A few years back, Paranormal Task Force (PTF) then Missouri Paranormal Research (MPR) was contacted by an individual in Missouri who was excited about a package that would be arriving soon. This was no normal package. It contained artifacts from the ruins of an estate called "Corpsewood Manor" near Trion, Georgia, which is also called "Devil Worship Mountain" by some of the locals in the area. Only a higher power would know why a person would want such artifacts or why they would want a paranormal research and investigative group such as MPR to "investigate" or study them for potential "negative" residual energies.
This story begins long ago when Dr. Charles Scudder was an associate professor at a college in the Chicago area. Not only was he an associate professor, it was believed that he was involved in LSD 25 experimentation and satanic worship as well. It was is further rumored that Dr. Scudder was also in close contact with Anton LaVey, the icon of the Church of Satan in the United States as well as other such icons in Europe. It is believed written correspondence still exists which supports his relationships with such individuals.
The person contacting PTF had actually met Dr. Scudder many years ago while in the Chicago area through an association with the doctor’s son. The mansion the Scudder's lived in was clad with decor from a darker side of faith which included elegant stained glass windows with demonic representation, a library containing ancient books (some possibly bound with human skin), rooms with red velvet lined walls, a bed encrusted with carved satanic faces and emblems made during the renaissance era in Italy, a very valuable golden harp, and a variety of other ritualistic items representing a faith and belief in the darker realms.
Life went on for this individual after the few visits to the Scudder home, but Dr. Scudder would soon meet a tragic end. During the 1970's, Dr. Scudder and Joseph Odom, his devoted servant, friend, and rumored lover decided to part from the interferences of society and civilization. They sold or gave away all material possessions which had no personal or symbolic value to them and moved to an isolated mountain where they purchased about 40 acres of property to start a self-proclaimed kingdom on the outskirts of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia near a small fundamental bible belt town called Trion.
The property Dr. Scudder and Odom purchased was wilderness. They first had to clear and excavate the land by hand, and then brick by brick they began building their dream “castle” which they named Corpsewood Manor. After two years of hard labor, they completed their dream home and lived a life of solitude without the corrupting influence of modern day conveniences such as electricity, phones, and other utilities. Their food came from the gardens they planted and the chickens they raised.
it was further rumored that they did become involved in various small social circles in the community where they shared their wine and sometimes, unknown to their recipients, some of their life time supply of LSD 25. Whether this was done so they could engage in strange sexual fetishes or as a means for them to physically and psychologically torture the bodies and souls of their infrequent visitors for ritualistic purposes is still very unclear, but the potential can not be ruled out. It has been said that various torture and items of restraint were found on this estate in an area called the "pink room".
The ruins of Corpsewood Manor, also known as Devil Worshiper's Mountain, are located on Taylor Ridge in the Southern Appalachian Mountains in Chattooga County, Georgia. It is about five miles east of Trion, Georgia.
On Sunday, December 12, 1982, Dr. Scudder and Joseph Odom were unexpectedly visited by Kenneth Avery Brock, a friend of their small local circle, who brought a friend of his, Tony West, along with two other people. Weeks before, Kenneth had told his friend Tony of Dr. Scudder and Odom, further emphasizing how they lived like Kings at Corpsewood Manor. After hearing this, Tony began developing a plan to rob Corpsewood Manor of its rumored riches. After he arrived at the Manor, however, some force flipped a switch inside his head resulting in the cold-blooded, brutal slaying of Dr. Scudder, his companion, Odom, and even his two Mastiff canines. These murders were later known as the "Corpsewood Murders" in a book written about them.
After the murders, the estate was looted and stripped of any thing of value, including its many ritualistic relics, and then burned to the ground. The whereabouts of many of these stolen items are still unknown today. Both Dr. Scudder and Odom were cremated. Odom's ashes were spread at the Corpsewood Estate while Dr. Scudder's were taken far away from his companion and rumored lover.
As Dr. Scudder had written his wife and two children out of his will Mountains in Georgia near a small fundamental bible belt town called Trion.
The property Dr. Scudder and Odom purchased was wilderness. They first had to clear and excavate the land by hand, and then brick by brick they began building their dream “castle” which they named Corpsewood Manor. After two years of hard labor, they completed their dream home and lived a life of solitude without the corrupting influence of modern day conveniences such as electricity, phones, and other utilities. Their food came from the gardens they planted and the chickens they raised.
It was further rumored that they did become involved in various small social circles in the community where they shared their wine and sometimes, unknown to their recipients, some of their life time supply of LSD 25. Whether this was done so they could engage in strange sexual fetishes or as a means for them to physically and psychologically torture the bodies and souls of their infrequent visitors for ritualistic purposes is still very unclear, but the potential can not be ruled out. It has been said that various torture and items of restraint were found on this estate in an area called the "pink room".
On Sunday, December 12, 1982, Dr. Scudder and Joseph Odom were unexpectedly visited by Kenneth Avery Brock, a friend of their small local circle, who brought a friend of his, Tony West, along with two other people. Weeks before, Kenneth had told his friend Tony of Dr. Scudder and Odom, further emphasizing how they lived like Kings at Corpsewood Manor. After hearing this, Tony began developing a plan to rob Corpsewood Manor of its rumored riches. After he arrived at the Manor, however, some force flipped a switch inside his head resulting in the cold-blooded, brutal slaying of Dr. Scudder, his companion, Odom, and even his two Mastiff canines. These murders were later known as the "Corpsewood Murders" in a book written about them.
After the murders, the estate was looted and stripped of any thing of value, including its many ritualistic relics, and then burned to the ground. The whereabouts of many of these stolen items are still unknown today. Both Dr. Scudder and Odom were cremated. Odom's ashes were spread at the Corpsewood Estate while Dr. Scudder's were taken far away from his companion and rumored lover.
As Dr. Scudder had written his wife and two children out of his will and named Joseph Odom as his sole heir, a large legal battle developed over the inheritance of the estate. The legal battle was focused upon the time of the two murders. If Joseph Odom died first, his estate would go to Dr. Scudder's family. If Dr. Scudder passed away first, the estate would go to the family of Joseph Odom. After a long battle, it was finally determined that Dr. Scudder passed away first, and the Corpsewood Manor Estate went to the family of Joseph Odom.
Now coming back to the present, I have to ask again why someone would want artifacts from the ruins of this place? These relics came from Corpsewood Manor where satanic ceremonies and other dark rituals were performed. What potential for evil would these items still have? The potential harm would be enough for me to "advance straight to ‘go’ and collect $200". Add to this the cold-blooded doubled murders and I lose any desire to have them within 100 miles of me much less any curiosity to examine.
I admit that at first I was curious about these items, and I had paranormal interest as well. Would they emit erratic EMF, fluctuating temperature readings, or produce anomalies under IR photography, etc.
I talked to the individual who was expecting the box of relics and learned that the items were still sealed in the box they had originally been stored in. I also discovered that the box had not been touched since being placed into storage after the murders. I learned, too, that “power” could be felt radiating from the sealed box. All this information led me to realize that given these items known history with Dr. Scudder they did not need to be studied or handled by anyone. I was convinced that they potentially were some sort of key connecting one’s soul to a darker element. Evil can arrive at your doorstep in many forms and it is human curiosity which opens that Pandora's Box and allows it to escape and infest others.
There was another fact that persuaded me that opening this box would be dangerous. Dr. Scudder had had ties to Anton LaVey, the head of the Church of Satan in the United States, and other such icons in the European realms which allows that this specific Pandora's Box could be filled with a negativity or evil beyond my imagination and control. After reading some of Dr. Scudder's articles and other writings that I could find, I came to feel that he was going beyond the powers which stem from such negativity; possibly he was even going to Satan himself and other unknown entities. God or the Creator alone should have the power to unleash such negativity. I truly believe that Dr. Scudder believed he was on a dark, ritualistic path that could make his a dark-sided equal in an infinite existence. The darker aspects involved in this situation makes me further realize that this may actually be one of the largest Pandora’s Boxes in existence today.
As such, in closing, I recommended to this person that the items should be left in the box they came in, bound with a cross, and then dropped in the middle of a very deep river or body of flowing water. This was the same advice that a prominent demonoligist and paranormal researcher initially gave when I contacted him on this odd situation. Being the oversized Pandora's Box that I believe this situation is, I would further recommend that an actual rite of exorcism and/or other blessings and rituals of a positive or good nature be performed upon the entire property and ruins where Corpsewood Manor stood.
Like this case, this “Pandora’s Box” also needs to be locked and sealed forever in hopes that human curiosity does not unlock and open it in the future.
If I were consulted by other people who possess and relics from this site I would highly suggest that the objects be disposed of in the same manner, or at a minimum, taken to a practitioner of a good or positive energy based faith blessing or exorcism. To keep such items in ones possession opens a big question concerning purpose and intent. Curiosity is one thing, but to possess a Pandora’s Box may produce a very negative impact upon yourself, your family, your friends, and possibly society as a whole. Finally, I would highly recommend that the curious or adventurous not step foot on the grounds where Corpsewood Manor once stood.
Believe what you wish, but remember that the Devil, Evil, or whatever you believe the great negative entity or energy is becomes more powerful when its existence is denied.
The French poet Charles Baudelaire said, "The devil's deepest wile is to persuade us that he does not exist."
Mark Twain also said, ''Satan hasn't a single salaried helper; the Opposition employs millions.''
© 2006 - 2009 by Gregory Myers – Paranormal Task Force
Greg Myers became part of MISSOURI PARANORMAL RESEARCH™ in August of 2005 serving as a co- administrator, lead investigator and EVP specialist. While serving with MPR, Greg became an instrumental element in the collection and analysis of evidence in a case involving an extreme "inhuman" haunting and possession. This Haunting was featured on the Discovery Channel's "A Haunting" series as the Season 3 opener in October 2006. Greg then co-founded PARANORMAL TASK FORCE, Inc. in October 2006. PARANORMAL TASK FORCE™, Inc. is a not for profit incorporation which educates and promotes the awareness of paranormal research as well as other historical and paranormal related issues along with providing assistance to the public and other organizations.
MISSOURI PARANORMAL RESEARCH™ now serves as its non-extreme investigative and research division while other divisions will be launched making Paranormal Task Force™, Inc. a "One Stop" resource for all paranormal needs of clients, the public and other organizations as well.
Corpsewood Manor was burnt down after the grisly murders of Doctor Charles Scudder and his housekeeper/friend/lover, Joseph Odom, which took place in December 1982. Before the murders, Corpsewood Manor was Scudder's dream home, located on forty quiet acres in the mountains. Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom lived at the mansion with their two English Mastiffs (one was named Beelzebub!) for six years prior to their murders. Scudder was a pharmacology professor at Loyola University in Chicago prior to moving to Georgia. He moved to Corpsewood Manor to get away from city life. There was no electricity or running water at the house. They used kerosene lamps and generators, and had a pump to get water. Scudder and Odom raised much of their own food; they bought their other necessities with the $200/month interest from his savings account.
Scudder and Odom lived a simple life, and they were extremely nice, polite, friendly people. They appeared to be very "normal". However, both were into some wild things - Satanism, drugs, and homosexual pornography. The house was decorated with human skulls and various satanic artworks, and they had a three-floor chicken house behind the house that not only contained chickens, but also a pornographic library and "pleasure chamber".
The brutal murders of these two men took place on December 12, 1982. Kenneth Avery Brock, who knew the couple from hunting on their land (he also had sexual relations with Scudder on seven or eight occasions), met up with Tony West with the intention of robbing Scudder and Odom. Before driving to the mansion, Brock and West picked up Joey Wells, who was Tony West's cousin, and his girlfriend, Teresa Hudgins. Wells and Hudgins didn't know of the plans to rob Scudder.
When the four arrived at Corpsewood Manor, Scudder and Odom welcomed them. Scudder took West, Brock, Wells, and Hudgins to the third floor of the Chickenhouse to do drugs. Odom stayed behind to clean up the dishes from dinner. After doing some drugs, Brock and West bound and gagged Scudder. They demanded money from him, but Scudder told them he didn't have any. Brock then left the chickenhouse, went inside the manor and shot Odom and the dogs with a rifle he brought with him. He then went back for Scudder, and marched him into the manor. Needless to say, Scudder was very distraught to see his friend/lover dead in the kitchen. West and Brock kept demanding money from him, and when Scudder didn't give them any West shot him six times. Scudders last words were "I asked for this."
Raymond Williams, a friend of Scudder and Odom, discovered the murders on December 16, 1982. Eventually Brock and West were caught by gathered evidence and Teresa Hudgins's testimony.
After the murders, many people visited Corpsewood Manor. Several of these people took belongings from the house as souvenirs, but most of the people got rid of the items due to terrible luck befalling them. The manor soon got a reputation for being haunted - which is easy to understand with the murders and satanic items. Today people who visit the manor claim to hear Charles Scudder's gold harp strumming through the woods around the ruins. Others hear loud gunshots and breaking glass, while some hear Beelzebub barking.
http://www.graveaddiction.com/corpsem.html
FURTHER INFORMATION ON CORPSE WOOD MANOR
Here are some links to other internet sources where you can learn more on Dr. Scudder,
Corpsewood Manor and the 1982 Murders.
You're Smiling in Corpse Woods
"A Castle in the Woods" - A Mother Earth News Archived Article
FIUMEFREDDO v. SCUDDER - Lawsuit Concerning Estate After Murders
Graveaddiction's Article on Corpsewood
Yahoo Corpsewood Group
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