![]() ![]() The actual orchard was on a plot of land located at the rear of the Sawyer’s property and was only accessible by a narrow two-lane dirt road. When the town council ordered the Sawyers to shut the place down, they were so pissed about the ruling, they left most of the attraction still standing, including the Devil’s Toy Box. It had become the stuff of legend and of course, it didn’t take long for the local kids to start venturing out to the Orchard at night to see the Box for themselves.įarmer Grave’s Haunted Orchard was owned by a middle-aged couple named Will and Darlene Sawyer. For the next month or so, it seemed like the Toy Box was the only thing on anyone’s mind. Of course, that didn’t stop people from talking about the now infamous attraction, which they began to do almost immediately. Whatever the truth of the matter, town officials were quick to act in getting Farmer Grave’s shut down. They went to his funeral when he killed himself two weeks later. The boy was from a nearby parish and hadn’t gone to Erin’s school, though her friend Celeste claimed her parents were friends with the boy’s mom. A 17-year-old boy had to be dragged out, kicking and screaming. One woman suffered a heart attack after just 90 seconds inside the Box. To this day, he still hasn’t said a word. The man who managed to last that long (Roger Heltz, age 52, father of three) had been reduced to a wide-eyed mute. ![]() There was even a large timer set up beside the building that showed the current occupant’s length of stay under a second clock displaying the longest recorded time up to that point, which maxed out at just over four minutes before the attraction finally closed. Erin didn’t get a chance to try out the Box for herself before the closure, but she had heard countless stories about it from her classmates at school.Īpparently, no one could last longer than five minutes inside the room. Farmer Grave’s closed less than a week after opening - a result of the numerous people who had to be hospitalized after going inside the Devil’s Toy Box attraction. That’s how Erin heard it described anyway - she had never been inside the Toy Box herself. This shack housed a small room composed of large wall-sized mirrors. So for the previous Halloween, the owners decided to spice things up by building several new interactive installations which included a windowless shack called The Devil’s Toy Box. The attraction was called Farmer Grave’s Haunted Orchard and in years past, it had been every bit as thrilling as that name suggested which is to say not very. Like pretty much everywhere else, the place where Erin grew up had its own annual haunted-house attraction that went up every October. I mention all of this because about two weeks ago, I got an email from an old friend (someone who was well-versed in my sordid past) asking if I could help out their younger sister, an 18-year-old girl who we’ll call “Erin” located in Northern Louisiana (the specific parish where Erin lived shall go unnamed for reasons that will soon become obvious.) In most versions of this story, he did so by flaying you alive. Though in reality the titular “box” is not a toy at all but rather a small room where the floor, the ceiling, and the walls are each composed of one giant mirror.Īccording to the legend, if you stood inside this mirror-room alone for too long, supposedly the devil would show up and steal your soul. Feel free to let me know what you think and I’ll post it on this page.“The Devil’s Toy Box” is an urban legend that savvier horror fans will recognize as the inspiration for the infamous Lament Configuration from Clive Barker’s seminal Hellraiser series. Theory is the owners would hide them in hopes of being able to get ‘em back out to play someday. I’ve also read stories of old homes being torn down with fiddles hidden in the walls. A lot of times a rattlesnakes rattle would be put in it to keep the varmints out. If the didn’t have a case they’d stick it in a poke or bag. ![]() This was one of the reasons they would be kept in the barn, shed, or other location outside of the house. I’ve read where many a housewife or mother would forbid the instrument being brought into the house. One reason was because it was considered sinful to play as it would encourage dancing or other so called sins of the flesh. At one time the fiddle was, and sometimes still is, referred to as “The Devils Box”. ![]()
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