As Halloween begins its eldritch, spectral grip over us petty mortals, many of us vary in our methods of celebrating this historically-condemned holiday. Children take to the leaf-specked streets with their parents at their side, while the older crowds use this tradition, and many others after it, as an excuse to drink.
But there are those of us who are a bit too old to dawn skin-tight costumes (except for anime fans), and who don't prefer to get boozed up for the holidays. Many find their more...adventurous spirits brought out this season, and engage in the activity of pursuing the truth of local urban legends. This is the tale of one legend you may not have heard about.
This is the tale of the Pennsylvania Cult House.
In the southern reaches of our humble state, there lies a road that twists and turns near the Delaware border. This 2-mile stretch is known as Cossart Road, and one can generally tell if they are on this road by the unnatural looking trees, trees that seemingly bend away from the road and its "aura of evil."
The road itself can easily serve as a source of inspiration behind this urban legend; with the vandalized and missing street signs that make navigating this road extremely unreliable to the frightened trees that dot the countryside. But what makes this area home to such an infamous, and beloved, legend of sp00ky proportions?
Travel deeper into the reaches of this infamous pathway, and you'll find yourself in the middle of what could easily be made into a horror movie (and it has, see "The Village" by PA's own M. Night Shyamalan). For up a heavily wooded hillside, farther along the road, stands an enormous stone mansion, a mansion that, according to legend, hides an old and terrible family secret. Described as expansive, of old style, and decorated with windows in the shape of inverted crosses is the Pennsylvania Cult House. A house in the middle of the woods is creepy enough, but combine that element with the tale of an incestuous family of millionaires and all that is holy will surely go flying out the window (the inverted-cross shaped window, that is). According to local superstition, this manor is home to members of the DuPont family, a line of millionaires in the chemical industry whose fortune dates back over 200 years ago, in 1802. Descendants of this line of entrepreneurs are reported to live in this backwoods manor and participate in dark and backwards rites to preserve their fortune, such as inbreeding and marrying within the confines of the family. Other theories promote the classic ideas of witchcraft and Satanists living in the house and sacrificing...things. But I think the idea of a backwards-practicing family of incestuous millionaires hiding out in a manor in the woods to preserve their terrible family secret is way cooler than the typical Satanist gig (okay not the incest part, but you get the idea).
Of course, if this was the case, then the family's unsavory activities would have garnered the attention of the public by now, right? That's where the danger of this legend comes into importance. Plenty of thrill-seekers, adventurers, and hip young grandmas have revved up their Hummers and traveled down the haunting path of Cossart road in an attempt to take an actual photo of this manor and see it up close. The reason why nobody has succeeded, however, is due to the extra "precautions" that the owners of the manor seem to have taken. Just before reaching the manor, a red shack lies in the fields, a shack dubbed the "guard house" by those who know the region. The reason for this name is, according to multiple accounts, that an army of black SUVs and red trucks lie in hiding further down the path with tinted windows and their headlights off, ready to pursue any trespassers. The vehicles have been reported to follow travelers at an uncomfortably close proximity in an attempt to drive trespassers off the road until they leave the area.
However, embarking on a Halloween hunt to this area has become increasingly difficult in the past few years. Street signs from Kenneth's Pike have been removed over time, which makes it extremely easy to miss the turn onto Cossart Road. The few signs that are left are marked up with stuff like "No Trespassing" to keep hooligans like us out. The popularity of this legend has brought many...reckless thrill-seekers to the area, thrill-seekers who give the rest of us a bad rep, and vandalize the local property. This has resulted in increasing action by local police to halt the travel of Cossart Road.
There are plenty of personal accounts and experiences of exploring Cossart Road, and they're pretty interesting to read. Most local myths don't have the sort of first-person experiences that this tale does. Most legends, as you know, use the whole "friend-of-a-friend" gig to sp00k up a story falsely. I'd certainly love to get a glimpse of the house, even at the cost of outrunning some deranged guards in SUVs, it'd make a great story, and that's why we take risks and go on adventures, right? So venture forth, snap the first documented photo of this dark manor. As for what lies within, all I can say is...
... Happy Halloween >:)
