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This post was moved from another blog. It’s from 2016 when I stayed in Murray Kentucky. If I remember correctly I was riding around when I found it. I might have searched for it but I think I just found it by accident. I only vaguely remember creating a video but I obviously must have deleted it. I might have run out of room. I was using my old Samsung phone which only had 32GB of space.

I was planning on visiting a cemetery in Yuma, Tennessee today but it started to get a little late with me searching on how exactly to get to this cemetery so I started searching for places in Murray and ran across Old Salem Road Cemetery and decided to go have a visit after reading some really wild stories online. I also made a video which I will upload to YouTube later. 

First, I want to say this church isn’t abandoned as someone posted online. While I was there a meter reader came and read the electric usage. It may have been empty at some point but since the name is the same I highly doubt it but I could be wrong. It’s fairly close to a house next door and there is a dirt road right next to the church that a truck came and went several times and someone pulled out from the road too so there are neighbors. And you can bet if someone is there plundering around after dark they would probably call the police although the people living on the dirt road wouldn’t be able to see someone parked at the church nor can the people at the house see if someone is parked if the car is pulled up far enough. This is just a warning so if you decide to go you will know to leave if someone comes out from the dirt road and be prepared to explain yourself. Or worse explain to law enforcement.

There are some wild stories online about people experiencing odd anomalies during the day not just at night. People seeing shadows and apparitions during the day. And experiencing odd things inside the church. You cannot access the inside of the church.

There are stories of witchcraft and devil worship in the cemetery although I have my doubts on this one being so close to a neighbor and the lady that lives there came home while I was there.

It is said the man who painted the sign next to the entrance to the cemetery died the day after completing it. The man who wrote one article says the graves next to the church belong to a witches coven.

So I decided to do a little research and look up the names on a couple of the graves. I didn’t photograph every grave only a couple but I looked up the ones I did take pictures of and I may go back and get the names on some of the other graves just for my own curiosity. First off, let me dispel the myth that these graves belong to witches or warlocks. One woman buried there is Roxann Miller Downey and she was employed at Murray State University for 24 years and was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church so I highly doubt she was dabbling in witchcraft. 

The person that wrote this obviously did not get his facts straight which calls into question everything he wrote and why?

The community/recreation building he says was there is not there any longer but there is a foundation of where a building once stood.

The man who wrote this obviously bogus post wrote it back in 2004 and calls himself Orlock and had a couple of websites that are now defunct. He has a couple that I can’t say if they are active but are still on the internet at subdomains. He considers himself a paranormal investigator and his name is Adam Carlton. So why did I give all this information that has nothing to do with the cemetery in question? Because, if you are going to write something about those buried in a cemetery make sure you get all the facts straight before putting it out there for all to see. Plus, if he’s an investigator, this is highly unprofessional.

I didn’t experience anything abnormal while at the cemetery. I didn’t really feel anything and I certainly didn’t see anything. It did feel a little creepy at the entrance but don’t most cemeteries feel eerie?

It’s a beautiful graveyard and I got some nice photos. But I highly doubt it’s haunted. I wasn’t there at night and that may make a difference. I didn’t find much information about this place and no stories other than this one so I don’t know why this Orlock aka Adam Carlton made this story up other than to try and give credence to his fumbling websites which appear to be all defunct or gone now. His job as webmaster and paranormal investigator doesn’t appear that it lasted very long. At least I can’t find it.

Here’s his post, I only include it here because it’s written on a forum that can go away or be deleted at any time.

“The Old Salem Cemetery is just outside Murray in Calloway County, KY. It is reputed to be very haunted. There is a sign by the road there that says this: “As you are, I once was. As I am now, you soon shall be. So pray today.” The man that painted this sign for the cemetery died the night after completing it. I’ve heard of very strange things going on there and across the road there are 13 graves of what once was a witches’ coven.

My friend Jonalex and I went out there. Our trip to the site started out fun enough. Then along the way on Hwy. 121 we got behind really slow traffic. At the top of a hill there was a dog that had JUST been run over by a car it’s legs were all twitching and it’s mouth was opening and closing, it looked like it was trying to get up, but it was really quite messed up so it wasn’t gonna’ make it regardless. There being traffic still coming both ways, we couldn’t stop and move the poor animal out of the road. About twenty yards or so from the dog there was a white baseball cap lying in the center of the road. I told Jonalex that if we saw a hearse on the way out there that would be our third strike and we’d ditch the scouting for today, we laughed and continued on.

We got pretty far out into Calloway county and thought we should stop and ask for directions. I went into a gas station and asked and found we had went a little past Old Salem Cemetery. Down a back road we went, around Hwy. 94 which we had just gotten off of. As we traveled down this first road, we immediately came upon a SHARP curve. Right in this curve was this extremely eerie house. John came to a stop in this curve and the back of my head felt like someone had hit me with a board made of Jell-O, if that makes any sense, then it got all numb. We went back later and got some pics of the creepy house, but so far, I have seen no anomalies in the photos of the house.

Another turn down past a university funded golf course and onto “Something” (Hayes?) School road (sorry forgot the name) we turned. We turn off of that road onto another road and the church and cemetery are in full view.

I started taking pictures as soon as we got there. There were the thirteen graves, not counting a new one that was more off to the side of the thirteen and adorned with flowers under an arch of some sort. One of the thirteen graves headstone was partially buried and barely visible. Some were marked only with simple stones. Next to the thirteen was what appeared to be an old church recreation center or community building, possibly even the remains of the old church.

We went into the old building and got some pics of the torn walls, the old heater/stove (at this point my testicles, strangely enough, started hurting like I was being kicked). Then we went outside around the back of the building, took some pictures of some “hot spots” and then went back around to the side and into the front of the old building.

There was one room we couldn’t get to from the back portion we were in that we had access to now. It, I dunno, felt really strange so I took a picture inside the dark room. Many of the pictures I take when doing this, I don’t look at the view finder, as I find it best not to aim at anything in particular, but kind of just point and click where I get the feeling I should. As I did, Jonalex saw something white move across my view finder in the dark room, but it DID NOT show up in the pic I took. What it was we don’t know. At this point I started hearing voices, like a whole bunch of people chattering all at once. John didn’t hear them, he was too busy freaking out over the movement of whatever it was I think, but he saw and I heard at almost exactly the same time, because we were both trying to tell the other of what we were experiencing.

After that little bit of fun, we went across the street to the actual Old Salem Cemetery. As we crossed the street I looked down the road and saw a big black dog. It looked like it could have been a huge Chow or something. I got a picture of it, but again nothing strange.

I started taking pictures as soon as we got over there. Many of the graves were dated from the 1800’s to the early 1900’s. The most recent interment I saw was from 1994 and it seemed it was a rarity. There were several Masonic graves which I found interesting and it seemed most if not all of the grave-top and mounted vases were broken off and missing.

We were able to make out four possibly five distinct smells in this rather small area. One was quite a pungent perfumed/flowery smell and melded into the middle of this not two feet to the left and extending outward about ten feet was a dead, horrid, rot, nasty smell.

We went our separate ways and continued to look around. I had walked back along the back side of the cemetery and went back through the nasty smell, the perfume smell, then like just an outside smell. Then, strange enough, I came upon, I kid you not, a garlic bread smell. It was only around this one grave’s area, and was not just garlic, but cooked, buttered, parmesan’ed, garlic bread. Weird eh?

Only one of my pics so far, and I haven’t thoroughly searched them all, seems to have what would be orb or spirit activity, although, every time I look at the pic of the oven/heater whatever my nuts hurt. Can’t figure that one out. I know, it’s stupid but hey, it’s the truth.

I took many pictures throughout the cemetery and we are planning to go back for a night visit tomorrow night.

We were supposed to be conducting a full on investigation last night, but crappy enough, my friend Jonalex got sick after our first trip out. He was feeling awful yesterday when I talked to him and I hope he gets to feeling better. We are planning on our trip sometime in the next week or so.

Here’s some pics from our trip:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/orlockbj/album?.dir=/0fb1 Edited September 29, 2004 by Orlock” Reference: Unexplained Mysteries here: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/topic/23195-old-salem-cemetery-calloway-county-kentucky/

Here’s his second post and the link to his pictures don’t work.

“I added a few more pics and fixed the pic link above. You all should be able to view my photos now.

Okay, the night of our intended investigation was Sunday, a church night, so we needed to wait until the church had cleared out so as not to bother anyone coming from the service. One of the most important things when doing this is to respect others property and wishes, try to cause as little concern and uproar as possible, or it’ll just make it harder on you and everyone else in the long run.

After we thought all had gone home, my friend Richard and I went out to get a few pics and leave. Jonalex was sick and Richard just wanted to see the place so he offered to take me out there this time.

When we got there, again, idiot that I am, I had left my flashlight at home. In the near dark with NO moonlight and only my camera, I ventured around the old building trying to concentrate on “The 13” tonight figuring that would be most wise considering the pitch black of the cemetery was being nowhere near inviting.

I took some pics of the old building itself, some pics of The 13, some individual pics of graves, and had turned to take another pic inside a doorway of the old building when we heard a very loud strange noise. It sounded, well at the time it sounded like a huge, um, well, for lack of a better term, outbreak of flatulence…lol…I realize that sounds cheezy but it startled us there in the dark, quiet, presence of the cemetery. Upon reflection, it, Richard and I agreed, sounded like when wood rubs against wood abruptly and VERY hard. Like if you jerked a wooden chair on a wood floor quickly with someone sitting in it.

Anyway, when that sound happened, I turned toward it and snapped what I have called the Black Photo. There was nothing there, until I adjusted the contrast of the picture which brought out more detail. It looks like someone standing, side profile, leaning against something with their arms crossed on their chest. Could the sound we heard have been coming from the shift in material when WHATEVER leaned against it? I dunno, but there was NO ONE ELSE out there but us (living that is) so Richard, having never been out there before and with total lack of flashlight, decided it was time for us to go. I wasn’t about to stand out there by myself so I agreed.

We’ll be going back out as soon as Jonalex feels up to it!”

His third comment.

Check out my album for new pics.

As a side note, in case any of you were wondering, all I am doing to “enhance” these photos is dropping the color on occasion and heightening the contrast so things are more visible. In all cases before presentation of the enhanced version of a photo, I have also posted the regular version. I am also marking some things in red, which are being pointed out, but will always include an unmarked version of the picture in question. I am not manipulating the images in any other way.

Another note from our night trip…Richard DID borrow a night vision camera from a friend that we used out there, it filmed for about 15 seconds then the tape goes all fuzzy. It was a new tape that I opened on the way out there.

I posted some new pics from our trip out tonight. I got several possible manifestations in the forms of orbs and a possible partial manifestation of a “misty” human(?) forehead and eyes.

Nothing really big happened and the place, pardon the pun, felt “dead”. Almost as if something had been resolved. Although, many of my pics showed a lot of possible activity, including one where we had sat down and tried to do some EVP.

In between these two trees we had sat down cross-legged and started trying to communicate but seemingly got nothing. Afterward, I took a picture, and down next to the ground close to where my brother was sitting there was a fairly large, clear orb. I shined my flashlight IMMEDIATELY after taking this pic on the spot where it showed up because I saw it in the view finder after I took the pic (my camera is one of those digital cameras that shows the picture on a little screen right after you take it, so you can scan through them and check them out, deleting the ones you don’t want or whatever).

The only place we got a bad feeling at all was around the back, sides, and inside of the old messed up church/rec center. Well, that and one more place in the cemetery itself. Nathan and I both got a huge horrid feeling at the same time and it seemed to center around this one tree that had been struck by lightening long ago and this one old grave. My left leg started to feel weak as if I had hurt it badly or had ran very far, very fast, very quickly. Nathan started to feel like he needed to vomit. I took a picture of the grave and the immediately surrounding area, and that’s where the possible manifestation of the misty face/forehead thing showed up.

Also, the Black Photo from before…when I took it it showed nothing until I enhanced it then it showed the leaning thing. If you’ll notice in the enhancement, there are two (green)lines running horizontally meeting at the leaning apparition (one stepping down a bit from the other). I figured out what the lines are, they are the EXACT roof line of the church and the awning at the front door. I took three or four new pics of this area trying to reproduce the same photo with the leaning thing as I had before. The lines show up upon enhancement but the leaning thing does not…it’s just a blank area where they step down.

In comparable size though, if it was a manifestation of a male spirit leaning against the church, it would had to have been more than 10 feet tall.”

His next comment is about another cemetery and I’ll probably research it just for the heck of it. I spent two months here and really liked it.

I didn’t find any other posts, articles or websites talking about this cemetery other than genealogy websites so I don’t know where this story about it being haunted comes from other than someone trying to get traffic to his website if he has one or just writing fictional stories. I’m not sure but I don’t believe it’s haunted. I’m not saying it’s not but there is no other information online about it.

This post contains affiliate links and I may make a small commission from it at no cost to the reader.

And here are links to a couple of other interesting books. Haunted Cemeteries of Indiana and The Cemetery Road Murders in Kentucky.

Related posts: Haunted Stull Cemetery in Kansas-Van Life 2016 and Haunted Round Mound Cemetery Cummings Kansas-Van Life 2016