Once a month I travel

 to the Chicago area for the Army Reserve. I was looking for something interesting to do on my off duty hours and decided to check out Bachelor Grove Cemetery. Bachelor Grove Cemetery is a small abandoned cemetery in the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve near Midlothian, Illinois. To get to the cemetery you have to walk down a closed off section of road that used to be the Midlothian Turnpike. Today, this roadway is nothing more than a narrow pathway that is overgrown on both side with trees and shrubs. The cemetery itself is surrounded by a chain link fence that has numerous holes cut into it to gain access. Starting in the 1960’s this area became a notorious place for teenagers to hang out and sometimes vandalize. Numerous gravestones have been moved and destroyed leaving multiple unmarked graves. Occultist used this area for their rituals, exhuming graves and strewing the bones around the cemetery and surrounding area. They would make animal sacrifices here, and this practice continues to this day.

There have been many paranormal sightings

 in and around this area. A scum-covered pond lies adjacent to the cemetery just outside the fence. In the late 1800’s, a farmer was plowing nearby when the horse became spooked and drug the plow and the farmer into the pond drowning both of them. A two headed creature has been reported to emerge from the pond and creep towards the cemetery. One of the more well known stories is that of the phantom farm house. This house has been spotted in both day and night time and in all weather conditions. Every person that has claimed to see this phantom farm house has given the same description of a two story white farm house with picket fence and porch swing. Upon approaching the house it appears to become smaller and smaller until it fades from sight.

Another common sighting

 is that of the “ghost lights.” These lights rapidly move from grave stone to grave stone and leave a red streak of light in its wake. Another sighting is that of a mother holding an infant walking aimlessly around. Legend claims that a mother was buried next to her infant and now roams the cemetery on nights with a full moon. Many people that visit the cemetery will visit this mother and child’s grave site and leave small trinkets, toys and photographs at this makeshift shrine. Along with the many apparitions that have been seen, numerous voices, screams and unexplained sounds have been heard.

After hearing the strange history

 and unexplained happenings that surround this cemetery, I decided to check it out for myself. It was a cold, moon lit January evening. I parked my car near the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve and located the pathway that leads to Bachelor Grove Cemetery. I violated the number one rule of ghost hunting… NEVER GO ALONE. I am a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I have served in “hostile fire zones” in three Middle Eastern countries. Not much scares me. I walked down the snow covered pathway noticing there were no other tracks in the snow but the ones I was leaving behind me. The moonlight cast long shadows down the pathway and it seemed to take an eternity to walk to the entrance of the cemetery.

As I approached the fence

 that surrounded the cemetery, I easily found a hole that had been cut in the fence that I could pass through. I was immediately struck by the disarray and overall eerie appearance of the area. Tombstones were turned over haphazardly, tree limb had fallen in the snow and were sticking out like skeletal hand reaching for me. I could tell from the freshly fallen snow that I had been the only person to visit the place recently. As I stepped further into the cemetery I could detect the distinct odor of rotting flesh and quickly located the source. My eyes easily located a blood splattered gravestone as it glistened in the moonlight and snow. On top of this gravestone were two dead chickens that appeared to have been ritualistically sacrificed.

At the moment I spotted the two dead animals

 I also heard voices behind me that seemed to be getting closer. Just as the voices seemed to be right behind me, I turned around and the voices faded away. At this point, I decided that this forebodingcemetery is not the place to be alone at night! I had seen and heard enough and made began to make a hasty retreat back to my car. I looked down at the pathway and noticed that the only tracks in the snow were the ones I had made upon walking in. No one else had been on the path. There is only one way in and one way out of the cemetery. Never again will I go to a haunted location alone.

This was taken from Legends and Lore of Illinois and is copyright by the articles owner