If you’re ever passing through Kansas City and are up for a potentially frightening detour, you might be interested in driving just seven miles of Lawrence, Kansas to the tiny town of Stull, Kansas. The area around Stull was settled by German immigrants and, in the mid-1800s, the people built a church and cemetery, making those the centerpiece of what would become the unincorporated town of Stull.
Despite its potential, Stull never grew beyond fifty people and is all but abandoned today. Some say the town was just a victim of the times—as Americans flocked to suburbia after World War II, towns like Stull had nothing to offer.
But there are those who believe something more sinister was behind Stull’s demise.
A couple of tragic deaths in Stull left a major impression in the minds of people in that area. First, there was a boy who was burned to death when his father set a fire to his land to clear away some brush. The other involved the mysterious death of a young man who had gone missing. He was found a few days later hanging from a tree: some say he committed suicide, while others believe he was murdered.
Then there was the town church and cemetery, which people began calling “one of the seven gateways into Hell” in the 1970s.
The origins of the legend are unclear. The first documented mention of the haunted church and cemetery appeared in a 1974 issue of the University of Kansas’ student newspaper, The University Daily Kansan. Some of the details of the legend were outlined in that article. For example, on both Halloween and the Spring Equinox, a set of otherwise hidden steps appears near the church that leads to the deepest bowels of Hell!
There is no evidence that such a legend existed before the article was published, which would make sense because the church had already been closed for some time. And there had yet to be any tales of supernatural occurrences associated with the church or cemetery.
But 1974 was just on the heels of the counterculture movement, which included a plethora of New Age religious groups and more than a few cults.
By the early 1970s, self-appointed psychics, ghost hunters, and self-proclaimed Satanists began visiting the town on a regular basis. This led to the Daily Kansan article, which consequently popularized the story. By the late 1970s, Stull had become a popular destination for local high school and college kids looking for a little excitement. The cemetery became littered with beer cans, some of the tombstones were vandalized, and the church was regularly used as a party pad.
As all of this was happening, strange events continued: chilling sounds were heard, scary apparitions were seen, and many reported having car problems near the church and cemetery.
It all became too much for the Douglas County officials, who had the church demolished in 2002 and now regularly patrol the cemetery, especially on Halloween and the Spring Equinox.
Despite all of the strange occurrences associated with Stull, there are no confirmed reports that anyone ever took the steps into Hell. At least if someone did (and they survived the journey), they never said anything about it.