley National

173
00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:22,840
Park. The government says they preserved the land. But ask anybody, round here, they didn't

174
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:30,240
preserve nothin'. They tried to erase it. But you can't erase what don't wanna be forgotten.

175
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:36,800
Them legends, they ain't gone. Even now, folks who venture too deep into them woods come

176
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:43,280
back with stories they can't rightly explain. They talk about strange lights flickering between

177
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:50,160
the trees like lanterns held by unseen hands. Some say they follow ya, leadin' ya deeper

178
00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:57,400
and deeper till you can't find your way back. Others talk about disembodied voices, callin'

179
00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:03,920
out from the shadows, whisperin' names in the dead of night. Some of them voices sound

180
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:12,280
familiar. Others, they sound like nothin' human at all. Then, there's the ghostly figures

181
00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:20,400
that still haunt the old roads. Ain't no one knows who or what they are. Some look like

182
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:27,520
townsfolk, folks who once had homes here before the government forced them out. Some say it's

183
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:33,480
their spirits, trapped here, cursed to wander forever, cause they ain't got nowhere else

184
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:40,640
to go. And then, there's the ones who swear the government ain't finished with this place.

185
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:46,320
They say there's still somethin' in them woods, somethin' alive, somethin' they've been hidin'

186
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:53,920
for decades. Maybe it's them creatures, the ones from them experiments folks whisper about.

187
00:20:53,920 --> 00:21:00,520
Maybe it's somethin' worse, somethin' older, somethin' they tried to lock away but couldn't.

188
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:06,840
But I reckon the truth is simple. Some places ain't meant to be disturbed, some roads ain't

189
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:14,440
meant to be traveled, and some secrets, some secrets ain't meant to be uncovered. So, the

190
00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:20,280
next time you find yourself out in Ohio, drivin' through them back roads and you see a lonely

191
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:27,680
stretch of road leadin' into the trees, ask yourself one question. Would you dare enter

192
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:38,160
Helltown? And if you do, will you make it back? So, now, I gotta ask, y'all reckon Helltown's

193
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:46,800
just another spooky campfire tale? Just stories passed down, twisted over time? Or is there

194
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:52,440
somethin' out there in them woods, somethin' the government tried to hide, somethin' still

195
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:58,480
lurkin' where the roads turn to nowhere? Maybe you've seen it with your own eyes, maybe

196
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:03,480
you've felt somethin' watchin' you from the trees, heard them whispers just beyond the

197
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:09,560
wind, or maybe you ain't ever comin' back to tell the tale.

198
00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:15,840
Let us know in the comments below. Have you ever dared to set foot in Helltown? And if

199
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:22,040
you lived to tell about it, what did you see? If you got a taste for the eerie, make sure

200
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:29,160
to subscribe to Kentucky Melody for our America's Scariest Stories, where you'll hear more dark,

201
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:35,360
twisted tales from across the country. And if you've made it through this story, be

202
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:41,520
sure to come back for the next, just to make sure whatever's out there didn't follow

203
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:52,280
you home.