Kentucky Hauntings

by Roberta Simpson Brown

  Ghosts in the Graveyard

  Tom Simpson told us this story. We thought of Tom and Edgar as the Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn of their day.

  Country living did not always offer a lot of excitement for growing boys in the early 1900s, so they often manufactured their own. Sometimes they got more excitement than they could handle.

  Two young friends, Tom and Edgar, had heard graveyard tales all their lives while sitting around listening to older folks weave their magic with words. One of their favorite graveyard stories was told in different versions as part of many cultures. A neighbor said it really happened to his aunt in Kentucky. Edgar had read that it happened to a man named Ivan in Russia. Tom once met a man from South America who told him it happened to a child in that country.

  The story has a simple plot. A person (man, woman, or child) is told that there is an odd grave in the local cemetery where a strange woman was buried long ago. This spirit did not like to be bothered, and she would reach up from the grave and grab anyone who dared to come to her grave and disturb her in any way. She would pull the person down into the grave, and the visitor would be lost forever. After hearing the story, the listener is challenged to go alone to the grave one night and stick some object (a knife, machete, fork, or whatever is appropriate in that culture) into the grave to prove his or her courage. The person making the challenge would tell the listener that he, the teller of the tale, would go in the morning to retrieve the object from the grave and return it to the brave owner.

  In the story, the person goes to the grave and kneels to stick whatever he has brought into the grave. The poor person, being so frightened, doesn't realize that the object has pierced through a garment (a cape, jacket, raincoat, or whatever), thus pinning the visitor to the grave. When the person tries to stand up and realizes that something is holding him, he assumes it is the ghost's hand reaching up from the grave and grabbing him, so he dies of fright. The challenger goes to the grave the next morning and is shocked to find the person's body across the grave.

  Tom and Edgar didn't believe anything drastic would happen to anyone who stuck something in a grave, but they did believe it would be a perfect prank to play on their not-so-brave friend Clarence. The more they thought about it, the more they knew they had to do it. It would be so funny to hide and watch Clarence approach the grave.

  First, they found an old grave at the back of the cemetery by an old community church. Then they told Clarence the story, showed him the grave in daylight, and dared him to go alone at night and stick his new pocketknife in it.

  Clarence resisted at first, but he finally agreed to do it just to shut them up.

  “You guys have got to come along and stay close by,” he told them.

  They considered it and decided it might be fun to go along as far as the cemetery gate and watch, but they had to agree to come running if Clarence called for help.

  They picked a late summer night when a steady rain was falling to put their prank in motion. They made a point of wearing their lightweight raincoats in the hope that Clarence would stick his knife through his coat and freak out.

  As they approached the cemetery, rumbles of thunder and jagged streaks of lightning in the distance provided the perfect atmosphere. Their nerves were a bit unsteady as they opened the gate and silently pointed Clarence toward the grave in the old section in the back. Clarence took a few steps and stopped, losing his nerve altogether.

  “I don't think this is such a good idea,” he said. “It's disrespectful. Nothing good can ever come from disturbing the dead.”

  Tom and Edgar looked at each other. Their prank was not going as planned.

  “Nothing's going to happen, Clarence,” Edgar assured him. “It's not like we're digging her up or anything.”

  “You're just scared,” said Tom. “I knew you'd chicken out. Come on. Let's all go stick our pocketknives in the grave.”

  The idea of not being alone boosted Clarence's courage.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let's go.”

  Tom and Edgar took the lead, and Clarence followed closely behind. It didn't take long until they had crossed the cemetery and reached the grave they had chosen. Knives in hand, they raised their arms to plunge the blades into the earth, when suddenly a bolt of lightning danced on the old tombstone and thunder crashed angrily overhead. The rain turned to a white mist that rose from the grave and engulfed the boys. They felt an intense, unearthly cold penetrating their raincoats. Even though it was summer, they felt a sudden chill as they had never felt before. Shivering and without saying a word, they turned in unison and ran for the gate.

  Tom and Edgar were in the lead again, with Clarence not far behind, trying with all his might to keep up. Suddenly, he stumbled and grabbed a tall tombstone to break his fall.

  “Wait!” he screamed to Tom and Edgar. “It's on my back! Get it off! Get it off!”

  Tom and Edgar stopped and looked back through the light mist that was still clinging to them. They could barely see Clarence, but they could tell that he was struggling with something.

  “Hold on, Clarence! We're coming!” they yelled in the same breath.

  They reached the obviously terrified Clarence, who was now gasping for air. They realized the best way to help him was to get him out of there as fast as they could. Each grabbed an arm and literally dragged Clarence along between them. They couldn't see anything on his back, but both boys felt that he weighed as much as two people!

  The rain let up as they reached the gate, and the mist dissolved as they pulled Clarence through. Once outside the cemetery, the stricken boy's breathing returned to normal, and he was able to stand and move on his own. The three ran from the graveyard as fast as they could. They never went back there again at night. Later, when they looked at the graveyard through the church windows on Sunday mornings, they could still feel the penetrating cold.

  From that night on, Tom and Edgar sat in storytelling circles and heard that old tale told and retold. They no longer thought it was just a harmless story. They vowed never to play a prank like that again. They had come to believe that Clarence was right. Nothing good could ever come from disturbing the dead!

  Under the Bed

  There was a peculiar old custom in Kentucky of putting a birthday person under the bed on his or her birthday. The more times the person was put under the bed, the more he or she was loved and the more good luck would come to the birthday person the following year. Some people believed that this practice should stop at the child's ninth birthday because bad luck would come after that. It was said that the child would never grow after the age of nine if the custom continued past that year, but no reason was given for why this particular age was the cut-off point or what might cause the bad luck from then on.

  This practice is mostly forgotten now, but it persisted into the middle 1900s. In fact, each of us experienced it, but we never heard where it came from.

  The custom of putting the birthday person under the bed spoiled all the fun for Coy Norcliff on his birthday each year. He couldn't remember the year he was put under the bed for the first time. The years ran together in his mind; but from years in his former home, he could remember dust bunnies and a slight feeling of claustrophobia. He hadn't enjoyed these experiences, but he hadn't been terrified either. He only felt uncomfortable then. The terror had come in this house last year for the first time, and he hadn't been able to forget it.

  His relatives had come for dinner, and they had brought presents. They all had an enjoyable time until the celebration was almost over. He was taken completely by surprise when his two older cousins grabbed him. His parents and his aunt and uncle had watched and laughed as they pulled him to the floor and pushed him under the bed. Coy had struggled violently and finally managed to shove his cousins away and escape by crawling out the other side. He was pale, shaking, and gasping for air when he emerged.

  “Don't you ever do that to me again,” he said to his cousins, his voice quivering with rage.


  Everybody was surprised at his reaction.

  “It was just a joke, Coy,” his mom said. “Why are you so upset?”

  “There is something under there,” he told her. “It's something awful.”

  His cousins didn't believe he could possibly be serious. They began to laugh and tease him.

  “A monster!” said one cousin.

  “A ghost?” asked the other.

  Coy didn't bother to answer them. He knew no one would believe him. He said as little as possible until his relatives left. Then, when his parents asked, he told them what had happened.

  Coy had never talked about it before, but he had seen signs of the ghost from the first day he and his family moved into this farmhouse. It began with a tapping on the floor under his bed as soon as he lay down at night. After he managed to get to sleep, he would wake to soft moaning sounds and the covers being pulled off his bed. Once he heard a noise on the floor beside his bed and rolled to the edge to see what it was. He glanced down and saw something on the floor, but it was gone in an instant. He was too frightened to remember many details, but it looked like a girl with long, stringy hair.

  Today, when his cousins had pushed him under the bed, he had seen the thing clearly. The pale, ghostly face with rotting teeth and long, stringy hair was right there, inches from his face. It was reaching for him as he pushed his way out from under the bed. It was trying to take his breath away!

  Coy was relieved at first to be telling his parents about his experiences, but by the time he finished, he could tell they didn't believe him. His mom explained that all old houses have noises of their own, and his dad mumbled something about how he would eventually get adjusted to his surroundings and not be frightened at night.

  “There is a logical reason for everything,” his mom told him, and his father agreed.

  If they thought they were comforting him, they were wrong. Coy disregarded everything they said. There were no logical reasons for the things that were happening in his room. Something was definitely under his bed, and he did not want to join it on his ninth birthday next year. He remembered that he shouldn't have to worry, though. This silly custom was supposed to stop at age nine.

  The next year passed quickly. Coy knew the thing was still under the bed, but he felt like it would stay there and not bother him if he did not bother it. He said nothing else about it to his parents.

  As his ninth birthday approached, Coy managed to convince himself that nobody would put him under the bed this year. His relatives were coming again this year, but he thought he'd gotten his point across to his cousins last year. He thought they'd leave him alone.

  Finally his birthday came. His uncle, aunt, and two cousins came over to celebrate again. He and his cousins played outside until it was time to eat. After they'd had their fill of cake and homemade ice cream, Coy opened his presents. Nobody mentioned the incident of the previous year, so Coy was relaxed by the time he opened his last gift.

  Then it happened. His cousins grabbed him from behind, dragged him to his bed, and stuffed him under. Initially, he started to struggle, but then, his cousins said later, he just went limp. Frightened, they pulled him out, but he was barely breathing. The family rushed him to the doctor.

  Doc Evans had just returned to his office from making a house call in the country when they brought Coy in. His family stayed in the waiting room while Doc Evans did the examination. Doc's wife brought them some coffee.

  “Did you folks know about the people who lived in your house before you moved in?” she asked.

  They all shook their heads.

  “It was a sad situation,” she continued. “The couple had a daughter that was born not quite right in the head. She couldn't talk, so they made her sleep on a pallet by their bed. She'd moan or pull the covers off if she needed something. One night, she just up and died. Her heart just stopped. She was only nine years old.”

  She finished her story just as Doc Evans came into the room. His somber look told the family the bad news, even before he spoke.

  “I'm so sorry,” he told them. “I couldn't save him. He had a severe shock and his heart simply stopped.”

  Did Coy actually see a ghost under the bed that took his breath away? Was it the girl who died in the house before him? Were people right about children not growing if they were put under the bed on their ninth birthday?

  The Norcliff family would never have those answers for sure, but one thing was certain. Coy didn't need to grow past his ninth birthday to fit into his small homemade coffin.

  The Woman Who Was Almost a Ghost

  Several years ago, the Louisville Ghost Hunters held the Mid-South Paranormal Conference at Waverly Hills Sanatorium. An area was set aside for book signings and paranormal readings. Many people walked by our table, but the crowd often came in spurts. One afternoon when the crowd had thinned out, a man walked up to our table and asked if we had a minute. Of course, we said yes. He said he would rather not give his name because he thought there might be people connected to his story who might still be living, and he didn't have their permission to tell the story. He said that he needed to tell someone, though; the story bothered him because it was so strange.

  When he mentioned the name of the house, we recognized it immediately. We had passed it on a tour organized by Robert Parker, Mr. Ghost Walker. We had heard lots of strange stories about the house, but we had never heard this one. If you are interested in taking the tour, contact Mr. Ghost Walker (502-689-5117).

  There is an old house in Louisville that was once used as a family dwelling, with one section used as an office by a doctor in family. It was rumored that this doctor used to perform illegal abortions in this office, but it was a subject mostly kept hush-hush.

  Many years passed and the family moved away. The doctor closed his practice and died a few years later. The rumors died with him, and the house stood empty.

  One day, a man and his wife were walking down the street where the old house stood. As they approached, the woman stopped abruptly and held tightly to her husband's arm. She had never seen the house before, but she became very fearful and began to shake.

  “What's wrong?” asked her husband.

  “I don't know,” she said. “It's that house! I can't go near it!”

  “We'll be by it soon,” he said. “There's nothing there to hurt you.”

  He urged her on, but still she clung tightly to her husband. By the time they were even with the doctor's old office, the woman began to cry and tremble uncontrollably. She had never acted this way before, and her behavior surprised both her and her husband. He was at a total loss as to what he should do, so he practically pulled her down the street. When they got past the house, she calmed down and felt normal again. Neither could figure out why she acted so strangely.

  After they arrived home, the woman's two uncles happened to come by for a visit. She was always glad to see them because the rest of her family was dead. She had always felt particularly close to these uncles.

  “You look a little pale,” one uncle said. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Yeah,” agreed the other uncle. “You look like you've seen a ghost!”

  Still a little shaky from the odd experience at the old house, she told them what had happened. Her husband confirmed the strange incident.

  The uncles listened without interrupting. When she finished, they exchanged glances. Then one uncle spoke.

  “I guess there is something you should know,” he said. “It might explain what happened.”

  “Then tell me, please,” she said.

  “The family never wanted you to know,” he said, “but when your mother was carrying you, she was having a very difficult time. Finally, it got too much for her, so she went to the doctor at that house to get an abortion. The two of us were at the house when she left, and we followed her to see where she was going. No one in our family supported abortion, so we rushed into the doctor's office just as he was ready to abort you! We stopped him and took
your mother home. Your mother always regretted what she almost did and was grateful to us for stopping her from making a terrible mistake. Maybe that accounts for the way you felt.”

  The woman and her husband thought about it and decided that maybe that was the explanation. Maybe somehow she had slipped back in time and felt what she may have felt in the womb when she almost became a ghost before she was born!

  The Bathtub Ghost

  We lived down the road from the Wilsons, so we heard Mr. Wilson tell this story often. We have retold it here in our own words.

  Indoor plumbing was not a typical luxury for people in our neighborhood. We were excited to have an inside bathroom, and we never took our good fortune for granted.

  Olivia and Luther Wilson lived on a small farm for many years without any modern conveniences like indoor plumbing. As they got older, they found it more difficult to take sponge baths in wash pans and to go to the outhouse. After he had an especially profitable year from his crops, Luther had inside plumbing installed and put in a bathtub for his “Livie,” as he called Olivia.

  Livie had a touch of arthritis, and it eased her aching joints to sit in a hot bath. Luther warned her to be careful because the tub was slick. He tried to arrange to be inside when she got into the tub as a small measure of safety. That worked well in the winter, but when spring came Luther had to be outside most of the day planting crops.

  One morning, Livie's joints were particularly achy, so she ran herself a hot bath while Luther was plowing the fields. She added some lilac-scented bath oil that she always loved to use and then eased herself into the water and relaxed. She rubbed her bar of soap up and down her arms and over her face. The soap bubbles got in her eyes and began to burn. She grabbed a towel and didn't notice that the bar of soap had slid down into the bath water.