Haunted Cemeteries In Kansas there is a little cemetery named Stull Cemetery, or as the residents call it, The Seventh Gateway To Hell! Stull is about 18 miles from Lawrence Kansas. Supposedly a portal to hell exists in the ruins of an old church there. The stairway cannot be seen, except on certain nights. It appears behind the church and all those who dare to start to descend it are dragged down to the bottomless pit of hell, or so they say. The town of Stull, where the cemetery resides has a population of less than 20. The cemetery is located on Emmanuel Hill, where supposedly, paranormal events have been occurring for many years. It is asserted this cemetery is one of the two places on earth where the devil appears twice a year. People claimed unexplained memory loss after visiting the cemetery and one student said he was grabbed by the arm by an unseen being. On March 20, 1978 over 150 people waited in the cemetery for the appearance by the devil but were disappointed. They must have had the wrong night. Legend has it that the devil has been appearing here since 1850 and the original name of the town was Skull but was later corrupted into Stull. Others state it was named after its Postmaster in 1905, a Mister Stull. Here are some of the tales that are told regarding strange happenings in the cemetery: Two young men were visiting the cemetery one night when a strong wind came from nowhere and without warning. They decided to return to their car but when they got to the area where the car was, it had been moved to the other side of the road and was facing in a different direction. Another man said he was also in the cemetery when a strong wind and rain started. He ran into the church were no rain came in even though there was no roof. So why would the devil appear in Stull Cemetery? In 1980, an article appeared in the Kansas City Times stating the reason the devil appears in Stull is because of an event which occurred in the 1850s. A stable hand allegedly stabbed the mayor to death in the cemetery's old stone barn. This barn was converted into a church years later and the church burned. There is an old wooden crucifix that hangs in that church and it is rumored that it sometimes turns upside down when someone steps into the church at midnight. Checking records has not turned up the name of any mayor for this town. Other rumors state the dates the devil visits the cemetery are the last night of winter and first night of spring. The reason stated for the visit is that he goes there to visit the grave of an executed witch. Other rumors are that a large tree that was cut down recently was used to hang witches from. Then there is this rumor that the pope asked to fly up and around Kansas, into Nebraska, and then back down into Colorado. The pope said that the area around eastern Kansas was so unholy, that he didn't even want to fly above it My favorite tale is that a son of Satan is buried here and there is a supposed picture somewhere of a boy looking out from behind the trees who looks like a werewolf. The townspeople remain closed mouthed. They refuse to talk about the cemetery but state they don't want outsiders in their cemetery. Urge Overkill titled their 1992 album Stull and featured a picture of the old church on the cover. A book called "Haunted Kansas" by Lisa Hefner Heitz, contains some rumors about Stull. Mount Hope Cemetery Mount Hope cemetery is located in New York State. It is in Rochester to be exact and are quite a few people who would rather stay away from it. It has a long history in this country and is considered to be one of America’s very first municipal cemeteries since it was created in 1838 and houses the bodies of hundreds of people in the area who died from a deadly disease. It also has a long reputation of being haunted and that is why some people won’t to go near it. Almost any cemetery that is of a reasonable size has somebody buried in it who has at least a modicum of fame and this cemetery is no different since it houses the grave of Susan B. Anthony. When the cemetery was going to be built those who were responsible to build it were warned by the Native American people in the area not to build on this land. It has been said many people have seen strange lights both in the daytime and at night flying over the cemetery. As if this wasn’t enough to scare people, others have heard cries of pain coming from many different locations in the cemetery. The next thing I am going to tell you about is something I have seen in photos from a lot of different cemeteries and that is orbs. If you are going to ask a photographer why this happens, they will tell you it is the light from the flash reflecting off particles of dust. You can either accept this explanation, or you can deny it but, I have also taken photos where an unexplained light has shown on a tombstone and it was not the light from my camera and there was no other lights in the area. It is certainly hard to explain these kinds of things and while they may not be paranormal, they are certainly out of the ordinary, giving cemeteries the reputation they are haunted. On top of everything else, this cemetery has an area that has been referred to as the “Devil’s Bowl”. It was said to have gotten this name because it was an area which was formerly used by groups who performed satanic rituals there. Let me tell you this, I have heard things like this many times it sort of goes along to bolster the case a place is haunted and almost every time I investigated it, I found there was no proof this ever happened. I have no way of knowing if it is true or not in this case, but I can’t help but doubt it is. So many times when people talk about these places, they referred to Indian burial grounds, curses and the devil just to sweeten the pot. So, when you hear about haunted cemeteries remember this, take what you hear with a grain of salt.
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