Having spent cold, grey day after cold, grey day hunkering down in my humble casa lately, I’m dreaming of Spring, and the outdoor fun that comes with it.  In the world of a paranormal enthusiast, outdoor fun usually means doing some graveyard trolling.  I know that sounds entirely too creepy, but hey, that’s kind of the point.

So here are my top three picks for haunted cemeteries in the good old U.S. of A.  The first two hail from our oft haunted South, and the other is right in my own back yard.

1.  Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia

Home of the infamous statue from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Bonaventure Cemetery tops my list of places I want to visit, someday, when I have the ways and means to do some more traveling, and apparently I’m not the only one, because the old cemetery plays host to scads of tourists every year.  Bonaventure is the final resting place of many people of historical renown.    Pulitzer Prize winning poet Conrad Aikin lies there, as well as songwriter Johnny Mercer, famous for songs such as “Moon River” and “Fools Rush In.”  It is also home to figures from the American Revolution and the Civil War, as well as some of the founders of Georgia and other local politicians.

Before it was a cemetery, it was private land with a nice plantation home on it.  The home burned down twice, and it is said that there was a dinner party going on the second time it caught fire, and the dining room table was moved out into the yard so the guests could continue to enjoy themselves while the house burned.  How very Southern!

Putting the paranormal aside for a moment, Bonaventure tops my list in large part because of its pure beauty.  It is one of those great Southern cemeteries that showcases incredible artistry in its statuary, and the landscaping doesn’t hurt either.  Spanish moss does have a way of setting the mood down there in the South.

Gracie 

Two famous statues of young girls are a part of Bonaventure.  One is, of course, “Little Wendy,” which is the statue made famous by the book and movie already mentioned.  The other is a statue made in the likeness of a little girl who was buried there named Gracie Watson, and this is where the tales of the paranormal pick up.  Many visitors to the cemetery leave little toys and trinkets in the lap of Gracie’s statue.  It is said that if these trinkets are removed, the statue will cry tears of blood, and will cry out in the night.  Others have claimed to hear the sounds of people enjoying themselves during the famous burning house dinner party.

Another haunting that comes up time and again surrounds a pack of dogs that no one has ever seen, but who have been heard by many.  These ghost dogs have been known to scare cemetery-goers away with their barking and growling, and some people even claim to have been chased off the grounds by the unruly pack.

2.  St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans, Louisiana

The City of the Dead

Said to be one of the most haunted cemeteries in the world, this place is just flat out creepy.  I visited it back around the year 2000, and one of the things that struck me most was how decrepit the cemetery crypts were.  There are row after row of tightly packed, small crypts, some quite beautiful and others quite plain, but they all seem to have suffered at the hands of nature and tourists quite a bit.  Founded in 1789, it is the oldest cemetery in New Orleans and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  In 2004, it became the beneficiary of a major restoration project, so it may look quite a bit different than how I remember it, but I doubt any level of restoration could clear that place of the spirits that one can feel looming around nearly every corner.  Located on the edge of the French Quarter, this urban cemetery is aptly nicknamed “The City of the Dead.”

A crumbling crypt

 This is, of course, where the famous voodoo queen, Marie Laveau, is buried.  Her gravesite has become a kind of shrine, with visitors leaving all manner of “gifts” for the priestess, such as bones, dried herbs and other voodoo-ish things.  Her tomb is also covered with graffiti, mostly x’s.  The x’s are said to bring good luck to those who leave the mark.  Also, turning around three times and knocking three times on her tomb will supposedly make a wish come true.  I wouldn’t know about that, I’ve mostly stuck to wishing on falling stars and birthday cake candles.  Occassionally, though, I will wish on a fallen eyelash.  One can never be too superstitious, right?  The spirit of Marie Laveau is also said to haunt the graveyard in the form of a massive boa constrictor.  I am very pleased to report that I didn’t come across any big snakes on my visit, but if I had, I wouldn’t be writing this today because I would have died right there on the spot.

Marie Laveau’s tomb

Marie Laveau’s tomb is not the only one, however, that has strange things left before it.  What can sometimes appear as litter in the cemetery is actually often an item left for a spirit.  Empty places and cups can be found, a “Feast la morte” for the dead.  Bottles of alcohol and other food and drink are often left for the dead as well.

There is another spirit, known as Henry, who is said to haunt the cemetery as well.  He was supposed to be buried in St. Louis No. 1, but was buried elsewhere and his personal plot was sold without his knowledge.  He is said to walk up to visitors and ask if they know about certain tombs.  He is also said to have been caught in and EVP saying “I need rest!”  He is said to be ragged and worn, but appears to be quite real, until he walks away and vanishes into thin air.  Several other full body apparitions have been reported in the cemetery as well, and numerous ghost cats and dogs are said to wander the thin alleys of the tombs.  All in all, it’s a very spooky place.

3.  Stull Cemetery, Stull, Kansas

The last one on my list is another I have personally been to, though I have never set foot in the actual cemetery.  There are tons of legends surrounding this cemetery.  An old, burnt out church used to reside on the property, but it was torn down to keep midnight adventurers away.  The cemetery is completely fenced off, and the “no trespassing” rule is heavily enforced, so if you visit this place, do it from a distance unless you want to get to know the local Sheriff on a personal level.

All of the tales I have heard about Stull revolve around the burnt out church.  When I was in high school, some of the legends were that it was one of seven churches that make a pentagram when traced out on a map, and that it was a gateway to hell.  Some people I know who went out there one Halloween night said that the cross in the church was hanging upside down, and that when one of them threw a liquor bottle against the stones of the church, it would not break.  Granted, I would never consider these particular kids to be above spinning a tall tale, I don’t doubt that the place spooked them immensely. 

Urge Overkill Album Cover 

Stull had a brief moment of fame when a picture of the “satanic” church and a tombstone with the name “Stull” etched on it appeared on the cover of an album entitled “Stull” by the band Urge Overkill.  UO’s remake of “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon” was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s movie, Pulp Fiction.

According to one website, the cemetery is nicknamed “The Seven Lost Gates of Hell,” “The Cemetery of the Damned,” “Satan’s Burial Ground,” and “The Seventh Gate to Hell.”  They also say that Satan’s half-human child is buried here and appears as a 9-11 year old boy.  It is said that he was born covered in red hair and with two rows of teeth.  He was kept chained under a house and thrown scraps of food.  He escaped after ten years by chewing off his chained hand, and then went on an 11 month killing spree before he was killed by a local farmer.  His grave is said to be unmarked, and orbs and strange lights appear over the spot where he is buried on the spring and autumn equinoxes.

There is also a spirit of a white haired witch that is said to curse those who step on her grave.  The grave of her husband is said to appear with the dirt pushed up, and they say she is trying to move him away from her because she hated him in life.  EVP’s said to be this woman say “Keep away from my bones,” and “watch your step.”

Legend has it that the devil himself appears at the cemetery twice a year, and this legend dates back to the 1850s.  This is one of the reasons local law enforcement is so militant about the no trespassing law.  It seems quite a lot of people try to gather there to get a glimpse of old satan, but for the life of me, I don’t know why you’d want to.  A Kansas City Star article on the cemetery said that the legends about the place date back to the violent stabbing death of the mayor at the hands of a stable boy who worked in the cemetery stable, which was later converted into the church that later burned.

A final legend, one that I just adore, says that the devil comes to Stull to visit an old witch once a year.  The reason I love this is twofold:  1) there was a tree, recently cut down, that was said to be the gallows for people convicted of being witches, and 2) there is said to be a tombstone on the property with the name “Wittich” engraved on it.  Too perfect.

Here’s a nice little youtube clip about Stull.

I guess since Stull is so heavily watched by the cops, a Springtime trip there should maybe just be a drive-by on the way to Clinton Lake.  I’d avoid it anyways, because there’s just a bit too much “evil” associated with the place for my taste.  But when it comes to spooky cemeteries, it just had to make the list.

 If you do decide to go out and check out this or any other cemetery for signs of the paranormal, please remember to treat these places with the utmost respect, and obey any posted signs.  Don’t mess with tombs or gravestones, don’t litter, and in general just don’t be a big jerk.  And above all, DON’T BREAK THE LAW! 

I hope everyone is staying as warm as possible.  Just try to remember that Spring is making its slow way toward us, and soon we won’t need the heat of our laptops to keep us from freezing.

Yours in this life and the next,

 GhOsTwRiTeR KiM

Sources: 

http://www.pbase.com/savannahga/bona, http://www.historicghost.com/Bonaventure1.html, http://www.graveaddiction.com/bonavent.html, http://www.graveaddiction.com/1stlouis.html, http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/toptenhaunted/toptenhauntedcemeteries/

In the early 1900s, America was in the throes of a full blown tuberculosis epidemic.  Hit hard was the State of Kentucky.  According to James C. Klotter’s book, Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox, 1900-1950, the state ranked second in the nation in the early 1900s for its death rate from tuberculosis.  Black populations were particularly at risk, with a disease contraction rate twice that of the white population.  Something had to be done.  In 1910, Louisville opened up a forty-bed hospital, but it was quickly over-run with patients.  Then, after much fundraising, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium was built and opened in 1926, and was a state-of-the-art TB hospital with over 400 beds.  Built high on a hill, Waverly Hills offered the best “cure” for tuberculosis known at the time: lots of fresh air.  There were other treatments available, some of the remarkably barbaric in nature, but Streptomycin, the first real treatment for TB, was not discovered until 1943.

The Body Chute 

At the height of the epidemic, Waverly Hills took in entire families, some of which lived, many of which died.  The death rate at one point was calculated to be one death per hour, twenty-four hours a day.  A 500 foot long tunnel was built, with stairs on one side and a ramp on the other, to transport the dead from the facility so that the other patients wouldn’t have to see the dead being transported from the hospital.  The tunnel became morbidly known as “the body chute.”

Patient Resting at Waverly Hills

Life at Waverly Hills was not all bad.  Though most did not survive “the white plague,” the staff and physicians were dedicated to trying to make a stay at the sanatorium as pleasant as possible.  Radio, horseback rides, movies, and visits from Santa for the kiddos were all part and parcel of convalescence at Waverly Hills.  This government video features Waverly Hills in its hey-day.

When antibiotics finally became available, the population of people in need of the services of places like Waverly Hills dwindled, and eventually the hospital was shut down in 1961.  It was reopened in 1962 as a geriatric sanatarium called WoodHaven.  WoodHaven was shut down by the State in 1980 for alleged patient abuses.  The building has remained unused since that time.

With ownership of the building bouncing around for the next 18 years, the building fell into immense disrepair.  One owner, who wanted to tear down the hospital to build a massive statue of Jesus but was told he couldn’t because the building was on the National Historic Register’s “endangered” building list, opened the building to vagrants and vandals.  The damage done at that time was intense, with rubble piling up three feet deep in some areas.  Then Waverly Hills was purchased by its current owners, who are using the proceeds of both historical tours and ghost tours to renovate the property to its former glory.  Several years into the project, they still have miles to go, and much of the building is still in a horrible state.

Vandalism at Waverly Hills

 It was during the time when the building was open to vandals that the first reports of restless spirits began to surface.  An investigation by the Louisville Ghost Hunter’s Society in 2001 showed high, moving EMF readings.  Electromagnetic Field Detectors are often used in paranormal investigations because it is believed that ghosts use a lot of energy to manifest, and this energy will register on an EMF meter.  At the time, all electricity to Waverly Hills had been disconnected, and the electrical poles had been torn down, so it is certain that the EMF was not picking up on any electical energy being run to the building.  They also reported hearing footsteps, drastic temperature changes, and the smell of baking bread.  Room 502 also caused the EMF meter to react, and the temperature rose and then dropped suddenly.  Room 502 is notorious in Waverly Hills lore because of the deaths of two nurses who worked in that room.  One jumped from a fifth floor balcony to her death for reasons unknown, and the other hung herself from a light fixture in that room in a fit of depression.  It is rumored that she had become pregnant by one of the married doctors that worked there at the time.  Photos taken from this investigation show spectral lights, shadow spirits, and a disembodied face behind two of the investigators.

Room 502

Many investigations have take place at Waverly Hills in the seven years since this one, and the tales of the paranormal get ghastlier and ghastlier.  A little girl is seen peering out of the windows.  A ball has been seen rolling out of one room and changing course so that it rolls into another room down the hall.  And scariest of all, a woman has been seen running out of the front door in chains, wrists bleeding, begging for help.  Several people have reported seeing objects move of their own accord, doors open and slam shut on their own, and one investigator actually had a brick lauch up at him from the floor and hit him in the small of his back.

Waverly Hills continues to be a hot spot for paranormal investigations.  The Most Haunted crew recently came over from Great Britain to film a show there, and the gang from T.A.P.S. has also done an investigation there.  The Sanatorium is also featured on the Travel Channel as one of the “World’s Scariest Places.”  I had planned on including some youtube investigation footage here, but there are so many decent clips, I recommend you go there yourself, search for Waverly Hills, and just enjoy.

Yours in this life and the next!

GhOsTwRiTeR KiM

sources:  http://www.louisvilleghs.com/LGHS_MASTER/SUB/Investigations/Waverly/, http://www.emedicinehealth.com/tuberculosis/page3_em.htm, http://www.therealwaverlyhills.com/, http://books.google.com/books?id=o58mJavC4msC