Stull Cemetery Legend

[greattenchim]

If people were asked where one of the gates to hell might be located, very few would say Kansas, but according to local lore, it just may be.

The place is Stull, KS, the cemetery is called Stull Cemetery.

The small town of Stull was settled in 1862, and named for the Postmaster of the time, Silvester Stull.

At first sight, the cemetery appears very normal.Roughly 100 graves, an old tree, and a burnt out church pretty much make the scene, but as always, there is more lingering right under the surface.

In 1995, Time Magazine asked Pope John Paul 2nd why he ordered his plane to fly around Kansas, and his response..."I don't want to fly over unholy ground..."

Some of the hype may come from the fact that Stull Cemetery is located in the Topeka zip code prefix of "666", or perhaps even that the road leading up to the cemetery, was literally named Devil's Lane up until 1905.

In 1974, the University of Kansas college newspaper did a report on Stull Cemetery, which sites the legend being over 100 years old.The elders of the small town believe that Stull Cemetery is one of the alleged 7 gateways to hell, allowing Satan to allegedly manifest on earth through a supernatural portal..

This legend comes from a handful of local rumors, one being that Satan's unholy son is buried within the walls of Stull, and that on the Spring Equinox, and on midnight of Halloween, the Prince of Darkness comes to earth to visit the tomb of his son.

The exact location of the gateway to hell is unknown, but most of the controversey centers around the burnt out church in the cemetery.The church was build in 1867, and was swept over by the mysterious fire in the early 1900's.Some say that the religious communtiy destroyed the church in an attempt to seal the gateway to hell.Although the church has no roof, it is said that no rain will ever fall within the church.

Another secret to the Stull mystery revolves around the pine tree that was mentioned above.It is reported that witches were hung from this tree during the Spring Equinox Sabbat years ago, and that a town man was reported missing for some time, only to be found later hanging from this very tree.

Modern covens did indeed visit this cemetery to pay homage to those witches that died there, up until 1998, when the caretakers had the tree cut down and removed.

Halloween night of 1999, media from Lawrence Journal World and Sunflower Cable Station Channel 6 News were at the cemetery by permission of the Sheriff.At 11:30pm, only 30 minutes before the alleged gate to hell would be cast open, an unknown representative of the cemetery caretakers appeared, and requested the Sheriff to remove the reporters.The media left peacefully, mere moments before the stroke of midnight.

Below are lyrics from a song written just for Stull Cemetery by the band Urge Overkill:

"Forty miles west of Kansas City, down a county road like a lonely soul, I see Sharon and I see Jack. It's me and Roman dressed all in black. Tell my bride to bury me in Stull....don't be afraid....don't be afraid....it's great."

anyone gone to his place? or know more on it?

Edited July 2, 2005 by greattenchim

[ROGER]

an article written March 30, 2002 said some one demolished the old church, turning it into a pile of Ruble. The owner and care takers were glade to see it gone. The nuts on Halloween now have no where to go!

[nirvanatool83]

My ex-boyfriend and his friends have been there twice,we both live in Lenexa,KS it is about an hours drive from here.We were just talking about this place b/c I am interested in the paranormal and he was going to take me so I looked it up after he drew me a pic of it and I ran across your listing in google search.I wanted to reply to a few things you said.First in the pic he drew me(he took actual photos of it,which had a crap load of orbs in the pics,if you know what those are,but his ex before me cut them up for a art project) he had the tree in the pic he drew me and I told him that in this article you wrote it had been cut down and we did the math,I guess it was cut down right after he went,he went in 98 and it was still there.Anyway he said the church was still there when he went but he was told it was tore down and I read that you thought it still was there so I wanted to respond to that also.There are alot of cops that sourround the place and they told my ex and his friends if they came back they would be arrested b/c people come from all around the world to try to get to this place and they don't like it,I guess,lol,but there is someone who lives across from the cemetery that keeps a constant watch on it.It took him and his friends 2 hours to even find it and they only found it b/c they got lost,it was like something lead them there.Anyway he even drew in the pic the road running beside it had dead possums leading all the way up to the cross road(the road that used to lead up to the church).I would have to draw a pic to be able to give accurate directions,well until I go there personally and I am taking a high powered camera so I if you want after I go there I can give an update.

[nyuk]

I like the story, sounds creepy and interesting

If you do get some photos, please post them

[Simbi Laveau]

But what has happened there? If it's a portal to hell,anyone see a devil ?

They hung witches in Salem ,and the place still stands,but no one says Salem is a portal to hell.

Im curious as to the reasons behind this .

Are there any documented incidents of note ?

[Neognosis]

In 1995, Time Magazine asked Pope John Paul 2nd why he ordered his plane to fly around Kansas, and his response..."I don't want to fly over unholy ground..."

Any proof of this? Sound like EXACTLY the kind of thing that never happened, but people keep repeating.

[Keel M.]

Historian Troy Taylor has a knack for discovering the truth behind stories like this. You might consider reading his enlightening version of Stull Cemetery.

There is also a photograph of the cemetery in the Wikipedia entry about Stull, Kansas and as creepy as this all sounds, I expected there to be lots of trees around it giving it a sort of macabre feel, but it's wide open prairie land. Nothing even remotely sinister about it.

[orangepeaceful79]

Sounds like an overblown bunch of bunk to me. I live in Kansas and I've never even heard of the place. Maybe Zak whatshisname and his team of ninnies should go investigate there and see if they can scare themselves silly and pretend to get possessed by some demon or another. I would hypothesize that Stull Cemetery would rank up there with Bobby Mackies with some of the world's most publicized, hyped and overrated "paranormal" places.

[Keel M.]

I would hypothesize that Stull Cemetery would rank up there with Bobby Mackies with some of the world's most publicized, hyped and overrated "paranormal" places.

I think only other allegedly haunted places can "rank" alongside Bobby Mackey's only if they've appeared on television. I've certainly never heard of Stull prior to reading this thread.

[rashore]

I like Mr. Taylors stuff, but I tend to take it with a tad of salt. He's a ghost seller more than a ghost hunter to me. Might be because of all that Cemetery X foolishness, might be because he, well, sells a lot of ghost stuff out of his own publishing house, is in on paranormal tours stuff and even offers a paranormal research course- for a fee of course Maybe it's because I was "in the know" of some of the silly midwest ghost drama for a while, lol. But he does indeed pull together ghost stories pretty well.

Unfortunately, Stull is one of those cemeteries with a rep, and so attract vandals and curiosity seekers. Extra unfortunate, Stull Cemetery might not even be the right one for the legends. There is a second cemetery that was Old Stull Cemetery before being renamed. That cemetery too has ill legend attached to it, the same one that Stull Cemetery does.

Honestly, I think Stull is more urban legend than anything else.

[Keel M.]

For the record, I don't view Troy Taylor as anything more than I gave him credit for: being a historian. He looks at the history behind the ghost stories and yes sells books, but so do a lot of other people.

[orangepeaceful79]

I think only other allegedly haunted places can "rank" alongside Bobby Mackey's only if they've appeared on television. I've certainly never heard of Stull prior to reading this thread.

Good point.

[rashore]

For the record, I don't view Troy Taylor as anything more than I gave him credit for: being a historian. He looks at the history behind the ghost stories and yes sells books, but so do a lot of other people.

Meh, it's all good. I'm just kind of jaded about that whole circus, that's all. I do think he does a fine job pulling it all together

[_Only]

I'm sorry, but according to various local urban legends, there must be a billion "gates to Hell" located across the U.S. It's an all too common stereotypical spooky spot description/story (right up there with gravity hills, devil worshippers, and abandoned insane asylums). Funny that all these local legends are so similar across the country. Well, I guess not all that funny, it makes sense, how stories pass along, and are adapted to fit the local setting.

We had this type of spooky place (an abandoned slaughter house that supposedly had devil worshipers gather there and do nefarious rituals, a "gate to hell" across the way, and a nearby abandoned insane asylum, that actually didn't even exist). Was fun in our teens when we were bored and wanted a cheap thrill, but as you get older and wiser, rational thinking should start to take over with these kind of stories and places.

[Keel M.]

Not a million, Jerry, only seven. Of course everyone wants to have a gate to hell in their backyard. It attracts people. The only place that doesn't have one is Hell itself.

[Cryptozological Mascot]

I am inclined to agree with you Offeririad, as I firmly believe that my ex-wife is in possesion of one of the seven gates of hell... I won't go into further details.

[Keel M.]

I am inclined to agree with you Offeririad, as I firmly believe that my ex-wife is in possesion of one of the seven gates of hell... I won't go into further details.

So she carries this gate around with her? Is it like purse-size? Or is it a huge cumbersome thing that gets in the way?

[Apollyon3000]

If there are 7 gates to Hell, where are the other 6 supposed to be located? Besides, I thought this myth was associated to some place in Pennsylvania. Something about seven gates being located around one place and if you walk through any of them you go straight to hell. I'm going to have to put that on my list of things to look up.

[rashore]

If there are 7 gates to Hell, where are the other 6 supposed to be located? Besides, I thought this myth was associated to some place in Pennsylvania. Something about seven gates being located around one place and if you walk through any of them you go straight to hell. I'm going to have to put that on my list of things to look up.

Yeah, there's 7 gates in PA.. kind of foundless considering there wasn't an asylum there. There's also 7 or 13 gates in IL too... Seems to be a popular thing.

[glorybebe]

Not a million, Jerry, only seven. Of course everyone wants to have a gate to hell in their backyard. It attracts people. The only place that doesn't have one is Hell itself.

Well, it was on Supernatural....I KNEW I had heard of this place before! There is usually a grain of truth in these legends. There must be at least one very very bad man who was buried there and then it just takes one odd happening or one active imagination and the story grows.

[Keel M.]

If there are 7 gates to Hell, where are the other 6 supposed to be located? Besides, I thought this myth was associated to some place in Pennsylvania. Something about seven gates being located around one place and if you walk through any of them you go straight to hell. I'm going to have to put that on my list of things to look up.

I have heard of this story that you speak of, but I can't remember the details to look it up. If my memory is correct, the gates are in a forest and you have to pass through them in order to end up in hell and there's no indication of which is first, second or third, etc.

[rashore]

I have heard of this story that you speak of, but I can't remember the details to look it up. If my memory is correct, the gates are in a forest and you have to pass through them in order to end up in hell and there's no indication of which is first, second or third, etc.

Yep, the gates are on private property. Most of the markers have long since either been torn down or forgotten what they were. There is supposed to be the first gate still standing I think, though that one may have been removed since I last checked into the story.

But those gates are kind of like Stull Cemetery... Urban legend. A few people have dug into it, and got nada about the asylum or a huge fire for all of their research efforts.

There are hell gates scattered all over the place, lol.

[Keel M.]

Rashore knows all!!! *bows*

[rashore]

Rashore knows all!!! *bows*

Snort, not by a long shot. But I got interested in hell gates because of the Illinois hell gates. The whole take a passage to hell legend is fascinating. Vortexes abound too. But there is a noticeable lack of heaven gates in urban legends. Kind of makes me wonder why people want to go to hell or other planes so much, but don't seem too interested in heaven.

[orangepeaceful79]

Not a million, Jerry, only seven. Of course everyone wants to have a gate to hell in their backyard. It attracts people. The only place that doesn't have one is Hell itself.

Actually I read somewhere online that because Hell is getting so crowded these days, not to mention the urban planning that went on down there was simply ridiculous....makes no sense whatsoever from what I hear.....anyway to alleviate the overcrowding they did in fact install a gate to hell from inside Hell itself. It works somewhat like a freeway bypass, and helps the denizens of Heck get from place to place more efficiently. Its gotta be true - I read it on the internet! Or maybe I just made it up. I can't remember.