| WILLIAM GANONG (aka BUTLER CEMETERY) 3036 Henry Ruff Road Westland, MI (Nankin County) The cemetery was donated by a local farmer in 1832 from a portion of his property to be used for burials. Said to be one of the most haunted places in Michigan, it is now closed for burials but not before 350 people were buried there, notably 17 of the Ganong family along with several WWI and II veterans. It is now completely overgrown, its front gate rusty and covered with vines. In addition to the sound of voices and chains rattling emanating from the cemetery, there are two spirits said to haunt this area, a woman in white who is seen both in the cemetery as well as crossing Henry Ruff Road (causing a high number of minor accidents along this stretch of road) as well as a man in uniform but, when approached, they disappear in front of your eyes! If local legends hold true, the hauntings began with renovation to the cemetery in which some graves were moved. This has also been a site for some form of ritualistic activity as reported by the Detroit News in 2000 after a kettle with bones, feathers and charms was found as well as pentagrams painted on tombstones. |
| ADA CEMETERY 2 Mile Road (between Egypt Valley and Honey Creek) Grand Rapids MI (Kent County) It is said that this cemetery is haunted by a woman whose husband followed her late one night and caught her cheating with another man. He killed her then and there, which brought about a struggle between the two men in which both men died. Some people report that the woman has been seen roaming this area, dressed in a long white flowing gown, searching for her lover. Other reports claim the entire reenactment of that horrible night has been seen and still others report hearing the horrible screams of the husband’s rage followed by screams of agony. This cemetery is also home to the Ada Witch, aka Sarah, a woman in her 20s with long dark hair, wearing a long white gown circa early 1900s. She wanders along the road but when drivers stop to help her, she disappears. She has also appeared to hunters in the thick forest of this area, tapping them on the shoulder or running through the thick briars where she cannot be followed. |
| OAK HILL CEMETERY 255 South Avenue Battle Creek, MI (Calhoun County) This cemetery houses the now infamous Crying Mary statue. The story has been circulating since the 1940s and has been told and retold so many times that some of the facts have been changed. The statue itself is supposedly of a Greek goddess, not the Virgin Mary (see picture), and it stands over the grave of Johannes Decker (although some stories have the name as Joanna Decker), whose death seems somewhat shrouded in mystery; many stories have circulated from suicide to murder. It is said that every night at midnight (or every Sunday night at midnight, depending on who you ask), the statue weeps real tears. This is a very historic graveyard with many of Battle Creek’s notables located here amidst the 28,000 buried here. Among the more historical, James and Ellen White (cofounders of the Seventh Day Adventists), the Kellogg brothers, CW Post (cereal anyone?) and Sojourner Truth (abolitionist and equal rights advocate) to name a few. |
| REYNOLDS CEMETERY Jackson, MI (Jackson County; tks to Deb for the info!) With graves dating as far back as the early 1830s, this cemetery certainly is old enough to have gathered many spirits within its gates. On November 21, 1883, Eunice White and Jacob Crouch, father and daughter, were killed, part of a mass murder spree that also involved Eunice's unborn child, her husband and a visitor to the household, Moses Polley. They were all shot to death in their beds. Two months later, Jacob Crouch's other daughter, Susan Halcomb was found naked and dead in her bedroom, having been force fed poison, as well as James Fay, a ranch hand that had worked for Jacob Crouch, was found dead shortly after. These murders were never solved. Jacob Crouch was buried at Reynolds Cemetery while Eunice and her husband were buried at St Johns Cemetery in Jackson. Ghost enthusiasts from all over Michigan gather each year to see the ghosts of Jacob and Eunice for it is said that every year between sunset on November 21 and sunrise November 22, Eunice's spirit arises from her grave and travels to where her father is buried, where their spirits reunite. This is documented by two ghost researchers who, in 1989, claim they saw a foggy mist arise from near Eunice's grave, float across to where Jacob's grave is, then vanish into thin air! |
| FOREST HILLS CEMETERY Evart MI Many a researcher has tried to uncover why there are tombstones in this cemetery that glow, reported in an article in the Evart Review in 1933, although local tales were told of this phenomena since long before. In 1998, a reporter from this same newspaper spent weeks researching the tombstones, which are obvious and easy to see, trying to uncover the mystery but could not come up with a logical reason for this phenomena. As the legend goes, the lights are supposedly from a time long past when the local railroad was undergoing construction in the 1880s. A man named Guido Bandura, a cook for the railroad, would light lanterns between town and the cooks shanty so that the men, when returning from town in the evenings, could find their way back. One night, his son Marco was in a brawl and was thrown into the Muskegon River. Guido dove in after his son but neither man was ever seen again. According to the legend, the phosphorescent glowing tombstones are actually Guido's lantern lights, still lighting the way for his men to return. |
| BLOOD CEMETERY Round Lake Road Dewitt MI (Victor Township) Supposedly this cemetery was a private cemetery for the Blood family but then became a public burial ground. It is overgrown now and many of the gravestones are overturned, broken or missing. The iron gates are rusted and falling down. |
| ANDERSON CEMETERY Decatur MI (VanBuren County) On September 28, 1879, a man who has never been identified crept up to the backwoods home of the affluent Morris family and murdered Henry Morris and his pregnant wife Esther while the maid slept upstairs, then stole one of their many horses and disappeared into the night. The Morris' were buried in Anderson Cemetery. It has apparently been witnessed that, on the night of Sept 28, the filmy apparitions of Henry and Esther Morris are spotted standing next to their pillar headstone, the only one like it in the cemetery. It is also said that the headstone itself glows on this same night. |
| HAWKS HEAD CEMETERY 107th Street Glen MI Al Capone's mistress, Flora, is said to be buried here. There are a couple of apparitions said to be seen roaming about the grounds here including a transparent woman in a long white dress who appears amid the sound of chimes. There have also been reports from people driving by the cemetery at night and seeing a dim, red light that appears near the middle of the three driveways leading into the cemetery. |
| JUDDVILLE CEMETERY New Lothrop MI There are some very creepy stories about this cemetery! Among them are: the sound of horrible screaming heard from the back of the cemetery; figures that look like KKK clansmen are also seen high in the trees, their white robes billowing from the branches; strange lights appear in the woods at the back of the cemetery to which no explanation has been found. There have also been reports of a figure with red eyes and swinging arms that runs after you if you try to enter the cemetery. |
| MAPLE HILL CEMETERY Hartford, MI While information regarding this site is scarce, there is a prevalent theme among relates stories regarding a very large, hairy creature that lives at the back of the cemetery in the woods with glowing green or silver eyes. It is said that this very creature has chased more than one mischievous teenager out of the cemetery in the middle of the night!! |
| NUNICA CEMETERY Cleveland Street Nunica, MI This very small cemetery is a popular ghost hunt site because of the many phenomena that are reported to happen there. Supposedly, there is a spirit named "Mr Bond" (known from previous psychic contact) who is seen walking the grounds. Many black shadows are spotted hiding behind tombstones and, when pictures are taken around the shed, many orbs and mists appears in the photos. |
| OLD STATE CEMETERY Grand Blanc, MI Not a lot of history can be found on this cemetery but there are a number of occurrences that have been rumored to happen here including people levitating, shadowy figures, voices, sudden unexplained cold winds, people being touched by invisible hands as well as being held in one spot, unable to move and a bouquet of flowers that supposedly follows you around as you walk the grounds. |
| REDFORD (BELL BRANCH) CEMETERY Telegraph Road Redford, MI The historical writings of how and when this land became a cemetery differ. One record states that in 1818, Israel Bell founded a small settlement along the river here and, in 1831, he gave an acre of his land to the village for a cemetery. Another indicates the land was deeded by the government from Nathanial Armstrong in 1837, although these records also indicate there were burials on the land before that date. Nevertheless, it is a small, quaint little cemetery with a wrought iron fence around it that is still being used for burials to this day. Although small, there is quite a span in years with burials of many war veterans ranging from the war in 1812 to the civil war to WWI, although the earliest burial seems to have been around 1831.. There is at least one ghost that roams its grounds. As the legend goes, you walk into the cemetery and turn left, stopping at "Gardener's Grave." Soon, the stench of death is said to surround you and over the hill to your left you will see his ghost coming toward you, then it just vanishes! |
| FARMINGTON CEMETERY Grand River Farmington Hills MI It is said that when leaving the cemetery, on the hill where the West gate is, if you put your car in neutral, your car will be pushed through the gate by invisible hands until you are out of the cemetery. |
| FORESTER CEMETERY Forester, MI Strange phenomena has been reported many times: every Wednesday and Thursday at midnight, the ghosts of young boys are seen running around the gravestones. It is believed that these boys are the spirits of some local children who died in a fire. |
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