There's not a whole lot happening in rural Kansas, unless of course you're the Devil. According to some local lore, Hell's gate is in Kansas. The quiet, 19th century resting ground known as Stull Cemetery might just be one of the world's portals to Hell.
It's unclear why Satan would claim a small, sleepy rural town about 15 miles from Lawrence as his homebase. He seems like a true city-slicker. Maybe he was just looking to retire or wanted to be left alone (it must certainly be disheartening seeing your name attached to every bad thing that happens, ever). Either way, the town of Stull is said to be home to one of the few churches that sit on Hell's mouth. That's right, Satan's zip code is truly 666(06).
Places where people have reportedly found real portals to Hell are rare, but Stull Cemetery and the old stone church on its property is one of the most renowned. You don't get the title of most evil graveyard in America for nothing - you need sizable reports of ghosts, demons, and inexplicable supernatural occurrences. This property has had rumors swirling since the '70s, much to the dismay of the local police force. You'd think that few people are begging to knock on Satan's door, but when a Kansas church hides a portal to Hell, all hell truly does break loose.
This is the story of Stull Cemetery – a quiet, rural cemetery so frightening it had Ariana Grande, one of the most well-traveled pop stars in the world, turn right around. It is a cemetery so mysterious that it was featured on Supernatural. The devil is truly in the details.
Stull Cemetery Is Thought To Be America's Most Evil Graveyard
Stull Cemetery was created in the 1850s by German settlers and has been a hotbed for paranormal activity since. The property's over-the-top reputation includes everything from ghost and demon sightings to sacrificial ceremonies and occult rituals. The Devil himself even pencils in biannual visits.
Apparently, paranormal occurrences date back to a mid-1800s slaying. A Kansas City Times article claims that a stable hand "[took out] the mayor to death in the cemetery’s old stone barn. Years later, the barn was converted into a church, which in turn was gutted by fire. A decaying wooden [cross] that still hangs from one wall is thought to sometimes turn upside-down when passersby step into the building at midnight..."
That's apparently what happens when you build a church on top of Satan's front door, though it should be noted that Stull never had an official mayor. Still, these rumors don't come out of thin air. They're mostly tied to a large tree and the property's mysterious church, which some people say they've seen smoldering. Hell certainly isn't short on fire.
According to the legend, the massive pine tree was used to exterminate condemned witches, including Satan's lover. This happened on the Spring Equinox (a culling of sorts). The tree remained a special spot for modern covens, which would visit the cemetery to pay respects to their fallen until the tree was torn out by caretakers in 1998.
The Church Is Rumored To Be One Of The World's Seven Gateways To Hell
Not only is Stull Cemetery America's most evil graveyard, but it's also Satan's front door. The church that lies on the property is thought to have become an actual portal to Hell - but it wasn't always evil. The church was built in 1867 and used for religious services, just like you'd expect. Unfortunately, attendance dwindled, and it was abandoned in 1922.
According to an anonymous letter written to Try To Scare Me, the gateway to Hell was created by local Satanists after it was abandoned.
“The church wasn’t always evil, but was overtaken by the Satanists who lived in nearby towns. They conjured up so much evil that they opened a portal to Hell. When the church still stood there were stairs located on the back wall near the right side. Most of the time, they were overgrown and hidden with thick grass. It took a bit of searching unless you knew where they were. These stairs were a direct gateway to hell and used by Lucifer to appear on Halloween night at midnight. If a person was to travel down these steps, even just a few, they would be trapped and forced to walk hours back up, trying to return from the pits of Hell.”
Allegedly, The Devil Appears Twice A Year To Visit His Witch Lover And Their Child
Before it was banned in 1988, hundreds of people would gather at Stull Cemetery to see the Devil rise from the depths of Hell. According to the legend, Satan returns to the cemetery twice a year (on Halloween and the Spring Equinox) to visit the witch who mothered his child. Unfortunately, Satan's kid only lived for a couple of days. He reportedly has a final resting place near his mama, and there have been reports of his werewolf-looking ghost walking around. All of this is a major headache to police: Satan, the ghost boy, and mostly, the people who show up and trash the place.
In 1988, almost 500 people gathered at the cemetery waiting for a no-show Devil. They caused so much damage to the property that officers have patrolled the grounds on Halloween ever since. If you're hoping to catch a glimpse on All Hallows' Eve, prepare to get slapped with a $1,000 fine and six months in the clink.
The Church Is In Topeka's 666 Zip Code, But That's Not The Only Thing That's Majorly Suspicious
It could be that a number of coincidences made Stull Cemetery the perfect storm for dark and devilish rumors, or the coincidences aren't coincidences at all. Either way, the property has a number of highly suspicious features. The old, burned-down church is in Topeka's 666 zip code - because, honestly, where else would Satan live? The road leading up to the cemetery was allegedly named Devil's Way until 1905. If we're to believe that Satan returns twice a year to visit his baby mama witch, then the nearby gravestone that reads "Wittich" (almost "witch") is a huge alarm.
Rain Won't Fall Inside The Church - It Is Always Bone Dry
Before it was bulldozed, the church at Stull Cemetery had been missing its roof since the 1920s. Because it had no roof, the entire inside of the church was subject to flooding when it rained - except strangely enough, it actually never flooded at all. It wasn't even wet.
According to urban legend, hundreds of witnesses said rain would not fall inside of the church. It would fall around the church and cemetery, but never inside. It was bone dry, even if it poured.
Ariana Grande Claims She Was Haunted After Visiting Stull Cemetery
Not every ghost story about Stull Cemetery is from an unnamed source. In fact, one of the world's biggest pop stars has seen the region's demons firsthand. Ariana Grande wound up visiting Stull Cemetery during a scheduled performance in Kansas City and spoke to Complex about the bizarre things that happened.
I felt this sick, overwhelming feeling of negativity over the whole car and we smelled sulfur, which is the sign of a demon, and there was a fly in the car randomly, which is another sign of a demon. I was like, 'This is scary, let’s leave.' I rolled down the window before we left and said, 'We apologize. We didn’t mean to disrupt your peace.' Then I took a picture and there are three super distinct faces in the picture - they’re faces of textbook demons.
Ariana didn't have the picture of proof because she deleted it after she tried to send it to her manager and got an error message saying "This file can't be sent, it's 666 megabytes." She had kept the image in a folder, but claimed weird and terrifying things kept happening to her. The weird things she described are frankly, pretty terrifying.
I was going to sleep about two weeks ago. I had just gotten off the phone and as soon as I closed my eyes I heard this really loud rumble right by my head. When I opened my eyes it stopped immediately, but when I closed my eyes it started again with whispers. Every time I closed my eyes I started seeing these really disturbing images with, like, red shapes. Then I opened my eyes and got back on the phone and was like, 'I’m really scared and I don’t want to go to bed tonight.' And then I scooched over to the left side of my bed, because that’s where the best service is in my room, and there was this massive black matter. I don’t know what it was... It was like a cloud of something black next to me.
Grande says she cried and watched it move in front of her bed before falling asleep on the phone. The next night, her friend Tyler spent the night and witnessed the same thing.
