KIRTLAND, Ohio — When it comes to Ohio's folk tale monsters, you've got some heavy hitters.
The Loveland Frog, South Bay Bessie, the Werewolf of Defiance, The Minerva monster....All really impressive to be sure.
And of course, every state has a knockoff Bigfoot and Lochness monster. But there's something uniquely creepy about the Melon Heads of Kirtland who, if in fact they do exist, would probably like to be called anything other than that.
That's right. The Melon Heads - those weird humanoid creatures with big ol’ domes that roam the countryside in and around Kirtland and Chardon searching for victims. So....you know, just one more reason to avoid the East side.
And if you think all that sounds like good fodder for a late night creature feature, meet Eddie Lengyel.
Lengyel is a local filmmaker who’s been creating creepy, campy cinema since 2005, and producing all of them, right here in Northeast Ohio, including classics like "Hell Week," "Voodoo Rising," and "The Curse of Lilith Ratchet." We met up at a fittingly creepy house in Newbury to talk about his new offering, "Melon Heads: House of Crow." The house belongs to a friend and served as one of the primary filming locations for the film.
So why tackle this particular story? Lengyel says this particular legend always intrigued him as a kid growing up in Solon.
"We'd go searching for them, but to no avail. We wouldn't find them, obviously."
For those still in the dark about this local lore, Lengyel explained the urban legend all started with the tale of a mysterious doctor.
"[The story goes that] this Dr. Crow came from Ireland, and he came here and he had a hospital and he was supposedly helping orphan kids, but somehow it got twisted that he was doing these injections and that gave them enlarged...big old heads," he said. "The legend says that one day the Melon Heads turned on him and burned it down and then they went running into the woods [in Kirtland,] and that's where they live now.
According to Eddie, Melon Heads, like all of his films, was made on a “micro budget” with a bare-bones crew. And while it’s true that, as a modest, locally produced film Melon Heads might have a difficult securing a nationwide theater release, he hopes to connect with the next generation of fans here in Northeast Ohio.
"I wanted to bring back the legend for the younger kids that didn't get a chance to hear about it," he said. "It was great. It was so much fun [as a kid] trying to find them. It was that challenge of trying to go out and where are they at? Where's the Melon Heads? And so many people you talk to, they {still] go to Wisener Road trying to find it."
The historical accuracy of the Kirtland Melon Head saga is, perhaps, a bit dubious. But the feeling that the folk tale evoked in us when we were young was very real. And, historically speaking, most folk tales do at least begin with an element of truth. Which begs the question, if by chance the Melon Heads ARE still out there, how will they feel about their depiction in this film? Well, it's probably best to avoid the Chardon woods for a while, just in case they’re not flattered.
You can see "Melon Heads: House of Crow" this Thursday at 7:30pm at Atlas Cinemas in Euclid. Tickets are available here.