The Trials, The Corrupted

Taking a break here from posting so much about missing children- it’s kind of a depressing topic. I thought I’d talk a bit more about that story I transcribed.

When I first stumbled across that little scrap, I can’t deny that it piqued my interest. I was pretty sure that it had no relation to the North Shore Disappearances, but as someone who has always had an interest in mythology and the supernatural, I decided to give a bit of my time toward studying this phenomenon, and seeing if it had any merit.

Unsurprisingly, the internet was of very little help, as searching for “The Corrupted,” or “The Infected,” simply called up horror/zombie movies. “Shadow People” was more interesting, but was of little use as well.

So I turned to books. I figured that books on New England folklore would help- turns out I was right. Suddenly there seemed to be a whole collection of pertinent information regarding bizarre disappearances, followed by odd sightings in the forests. New England, of course, is well known for its vast forests- why else would people be so fixated on our foliage in Autumn?

Here’s what got me- every tale I read that came from the past 100 years or so all seemed to have a correlation to a real event that I could easily find on the internet. However, as with the North Shore Disappearances, most pertinent information was completely lost. I tried calling up police stations, newspapers, and even a few family members. No one wanted to talk about any of it. Some even flat out denied that anything had happened. Frustrated, I continued to dig, looking for more examples.

Then I found this:

It hath been three years since Hysteria swept over our village, and yet there are still Whispers of Evil hiding amongst us. The girl, Ann Putnam, continues to shew odd behavior on Occasion. Abigail Williams has not been found, she is assumed to be dead. The five children who Vanish’d have not been seen again, save for glimpses in the Forests surrounding Salem Village.

These sightings have been put down as Flights of Fancy, as Details are inaccurate and inconsistent. One mother, Goody Abbot, claims to have looked into the eyes of her daughter, Yet they were Hollow’d out and Feral. A child as well Saw a boy in the Forest, crawling like an Animal.

To quote her father “Ann still speaks of That Man. I begin to fear he was not the man we sought and put to Trial. She claims he was dress’d as a Judge, but lack’d a face and hair. I wonder but that the Devil hath not got hold of her, and yet she denies it is he.”

I Fear that Salem Village may never move past the Fright and Panic of those days. How may we cast this Evil out, when we do not know its name?

From “Paranormal Massachusetts: A Look at the Supernatural From a Historical Perspective,” By Henry Aldrich. Found the book at the Wakefield Library. There is an entire 5 chapters devoted to the Salem Witch Trials, with huge amounts of information. Oddly enough, I couldn’t find a copy of it online anywhere, and the book was labelled as a “reference book, not to be borrowed.”

So… I took it. Ripped out the sensor and snuck it quietly out the front door. It’s a fascinating read, full of crazy stories and amazing events. I could post so much of it here, but… well, I don’t want to bore everyone with history lessons. If anything else seems pertinent, I’ll put it here.

A Story

Early on in my research, I came across a seemingly unrelated blurb, concerning the paranormal:

“Since the dawn of time, Man has yearned to know what is beyond the grasp of his understanding. In doing so, he has tested, experimented, and learned. But by the same token, Man has also created countless stories to explain what so stubbornly remains just out of reach.

As time goes by, however, Man begins to understand those unfathomable concepts, and the stories fade and are eventually forgotten. Not so in the case of the “Corrupted.”

It’s a story that can be seen in many different cultures, known under many different names. Demons, Shadow People, the Infected, etc. Creatures that inhabit the forests but that are somehow human. In all my research and time on the Earth, I have never come up with a satisfying solution to why these stories are so common.

It is, quite frankly, the astonishing similarities between the stories that surprises me the most. All  versions are quite adamant that the creatures were once Human, but through possession or ongoing contact with a dark or paranormal force, have become craven, twisted versions of their former selves. What’s more, the stories all insist that the Corrupted were taken as children- family members have reported seeing their lost loved ones in the eyes of these misshapen creatures.”

Unfortunately, this was all printed on a single page, which had been torn from a very old book and stuffed inside one of the reference books I was using while looking for more info on the North Shore Disappearances. I’ve tried to find the original author or book, but I doubt that it’s anything well known.