Haunted New England: Devil's Hopyard, East Haddam, CT

Devil's Hopyard is one of New England's most beautiful and picturesque locations. It also happens to be one of my favorite spots to go in the fall, not only for the scenery but for the history. This location has been thought to be the main spot where Satan, the Devil, Lucifer itself hides. Some have even claimed to see an entity sitting atop the waterfall surrounded by other negative entities. People have also claimed to see apparitions, shadows and figures creeping throughout the woods, behind the trees and on the trails. People claim to have captured laughing, disembodied voices and whispers on tape. 

Not only does the location have rumors of paranormal activity, there is evidence of a violent past and a variety of events that have contributed to the parks current atmosphere and energy. 

In fact, Devil's Hopyard was the site of an attack carried out in 1775, by the Sons Of Liberty. The mill area was owned by British Loyalists. In the early 1700s, there may have been an early version of a brewery nearby, as there is evidence of an actual hopyard. 

In 1999, 5 men snuck into the park after hours and claimed that they had been frightened and disturbed by demonic phenomena and voices. Two of the men claimed to hear a voice saying "Leave now, or youll join us forever" and one of the men said upon the group heading out of the park, he heard laughter. Not only that, but one claimed to have spotted a large "beast- like demon" and a "shadow with a jagged edge". They then ended up fleeing the park and driving to a pastors house, asking for help with their recent encounter. The pastor called the police, claiming the men looked uncomfortable and had weapons. All 5 men were arrested and taken into custody, although police found zero evidence of the men being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, their story cannot be proven fully, as there is no documented evidence of this particular encounter. 




I have my own little experience with this location, as does my sister, though she was too young at the time to remember what it was clearly, now. 

My experience: I went on a day trip to the hopyard with my family. After a day of activities we decided to take one last stroll around the park. I remember being drawn to the Chapman Falls, waterfall. Now, its important to note that I am incredibly fearful of lakes, rivers and ponds. Any dark water for that matter. But for some reason, my fear was over shadowed by an intense feeling of belonging. I stepped along the rocks and sat above the black water on one of the ledges. I wasnt afraid of the fact that I was practically dangling above black water that was who knows how deep. It is completely unlike to me even go near water like that. So I just thought it strange that for that moment I seemed to unafraid and almost too comfortable peering over into this inky water that I otherwise wouldve had a legitimate panic attack over.

Besides some other intense feelings and shifts in atmosphere, I havent had any other major experiences there. However, my younger sister, who was quite young when this happened, did see something. Oddly enough, it was the same day I had my own experience. 

We were walking along one of the more open trails, heading back up to the exit. My sister kept looking back behind her, like she was staring at something. We stopped and she said, "Theres a BIG cat thing over there!" We all turned around to where she was pointing and there was nothing there. No animals in view, no people, no nothing. But she insisted there was still a "big cat thing" walking behind us. Perhaps this was just a young child playing pretend or a trick of the eye, or perhaps she did see something, as she has proven to be a great clairsentient, reader, and empath. 

I hope you have enjoyed this haunted post and if youd like to find out more info, please feel free to ask or head on over to google and discover a vast amount of haunted information!