S CREEPY LEGENDS BRING CURIOUS TO STULL / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, October 26, 1999

October 26, 1999

As Halloween approaches the sheriff's office has begun keeping a closer watch on Stull Cemetery. And prosecutors say "beware."

A full week before Halloween, Douglas County Sheriff's officers were already chasing away people trying to get into Stull Cemetery.

The graveyard in the small settlement 10 miles west of Lawrence has been the subject of Halloween legends for at least 25 years. And that has made it a magnet for vandals and trespassers.

In recent years, the town has put up a fence at the graveyard with "no trespassing" signs to try and keep people out.

And sheriff's officers have been on the lookout for troublemakers.

Patrol officers the last several days have been routinely reporting on duty logs that they've shooed away potential trespassers, said Lt. Don Crowe, patrol supervisor.

"It's mostly a weekend party thing," Crowe said.

Sheriff's officers will be at the cemetery during the Halloween weekend to prevent people from entering, Crowe said.

Sheriff's Department Lt. Ken McGovern said it is not unusual for people to try to enter the cemetery "every night of the year."

But Halloween seems to add to the attraction.

Those caught might face criminal trespass charges, McGovern said.

Douglas County Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney Tonkovich said her office does and will prosecutes those caught entering the cemetery grounds illegally.

"Since the time I've been in this office, there's been a lot of damage, extensive damage over the last 10 years," Tonkovich said. "You really have to keep people out of there. Some of the headstones are so old."

She said in the past damage to headstones has been estimated at $10,000 to $25,000.

The cemetery in Stull is the subject of at least three internet Web sites.

Legend holds that the cemetery is a "gateway to hell," one of few places the devil appears on earth. The story is that Lucifer comes there during the vernal equinox and at Halloween.

But the Web sites concede that most of those visiting the cemetery and reporting strange occurrences and episodes of lost time brought spirits with them....in brown bottles from which the visitors or trespassers drank.

-- Erwin Seba's phone message number is 832-7145. His e-mail address is eseba@ljworld.com.

GET IN THE SPIRIT

ON THE WEB

These Web sites offer different legends surrounding Stull Cemetery west of Lawrence:

www.geocities.com/Baja/

Outback/2960

www.theshadowlands.net/

places/kansas.htm

www.hauntedks.stull.com/

stullks2.htm

Information on Halloween activities in Lawrence can be found by visiting the Journal-World's Web site at www.ljworld.com. Just click on Halloween Haven for information on events, trick-or-treating times, carving tips and related stories.