HAUNTED MICHIGAN: The ‘Phantom Gateway’ & ‘Stairway To Hell’ of Lake Forest Cemetery
Here's a weird one that takes place at Lake Forest Cemetery in Grand Haven.
It seems that there are several people who have experienced this "phantom gateway" to Lake Forest Cemetery. They claim they use it once and it can never be found again.
But that ain't all...here are THREE tales of this notorious Michigan graveyard.....
1) THE PHANTOM GATEWAY
A dad and his two sons were bicycling through the cemetery one day in 1979. After pedaling through the cemetery roads, they decided to continue their trip elsewhere. he wasn't sure where the exit was and continued to search; he decided to follow along the boundary fence that he thought would surely lead to an exit. Eventually, they came to an unknown exit on Lake Avenue that they passed through. Days later, he went back with one of his sons, looking for that mysterious exit. According to the man, “I didn’t find the same entrance which we had exited on our bike trip, we didn’t find it. I went back myself several times searching every possible road, both within the cemetery and from without. There was no such entrance, or road, as we had used leaving the cemetery.” He says the nearest exit he could find was about a mile from where he and exited before. When he regaled his tale to buddies, they admitted that they, too, had similar experiences of passing through a "phantom gateway" that they could never find again, no matter how many times they went back to search.
2) THE STAIRWAY TO HELL
If you travel to the center of the cemetery, you'll see an old, partially-crumbling cement staircase that goes up the hill where the Grand Haven founding fathers are said to be buried. The eerie surroundings are enhanced by the secluded area it's in with old tombstones dating back to the 1800's. This leads us to the next tale...
3) THE BLUE MAN OF LAKE FOREST CEMETERY
"The Blue Man" is said to be the ghost of Reverend William M. Ferry, one of the town's founding fathers. He sits upon his tombstone and other nearby grave markers, watching over the cemetery in the form of a blue light. The "Blue Man" is a legend that has been around for many, many years.
Lake Forest Cemetery was established in 1872 and paranormal investigators claim there are ghosts a-plenty on hand.....actual apparitions and sometimes glowing lights have been seen emanating out of cracks in some of the tombstones.
As always, when you go ghost-hunting treat cemeteries with respect; don't vandalize or litter. It's located at 1304 Lake Avenue, Grand Haven.
If you decide you wanna visit after hours,
ALWAYS GET PERMISSION TO ENTER LOCKED CEMETERIES TO PROTECT YOURSELF. MANY SELF-CALLED “GHOSTHUNTERS” HAVE BEEN APPREHENDED THAT DID NOT GET PERMISSION.
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