Previously: Kallikantzaroi, The Greek Goblins Of Christmas.
Type: PE (Preternatural Entity).
Period/location of origin: Unknown, Monroe, Connecticut.
Appearance: Subjects, known as the Faceless People of Monroe, Connecticut, appear to be a group or family of humanoid beings with — as their moniker would imply — no faces. The expanses where, on other humans, faces would be present are not smoothly featureless; reports describe them as having “stretched membranes where their eyes should be, colorless lips, bumps for noses, and holes for ears.”
It is not known whether subjects are human, or simply human-shaped. It is not known how old they are, how many of them there are, or how they came to be.
[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]
Modus operandi: Subjects reportedly live together in an old, two-story farmhouse, visibly in disrepair and with the windows boarded up, somewhere in the more out-of-the-way reaches of the town of Monroe in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The house is typically kept dark, as subjects have no need for light, owing to their faceless nature. It is also often described as “fortress-like” and “impenetrable,” as if it is meant to keep intruders out — or something in. However, precisely what modifications may have been made to the house to make it resemble a fortress are not typically specified.
The Faceless People mostly keep to themselves; should passersby come upon them, they typically duck out of sight quickly. They do not actively seek out the presence or company of others, and in fact actively avoid it.
A caretaker of some sort, usually described as an elderly man, appears to live with them, and may occasionally be seen performing yardwork or other maintenance activities around the farmhouse. He also may warn away cars that drive too closely to the house or shoo off others who attempt to approach. Unlike his charges, the caretaker appears to be fully human, complete with a standard human face and features.
On the rare occasion that a light is seen emanating from inside the house — typically a specific room downstairs on the lefthand side of the house — it is usually said to belong to the caretaker, who does require light by which to see at night.
It is not clear whether the caretaker is always the same caretaker, or whether the job changes hands over time. One would expect that an elderly man would, eventually, need to pass along the job to another elderly man, either due to retirement or simply death due to old age — but given that no personal details are known about the caretaker or caretakers, it is impossible to say how either this position or those who hold it operate.
Subjects do not appear to have any specific agenda or modus operandi. They are not malevolent, and they do not seek out or attempt to attract targets to their home. They simply wish to exist in peace.
Containment: None required. They take care of it themselves. They own their own home, after all.
Additional notes: The primary account describing the Faceless People may be found in the book Weird New England: Your Travel Guide To New England’s Local Legends And Best Kept Secrets, written by Joseph A. Citro under the Weird U.S. banner and first published in 2005. Nearly every subsequent account draws most, if not all, of its details directly from this source.
Citro has also told a version of the story on Vermont Public Radio; it aired at the end of 2005, just a few months after the publication of Weird New England.
Both of Citro’s accounts speculate towards the end about who or what, precisely, subjects may be, although these speculations tend towards the sensational and are perhaps less sensitive than they should be.
It is not known how the legends regarding the Faceless People began, or when they began circulating. This researcher has also not located any accounts told directly by residents of Monroe — only the secondhand accounts told by Citro, and third-hand accounts retelling Citro’s original account.
The Faceless People are sometimes mentioned briefly in conjunction with another legend, the subjects of which are typically referred to as the “Melonheads.” Tales, accounts, and stories of these “Melonheads” have been known to circulate in a variety of locations within the United States, such as withing specific regions within the states of Ohio, Michigan, and Connecticut. Each state also has several versions of this legend in circulations, depending on the region.
The version in circulation in and around Fairfield County — that is, in and around the region in which the Faceless People are said to reside — is… not one that this researcher wishes to recount, owing to its stigmatizing nature.
It is not known whether the Faceless People are actually related in any way to the Fairfield County Melonheads — but it is interesting to note how many odd legends and stories have accumulated in this area of Connecticut. Also of note is the fact that remains of the former Fairfield State Hospital in Newtown, Connecticut — and all of its stories and history — are also nearby, only about 10 miles away.
Interestingly, descriptions of the Faceless People also bear some similarities with descriptions of the previous Encylopaedia subject known as the Slender Man, or Slenderman — namely, in the featureless faces characteristic of both subjects. Whether the two are in any way related has not been determined, although it is somewhat curious that the stories and legends regarding the Slender Man began circulating the internet in 2009, not quite four years following the publication of Weird New England.
The Slender Man is, of course, substantially more dangerous than the Faceless People, and should be avoided at all costs.
Recommendation: Leave the Faceless People alone.
You wouldn’t like strangers coming onto your property all the time, after all, would you?
Resources:
Weird New England: Your Travel Guide To New England’s Local Legends And Best Kept Secrets.
“Faceless” at VPR.
“New England Faceless People” at the High Strangeness Wiki.
“The Melon Heads” at DamnedCT, plus additional comment.
“The Melon Heads Of Connecticut” at the New England Historical Society.
Abandoned: Fairfield State Hospital.
Encyclopaedia Of The Impossible: The Slender Man.
***
Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Bluesky @GhostMachine13.bsky.social, Twitter @GhostMachine13, and Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And for more games, don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!
[Photos via DrNickStafford, PublicDomainPictures, nikles5/Pixabay]
Leave a Reply