By Andrea Poole-Presslor
The Legend
If you arrive at the 100 Steps Cemetery, be prepared to witness your death! The legend goes, you have to count the steps up as you walk to the cemetery. After you reach the top, look to your right and the ghost of the original gravedigger will show you a vision of your death.
After the vision of your death is predicted, you must turn around and walk down the steps, counting as you go. When you reach the bottom, if you count the same amount of steps down (presumably 100) that you did up, the caretaker’s vision is correct. If the number of steps is different, then his vision is wrong (or vice versa, depending whose story you read). Legend also says he gets very angry if you try to skip walking down the steps and walk down the grassy hill instead. It is said the gravedigger will push you down the steep hill. Some even say a deep red hand print will appear on your back and stay… FOREVER!
TheHistory
I, unfortunately, wasn’t able to come up with a history of The Carpenter Cemetery (the actual name). I estimate it to have been started in the mid 1800s, with the oldest headstone I found being from 1869. I reached out to the Clay County Historian, but as of this date, the historian has failed to contact me. The only stories I can find are of the legend. The cemetery may have been put on the hill because it was scenic and safe from possible flooding. There could possibly have been a church there at some point, but I wasn’t able to come up with any proof.
My Investigation
My husband, our oldest daughter, and I drove to this cemetery west of Brazil, Indiana, just off Highway 40 on a country road. It was a nice drive, despite all the road construction. We were pretty excited to go to this cemetery after looking through photos online. The cemetery looked pretty creepy.
So, we were kind of disappointed when we got there and saw it has been repaired. Great for the cemetery, a damper for my article.
Getting over our major disappointment, we proceeded to each climb the steps, counting silently as we embarked on our ghost hunting mission. To add to our disappointment, there aren’t even 100 steps! Each of us counted only ninety-seven.
Upon reaching the top of the hill, I looked to my right, awaiting the gravedigger to show me my demise.
He wasn’t there. I thought maybe he’s an ambidextrous ghost, so I looked to my left.
No gravedigger, just my goofy husband trying out the walking down the hill scenario. (He didn’t get pushed.) If there is any truth to anyone falling down the hill, it’s probably because it is a very steep hill. Maybe they thought they were pushed, or instead of just laughing off their clumsiness, decided to come up with the gravedigger story.
We decided to wait a few minutes, thinking maybe the ghost was just being shy or maybe leery of three strangers walking into his cemetery. He never showed his face.
We explored the cemetery for a while, noticing how dilapidated many of the stones are. It is quite heartbreaking to see the crumbling headstones and even graffiti sprayed on a few graves.
After we wandered the grounds for a while, we each in turn walked down the steps counting as we went. All three of us counted the same amount coming down as we did going up. So, either this legend is bogus or we are immortal and there is no death to show us.
Conclusion
So, to wrap this article up, I don’t believe the cemetery to be haunted. It’s a quite normal thing to think of cemeteries as being haunted, especially older cemeteries with the broken stones, overgrowth of shrubbery and the often creepy locations.
There is some “evidence” of cemetery hauntings.
Until I see evidence myself, I say the 100 Steps Cemetery is just a fun legend. If you do happen to venture out to the cemetery to investigate for yourself, remember it is illegal to enter a cemetery after dusk and to always be respectful of the graves and nearby residents and their homes. It is a beautiful area and sad that so many of the tombstones are crumbling before our eyes.
A special thanks to my husband, Brandon, and our daughter for their help in my investigation!
I would love to read your thoughts or even personal experiences with the cemetery. Remember to be kind in your comments. Thanks!
Ghost is the Word 