The Frog People
By Ray Bendici | Category: Legends
Frog-Man of Marvel Comics fame -- no relation!
The Damned Story: On the outskirts of Bethel — or is it Danbury? — supposedly lives an outcast band of physically unusual people who tend to keep to themselves. With large bulbous eyes, small slit noses, tiny ears and thin mouths, their disturbing amphibian-like appearance tends to frighten the locals, who have long whispered stories about them.
We’re talking about the Frog People!
Obviously, much like their more famous “cousins,” the Melon Heads of the Trumbull-Shelton-Milford area, the Frog People are said to be some sort of inbred population that all the locals know about but no one has actually seen — it’s always somebody’s brother’s friend’s cousin’s sister who once knew a guy who had a “real” encounter with them.
Locals have described them as everything from a single shy family with a unique condition trying to live surreptitiously to an entire population of inbred freaks who live in the woods and don’t want anything to do with the “normal” folk. The one thing that is always agreed upon, however, is the physical resemblance to something that may have escaped a ’50s sci-fi flick — each one looks like some sort of human-frog mutant, with the aforementioned big eyes, thin mouth and other amphibian-like characteristics.
Despite the number of supposed sightings, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive “Frog People” story or legend, nor is there any purported video or pictures that we’ve been able to discover. A few people have claimed to have either known the family that was supposedly the Frog People, or have allegedly seen them out and about town, either shopping or just quietly going about their business.
If you want to read more about the Frog People, check out Joseph Citro’s Weird New England.
Our Damned Experience: We have yet to go a-courtin’ for Frog People. Will they give us get warts if you get too close? Or are they too busy sitting around their pads on toadstools, strumming “The Rainbow Connection” on their banjos?
If You Go: Like the Melon Heads, the Frog People allegedly live somewhere on the outskirts of town — which town (Bethel or Danbury?) and which outskirts, your guess is as good as ours. I guess it’ll takes a leap of faith to find them, right?
If anyone has any leads or stories about the Frog People, please share them with us!
I bought Joseph Citro’s “Weird New England” in the summer of 2007. One day I was reading it at work; I was the percussionist in a professional musical in Danbury, but I used to set my equipment up early and talk with the actors, crew, and other musicians for a while before the show. One day before the show, I was reading the article about the Frog People. Somebody saw me reading and asked me what I was reading about. When I said I was reading about a strange local group of people called the Frog People, he asked me to read it out loud. As I read it, I noticed some of my other co-workers overheard me and walked over to get a better listen. One of my co-workers said, “Excuse me, but what are you reading?” When I told him that I was reading about the Frog People, he responded, “They made a book about them?” I was surprised to find out that some of my co-workers knew about the Frog People very well. One of them said that he went to high school with a Frog Person. Another co-worker said that her husband, a local police officer, had even arrested a Frog Person once. When I asked what the Frog People were really like, they responeded, “Exactly like what you just described in that book.”
I’m 18 and I grew up in Danbury, CT my whole life. I remember going to elementary school at Hayestown Avenue School near Tamarack Ave. and I remember seeing “The Frog People,” consisting of an older women (who people presume to be the mother)–she wore 80′s or 90′s type clothing; spandex leggings were something I remember, a younger women (who people presume to be the daughter)–she had shoulder-length brown hair and a somewhat of a “duhhh” look to her face; I’m not trying to be rude or funny but I don’t know how else to describe how she looked (maybe tired?), and there was a younger male (who people presumed to be the son)–I don’t really recall exactly what he looked like and I remember there was a time when I would stop seeing him walking the streets with the two females as I would be playing during recess at Hayestown as they would be walking up or down the hill. One extremely strange encounter occurred in elementary school one day (I don’t remember what grade I was in; maybe 1st?) and the oldest of the “The Frog People” randomly and hostilely came up to a fellow classmate and friend of mine named Mariah and started accusing her of the most random thing (as far as I remember, it had to do with her son but I’m not completely sure…my memory from over 10 years ago is not that sharp). I also do not remember if the woman confronted Mariah alone or if her presumed children were with her. In recent years I have not seen “The Frog People” around town and the vibe they emit to others is mysteriously strange and uncomfortable; even from such a young age I would get a strange feeling about them, wondering who they are, where they came from, and where they go at the end of the day. Chances are, I won’t find out.
ive done some researching for ya.the frog people suposabally live on nashville rd in bethel ct right by the friendlys.let me know if you was to investigate with me
This is not an urban legend. They are very real. I lived next door to a “normal” kin to this family and he confirmed that indeed that part of his family practices inbreeding for a number of reasons. Despite their very hillbilly-like rural appearance, behavior and social-sensibility, one of the alleged reasons for their inbreeding is to keep the family’s assets (which is said to be above moderate to substantial) “in the family.” He, my neighbor said he was essentially ostracized because he married an ‘outsider’.
The largest segment of this family, also referred to as “the Veeches”, though they live on property on Nashville Road, not far at all from the center of Bethel. I have seen, communicated and interacted with these people in and around Danbury for decades.