''The Devil's Kithchen''

[supernovas]

"The vast reaches of forest and open fields of southern Illinois, combined with the sparse population in some areas, seem to invite weirdness that might not occur in cities and more crowded locales. In the most southern portions of the region, the Shawnee National Forest covers miles and miles of territory. The acres of forest seem almost untouched by man and some believe that strange things occasionally pass through here, unseen by human eyes.

This southern portion of the state is sometimes referred to as the “Devil’s Kitchen”, a designation left behind by the Native Americans and the early settlers to explain strange sights and sounds like unexplained balls of light, apparitions, screams in the night and various other unsettling types of phenomena. The Native Americans often considered such sites as “sacred” but the settlers usually believed them to be “cursed”, or at least well avoided. The idea that such locations were linked to the "Devil" was the first thought that crossed the minds of the bible-reading, god-fearing folks and they promptly set about to do two things. They learned to avoid these strange and haunted places and secondly, they gave names to the spots to alert other visitors and settlers of the dangers of the area. In the case of the Devil’s Kitchen, just about anything is possible, from ghosts reports to mystery animals and weird monster sightings."

[Mattshark]

"The vast reaches of forest and open fields of southern Illinois, combined with the sparse population in some areas, seem to invite weirdness that might not occur in cities and more crowded locales. In the most southern portions of the region, the Shawnee National Forest covers miles and miles of territory. The acres of forest seem almost untouched by man and some believe that strange things occasionally pass through here, unseen by human eyes.

This southern portion of the state is sometimes referred to as the “Devil’s Kitchen”, a designation left behind by the Native Americans and the early settlers to explain strange sights and sounds like unexplained balls of light, apparitions, screams in the night and various other unsettling types of phenomena. The Native Americans often considered such sites as “sacred” but the settlers usually believed them to be “cursed”, or at least well avoided. The idea that such locations were linked to the "Devil" was the first thought that crossed the minds of the bible-reading, god-fearing folks and they promptly set about to do two things. They learned to avoid these strange and haunted places and secondly, they gave names to the spots to alert other visitors and settlers of the dangers of the area. In the case of the Devil’s Kitchen, just about anything is possible, from ghosts reports to mystery animals and weird monster sightings."

Fear and the unknown can play a tricks on the human mind. There is just some sparsely populated land, that is all.

[RisenPrism]

I really don't think that you can dismiss it that easily....

[Mattshark]

I really don't think that you can dismiss it that easily....

Yes you can, there is no scietific record of such things and when faced with unknown people will let their imaginations get the better of them.

[Pitviper]

I have lived in that area there is nothing there.

When i was a boy we used to coon hunt in there nutten but woods and very few people.

[supernovas]

maybe you weren't in the right location, it's suppsed to be in the middle of the woods.

[Opus Magnus]

Things pass through everywhere unseen by most human eyes.

[RachelM]

So, is the Devil's Kitchen hotter than hell?

[darkninja]

I've grown up in Illinois all my life and we used to go to Shawnee all the time. We used to explore caves in the forest (which you would think would have more "strange creature sightings" and whatnot). Never seen anything strange at all... We would be walking around in the woods in the middle of the night and hear no strange creatures or screams in the night, none of that... Maybe we were never in the right place at the right time, or maybe there is nothing there...

[truth seeker]

Sounds like another vague legend that has been passed through the generations like the stories I heard as a kid of ghost trains, or the stories of ghost the teenager who hung himself in the corn crib, now if you can come up with a more specific spot that would be different stories. Also the native americain stories don't really mean that much I'm not trying to be dismissive of there culture but all there cultures had these "boogie men" stories so there not really much as far as unusual thing.

[isis-999]

I think sometime's it mind over matter,People think there is something to fear so they scare themselve's....

[Four Winds]

One thing that can bolster "legends" like this one, is that people from the city or suburbs often go to these places to get away. Since these people are not acustomed to the noises and animals in the woods it is easy for them to mistake completely natural noises and occurnces as something more than they really are.

Take anyone from the city out to the woods for the first time, especially at night, and you will see what I mean.

[Cadetak]

Hell's Kitchen isnt a very good place either

Edited January 15, 2007 by Cadetak47