Do a lot of strange things go on in cemeteries, or is it that some of us have sort of strange feelings about them? Does our perception of cemeteries change after dark? Some people feel fine about walking through a cemetery during the day time, but these same people won't go near one at night. They have some sort of preconceived notion that there is something supernatural about cemeteries at night that just doesn't exist in the daytime. It is like that program Ghost Hunters, did you ever notice that they have to put the lights out before they can hunt for ghosts? Why is this? I was always told when I was a child that there is nothing different in a room that has the light on or off. I am sure many of you were told the same thing when you were children. Yet, there are numerous stories of people in dark places shinning a flashlight on something that they thought was a spirit. Why didn't it take off when the light was shined on it, if it has to be in the dark to find it? This kind of stuff just never made any sense to me. Something is either there, or it isn't. Getting back to cemeteries, you have to wonder where this fear comes from? I can understand someone in the woods being afraid at night, because some wild animal might sneak close to their camp and attack, but something like that is natural, not supernatural. The fear of cemeteries at night is more a supernatural feeling.

Having said this about cemetery fear, there are a lot of strange stories about cemeteries. I know that some people will just laugh at these stories, some will take them as gospel and others will wonder about them. I can understand those reactions, but I have a very hard time believing them myself, but they are interesting and many people do believe them. Here is a typical cemetery story that takes place, you guessed it, around midnight. There is a cemetery in Battle Creek known as Oak Hill. One person that was interred there had a statue of the Virgin Mary placed over his grave and that became the family grave. The statue is just that, a statue. It is not connected to any pipes of any kind, is not sitting over a supply of water and has no way to collect water. The story goes that every night at about midnight, the statue weeps actual tears. The tears are fluid and run down the statue's face. There are no water stains on the statue, but someone has painted tears on the statue for effect. Hey could these people who painted the tears sneak in and pour water on the statue, well that is something to think about? There are all kinds of stories being told about one of the women that are buried in this family grave. Some say that she killed her children, while other stories claim that she committed suicide. A story was run in the Battle Creek Enquirer in 2004 that stated that a cemetery worker stated in the 1940s, that rain running down the statue caused the tears. Maybe someone will eventually watch this statue and see what the story really is.

I read a story recently about a cemetery incident, on the internet. It told about a guy that was walking through a cemetery. It was near the university he was going to and he was just taking a little time off. One of the older graves had a stone chair made to look like it was carved out of a tree. He decided to sit in the chair and just relax for awhile. He climbed into the chair and settled in. He said that he fell into a trance which he had no control over. In an instant, a few hours had passed. He swears that he did not fall asleep. He went back and got his girlfriend and told her about his experience. Both of them went back to the cemetery and began to look for the grave with the chair on it. Before I go any further I have to tell you that there were a couple of characters on a tv show during that time and this guy and his friend used to call each other by those names. As they walked through the cemetery they found the chair. His girlfriend sat in it and immediately felt her blood turn cold. Across from the chair was a grave marker with the last name of the character that her boyfriend's friend always called him and to make matters even more creepy, the birthday on it was the same as the guys. The grave belonged to a small girl that had died in the 1860s.

There are some strange things happening in some cemeteries in Germany. The usual thing that happens in a cemetery, is that someone is buried and over time they disintegrate. This is not what is happening in some German cemeteries. Some of the deceased have stopped rotting and have turned waxen. This has become so rampant in some German cemeteries that many of the deceased are being dug up to try and figure what is causing this. Some experts believe that the reason is that the soil contains a high moisture content and this combined with low temperatures and a lack of oxygen in the soil is leading to this problem. This has caused all sorts of problems for cemetery operators. They count on bodies decaying, so that they can bury more people in the graves, but these bodies are not decaying. In Germany most graves are reused in 15 to 25 years. Many new cemeteries in Germany purchased soil with a high clay content, which they never should have done. Since bodies are not decaying, Muslims in Germany are being forced to ship bodies back to their home countries. A solution has been forthcoming from the Swiss. They will go into a cemetery, get rid of the unusable soil, and fill the area with custom blended topsoil. The new topsoil is made up of topsoil, wood chips and gravel. The next thing that is done, is that drainage is installed. Some Germans are not too happy about this, since it means that the waxen bodies have to be dug up and buried some where else.

Comet Lodge Cemetery is one of those very old cemeteries, by American standards The cemetery is located in Seattle and was the place where all those pioneers were buried. In those days the cemetery was very large. That was then, but today the actual cemetery has shrunk. It is like everything else, the ground has become valuable, too valuable for a cemetery to have it all and ultimately the cemetery might just disappear. Here is the thing, some of the old cemetery now has houses standing on the ground. The people that own these homes actually have them standing over areas where bodies were buried. This seems to have some ramifications, according to these new home owners. All sorts of paranormal activity is being reported in many of the homes. One home owner claims that he now has a very friendly spirit living with him and his family. He claims that on the day in moved in 7 years ago, the lights all mysteriously went out. Light are turned out and then go on by themselves. One day the family was all sitting down to dinner when a cloud like apparition swept past the table. The wife of the man followed the cloud as it went into a bed room and she claims that at this point, she could see the outline of a person in the cloud itself. The cloud then took off.

Adelaida cemetery is located in Paso Robles, California. There is a local legend that states that if you go into this cemetery carrying car keys, they may be stolen, because the spirits of the dead like to take them and strand people there. It is said that there are ghosts that wander the cemetery every Friday night between 10 PM and Midnight. Yep there it is, the word midnight again. Are these so called ghosts ever late? Has any one of them ever appeared at 12:10 AM? I guess they would be thrown out of the union if they did that. Anyway, the area was first settled in about 1859. The first tomb dates back to 1878. The story goes that mercury mining took place in the area and it got into the water driving some people and animals crazy. Could there be spirits roaming the grounds that are completely insane from mercury poisoning, can a spirit be effected by something that happens to their human bodies while they were alive? I guess we would have to ask a paranormal expert these questions.

I would like to finish this article by talking about Stull Cemetery in Kansas. There are so many stories about this place. There is an old tale that states that this cemetery contains one of the seven gates to hell. Legends state that there are two places on earth where the devil is allowed to make an appearance and this place is one of them. Ouch! In 1978, on March 20, more than 150 people showed up at the cemetery to see the devil and meet the spirits of those that had died violent deaths. There was a severe disappointment that night, when neither the spirits or the devil appeared. Hey I could have told them that and saved them the trip. There is a ruined church in the area and people say that no rain ever falls on it. Here is a great story. Some people claim that they had parked their car and went into the cemetery. They state that a high wind came out of nowhere and we they left the cemetery their car had been blown to the other side of the road. Are you wondering where the other place is that the devil is said to appear, I know that I was? It is said to be on a desolate plain in India. To end this tale, the people of the area say that all the stories are untrue and that none of them have ever seen spirits or devils at any time.