
Artwork by Michigan’s Otherside
The Melon Heads legend comes out of Holland/Saugatuck, Michigan and describes a band of hydrocephalic (water on the brain) children living in the woods of the Saugatuck State Park area. The medical condition causes them to have large, swollen heads, so they look like tiny, bulbous headed creatures coming at you when you least expect it! Or so the legend says…
The traditional story tells of a hospital in the area that was treating hydrocephalic children long ago. The hospital was forced to close, and the children had nowhere to go, so they were released into the wilds of Holland (scary…)
For decades, people in Holland/Saugatuck have told this tale. Namely, teenagers growing up in that area during the 1960’s and 70’s and parents looking to scare their children into good behavior with threats of the Melon Heads coming for them if they don’t go to sleep! There are a few different theories as to where these creatures originated from and no doubt it’s from the depths of the human imagination. Sometimes people pass this legend on while playing games on their friends or when newcomers move to town.
There was never a hospital in the Allegan County woods with a crazy doctor (as many like to say), that treated children. Historical records prove that. But for some reason, the story got started and continues to be passed around by word of mouth and preserved on websites like this.
I couldn’t leave this story out of the first book I published, Ghosts & Legends of Michigan’s West Coast, but since the publication of that book in 2009, fellow researcher Kevin Collier also suggested that the Melon Heads came to be because the children who went to school when the Felt Mansion was a seminary were considered “melon heads,” by the public school kids. They were the smart kids.
INTERNET “RUMORS” ABOUT THE MELON HEADS
One thing about legends and the Internet is how mixed up things start to become. I’ve been seeing articles about Dr. Crow (part of the Ohio Melon Heads story) getting confused with the Felt Mansion in Michigan. The legendary Dr. Crow (some spell it Crowe) is in no way connected to the Felt Mansion in Saugatuck, Michigan. Dr. Crow is part of the northern Ohio legends and as far as anyone can tell, is also a made-up figure from Ohio folklore.
Check out the website www.creepyclevelnd.net for accounts of Melon Heads running wild in Ohio.
READER SUBMISSION
I have lived in Laketown Township for about twelve years now and agree with everything that was said in your book, Ghost & Legends of Michigan’s West Coast. I have friends who have seen the melon heads in the woods a few times. Do I believe in them? Yes and no. (They say if you flick your car headlights you’re more prone to see something, but I’m too afraid to try.) I have heard insane ghost stories about the Felt mansion though. People seeing kids playing at the top of the stairs and then jumping off the balcony of the house. There was also a story about teens who were going to vandalize the Felt mansion before the restoration began in 2000. It was in the middle of the night and a man in a horse drawn carriage pulled up and asked them if they needed a ride. They freaked out and ran away.
RADIOACTIVE MELON HEADS
This version of the Melon Head story was shared by a Michigan resident.
This legend has made its way to my neck of the woods too. A little different though. In southwest Michigan, the Melon Heads are said to be located behind the Cook nuclear plant in Bridgman. There are two different stories of how they got to be there. The first story says there was an insane asylum in the woods before the power plant was built and there was a fire that burned the asylum to the ground and the Melon Heads escaped and have been living in the wild ever since.
The other story says there was a group of people who lived behind the plant in the woods. After exposure to the radiation, they began to have swelling of the brain, and out of embarrassment and shame, they stayed in the woods to be left alone by the public to live their lives. The nuclear plant and all surrounding property have been closed off to the public since the 9/11 attacks, but you used to be able to drive back into the woods and explore. It was a big pastime for teenagers to scare the bejesus out of themselves and their dates. I have been told that the whole area back there is like a maze, and unless you know the area well, it is very easy to get lost in. I suppose that just adds to the scare factor. So I would say that the Melon Heads from my area are just urban legend. But it always makes for interesting conversation, especially when talking with those who have been there and claim to have seen one.
READER SUBMISSION
Last year, me and some of my friends at Hope College decided we wanted to go to the Allegan County woods in Hamilton in search of the Melonheads. On our first night there, we went back on a path for about a mile and came to an opening where there seemed to be a foundation of a building still there, but the building was gone. On the walk back to the opening, there was a sign hanging over the path but it was too faded to make out the wording. On the first night, we did not experience anything too out of the ordinary that we didn’t think we couldn’t explain by animals or other sorts. We went back the next night and it was raining mixed with some lightning. Me and two other guys were leading the group down the path and about a half a mile into our walk, there was a lightning flash and all three of us saw the same exact figure of a human about 4 and a half feet tall with an abnormally large head standing in the middle of the clearing that we had gone to the night before. We three kind of slowed down for a minute and the next thing we knew, we heard a huge crash in the woods to the left of us. We immediately turned and ran back to the cars.
I lived in Southwest Michigan for 20 years. I have been on melon Head Road many many many times in my life. I believe the real name of the road is cherry wood or something like that. It is in Bridgman. There are many stories. One is that as you go through the tunnel in Blow Your Horn the melonhead’s will come out with bats. Others are as you make the three mile rugged terrain Circle at the Melon Heads Will Come Out at you at any given time. I was never able to see one because of course I don’t believe there are any. It didn’t matter. Everyone was just too scared because of the thought that someone might be out there. Legends are legends. There could be truth to some of this. Let your own imagination run wild. I will never forget the hundred or so times that I made the journey. Memories memories memories.
I grew up in Southwest MI and with the legend. In Bridgman there is a small, old tunnel that goes beneath I-94. Everyone in Bridgman grew up hearing different stories. I was always told that the Nuclear Plant use to test on unfortunate people and they eventually escaped into the woods. My family and I would drive to the tunnel at night and stop in the middle. Roll down your windows, unlock the doors, and turn the car off. Honk slowly 3 times and if the Melon Heads dont get you then, they may show up at the end of the tunnel once you turn the car back on. If they do not appear, they will get you in the woods. If you decide to turn around they will get under your car and follow you home. To try and avoid this, drive through the woods. It is a twisting and disorienting road with very a few empty houses. Melon Heads will be following and watching you from the woods. Just when you think you’ll never find your way out, you make it back to the tunnel. Repeat the process leaving and hope that you dont bring any home with you!
Love, love, LOVE this! Thanks for sharing! I will have to highlight this comment:)
I had lived around Holland and spent a lot of time driving around Holt’s Lake in Laketown Township. Late at night of course.
I heard stories about the mellon heads but the scariest stories were about something much worse. THE ASSTIGATOR!!!
Half ass and half alligator. Imagine that in your mind while driving around in the woods on an old, windy gravel road at 2am.
Jeeeesh. I think the mellon heads are even a scared of it.
HAHAHHAHAHAHAH! This made me laugh out loud by myself:) Thanks for sharing.