“Visitors have reported hearing bloodcurdling screams”

Along Old Hardinsburg Road in Kentucky sits an old cemetery known by several names. Grandview Cemetery and Kasey Cemetery are the two most commonly used, but neither is the name that has made this place part of Kentucky folklore. For years, people have been coming here because of another name attached to the cemetery: The Gates to Hell.

The cemetery dates back generations, with old family graves scattered across the property. Many of the headstones have been broken, knocked over, or destroyed by years of vandalism, leaving some graves unmarked. The remains of an old iron and stone gate can also be found here, and some believe that old entrance helped give the cemetery its infamous nickname. Others say the name came later, after stories began spreading about what people were doing inside the cemetery after dark.
For years, there have been reports of occult and satanic rituals taking place among the graves and in the surrounding woods. Visitors and paranormal investigators have reported finding burned or damaged Bibles, candles, children’s toys, marbles, and other strange objects scattered around the cemetery. Stories of animal sacrifices have followed the cemetery as well, and in 2003, the remains of several dogs, cats, a calf, and a deer were discovered around the property. Police investigated the discovery, which came at a time when the cemetery had once again been vandalized.With stories of rituals and animal remains surrounding an already isolated and badly damaged cemetery, it isn’t difficult to understand how the Gates to Hell legend grew. According to the story, rituals performed inside the cemetery opened something that was never meant to be opened. Some versions describe a portal between our world and something much darker, while others say an evil presence was summoned into the cemetery and never left.

Some believe whatever was brought into Kasey Cemetery trapped the spirits of children buried there. Visitors report hearing children crying, laughing, or talking somewhere among the graves when no children are present. Toys, coins, marbles, and other small objects have been left near children’s graves over the years, sometimes as offerings. One legend warns visitors to leave something for the children before leaving the cemetery. Those who don’t may return to their vehicle and discover that it refuses to start.
They say that something lurks in the cemetery that doesn’t sound much like a ghost. Visitors have described seeing something near the woods that at first appears to be an animal, possibly a deer, until it stands upright and moves on two legs. Others describe the uncomfortable feeling that something is watching from beyond the tree line without ever coming completely into view. Whatever people believe they have seen, the stories have become tangled with the older claims that something unnatural was brought into the cemetery during the rituals.
A large dead tree stands among the graves and has become one of the most recognizable features of Kasey Cemetery. Some versions of the legend claim rituals were performed beneath it, while others identify the area around the tree as the location of the portal itself. There are even stories that the Devil has been seen beneath its branches after dark, dancing beneath the dead tree where the Gates to Hell supposedly opened. Others have reported hearing something screeching or scratching at the trees nearby.

Paranormal investigators who have spent the night at Kasey Cemetery have added their own stories. During one investigation, a group claimed that the wind suddenly began moving through the tops of the trees while the air remained still around them. The crickets stopped, and dark shapes began moving between the trees. As the group made its way out, they claimed their flashlights caught something enormous near the woods, described as having a long body, claws, glowing red eyes, and what appeared to be large wings stretching between the trees. Whatever they saw disappeared into the darkness.
Visitors have heard bloodcurdling screams coming from somewhere beyond the graves with no apparent source. Others report unexplained voices and strange lights moving through the cemetery. During an investigation in the early 2000s, a paranormal investigator photographed a large green orb on 35mm film. Stories about similar lights have continued, including accounts of a glowing green light hovering near the cemetery before suddenly shooting upward and disappearing.
It was a beautiful fall day when we visited, which was almost the opposite of how you would expect a place called the Gates to Hell to look. The leaves were changing and the weather was nice, but the cemetery itself looked sad. Years of vandalism had clearly taken their toll. Headstones had been broken and knocked over, and some were damaged beyond recognition. Whatever you believe about the legends surrounding Kasey Cemetery, seeing what people have done to the graves of the people buried there is disturbing enough on its own.

I’m not sure why every old cemetery seems to have one dead tree that makes everything around it feel a little more ominous, but this one really stands out. Its bare branches stretch above the cemetery, immediately drawing your attention. Once you know the stories of rituals performed beneath it, the Devil supposedly dancing under its branches, and a portal to Hell somewhere nearby, it’s difficult to look at it as just another dead tree. Standing there on a beautiful fall afternoon, I could see exactly why it had become part of the legend. I didn’t wait around to see what might show up after dark.