Here’s A Little Ditty About A True Story
By: Jessica Cote
Tags: Writing, Mental Health Awareness, Halloween, Mental Health, Horror

Here’s A Little Ditty About A True Story

“People can destroy people; People can also decorate. The former are misleaders; the latter are leaders.”

― Israelmore Ayivor, Leaders’ Ladder

Photo by Sašo Tušar on Unsplash

A Couple Days Too Late; Happy Halloween

It is time to talk about horrific real-life events. Halloween as a holiday is predominately meant to ward off evil spirits, ghosts, and negative energy by disguising ourselves to look like someone else. The point of Halloween is not candy nor trick or treating, but to graciously allow the dead to wander the Earth for one day, and not have to cause a ruckus according to legend.

But every time Halloween comes to town we associate it with fear, screams, and haunted houses. My only point is don’t we get enough of this nearly daily in our lives. I don’t think there is a day I have ever watched the news that was free of someone being killed either by murder, or car accident. Nor do we escape our daily horrors and lately we have a lot such an unseen pandemic, wildfires, natural disasters, and loss in any form.

We do welcome the imaginary day that we can just be anyone we want for a few hours. I do say, evil exits though. It is often hidden and mysterious. My home state has two fairy tale Halloween stories that are actually fairly current to our times. One happened about thirty-four years ago, and the other happened about four years ago. These stories may sound common, familiar, and typical of the news to showcase. But the hidden atrocities here are what tells us we have more to fear from the living than we ever had from the dead.

Connecticut: The Haunted State

“Halloween is a celebration of the inversion of reality and a necessary Gothic hat-tip to the darker aspects of life, death, and ourselves.”

― Stewart Stafford

Photo by Ehud Neuhaus on Unsplash

The Legends of Connecticut

Before I get into my two tales, I would like to share some frighteningly real legends that I grew up with as a child. One is the devil’s Hopyard State Park, in East Haddam. This was a park that puritans believed was the hiding place of Satan, and if you wandered too far into the woods, he would come and take your sou. Some have claimed to have heard demonic voices. But during daylight, the park is fairly calm.

My brother thought he felt a demon attach to his car after driving through there at midnight for some god awful reason. But yeah. At the end of the Hopyard, there is a road called Downs Road which is blocked off to the public, is not paved, and has not one but two stop signs next to it. Some say child apparitions come out, and others say there is a monster there.

Lastly is a close to home legend. One that actually hits home because my Great Grandmother use to work here. ( She passed away.) But this is clearly a legend and our local Native American Tribe has bought the land and tried to eradicate all the bad spirits from it. But I grew up with being told never to step foot here at night, and if I do to be prepared for death.

The Norwich State Hospital in Preston checks all blocks of creepy insanity asylum. But I think it was mainly meant to be used as a reminder to us children that scary things happen all around us.

Connecticut: Two Stories that Hit Home

“For a witch, you certainly don’t know much about how hauntings work.”

― Colleen Houck, The Lantern’s Ember

Photo by Max on Unsplash

Everyone has haunting legends as you read above. But what about the chilling stories that are actually true? What do you do with these types of stories? Throw them away? Hide them from society? Remind your children to be safe outside even if they are in their twenties? These have been struggles of parents in Connecticut for a long time.

One of my stories is about a serial killer. I got to tell you, I didn’t expect that our state would be branded as one that has produced a well known serial killer. Actually, he is often one of the jokes that get passed around town. So, who is he?

Michael Bruce Ross. Michael Ross was put to execution and was the first since 1960 and last in 2005 for Connecticut. He was born on July 26th, 1959, and died on May 13th, 2005. He had eight victims. He is called the roadside strangler. Yup. He went from strangling chickens to strangling people. ( Habits do tend to stick with us for better or worse.) It was violent sexual fantasies that brought about his sudden desire to kill people. But he buried the victims in odd places.

One of the ghostly haunting tales for my town was that he buried three of his victims in the woods that our very own zoo was in. ( Mohegan park was a zoo, but then the entire park went downhill and it slowly became more like woods with a cool little fun area to play in. ) I remember the days it was a zoo. I was young but these murders happened before I was born. ( There is no proof these bodies were buried there. It is just a tall tale for us.)

To scare us, children, they would tell us, don’t stay out too let…a serial killer’s victims might just haunt you, and who knows how many more were buried here. -shudders-

Anyways, this only one of my stories that strikes me as chilling.

Story Two: When Horror Gets Personal

Every house has a story to tell.

― Riley Sager, Home Before Dark

Photo by Stefano Pollio on Unsplash

My second story is a much more personal story. It is a recent horror about a family who was murdered in cold blood. The hollow carcass of the house remains as a memorial and acts kind of like an Indian memorial. ( I am sure the family uses it to remember those lost.)

A story like this touches my heart, but I had a huge crush on the cousin of the kid that got killed. His family is beautiful. No joke there. If looks could weaken you in the knees, this family could do it. I take no credit nor do I wish to abolish the pain the family felt. Hell, I coulda been family too. So, my respect and endearing love to go to them, but this is a modern horror story as well.

Let’s begin with the small details shall we;

Matt Lindquist is the son of Kenneth Lindquist and Janet Lindquist. However, according to a woman who took part in the plan to rob their house of guns, the entire plan was Matt’s idea. Speak ill of the dead will ya? But yes Guns, guns, and more guns.

In my head, I can’t imagine Matt doing something like that even in the condition he was in. But reality can’t push aside thoughts. While I can’t picture him doing this, our reality has told us a whole other story.

Matthew promised to give one of the Correas ( the siblings involved in this case) guns in exchange for drugs and cash. First off, it is scary how much information our phones really provide to everyone when they are supposed to be private. By utilizing the sims card from Matthew’s phone. It has become a socially public awareness of the secret lives people can have behind closed doors.

“U give me the cash when I show u safe right?” His first offer to the Correas through text made me wonder if he truly texted this. But a sim’s card can’t lie. ( Come on now, sounds like a setup text from someone who is already dead. But this theory has come and gone now…right?) Right after this text is his next text which says “ Cause I know there’s at least 2 guns.” Strange. At least two? Again, I will raise the question of Matt living with his parents. He obviously knew there were guns, and knew there were a lot more than two. ( They were gun collectors. Nothing bad or evil about that…right? Let’s say if you were already dead and the killer wanted to make it look like you weren’t….this would be the type of texts to be sent.

Matt would and should have the knowledge of the guns, how many, and models they are because he has lived with them for so long. Theoretically, he could already be dead. Or he is having second thoughts. The benefit of the doubt says second thoughts. But…the possibility of him already being dead…is there. )

The response from Correa is nearly chilling: “Text me where to meet you.”

Wait. This is clear in response. Matt then suggests Walmart but someone wrote back, “ too many cameras, I want to pay and leave this car. It is registered to me.” Wait… his next response is even more gut-wrenching. “ If you pull up in front of my house and give me a stack, I’ll show you where the safe is.” Hmm.

Let’s just say things get a little he said she said about the overall initial correspondence when they did meet up which is why the theory of he was already dead came about to me. Accordingly, the public details get shotty where some have Matt being chased by a Correa and was hit in the back of the head, and some say it wasn’t quite the head. Then afterwards he was tied up then stabbed repeatedly until he stopped moving. Murder. But who’s to say these events happened after the messages or before? I honestly think they could have killed him off prior and tried to make it look like they didn’t. Maybe, the pair didn’t feel like sharing the reward.

The pair proceed to the house where Ken was awake and the family dog apparently chased after them. ( What a good boy.) So one of them hit the dog with a golf club. ( Strange they would leave the Machete? Eh? ) By using a bat one of the perpetrators beat Ken up trying to get the keys to the safe, but he refused because Ken is wise. Ken was probably buying time.

Janet then emerged to the sound of her dog, and her husband yelling at strangers. Then she was taken away from the scene by one of them because they didn’t want her to witness the scene.

Apparently, words were spoken and the one who was with Janet said her son set her up. ( I just shiver when I think of this because I don’t believe a mother would just accept these words point-blank. But then…Matt was dabbling in troublesome stuff. No one knew it was this dark.

When they finally got to the guns, one of them entered the room that Janet was in. Ken was killed. Murdered. Bloody murder. But Janet was only hurt when the Correas burned down the house. She was hurt and probably chose to die. I’m not saying it to be mean but her choices were limited. Justice wouldn’t have healed her wounds. Anger would have taken her. We have seen depression take the lives of many. Would she physically live? Yes. Would she have died mentally? Yes. I think she would have mentally struggled and the loss she faced was incomparable to anything she had probably faced before.

Assuming she could probably walk…she probably chose to die from the smoke. Liberating herself from living in hell. I can only imagine how difficult that was. But in the end, I wonder what true horror is. Some say Matt set the murder up, and some say, Matt was set up to die in the first place. I say…you can’t speak ill of the dead. But my prayers, love, and undying loyalty still go out to the Lindquist family.

But as you see, horror is not always about the boos, the music, the screams, and the candy. It can be the realization that true horror does not always wait for Halloween.