Great Hill Cemetery

Great Hill Cemetery is an old cemetery in Seymour, Connecticut which dates back to the 1700s, and is still in use today. It is located in a section of woods known as Great Hill. The cemetery is also well-known to locals as Hookman's Cemetery, due to a local urban legend associated with it.

Legends of Hauntings and the Hookman

The cemetery is believed by many to be haunted. Photographs taken at the cemetery have revealed ectoplasmic mist and other strange phenomenon associated with psychic photography. An urban legend associated with the cemetery claims that it is haunted by a spirit known as the Hookman. There are three different versions of the Hookman legend. They are as follows:

*The cemetery caretaker (who had a hook in place of a hand) murdered a young boy when he stayed in the cemetery after dark. The boy was found impaled and dangling from a large hook attached to a tree the next day.
*A man with the last name "Hookman" was wrongfully accused of a crime and hanged from a tree at the site.
*A young couple parked by the cemetery one night. When the girl thought she heard something outside, the boyfriend got out of the car to investigate. When he didn't come back, the girlfriend got out of the car only to find her boyfriend's dead body hanging from a hook in the trees.

All three versions of the story have been circulating in the area since the 1950s. There is also a local myth about a house that once stood near the cemetery. Supposedly there was a family who lived in the house, and the young son murdered the whole family and then himself.

Records at the Derby Historical Society show that a small caretaker's house once existed on the grounds of the cemetery; this may have inspired some of the legends. [ [http://derbyhistorical.org/ Derby Historical Society] . 37 Elm Street, Ansonia, CT] The third version of the story is probably just another version of the classic Hookman legend that originated in Maine in the 1920s. Regardless of whether the legends are true or not, Connecticut demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren believe that the cemetery is filled with demonic evil. [Grim Hauntings Or Skeptics Truth. "Great Hill Cemetery", "Creepy Connecticut". April 18th, 2006]

ee also

* Ed and Lorraine Warren
* Ghost
* Ectoplasm (paranormal)
* Urban legend
* The Hook

References

Links

* [http://drazor1.tripod.com/id54.html Great Hill Cemetery at Creepy Connecticut]
* [http://www.geocities.com/dviper1978/investigation03.html Great Hill Cemetery at Paranormal and Supernatural Investigations]
* [http://www.oxfordpast.net/ghalph.html Great Hill Cemetery at Oxford Past]
* [http://ghostwatcherz.com/hookmans.php Hookman's Cemetery at Ghostwatcherz.com]
* [http://geocities.com/hauntedCT/hookman.htm Hookman's Cemetery at Haunted Connecticut]