On a quiet hilltop in the small town of Stull, Kansas, lies an unassuming cemetery. Weathered gravestones lean with age, weeds curl through rusted fences, and the ruins of a long-collapsed church once sat in the center like a broken crown. By day, it looks like any other rural graveyard. But at night, whispers claim something else stirs here — something unholy.
For more than a century, Stull Cemetery has carried a reputation that chills even the bravest visitors. Locals call it cursed. Paranormal investigators say it’s alive with sinister forces. And legends insist it hides one of the seven gateways to Hell.
This is Stull Cemetery — Kansas’s most infamous legend, where the Devil himself is said to walk.
Part Sixteen of Our Series
This is Part Sixteen in our series: The Scariest Urban Legend from Every State.
Last time, we uncovered Iowa’s Villisca Axe Murder House, where an entire family was slaughtered in their sleep, and restless spirits still haunt the halls. Now we journey into Kansas, to a lonely graveyard where people whisper that Hell itself touches Earth.
What Is Stull Cemetery?
Stull Cemetery sits outside the tiny town of Stull, about ten miles west of Lawrence, Kansas. On the surface, it’s a simple rural burial ground, with graves dating back to the mid-1800s. Many of those interred here were among the German and Pennsylvania Dutch settlers who founded the community.
Yet despite its ordinary beginnings, the cemetery has become world-famous — or infamous — for its terrifying reputation. The site was once home to a small stone church, which was abandoned in the early 20th century and subsequently left to decay. To outsiders, it was a ruin. To believers, it was a doorway.
The Origins of the Legend
The eerie reputation of Stull seems to trace back to the late 19th century, when rumors began circulating about witchcraft in the area. Some locals whispered that occult gatherings were held in the cemetery. Others claimed an unmarked grave held the body of the Devil’s own child, born of a witch and raised in secrecy until its death.
The legend truly caught fire in 1974, when the University Daily Kansan published an article about the Devil appearing at Stull twice a year: on Halloween and the spring equinox. According to the article, these appearances were tied to an underground staircase in the ruined church — a staircase that supposedly led directly to Hell.
From there, the legend grew uncontrollably. College students dared one another to sneak in. Paranormal seekers showed up in droves. And the quiet graveyard became a magnet for chaos.
The Gateway to Hell
At the center of the Stull legend is the belief that the cemetery hides one of the “Seven Gateways to Hell.”
Stories claim the ruined church was more than just a crumbling structure. Within its foundation lay a hidden stairwell. Those who stumbled upon it found themselves overwhelmed by darkness, pulled toward screams echoing from the depths of the abyss. Time warped strangely here: watches stopped, hours slipped by in moments, and visitors emerged shaken, claiming they had “lost time.”
When the church was demolished in 2002, officially for safety reasons, the demolition only deepened the mystery. Many insisted the church was destroyed to conceal evidence of the gateway. Others argued that no matter what stood above it, the portal itself could never be closed.
Paranormal Activity
Visitors to Stull Cemetery report an unsettling mix of phenomena:
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Phantom Noises – Disembodied voices, faint laughter, and footsteps on gravel when no one else is present.
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Time Distortions – Clocks and watches stopping or skipping forward without explanation.
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Apparitions – Shadowy figures in cloaks, strange animal-like shapes, and even a horned silhouette glimpsed against the night sky.
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Invisible Resistance – Some report being physically pushed back at the gates, as though an unseen force refuses to let them in.
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Atmospheric Changes – Sudden gusts of wind, storms that form directly overhead, and eerie silences where no insects or birds make a sound.
One particularly chilling story describes a professor who entered the ruins of the church with colleagues. When they emerged, they discovered several hours had passed, though to them it had felt like only minutes. Others claim to have been left with scratches on their skin or sudden, unexplained illnesses.
Eyewitness Accounts and Local Reaction
By the late 1970s and 1980s, Stull had become a legend that attracted hundreds of curious visitors, especially on Halloween. So many came that local authorities began patrolling the cemetery at night to prevent vandalism and trespassing.
Over the years, stories piled up:
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A student who claimed invisible hands shoved him down the hillside.
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A group of friends who heard chanting near the ruins but found no one there.
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A traveler who swore he saw the church walls “repel” him when he tried to step inside.
For locals, however, the notoriety was more of a nuisance than a mystery. Descendants of those buried in the cemetery expressed frustration at outsiders turning a sacred resting place into a sideshow. In 2002, when the church was demolished, it was widely believed that the action was taken as much to discourage intruders as for safety.
A Haunting That Became an Urban Legend
Unlike Iowa’s Villisca or Massachusetts’s Lizzie Borden House, Stull’s legend isn’t tied to a single violent event. Instead, its reputation grew from whispers, rumors, and a perfect storm of cultural fear.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Satanic panic swept America. Stull’s reputation as a site of witchcraft and devil worship fit the narrative perfectly. The cemetery became a canvas onto which fears of the occult were projected, magnified, and spread.
Today, Stull is a paradox: both an ordinary country cemetery and one of the most famous “gateways to Hell” in the world.
Stull in Popular Culture
The legend of Stull has stretched far beyond Kansas:
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Supernatural (2005–2020) – The hit TV series chose Stull Cemetery as the setting for its Season 5 finale, where Lucifer’s cage is opened. Although producers did not film on-site due to local resistance, the choice cemented Stull in pop culture.
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Music – Bands like Urge Overkill have referenced Stull in songs. Others have used it as inspiration for album art or lyrics about Hell and the occult.
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Literature and Media – Horror magazines, blogs, and paranormal anthologies repeatedly list Stull as one of the most haunted places in America.
Similar Legends Across the World
Stull Cemetery isn’t unique. Across cultures, tales persist of places where Hell seems closer than it should be.
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Houska Castle (Czech Republic) – Built to seal a bottomless pit, said to release winged creatures of darkness.
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Seven Gates of Hell (Pennsylvania, USA) – An asylum site said to have seven gates; anyone who passes through all seven is doomed to Hell.
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Aokigahara Forest (Japan) – Called the “Sea of Trees,” long associated with death and spirits that lure travelers astray.
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Mayan Cenotes (Mexico) – Sinkholes once considered portals to Xibalba, the Maya underworld.
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Pluto’s Gate (Turkey) – An ancient Greco-Roman temple at Hierapolis, believed to be an entrance to Hades.
All of these legends echo the same fear: that certain places are thin, fragile, and dangerous — where our world brushes against Hell itself.
Honorable Mention: The Sallie House
While Stull Cemetery reigns as Kansas’s scariest legend, another contender deserves mention: the Sallie House in Atchison.
From the outside, the house looks perfectly normal. But inside, visitors report violent poltergeist activity: objects moving, electronics malfunctioning, and scratches appearing on skin. Paranormal teams have captured chilling EVPs of a little girl’s voice — though many believe Sallie’s spirit is far darker than a child’s.
If Stull is Kansas’s portal to Hell, the Sallie House is its most haunted home.
How to Survive an Encounter
For those tempted to visit Stull Cemetery, it’s important to know the truth:
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It’s Private Property – The cemetery is still active, cared for by local families. Descendants of those buried there strongly discourage visitors.
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No Trespassing Allowed – Signs are posted clearly. Entering after hours is illegal.
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Police Patrols – The sheriff’s department regularly monitors the site, especially around Halloween. Trespassers can face fines up to $1,000 or even six months in jail.
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Daytime Access Only – At times, the gates may be open during daylight, but access after dark is forbidden.
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Respect the Dead – Remember this is not a tourist attraction. It’s a place of mourning and memory for families.
Those who seek to test the legend are far more likely to meet a deputy sheriff than the Devil.
Why We Still Tell the Story
Stull Cemetery endures in legend because it embodies primal fears: cursed ground, witchcraft, and the Devil himself. Its story grew in the fertile soil of rumor and panic, and even now, it resonates because:
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The cemetery is real, and you can see it with your own eyes.
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Its ruined church once stood as eerie proof of the tale.
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Its legend has been reinforced by pop culture, from Supernatural to horror media.
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The forbidden nature of the site only makes it more tempting.
Whether you see it as just a graveyard or as Hell’s front porch, Stull remains one of the most infamous haunted places in America.
Final Thoughts
Stull Cemetery is more than a graveyard. It’s a story about fear, faith, and the power of folklore to shape how we see the world. Some say it’s just superstition. Others swear the Devil himself still walks there.
This concludes Part Sixteen of our Scariest Urban Legend from Every State series. Next, we’ll continue to Kentucky, where bluegrass hills hide tales of witches, curses, and haunted caves.
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