Novela 10: Hannah Cranna, The Witch of Monroe w/ Rogue Darkness

0:02 Dark Cast Network. Welcome to the dark side of podcasts and lead They would that requite the animals? Dark world? A ritualistic child abuse? Is there a well organized plot, an insidious design to program the minds of our children? Forwards to the occult and witchcraft? Does it make you want to hate murder? Or does it make you want to do murder? Let's explore the darkness of mankind one crime at a time. Welcome back to Rogue Darkness, the podcast that uncovers how the misinterpretations and misinformation surrounding witchcraft, the occult, and other beliefs have led many to do unthinkable crimes. From ritualistic killings and the demons that live in all of us, to exploration of the macabre and delving deep into the unknown, Let's explore the darkness of mankind one at a time. I'm your host of the Grim and Gruesome Raven. Let's go rogue and get right in to today's chilling crime, The case of the Twisted Killer, The Wicked Witch of Monroe, Hannah Krana. In the small town of Monroe, tucked away in the heart of Connecticut, lived a dark figure whose terrifying powers made the lives of those in Monroe a living hell. In fact, so powerful were her dark forces that locals who pass her

1:32 graves leave crystals, coins, charms, and other trinkets by her tombstone so that her spirit does not follow them home and haunt them. Interestingly, although Hannah's grave is over one hundred and fifty years old, it still looks as if it were new, the writings so clear and readable, although other graves that lie next to her have worn away, leaving their identities a mystery. Perhaps Hannah Till wants the newer generation of Monroe to know exactly who she is. Although her dark deeds are so legendary they can hardly be forgotten. Hannah's story is well embedded in Connecticut culture, with whispers of her powers being told on Halloween night in books specifically related to Connecticut folklore, and tales exchanged amongst the locals of Monroe. Despite her death being over a century and a half ago, the legend of Hannah Crana lives on. Hannah's story did not truly begin until the mysterious death of her husband, Captain Joseph Hovey. Until that point, she led a truly reserved life, never fully mingling or making lifelong friendships in her small town. One day, her husband, a well respected figure in the local community, went out for a walk. Did he know on that fateful day it would be his last day on earth?

3:00 For that day, Captain Joseph Hovey took a walk straight off of a cliff. His body was found crippled at the bottom of the cliff face, and soon the locals began to whisper that Hannah was a witch, one who had been plotting the death of her husband, and she bewitched him to walk off the cliff and fall to his doom, making it look like a suicide to clear her name. After all, Captain Hovey was a pillar of the community, an intelligent and respected captain. He knew the local area like the back of his hand. Why on earth would he walk off of a cliff unless he wasn't in his own right frame of mind. After the mysterious death of her husband, Hannah lived alone on top of a high hilltop in the middle of the woods.

3:49 The only creature to keep her company was her large and imposing rooster named Old Borealis, named after the Greek god of winter. Old Borealis had cheplet glossy feathers and a scarlet red plume atop his head. The devoutly Christian locals were not fond of pets who were named after pagan gods, and they rumored that Old Burialis was Hannah's familiar. To those who are unfamiliar with what a familiar is, it is merely an animal that connects the witch with the other side, but many presume it to be much darker than that, claiming a witch is familiar to be an animal possessed by dark forces and presumed demonic energies.

4:34 People often stereotyped cats, particularly black ones, as familiars of witches, but familiars can take on the shape of any animal that is bonded with a suspected witch, be it a cat, a toad, a rat, or even a rooster. The rumors spread that the midnight black plumage of Old Borealis signaled demonic energies and that hearing his piercing crow in the night meant that death was was coming to your door. In fact, Old Borealis was not like the other roosters. He only crowed during the witching hour at night, whereas normal roosters would crow at dawn when the morning comes. The Witching hour occurs every night between the hours of midnight and three am, and is said to be the time of night where paranormal activity is at its peak.

5:25 The witch hunters of Connecticut began to whisper that Hannah Krana was performing satanic rituals during the Witching Hour, causing her familiar old Borealis to call loudly to summon the demonic forces, as if old Borealis was not enough to persuade the locals of some superstitious happenings. Hannah was rumored to be a vile and ill tempered old lady. The locals were said to dread running into her, for she would always ask for something, be it food, firewood, water, or supplies, and if a local dared to refuse for fear of associating with a witch, she would shake her cane and place a curse upon them, ruining their lives without a care in the world. Once Hannah was at home and the smell of a delicious, freshly baked pie drifted into her home and captivated her, so Hannah left her house, falling the delicious smell of fresh pastry until she came across a little quaint farmhouse where a farmer's wife was indeed baking fresh blueberry pie. The farmer's wife was hesitant, but also scared of Hannah's demonic powers, looking around her to make sure that nobody was watching. The farmer's wife then quickly shoved her tiniest, most meager pie into the hands of Hannah and quickly asked her to leave.

6:44 Hannah was furious at this ill treatment and then cursed her for this selfish act. May you never bake a good pie again, thrusting her cane towards the farmer's wife. From that day on, any ingredients in the pies of the farmer's wife seemed to curdle and rot inside the pastry, making all of her customers feel ill. The farmer's wife had lost her joy and passion thanks to the presumed curse of Hannah Krana. Some locals attest that Hannah was not cruel all of the time. Legend recalls that during a long drought, another farmer went to Hannah's house and dropped to his knees in front of her, begging her to do something to bring the rain back to Monroe.

7:27 Without the rain, his crops would not grow and he would not be able to feed his family, and the supplies of Monroe would suffer in the process. Hannah then stamped her cane on the floor and said, by sundown, rain will be granted. The farmer then went away from the house, grateful to still be alive, but unsure if his wish would actually be granted. Sure enough, though, as the sun set, thunderclouds gathered, bringing with it a tumultuous and violent storm. As the thunder and lightning shook the little houses of Monroe, the people did not feel scared, for thick sheets of rain was drenching the crops, watering them, bringing them back to life. The farmers had their wish, and Hannah had used her powers for good for a change. Eventually, on a dark night in December, it was time for her last living companion, Old Borealis, to leave the earthly plane.

8:30 The locals witnessed a devastated Hannah, adorned and black, performing an elaborate funeral service to send her familiar to his resting place in the underworld. She buried him during the witching hour under the full moon. Wrapping her rooster in a black cloth, she laid an offering of flowers and placed candles around his burial site. The people in the town witnessed her walking through the streets in anguish, repeating, I will soon depart this life to join you, old Borealis, not her late husband, though Captain Hovey. The people of Monroe took this as a sign that their town would soon be freed from the ethereal powers of Hannah. The Monroe Historical Society stated that one day shortly after Christmas, a neighbor noticed that Hannah had not completed her daily stroll through the town. Wailing of her demise, she apprehensively approached Hannah's property, and, noticing that the door was wide open, took cautious steps inside. He then saw a shriveled, pale, weak body curled up in the living room, looking significantly different to the powerful physique that Hannah Crana used to inhabit.

9:41 Groaning and moaning, the afflicted Hannah told the neighbor that the spirits were calling her to her grave and that she must leave soon. Hannah managed to whisper strict instructions to her burial to her neighbor, making the neighbors swear a solemn oath to follow the instructions or else be forever haunted. Her exact words were, I must not be buried until after the sun sets, and there must be multiple coffin bearers to carry me to my grave site. My wishes must be obeyed, or trouble, strife, and vexation shall fall upon you. The neighbors scurried away to gather strong, sturdy coffin bearers as he left. Hannah then died alone on the floor of her house upon the hill. Finding coffin bearers was not easy, though it was a small town and most feared the wrath of Hannah even from beyond the grave. The prospect of accidentally dropping the coffin was said to attract evil spirits to the coffin bears.

10:41 The journey involved a five mile walk up and down hills and through Hannah's forest. Despite this, coffin bearers were assembled, and as they lifted Hannah's coffin, they carried her feet first out of the house, for they believed that if her body was removed head first, Hannah's spirit would be which the coffin bearers to follow her into the grave. As her funeral was in the deep dark Connecticut winter, the ground was laden with frost and ice. As the coffin bears slipped and trudged through the icy sludge with the weight of Hannah's coffin bearing upon their shoulders. About halfway through their journey, many became too treacherous to navigate, and a sled was fetched to place the coffin onto as the coffin bearers pulled the sled. The coffin was then placed on the sled and the coffin bearers resumed their journey to Hannah's resting place. As they took their first steps, the coffin began to tremble in shape, and then it slid off the sled, sliding backwards hundreds of feet towards Hannah's house, the opposite direction to where they were walking. Frustrated, the coffin bears ran after the escaping coffin.

11:54 They two tripping and falling over the hazardous icy roads. Eventually they retreat leave the coffin, once again trudging back towards the sled and placing Hannah's coffin upon it. Desperate to resume their journey and to get out of the freezing cold, some people passing by even offered to sit on the coffin to prevent it from sliding off, which the coffin bears gladly accepted. As the journey resumed, the coffin bears attempted to pull the sled forward with Monroe locals perched atop the coffin to stop it from sliding backwards. This tactic seemed to work for a while. They managed to drag the coffin a few hundred feet, pleased with their progress, until just before they reached Hannah's final resting place, the coffin began to shake and rock, an almighty demonic roar emitting from inside the coffin. The coffin shook so violently that the locals were thrown onto the snowy road, and once again Hannah's coffin slid backwards. Terrified by Hannah's warning of the hecks that would befall them should her last wish be ignored, the terrified coffin bearers and townspeople decided finally they would all respect Hannah's wishes and carry her coffin by hand, no matter how heavy the coffin was, And therefore Hannah Crana Hovey was delivered to her final resting place after the sun had set. Her wishes were ultimately respected. As Hannah's coffin was lowered into the ground,

13:29 a terrifying crack of thunder boomed across the sky, and a white hot thunderbolt illuminated the darkness with an almighty boom. Hannah's house had been struck by lightning, setting it on fire. Hannah's house was said to be engulfed in flames for several days, with a fire service of Monroe unable to put out such a rampant, raging fire. The firemen reported that the deepest depths of the fire glowed an eerie, bright green. But that was not the last that Hannah Krana stalk the streets of Monroe. Residents worn against driving past Hannah's grave at midnight, as a mysterious force possesses the wheel and will cause you to crash. Legend has it that you can still see a mysterious gray haired figure slowly sweeping through the Monroe forest. The ghost walks with her hands out begging. You can imagine what happens to those who say no to Hannah's ghost. So if you're passing by the sleepy town of Monroe, Connecticut. You should check out her gravestone yourself, but don't forget to leave something behind a little trinket or offering unless you want an uninvited visitor to follow you home. So that

15:02 was the eerie tail of the infamous Witch of Monroe, Hannah Krana. Let me know what you think of this and if you have any questions regarding it or any other cases I've previously covered, feel free to contact me at Rogue Darkness Pod at gmail dot com. You can also always reach out to me directly over on my socials. Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube are all at Rogue Underscore Darkness, and be sure to follow me on all of them as well to stay current on any updates. It'd be awesome if you could share this podcast with anyone who you think would like it, and also leave a rating and review on Apple, iTunes, Spotify, or any other platform where you can do so to let other listeners know you enjoy the show. And I do currently have the sticker giveaway going on for anyone who leaves a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and all you have to do is take a screenshot of the review and send it my way, and if you want some additional incentives like shout outs and other exclusives, definitely check out my Patreon.

15:58 By visiting patreon dot com slash Rogue Darkness along with additional episodes, rituals, live shows, and more, patrons will get a little welcome package upon sign up, filled with all kinds of Rogue Darkness goodies. You can also check out my bondfare shop if you want to get your hands on some merch to support the show. Even further for references and additional information on the cases covered, you can find all the links for everything I discuss in my episodes down in the description box. And with that said, that concludes this week's episode of Rogue Darkness. The darkness is all around us, and I can confidently say that reality truly is more terrifying than fiction. Until next time,