Corpsewood, After Hours

It was over a year ago that Wes and I made our first trek to the ruins of Corpsewood. Last week we made our long planned second trip; this time to spend the night. For those unfamiliar, Corpsewood is the site of an infamous double murder that took place in December of 1982. Dr. Charles Scudder and Joseph Odem lived a life that defied the norms of North Georgia. Not only were they rumored to be lovers, but also thought to be devil worshippers. The latter has not been confirmed and in the time and place they lived, any variation of Paganism or Wiccan beliefs could have easily fallen into the category of "Devil Worship". They had sought to escape the trials of urban life and enjoy a peaceful and isolated existence in the wilderness near Trion, GA. They were known to be very friendly and welcoming to those who came to visit their wilderness manor. It was not long after their murders that the manor home burned down, leaving only the ruins that remain today. Through the years, Corpsewood has had its share of visitors and many a person's brother's friend or cousin's classmate has experienced something paranormal there. I am ever skeptical of the paranormal experiences of others. In my 34 years, only once have I thought I might have seen something supernatural and even that occurence can be attributed to certain environmental factors. Wes however, has shared with me many experiences that sent a chill up my spine. He's one of the straightest shooters I know (one reason I value our friendship so much) so I have no doubt he experienced first hand the things he has shared. Our adventure to experience Corpsewood under a cover of darkness began just past 6 PM last Thursday. We arrived at the mountain with plenty of daylight left and decided we would first try to seek a shorter route to Corpsewood. The woods surrounding Corpsewood are dotted with logging roads that twist and turn with no homes or other dwellings along them. As we ventured down one we thought might provide a shorter route to Corpsewood, we were surprised to find we were not alone on the mountain. At the end of the road was another campsite. The campers appeared to be long term as they had constructed a well-built fire pit that looked to have been there a while. A man was emerging from the woods as we pulled up. We gave a friendly wave as we turned around and he waved back. Noticing a trail along the road, we stopped and I set out to explore it, hoping to find a shorter route to Corpsewood. On our first trip to Corpsewood, cars could be heard passing by not too far away and we thought this trail might provide a shorter trek. After ascending and descending two challenging slopes, I found no Corpsewood; only a happy birthday balloon and a woman's winter coat along the trail. I returned to the car winded and worn out, not looking forward to the short hike that lay ahead. We had no option but to take the known route to Corpsewood, a 15-20 minute hike. With the sun quickly setting, we took what little gear we had and headed to our destination. We arrived just as the sun was setting and found little had changed since our first trip over a year ago. After setting up our chairs, lantern and a few other necessities, I decided to have a quick look around. A short stroll down the trail behind Corpsewood revealed my previous strenuous trek was all for naught. A left turn off that initial trail would have had us at Corpsewood in five minutes.... Next time we will know. Laughing at my lack of navigation skills, we sat and watched the sky turn dark above us. The ghost stories of Corpsewood are many. Among the tales of supernatural happenings are visits by phantom animals, sounds of harp music coming from the woods and the sounds of dogs howling where no dogs are seen. My personal favorite is that of an old man asking visitors to the site if they knew Scudder and Odem, only to vanish moments thereafter. The first occurrence of the night was a rustling sound in the underbrush nearby. Whatever it was, it sounded sizeable and it was very mobile. We flashed a light over the woods but saw nothing. We surmised it could have been a deer, raccoon or even a rabbit. In the solitude of the woods, even a small critter could make quite a racket. As the evening progressed, we chose not to fire up the lantern, using only a glow stick and our cell phones for minimal light. As he and I are able to do, anytime and anyplace, Wes and I conversed about subject after subject. I have often said that when he and I visit each other the conversation starts upon arrival and doesn't stop until departure. This night was no exception. One topic of conversation was how cold it was that night. We had not expected temperatures to be so low and had to surround ourselves with some blankets we packed to keep warm. Midnight was fast approaching and the only notable thing we had seen were some shooting stars, which were really cool, but not haunting harp music or mystical mutt cool. At midnight, things changed. We were sitting and chatting when he heard laughter coming through the woods. There was no mistaking the sound, it was definitely an audible voice and it was getting closer. What followed was collection of bouncing lights approaching in the woods. We were not the only ones visiting Corpsewood on this night. Just to prevent any unnecessary heart attacks or broken bones from a rapid escape by those approaching, I called out “Hello!” and turned on the lantern. They were just as surprised to see us as we were them and even more surprised to find us sitting in the dark. I gave the group of college aged adventurers a quick history of the site, as some of them didn't know it, and they continued on their way to the clearing behind the manor. Wes and I laughed at what a shock it was to find somebody else visiting Corpsewood on a Thursday night. We even joked that the next day we would start a new legend about two Corpsewood ghosts who sit in chairs and greet visitors with a history of the site. While we had a laugh over this, there would be soon be upon us another visitor (or visitors) and we would not be so lighthearted this time. The sounds of the college group could be heard nearby, although they were not disruptive and they even had a fire going for a while. It was cool that we had company. However, the company that soon arrived was not as welcome. A truck came tearing down the logging road nearby, driving in the direction of the campsite we had encountered earlier. A few minutes later, it came back down the road and stopped nearby and killed its engine. No car doors were heard there after, no voices and certainly not the truck cranking back up and moving on. This made the college group and Wes and I a bit uneasy. The college group came back and hung with us for a while and we all talked about Corpsewood and life in general. I am certain we all had our ears directed to the road nearby, waiting to hear the truck crank up and leave. It never did. Eventually, our new friends left us, leaving Wes and I to our solitude again. The mood turned back to what it was before the college group arrived, but we still kept an ear out towards the truck. Eventually, it left our thoughts, as we knew should anybody make an approach, they would be heard and we were prepared to deal with any threat. So relaxed became I that sleep was soon upon me and I dozed for about an hour or so. Wes suffers insomnia and had no plans to sleep that night. Waking up at Corpsewood was quite surreal. To open one's eyes to total darkness, only to have come into focus two old brick buildings and the light from an orange glow stick and nothing but the sounds of silence around can be quite disorienting. Wes and I had a chuckle over my temporary confusion. Wes’s decision not to slumber and experienced the only suspect paranormal occurrence of the night. While I dozed, he was certain he heard a chain being drug, as if chained to a dog or other animal. He questioned if Scudder and Odem's mastiffs were kept on chains. I figured this was unlikely given their remote location. Damn, I missed the only possible paranormal activity of the night. We talked a few more minutes and decided we had accomplished what we set out to do. At this point, we were both quite chilled by the night air and figured any potential witching hour had passed by now. Just shy of 4:30 we packed up our gear and began feeling our way back to the car. With the lantern to guide us we navigated our way back out of the woods. Upon returning to the car, I entertained the idea of going down the road to see if the truck was still sitting there, but we opted instead for some breakfast at Waffle House and were on our way. Just as I expected, the greatest thing to fear at Corpsewood Manor was not a ghost or spirit one might meet, but another living person. Just as theories can abound regarding what a person might see and hear and interpret as supernatural, we could only theorize and speculate the intentions of the truck that parked at the top of the hill. In both cases, what the human mind can conjure up can be both terrifying, exciting and mysterious. For me though, I'd rather speculate over things from the great beyond than what is beyond those trees, as the former seems much less perilous than the latter.