The Cemetery Where Hell Supposedly Opens on Halloween

October seems like the perfect month to visit a spooky little cemetery in Kansas.

Well, maybe not actually visit.

Especially on Halloween.

Stull Cemetery sits outside a tiny Kansas community and, at first glance, doesn’t look particularly terrifying. It’s an old country cemetery, the kind of place you could probably drive right past without giving it much thought.

But Stull has a reputation.

And according to legend, Halloween is exactly when you don’t want to be there.

The story says Stull is one of seven gateways to Hell and that twice a year, on the spring equinox and Halloween, the Devil himself can enter our world through a hidden passage somewhere on the grounds.

Because apparently even the Devil likes to get out for Halloween.

There used to be an old stone church beside the cemetery, built in 1867. By the time Stull’s creepy reputation really took off, the church had fallen into ruins. No roof. Broken windows. Just old limestone walls sitting beside a cemetery.

Honestly, that would’ve been creepy enough for me.

But then the stories started.

People claimed there was a hidden staircase near or beneath the church that led straight to Hell. Others swore that even though the church had no roof, rain wouldn’t fall inside it. There were stories about witches, strange voices, shadow figures, people losing track of time and something unseen grabbing visitors.

And then there’s the Devil’s child.

One version of the legend says a witch gave birth to Satan’s child and that the baby was buried somewhere in the cemetery. The Devil supposedly returns to Stull on Halloween to visit the grave.

Ummmmm…

But what makes Stull even more interesting to me is that nobody seems to have been talking about it as this horribly evil place until the 1970s.

In 1974, the University of Kansas student newspaper published a story about the Devil appearing at Stull twice a year. After that, the legend seemed to grow. More people came. More stories were told. And somewhere along the way, this little cemetery in Kansas became known as a supposed gateway to Hell.

There’s even a story that Pope John Paul II once had his plane rerouted so he wouldn’t have to fly over Stull.

That one appears to be just another part of the legend, but… it’s a good one.

The old stone church is gone now. It was torn down in the early 2000s after years of deterioration.

The cemetery, however, is still there.

And so is the story.

Maybe something strange really did happen at Stull.

Maybe a ghost story got repeated enough times that it became something much bigger.

Or maybe there are some places that are better left alone after dark.

Either way, if there really is a staircase somewhere in Kansas that leads directly to Hell, I can promise you one thing.

I’m not going down there to find out!

Happy Halloween and Happy Hauntings,

Niki Gregory 👻🎃