This Tennessee Urban Legend Will Keep You Awake At Night – Because It’s True

You've probably heard terrible stories: teenagers taking a hike in the woods, wandering a lovers' lane late at night, and stumbling across a meadow of corpses. Dead men and women, rotting and posed, some that appear tossed about or freshly dead. Serial killer? Nah. Body farm in Tennessee? Yep.

It may not seem too believable, but it's a real thing. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has a body farm that uses corpses as teaching tools for future scientists. There are only three in the country, located in Cullowhee, North Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee; and San Marcos, Texas. Tennessee boasts the largest body farm in the country, at two and half acres. For reference, when at capacity, we're looking at a body farm that holds anywhere from 40 to 50 bodies in a variety of different areas and poses to help students better understand the science of a body's life after death.

The main point is for future forensic scientists to be able to study body decomposition in a variety of elements. It was implemented into UT studies in 1981, with over one hundred bodies donated to the university on a yearly basis. If you're looking to drive future students for success AND feed the ever true urban legend of a woodland body farm, now you know where to go.

You may not be sleeping tonight... but, don't worry. The body farm in Knoxville is surrounded by a razor wire fence, so no one is wandering in - or out - unnoticed.

If for some crazy reason you're interested in visiting the body farm, sorry to say but you're in for a disappointment. The Forensic Anthropology Center of Knoxville does not offer tours. This place is for research only, and the families of the donated bodies would probably not appreciate their late loved ones being gawked at. Still, the video offers an interesting insight into this place and the important work that goes into training people studying forensics.

You can learn more about this place by visiting the Forensic Anthropology Center website. And if you're a fan of stories that give you the creeps, we've put together an entire list of other urban legends in Tennessee.