Stull Cemetery

Stull Cemetery lies in the most unincorporated area of Douglas County, Kansas. This bleak, and semi-isolated cemetery appears on the surface to be nothing more than a rural and eternal resting place for northeastern Kansas folk. However, what is it about this cemetery that was rumored to cause His Holiness Pope John Paul II to actually give Vatican pilots instructions to fly around it when he visited the United States in 1993?

Is the Stull Cemetery in Kansas Haunted?

In 1857, the tiny area of Stull was just beginning to surface on maps. Originally it was called Deer Creek due to the abundance of deer that were spotted around the nearby water source. The settlement was mostly people from Pennsylvania Dutch Country as well as a small contingent of German settlers who had recently fled from the German Confederation. The small town eventually added its first and only postmaster in Sylvester Stull for who the town is named after. At its peak, Stull is said to have had only fifty people living in the area. However, the number of dark entities said to be inhabiting the Stull cemetery is thought to be extremely numerous and one of the reasons why this place is called, “the Gate to Hell”.

What’s infamous about the Stull Cemetery is that there was a dilapidated stone church on the property. Once built in 1867 and called the Stull Cemetery Church, it had suffered greatly over the years due to the harsh north Kansas weather. The roof to the church was largely gone and one of the more disturbing reports by visitors was that it did not get wet from the rain. People have claimed that although it may be raining, once they enter the church, despite the roof missing, somehow the interior of the church remained bone dry. Paranormal theorists have reported that there was a large amount of black magic ceremonies performed inside the church. Something akin to the once Christian church being abandoned and rites to Lucifer performed inside, it somehow corrupted the already crumbling altar inside and forever tainted and poisoned the consecrated grounds on which it stood.

The belief is that so many black magic rituals were performed here that whatever supernatural portal to Hell was opened, was permanently left open. In fact, there were few reports of a single staircase inside the church that many claimed were twisted into the ground and that they at one time led to a doorway to Hell itself. Sometime in 2002, the church was mysteriously demolished with nobody knowing what truly happened or who authorized its destruction. The remaining visible stairs were said to be filled in with earth and overgrown vegetation today covers up any remaining traces of the stairs or stone bits from the church.

In 1974 a local University of Kansas student newspaper published some local student accounts of experiences inside the cemetery. Many walked away with the impression that if you visit the cemetery on either Halloween or on the date of the Spring Equinox, that Lucifer himself will appear to you. Naturally these reported experiences along with other paranormal events at the cemetery caused it to be bombarded with visitors. The property owners of the Stull Cemetery had local law enforcement intervene and eventually quelled the bi-annual, late-night visits.

In witchcraft circles, the tree represents a sacred foundation that provides a powerful spiritual essence. The Stull Cemetery had one particular tree in particular, a tall pine tree that was slightly blackened at the base from occult ritual use. Oral legends spoke of occultists using the tree for rituals and that some were caught and actually hanged at the tree itself. Many people claimed that they had come in contact with the ghostly specters of witches that had been hung at that very tree. So many people made the tree a destination and spectacle to visit while ignoring the sanctity of the cemetery, that the property owners had the tree officially taken down in 1998 so as to quiet the intense fascination with it.

The Stull Cemetery Tree that was removed.

For any casual visitors to the cemetery, their supernatural experiences vary wildly in their intensity. Some people who have visited reported feeling dizzy and then ultimately losing a sense of time. Not in the respect that time passed quickly, but that time altogether has fast-forwarded past them. The supernatural belief of this is that if there is indeed a gateway to Hell on the property, the intense attraction of it is so strong as to cause disorienting lapses in time. Chilling and downright frightening noises and screams are heard by visitors as well. The cemetery is indeed in a very rural part of Kansas with no visible signs of life around, yet bloodcurdling screams and unearthly noises have been reported as being heard by visitors.

The Stull Cemetery is still accessible by the public, but for limited hours due to all of the paranormal commotion that it has caused over the decades. To date there are no paranormal groups or activities allowed inside the cemetery and local law enforcement is strict on trespassers, especially those on Halloween.  If the land is indeed haunted enough to keep the ultimate leader, exorcist, and head of the Catholic Church from even flying over it in an airplane, then that should speak for itself.