Hi, I'm somewhat new to this list, and I thought I'd break lurk-mode to see what (if anything) you've heard about a graveyard in Massachusetts called "Spider Gates".

This is a private family-owned graveyard that has quite a wicked reputation amongst the locals, and about a million stories concerning the place. .

Let me describe the place as I know it; It's VERY old, some graves dating back to the 1600's (I think). It got it's name, supposedly, because the metal gates that it used to have were a spider pattern. These gates are no longer there, replaced by somewhat ordinary ones instead. No one seems to know the official name for the place.

It's relatively small, as far as graveyards go, but the area extends beyond just simple graves. A trail leads from the graveyard down a hill and to an eerie brook/stream that flows into a swamp.

Several of the stories and interesting tidbits about the place:

In the center of the graveyard, on a slight hump of earth and grass, there are no graves. But there are four marker stones forming a square formation. Some people call this "The altar". By one of these markers is a big, creepy looking tree, and people say that a few years back a teenager hung himself from that tree. I've seen a cut rope hanging from that tree before, but that doesn't necessarily mean that this actually happened . . . altho a lot of people swear it's true.

At a far corner of the actual graveyard part, there is a strip of land (about 10 feet long and 6 inches wide) where little to no grass grows. It's been like that for years, and no one seems to know why. I've been told that efforts have been made in the past to plant grass there, but failed. When I've been there, I've stepped over this strip and got tingly sensations...

On parallel sides of the graveyard are little stone walls. On the left hand side, over the stone wall, there is a little clearing of sorts where there are several markers (about 4 foot high rock posts) with holes drilled into them. Three of them are knocked over, and there are several rocks here. A friend and I turned over one of these rocks to discover some rune-like symbols carved underneath.

Rumors are always going around that there is a second smaller graveyard in the area, and those who claim to have seen it have never been able to spot it a second time. Keep in mind that Spider Gates is plop down in the middle of the woods, about a 10 minute walk from the road.

Nearby the graveyard, outside of the main gate, is a small dirt road that supposedly leads up to an abandoned house (I've never had the nerve to walk up that road, so I can't testify to that claim), and many of the stories I hear surround the yard of this house. The lawn is overgrown severely, and supposedly there is an abandoned car in the yard . . . sometimes. I've heard that sometimes it's there, and sometimes it's nowhere to be seen ... yet the overgrown grass is never disturbed and the car itself is so old that it couldn't possibly run.

I don't need to tell you that there have been several ghost sightings here, too. Too many to mention.

I've been to this place three times now, and while I'm somewhat of a skeptic (can't you tell from my wording?? ) .. two of these times really make me wonder. I could obviously feel SOMETHING there, kind of a tingling sensation. There's a lot of energy there. A friend of mine thinks that it may be due to a nexus point in the area.

One time when I was there, a spot near that long strip of land where no grass grows, there was a small hole in the ground with a white pus-like goo oozing out. No one could guess what it was.

Last time I was there (last week) was the most interesting. While exploring the brook/stream downhill, I felt something in the woods uphill, toward the graveyard. I broke apart from my friends to inspect, and right outside the stone wall was a tree trunk, about 8 feet high and broken off at the top. It just LOOKED so creepy, and I literally could NOT go closer than three feet to it. The way the knots and nubs formed, it looked like a contorted face.

On the way out, walking back toward the road . . both my friend and I heard a distinct "roaring" noise coming from the woods on the side of the path. Not like a dog . . it sounded like a freekin tiger or something (and believe me, there ARE no tigers in Massachusetts ). It scared the hell out of us. Oddly enough, there were three of us . . . and only two of us heard the roaring, even though we were all within 3 feet of each other.

One last interesting (but questionable) tidbit: It's been said a lot that a local sect of Satanists have been granted permission to hold ceremonies there on a regular basis. Wether or not this is true, I have no idea ... but on some nights when you drive by the path that leads down to the graveyard, I've often seen the same pick-up truck with two VERY unhappy looking people standing outside of it and glaring at passer-byers (like me).. almost as if they were guarding the place.

God knows there's a whole slew of stories surrounding the place.. I wish I could tell them all. But I figured I'd at least bring it up and see if anyone else has heard of Spider Gates. So . . . have you? :-)

-Ash