Dylan Haviland – Special to The Southern News
Now that it’s October, SCSU students prepare themselves as “The Walking Dead” and Stephen King movie marathons consume their daily schedule. For those that want the true terror and mysticism of autumn, one must travel the path least taken. These paths dwindle into dirt roads submerged in the dying trees of fall, the real haunted roads of Connecticut: Velvet Street (Dracula Drive) of Trumbull and Sawmill City Road of Shelton.
Upon entering Velvet Street many will be unsettled by just how quickly the comforting cement roads of Trumbull wind uneasily into a dirt path. Devoid of but a few houses and thick with oaks and pine seemingly untouched by man, Velvet Street gives off that chilling feeling of being watched.
But who are you being watched by? As one drives slowly through the narrow road, or the braver souls walk the worn path as the shadows of ancient trees loom over.
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Antonio Gerardi, an SCSU business student and Trumbull resident, recounts his visit to the haunted street.
“We heard that the rumor is a bunch of people had escaped years ago from a mental hospital and that a few of them live in the woods,” said Gerardi. “We did not explore the entire road although because we were too scared to go down a pitch black long driveway or past the ‘do not enter’ signs. For all we know the legends could be true.”
Possibly the stories are simply something to scare away people from the old forests, but as someone transverses through the oaks, the random clearings and cleared out logs may point to something else. Maybe there is something much older than escaped people lurking in the woods.
That is for visitors and locals to decipher for themselves.
Deeper into Connecticut, Sawmill City Road in Shelton strongly resembles Velvet Street. Like a long lost brother, the two paths seem barren yet active in an unsettling way. With Sawmill holding the same legend of escaped patients as Velvet, the trees themselves seem to be hiding something as night creeps in.
As Velvet Street was a straightforward path, Sawmill provides twists and turns with vegetation creepy onto the road. One can be conscious that there can be something or someone in the unknown and frightening behind the next turn.
Jacob Cyr a Quinnipiac student, and a nearby resident to Shelton, mentioned how he had an eerie feeling about the path.
“On mischief night my friends and I wanted to take it a step further and decided to walk along Saw Mill City Road,” said Cyr. “We heard some screaming in the woods and decided to turn back. It was probably just kids fooling around, but who knows what it could have been.”
As if ripped right out of the film “The Blair Witch Project” Sawmill might be hiding something very strange.
So if you are looking a scare, take some time off from the movies and experience the real or mythical hauntings of Connecticut.
Photo Credit: Matt DeTurck
