The Melonheads Sketch

Seeing as how horror won out on my poll, I took in a lot of suggestions, but I ended up going with Red Wolf's idea of doing something cryptid related. We're both big into cryptozoological phenomenon and UFOs and all that fun stuff--we may even be going to the Mothman festival in West Virginia this September. It's just across the Ohio river, so it's not too long a drive for a goofy weekend getaway. Thanks to all the ideas everyone submitted though, I have a stack of stamps to carve!

Anyway, I got to reading about some creepy tales of Ohio and I came across the melonheads, the Loveland Frog, Hilltop Asylum (which I've driven past but haven't explored, Hilltop has become not a great neighborhood to hang out in), the tiny town outside of Cincinnati, the gates to Hell in Columbus which I've actually been to, and all kinds of weird stuff. Now, I think the story about the melonheads is complete bunk, but it's interesting, and it seems to be an Eastern U.S. regional thing as there's very similar stories that supposedly take place in Michigan and Connecticut, probably brought over as a retelling of an English story.

I based my sketch off of a photo of a hydrocephalic child's skull. Image, story and links after the jump! Actually you know what? I'll just put the image after the jump, that way it won't be spoiled for anyone that actually wants to track this thing down once it's planted. I forgot about my AtlasQuest traffic!
 
 Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia on the Ohio version of the story:

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, Trubaino, Krohe or Kroh or known as Dr. Melonhead[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.[3]

Eventually, the legend continues, the children killed Crow, burned the orphanage, and retreated to the surrounding forests and many believe they feed on babies. 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.[6] A movie, "Legend of the Melonheads"[1] was released in 2011 (and available on DVD), which is based on the Ohio legend and various other legends in the Kirtland area. This is to be followed by another movie "Dr. Crow" scheduled for production in 2012. 'Dr. Crow' is a period piece showing how Crow created the melonheads. Both feature films are written and directed by Brian C. Lawlor and produced by ShockStar Studios[2]. www.laugh-at-the-law.com Another feature film simply entitled "The Melon Heads" [3] is based on the same urban legend (in name only) and is slated for release in late 2011. Directed by Eddie Lengyel and produced by Fright Teck Pictures, the movie stars Joe Zamora, Roger Conners, Shawn C. Phillips, Kelsey Zukowski, and a hand-full of up and coming b-movie actors and actresses.

However, some people debate it, and there are accounts of Dr. Crowe being an actual person in the area, though supposedly a dentist in the 1940s, which doesn't really follow with the rest of the story. There are more anecdotes and a more flavorful telling of the melonheads story at Weird Ohio. I'm going to have to look up the movies and see if they're any good. 


SPOILER for letterboxers after the jump!