Zachery Knowles - True Ghost Stories: Real Haunted Cemeteries and Graveyards

Location : Midlothian, Bremen Township, Cook County, Illinois

The Bachelors Grove Cemetery on the outskirts of Chicago is one of the areas most haunted locations. What was once a peaceful cemetery that doubled as a picnic and swimming area for families took a dark turn. Sightings began to occur after teenagers used it as a nightly hangout with activities progressing from romance to vandalism and occult practices.

Tombstones were wrecked, turned over, moved, and stolen; graves were dug up and the coffins desecrated. Remains of animal sacrifices were discovered and the spirits, it seems, awakened after a long, quiet slumber.

In the 1970s, two forest rangers were keeping an eye on a spooky old cemetery known for being vandalized when driving by the stagnated pond at the edge of the cemetery, they saw something unforgettable.

Out of the pond, a powerful farm horse emerged, straining to lift something with it from the murky depths of the pond. Suddenly, a plow and an old man dressed in a worn pair of overalls and long-sleeved shirt come out from within the pond. The man is holding tightly to the horses reins and seems oblivious to everything around him; however, it is obvious to the rangers the man, horse, and plow arent real in the sense of physically being there, yet they are there. Silently, the horse and farmer pull the plow into the forest that borders the cemetery. The rangers were stunned and perplexed as they had both witnessed a ghost sighting.

This particular sighting is not uncommon around Bachelors Grove. It seems a farmer in the 1870s was plowing a field nearby when something spooked his horse, causing the horse to take off running with the plow and farmer still behind him. The farmer couldnt stop the horse as it dashed into the pond (which was rumored to be quite pretty and not at all stagnant at the time).

As the horse began to sink under the weight of the plow, the farmer went in with him, tangled up in the reins and unable to free himself in time. He and the horse both perished in the pond. Based on the sightings, it seems he still isnt finished with his work. Some say if you call out to him, he and the horse (and the plow!) slowly disappear from sight.

The pond has its own dark history, as it was used as a dumping ground for mob hits in the 1920s and 1930s. Not only have numerous bodies been found in the pond, but weapons, too. Possibly connected to this outbreak of violence is the regular sighting of a hunchbacked man emerging from the stagnant depths of the pond late at night. Others have heard the sounds of heated arguments coming from the direction of the pond, but when they arrive at the location of the voices, no one is around.

One of the most puzzling apparitions appearing at Bachelors Grove cemetery is neither a person nor an animal, but rather a mysterious house. Multiple people have reported seeing an attractive, old-fashioned, two-story white frame farmhouse complete with a porch and a porch swing. From one of the windows can be seen the inviting glow of a lamp. However, the closer one gets to the house, the smaller it gets until it disappears from sight altogether.