Duffy House near Helltown

From the Creepy Cleveland Archives
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Contributed by Jeff R Stroup

Well I really enjoyed reading though all of the different encounters and stories about Boston Township. I live very close to that area and I have a few friends that live in Penninsula. I can’t say that I have every experienced anything supernatural down there but i do know that there is satanic worship in those woods and i have heard of some sort of Penninsula secret society but nothing substantial. I have heard stories of people having there dogs disappear when left out over night. and sometimes you can see fires in the woods but those could be anything. I have seen people in dark cloaks walking down the road but that is by Virginia Kendell Park (a ways down the road). The satanic church with upside-down crosses is a normal everyday christian church. The so called upside-down crosses are just the way that the windows were built. I’ve never been to that old abandoned house in the woods but I do know of another old abandoned house in the woods very near by helltown. If you take Akron Penninisula road heading away from helltown and make a left on quick road you can find the Duffy House. Probably a another stupid legend but I can say that I have been in that house and I hated it. The story is that some guy killed his whole family and then hung himself in the barn. This place is weird and if anyone knows any info about it I’d love to hear it. But anyways….On the property there are two houses both boarded up, a well, an outhouse, and a barn. The property is owned by the government and there are no trespassing signs. but I had two friends that broke into the house through the basement window freaked and didnt want to go back down through the basement and kicked down the back door to get out. After they kicked down the door a few of my other friends and myself walked in. If was creepy and gave me a horrible feeling so we all left. That was about 3 years ago. We would always drive past at night just to get that scare but one time we drove past and the house was lit up. You could see light coming from behind the plywood on the windows. More recently there have been construction crews there and they have begun to rebuild the old house. I cant figure out why it sat empty for so long or who owns it now and what they plan on doing with it but if you look in the garage windows there is trash in the trash cans that must be at least 20 years old. There’s a Pepsi can with the old logo and really old can style. There is still furniture and other belongings in the house also. I don’t like to believe in old legends but I cant figure out why a family would just leave without taking anything with them and then why after that it would sit empty for so long. So check it out if you want to. Nothing big. I’ve had some other encounters there but i wont bother mentioning them. It’s easy to find. Just down from Woodridge High School on quick road. Please try to find some more info for me.