There’s no shortage of haunted places in Connecticut. We’ve got it all: long-abandoned hospitals and asylums, creepy graveyards, spooky hotels, ghost towns, and more. Anywhere with as much history as New England often has a bit of a creepy vibe to it: so many people have lived and died here that you don’t have to be a strong believer in the paranormal to think it could be possible that ghosts lurk here. But did you know we even have a haunted road in Connecticut? Travel + Leisure recently named off the most haunted roads in America, and a Nutmeg State legend made it on the list. The stories are not based around one specific road, but rather the entire southwest region of the state, which is allegedly haunted by melon heads. But what exactly are melon heads in Connecticut? Read on to find out.

Oddly enough, the legend of the melon heads is prevalent in Ohio, Michigan, and southwest Connecticut. The Connecticut legends center around the Litchfield County and Fairfield County areas.
Kate Geruntho Frank/Wikimedia Commons
There are quite a few versions of the story that vary depending on the location. Perhaps the most famous version states that there was once a mental hospital for the criminally insane that burned down in Fairfield County.
2112guy/Wikimedia Commons
The staff and many of the residents were killed in the disaster, but there were 10-20 residents whose bodies were never discovered. If you believe the legend, they struggled to survive, hidden in the woods. Inbreeding led to their offspring developing hydrocephalus, which causes misshapen heads.
While no proof of the melon heads' existence has been found, the story is quite common in many areas, and you have to admit, there is something spooky about traveling along the roadways at night.
James Mann/Wikimedia Commons

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Allegedly, the melon heads live in wooded areas and will leap out and attack those who enter their territory, and are especially fond of those whose cars have broken down.
Ohio Urban Legends, Ghosts & Cemetery Stories!/YouTube
One legend states that in the 1980s, a group of high school girls were riding in a blue Ford Granada and decided to go looking for the melon heads. They parked the car and went into the woods, and several minutes later, they heard the car doors open and shut.
Gotlandracer/Wikimedia Commons
Suddenly, the car came roaring into the woods, chasing them. The melon heads were behind the wheel and they were hungry for victims! Their fate is unclear, but some stories claim that you can still see the melon heads driving the beat up old Granada today.
Just to be safe, we think we'll be extra-careful and watchful when driving down any back roads in southwestern Connecticut!
2112guy/Wikimedia Commons

If you’d like to see the entire list of haunted roads in America, check out the Travel + Leisure website.

Learn more about the melon heads in Connecticut from this video, which focuses on the similar Ohio urban legends:

Don’t risk having to look for help on the side of the road – you never know where the melon heads could be lurking! Make sure to keep an emergency tire boot in your car at all times.

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