“Melon Heads” is a dubious moniker used to describe the mutated beings featured prominently in legends in wooded areas of Ohio, Michigan, and Connecticut. Defined by their abnormally large and misshapen heads, the Melon Heads seem most likely to suffer from the disease hydrocephalus, a condition resulting from the accumulation of fluid in the brain. According to local legends, the purported causes of the disease vary. In some instances, their affliction is cause by medical experimentation, while in others, the disease is brought on by inbreeding and cannibalism. Regardless of the cause, the Melon Heads’ isolation and mistreatment leads them to be quite uncivilized. Encounters with Melon Heads sometimes result in nothing more than brief sightings, with the creatures retreating to the safety of the woods. Other times, they have been said to attack people who venture too close to their hiding spot, possibly abducting and eating their victims.
The Ohio legends revolve around the communities of Kirtland and Chardon, which are suburbs of Cleveland. More specifically, the tales in Kirtland are focused on a wooded area near Wisner Road. The Ohio tales focus prominently on a mysterious figure named Dr. Crowe (or Crow) who is said to have performed brain experiments, including lobotomies, on orphaned children, who may or may not have already been suffering from hydrocephalus. Dr. Crowe’s actions turned these children into humanoid mutants with small bodies and large, misshapen heads. Dr. Crowe supposedly committed a number of other atrocities, such as performing illegal abortions in his cabin in the woods and killing deformed babies. Most of the Ohio stories indicate that, when sighted, the Melon Heads retreat into the woods. Perhaps because of the lobotomies that may have been performed on them, the Melon Heads in Ohio tales are sometimes portrayed as being a bit more subdued than the similar creatures located in Michigan and Connecticut. However, in some versions of the tale, the children killed Dr. Crowe, burned down the orphanage, and retreated into the woods, where they feed on babies.
In Michigan, the Melon Heads stories are found primarily in the western side of the state. Variously placed in Saugatuck State Park, Holland, and Bridgman, Michigan, the Melon Heads are often said to kill and eat anyone who encroaches on their territory. Most variants locate the stories at a facility near the Felt mansion in Holland, known in local lore as the Junction Insane Asylum; here the Melon Heads were supposedly subject to years of experimental testing. They continued to mutate to the point that they could no longer be regarded as human. Because of their feral nature, instead of relocating them to other care facilities, they were released into the nearby wooded area, where they turned to inbreeding. The Allegan County Historical Society has reported that the Junction Insane Asylum never existed, but the remains of a building that was once part of the Dunes Correctional Facility, a minimum security prison, remains standing, albeit in a very poor, vandalized condition. Some variations of the legend indicate that the children lived in the mansion itself, with the creatures eventually dwelling in underground tunnels below.
The Connecticut legends share a number of similarities with their Ohio and Michigan counterparts. Although Melon Heads legends can be found in various parts of the state, the most prominent versions are centered in one area called Velvet Lane, more affectionately known as Dracula Drive, in Fairfield County. Like the Michigan legend, the most prominent version is centered on an asylum. In the fall of 1960, this asylum for the criminally insane purportedly burned down, allowing as many as twenty inmates to escape into the nearby woods. To survive the harsh east coast winters, they turned to cannibalism, which, combined with inbreeding, caused them to develop hydrocephalus. An alternate telling also incorporates the element of inbreeding, but the origins of the story go back a few centuries to colonial America, when a family was banished from the town of Trumbull under suspicion of practicing witchcraft. Forced into the woods, they survived, but their inbreeding caused their deformities to manifest.
The Blue People of the Appalachians
American folklore is replete with unusual beings who inhabit the mountains, forests, and hollows of the untrammeled rural countryside; some—like Melon Heads—seem derived from “mad scientist” or “escaped lunatic” scenarios, while others—like Mothman or Bigfoot—evoke beliefs in extraterrestrials or undiscovered species of hominids. Still other stories play on prejudices and fears about inbred, ill-behaving back-country folk—real or imaginary—such as the Pineys of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens or Pennsylvania’s Albino Cannibals. Fact is stranger than fiction, however, when it comes to the Blue People of the Appalachians, aka the “Blue Fugates” of Kentucky, so named after the single French ancestor who passed on the genetic condition that causes some of his descendants to appear cyanotic. Triggered by a rare blood disorder called methemoglobinemia, this remarkable condition can only occur in small, isolated communities in which intermarriage is likely.
C. Fee
The Melon Heads legends in all three states share a number of similarities. In all three instances, the creatures are described as small humanoid creatures with abnormally large and misshapen heads. They occupy wooded areas in locations that once served as home. Cannibalism is present in nearly every variation of the tale. Sometimes, it is a stated cause of their affliction; other times, the dastardly process serves as a means of survival. Medical experimentation features prominently in the tales, as does inbreeding. The various locations remain as popular points of interest for legend trippers.
Daniel Patrick Compora
See also Fearsome Critters; Legend Tripping
Further Reading
Citro, Joseph A., and Mark Moran 2006. Weird New England. New York: Sterling.
Godfrey, Linda S., and Mark Moran 2006. Weird Michigan. New York: Sterling.
Hammond, Amberrose. 2009. Ghosts and Legends of Michigan’s West Cost. Charleston, SC: History Press.
Coleman, Loren, Andy Henderson, and James Willis. 2005. Weird Ohio. New York: Sterling.