The Legend of Dudleytown Part 2

One year ago, I complained to the world (or at least to the three people who read this blog) about how what was shaping up to be the coolest Christian horror novel ever was cancelled before it got published. The movie adaption, graphic novels (telling the origin stories of supporting characters), and a two and a half hour documentary DVD about the truth behind the book... all dropped like a hot potato. That book was Dudleytown Curse: Evil has a Home by Bodie Ingelvie. (Or Dudleytown: Evil has a New Home or Dudleytown: Evil has Come Home or Dudleytown: Voice or just plain Dudleytown Curse, depending on where you look.)

After hours of research, I came to a few conclusions:

• Bodie Ingelvie was a pseudonym created by a group of people called the Inklings who claim to be immortal and a primary target in alien abductions.

• The production companies behind the movie: Red Barn Films and Good News Holdings had a falling out and Red Barn decided to take over and make the film more secularly oriented.

• The owners of the real Dudleytown, CT (now Cornwall) sent a cease and desist letter to Red Barn Films, saying the publicity was bringing a lot of vandals and ghost hunters to the neighborhood.

Now, a year later, I decided to have another go at trying to find out what exactly happened here.

The first thing I found was that Bodie Ingelvie is actually an anagram for “I believe in God.” Which makes sense, as Thomas Nelson’s short bio (supposedly written by Ingelvie himself) says “My name contains the walk that can lead you to a greater truth.”

Next, I saw that when Bodie Ingelvie’s Wikipedia page was deleted, the creator of the page including in his complaint that he had actually met Bodie and “was amazed by his story.” If Bodie is actually a group of people, how is anybody outside of that group supposed to actually meet him? So, to make sure that this mystery person wasn’t, in fact, one of the Inklings just making stuff up, I tracked his IP address. Turns out this guy works for Good News Holdings, probably one of the few people who actually could have met him. Of course, this means that the Inklings were just blowing steam when they said they had created Bodie.

So, if Bodie is just a guy with a pen name, why can’t I find him? And why hasn’t this person written anything else under that pseudonym? Or released Dudleytown himself, for that matter? Perhaps the real Bodie Ingelvie, like the fictional character, actually was actually 17 at the time, and is now busy with college or something. Interestingly enough, there is a YouTube user named Ingelvie with a video entitled “Bodie Strikes Back.” His profile says that he is 21 years old, and that he created his account four years ago when he was 17. One of the people in the video is later identified in the credits as Bodie Ingelvie himself. Check out my screenshot above. Also, there is a company by the name of Bodie Ingelvie, LLC based in Delaware, established in 2007. This was as far is I got in actually locating Bodie, so unless we’re going to post that picture from the video on milk cartons all over Delaware, I’m stumped.

During my investigation (a.k.a. extensive Googling) I also discovered these random tidbits:

• It looks like Red Barn Films tried to raise funds to film Dudleytown: The 49th Key back in the summer of 2010. It also looks like they failed pretty miserably, but does this mean that the owners of Dudleytown, CT are okay with a film being made now? One can only hope.

• Dudleytown was originally going to released by Tyndale House Publishers as part of a first-look contract with Good News Holdings. Apparently when Good News bowed out, Thomas Nelson took over the rights from Red Barn Films.

• The first graphic novel adaption--The Dudleytown Chronicles: Thin Regions--was recently set for release in January 2011, only to be cancelled yet again. Is someone still trying to get Dudleytown off the ground?

• Back in 2007, Red Barn Films posted a short video clip on YouTube about the history of the Dudleytown curse. It has amassed over 23,000 views and 150 comments. Check it out below:

So, there you have it. I’m not much closer to finding a copy of Dudleytown than when I first started my search last year. But there must be someone out there with a copy of the manuscript, right? Alas, my journey continues.  Reminds of the scene in National Treasure 2 when Ben Gates is told that he'd have to be elected president in order to see the book of secrets.

So... who's up for an election campaign?