The Gates of Hell
What made this family cemetery the focus of a disturbing Kentucky legend?
In the 1980s, the Grandview Cemetery in Elizabethtown Kentucky earned the nickname “The Gates Of Hell”. To this day, that’s what most folks know it as.
The cemetery sits at the top of a hill, obscured within an isolated wooded area with one long dirt road leading in or out. Gravestones—some standing and some in disarray from unfortunate vandalism—are scattered all around, and a few can even be found outside the clearing, well beyond the treeline.
Unlike many allegedly haunted cemeteries in Kentucky, this one doesn’t seem to have a sinister history to justify the ominous presence people say they’ve encountered here.
One of the most common claims about Grandview Cemetery, also known as the Kasey Family Cemetery, which dates back to the 1700s, is that the area has long been a site for sacred satanic ritual activity.
In early 2003, an article appeared in a local newspaper claiming that discarded and or burned animal carcasses had been discovered in the cemetery by paranormal researchers. Law enforcement publicly admitted that they were aware that local residents sometimes used the cemetery as a dumping ground for deceased pets. The paranormal researchers pushed back, claiming to have seen satanic symbols painted on the trees inside the cemetery.
Because these urban legends initially began to circulate in the ‘80s around the height of the satanic panic, it’s hard to say if claims are anything more than hysteria, but to hear the locals tell it, there were plenty of other strange things going on despite the rumors.
Daytime visitors have reported both auditory and visual phenomena. There are reports of bloodcurdling screams coming from the surrounding forest as well as moving trees— as in, trees that are in one place are said to disappear and reappear in another. Many people claim their cars stall out or refuse to start altogether.
As frightening as this all might be during daylight, imagine experiencing it in complete darkness. After all, the cemetery is incredibly isolated.
According to local lore, when the sun starts to go down and dusk settles into the heavily wooded area, the shadow people who occupy the graveyard come out to lurk at the edge of the forest and around the tombstones. Some reports describe inexplicable lights in the treetops and the feeling of being watched while you’re there. Some people even claim to have seen a tombstone that glows in the dark.
One of the most well-known witness accounts came from a couple who, much like other local youths, went there to park. Not long after their arrival, they witnessed what they described as a big green orb emerge from the ground and float toward their car. The orb momentarily hovered over the vehicle before it vanished into the canopy of trees above.
All of this sounds spooky enough, but there’s another lesser-known story involving this cemetery—and more importantly, who is buried in this cemetery—that I think is far more frightening. Follow for more spooky stuff!
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