There are few places that have such a strong potential for affecting the minds of those who investigate the paranormal the same way “Hell Town” allegedly does. Entire towns marked with a curse are often considered one of the most horrifying and tempting things a witness can observe alone on a cold day in the middle of winter. And Hell Town is certainly no exception. Not only does this town in Ohio have its own cult following, it’s said to have its own cult as well.
In the late 1970’s, legislation was passed that allowed entire towns to be bought up wholesale in order to support the efforts of the government in order to build national parks. One of the earliest towns to be bought up was one known as Boston Mills. Houses were bought, often from residents that had no desire to leave, and the entire town for the most part was abandoned leaving behind only a few. It is this few that the legends would often be written about.
The town is amid a large forest that takes up a large portion of the region. Though the trees are slowly closing in on the town itself, there is an area of forest just north of town that is said to contain the remnants of an old satanic cult. This cult has been a central figure in several elements of the town’s lore. The trees around the cult’s alleged compound are not only thick, but animated by some unseen magic as well. They are said to be able to bar entrances by weaving their limbs through trails and creating a natural wall against intruders. Some legends even say the trees will claim the lives of travelers seeking the cult, pulling them up into the branches to never be seen again.
There is also a road in Hell Town known as “The End of the World.” It’s said that if drivers accelerate through a crest in the hill their car will run across the aforementioned cult members who will have somehow been alerted to their presence and attempt to kidnap the drivers of the vehicle. The cult members are in some versions of the story replaced by a serial killer or several ghosts depending on who is telling the tale. Altogether the End of the World seems like a fairly unpleasant place to drive.
And the legends of this town span everywhere from the merely mundane to the downright horrific. Cemeteries house ghosts, a hearse chases visitors to their doom, escaped mental patients often find themselves inexplicably drawn to the place and wander aimlessly through the woods wreaking havoc and chasing down curious travelers who find themselves out after dark. There’s even said to be a number of mutants who have been affected by a secret chemical spill somewhere outside the city limits. But the town isn’t entirely abandoned. Several people pass through there every day and claim that while the town is strange there’s nothing overtly wrong with it. Still others visit only once and never return.