Haunchyville

Last updated

Haunchyville is a mythical village of dwarves in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. [1] It is rumored to be located near Mystic Drive in Muskego.

Contents

History

Locals say that within the woods near Muskego, Wisconsin lives a conclave of little people, whose homes are built-to-scale and in the woods. In the mythical village is said to live an old man with albinism, who serves as their protector. Legend has it, if trespassers are caught, the unruly dwarves cut their legs from the knees down, so they are forced to live like one of them. [2]

Origin

According to the legend, after continuous exploitation of a number of circus dwarves, they revolted against their ring leader. After killing their master they hanged him in a wooded area, after first cutting off his arms and legs. To avoid being arrested, or even worse consequences from the circus community, the dwarves set out to create their own community, built exclusively for dwarves. [3]

The Protector

The story goes that in the woods lives an old man, among the dwarfs. He is said to wait at the end of Mystic Drive, shot-gun in hand, to ward off anyone trying to cause trouble to the dwarfs.

The story also goes that he first met the group of dwarfs as a child. As a young boy he accidentally stumbled upon Haunchyville and, since he instantly treated them as equals, they sheltered the young boy and raised him as one of their own. As he grew up, he notoriously defended the dwarfs, often resorting to violence. [2]

In Punisher #16-17 (2002), Garth Ennis used the legend as basis for a two-part story in which "little people" formed their own mob and cut off their rival mobsters' legs from the knees down, as Haunchyville residents supposedly do to trespassers.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwarf (folklore)</span> Supernatural being in Germanic folklore

A dwarf is a type of supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Accounts of dwarfs vary significantly throughout history; however, they are commonly, but not exclusively, presented as living in mountains or stones and being skilled craftspeople. In early literary sources, only males are explicitly referred to as dwarfs. However, they are described as having sisters and daughters, while male and female dwarfs feature in later saga literature and folklore. Dwarfs are sometimes described as short; however, scholars have noted that this is neither explicit nor relevant to their roles in the earliest sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaviiformes</span> Order of birds

Gaviiformes is an order of aquatic birds containing the loons or divers and their closest extinct relatives. Modern gaviiformes are found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia, though prehistoric species were more widespread.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Christian Heg</span> 19th century American politician

Hans Christian Heg was a Norwegian American abolitionist, journalist, anti-slavery activist, politician and soldier, best known for leading the Scandinavian 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment on the Union side in the American Civil War. He died of the wounds he received at the Battle of Chickamauga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fearsome critters</span> Tall tale animals from North American folklore

In North American folklore and American mythology fearsome critters were tall tale animals jokingly said to inhabit the wilderness in or around logging camps, especially in the Great Lakes region. Today, the term may also be applied to similar fabulous beasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melon heads</span> American folklore beings

In the American folklore of Ohio, Michigan and Connecticut, melon heads are beings generally described as small humanoids with bulbous heads who occasionally emerge from hiding places to attack people. Different variations of the legend attribute different origins to the entities.

Summerwind, formerly known as Lamont Mansion, is a ruined mansion on the shores of West Bay Lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin. Located on private land, its ruins are closed to the public. A number of urban legends and ghost stories in popular culture have contributed to its reputation as a haunted house.

Dwarf Fortress is a construction and management simulation and roguelike indie video game created by Bay 12 Games. Available as freeware and in development since 2002, its first alpha version was released in 2006 and received attention for being a two-member project surviving solely on donations. The primary game mode is set in a procedurally generated fantasy world in which the player indirectly controls a group of dwarves, and attempts to construct a successful and wealthy fortress. Critics praised its complex and emergent gameplay but had mixed reactions to its difficulty. The game influenced Minecraft, Rimworld, and others, and was selected among other games to be featured in the Museum of Modern Art to show the history of video gaming in 2012.

Midgetville refers to real or legendary communities of "midgets", people with forms of dwarfism who are normally proportioned, or collections of small "midget-sized" houses. Real or legendary, they are at times given fanciful qualities. Some "real" ones may play on mythology for tourism purposes. Hence some descriptions are not meant to imply anything concerning ordinary or real people with dwarfism.

Antoine Carré was a French explorer and fur trader. After marrying the daughter of an Ottawa chieftain, he became founder and leader of the Bear River Ottawa during the mid-18th century, when he was known in Odawa as Neaatooshing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eureka, Winnebago County, Wisconsin</span> Census-designated place in Wisconsin, United States

Eureka is an unincorporated census-designated place in the town of Rushford, in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the Fox River at the intersection of county highways K & E southwest of Omro. At the 2020 census, its population was 247.

Weird US is a series of guide books written by various authors and published by Sterling Publishing of New York City. The series originated with Weird NJ, a magazine published by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman that chronicles local legends and other peculiarities in New Jersey. The growing popularity of the magazine resulted in the publication of a book written by Moran and Sceurman, Weird NJ: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. After the book was released, Moran and Sceurman began receiving letters from individuals across the United States, detailing oddities from their home states, which prompted Moran and Sceurman to create Weird US.

In folklore, the Michigan Dogman was a creature allegedly witnessed in 1887 in Wexford County, Michigan, United States. It was described as a seven-foot tall, blue-eyed, or amber-eyed bipedal canine-like animal with the torso of a man and a fearsome howl that sounds like a human scream. According to legends, the Michigan Dogman appears in a ten-year cycle that falls on years ending in 7. Sightings have been reported in several locations throughout Michigan, primarily in the northwestern quadrant of the Lower Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleazer Williams</span> Canadian-American clergyman

Eleazer Williams was a Canadian-American clergyman and missionary of Mohawk descent. In later years he claimed that he was the French "Lost Dauphin" and was a pretender to the throne of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tauriel</span> Fictional character added to the trilogy of movies adapted from The Hobbit

Tauriel is a fictional character from Peter Jackson's feature film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. The character does not appear in the original novel, but was created by Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh as an expansion of material adapted from the novel. She appears in the second and third films in that trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Belle Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

La Belle Cemetery is in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Built in 1851, and originally called Henshall Place, it was the first cemetery recorded in Oconomowoc. The cemetery then moved to Walnut Street. In 1864, the Wisconsin Legislature approved the removal of all the bodies from Oconomowoc Cemetery on Walnut Street to the current La Belle Cemetery grounds. The land that is now the grounds for the La Belle Cemetery was first owned by Charles Sheldon, which he donated when the Oconomowoc Cemetery became too crowded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Lord Fauntleroy (murder victim)</span> Murder victim

Little Lord Fauntleroy is the nickname for an unidentified American boy found murdered in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William L. Schultz</span>

William ‘Bill’ L. Schultz was a late 20th century American circus performer, national paddleball champion, national racquetball champion, U.S. Marine, Big Time wrestler, the youngest executive director of the YMCA, and poet. He also sparred with John Wayne and other Hollywood celebrities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Aaron State Trail</span> Shared use path in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

The Hank Aaron State Trail is a 15.2-mile (24.5 km) shared-use path in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Named after former Milwaukee Braves and Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Hank Aaron, the trail travels east-west between Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee and Underwood Parkway in Wauwatosa via the Menomonee Valley. It is composed of rail trail, Menomonee River-following, and on-street segments. The trail sees approximately 200,000 users each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Dauphin Park</span> Park in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States

Lost Dauphin State Park is a state park in Brown County, Wisconsin. It is located on the land that Lost Dauphin claimant Eleazer Williams lived in the mid-19th-century. The park became a state park in 1947. It was removed from the list of state parks but the land remains state-owned.

References

  1. Wild, Matt (2010-06-14). "Don't go back to Haunchyville". Milwaukee: AV Milwaukee. Archived from the original on 2013-05-30. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  2. 1 2 Godfrey, Linda; Hendricks, Richard (2005-04-07). Weird Wisconsin: Your Travel Guide To Wisconsin's Local Legends And Best Kept Secrets (1 ed.). Milwaukee: Sterling. pp.  272. ISBN   978-0-7607-5944-8 . Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  3. LaRose, Eric (2005-04-27). "Tales from Wisconsin's Darkside". New book shows how weird Wisconsin really is. Marinette, Wi: Eagle Herald. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2011.