6 Disturbing Cemeteries Around Cleveland That Will Give You Goosebumps

The name Erie Cemetery is an apt coincidence for the oldest cemetery in Cleveland. It's located downtown, across the street from Progressive Field, but it couldn't feel further away. As well as 17 000 bodies, this cemetery houses almost two hundred years of creepy legends and rumors. Most notable are a number of the victims from the largest mass fatality in Lake Erie History; Cleveland's first European immigrants; and a Meskwaki soldier, Chief Joc-O-Scot. He did not want to be buried here, and it is said that his ghost shattered his first headstone (pictured) out of anger.

Fact and fiction collide in this otherwise quiet cemetery. In the 1800s, a woman killed her abusive husband and sons by poisoning the family well, then tossed their bodies into its depths. The townspeople grew suspicious of the strange widow, and she was put to death as a witch. Her body is buried her in Myrtle Hill Cemetery, in an unmarked grave. There is now a large marble ball on the spot, allegedly put there by the widow's sympathetic niece. Some claim that the ball can be hot to the touch in the dead of winter. When it is, it means that the witch's is no longer in her grave, but is watching you.

Located off a gravel path from an abandoned church-side road, this cemetery the resting place of some early Pilgrims. It said to be a popular site for cult activity and rituals. There are rumors that several teenagers died in a suicide pact nearby. Children's laughter and a woman's scream have been heard among the scattered headstones.

A cholera outbreak in Sandusky in 1849 caused over half the population to flee. One quarter of those who remained became sick and died. Historical sources tell of days of fear and silent nights cut by the wailing of the dying. Most of the victims were buried in the Cholera Cemetery. Bodies were tossed in mass graves, and accusations flew that people were being buried alive in a desperate attempt to curb the outbreak. The cemetery was untended for years afterward, and locals avoided the area, fearing infection and the angry souls of the dead.

The old tomb stones follow the edge of Rocky River, scattered down the riverbank in the forest. Strange lights have been seen at night among these graves. But the best creepy story says that a witch is buried under a large old tree in Chestnut Grove Cemetery. As was the custom, her grave is unmarked. She has no headstone, no cross, no grave marker. Instead, the townspeople placed an iron fence around her burial site. The ground has sunken above her grave, and it's said that if you tread too near her, something terrible will happen. Having fallen into disrepair, all that remains of the fence are four concrete anchors. Without the fence, you have to ask yourself, was the fence put there to keep you out, or her in?