Great Hill Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Seymour, Connecticut
Seymour is a town located in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town was named for Governor Thomas H. Seymour. The population was 15,454 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
which dates back to the 18th century, and is still in use today. It is located in a section of woods known as Great Hill. The cemetery is also well-known to locals as Hookman's Cemetery, due to a local urban legend associated with it.
Legends of Hauntings and the Hookman
Ectoplasm (paranormal)
Ectoplasm is a term coined by Charles Richet to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums...
and other strange phenomenon associated with psychic photography. An urban legend associated with the cemetery claims that it is haunted by a spirit known as the Hookman. There are three different versions of the Hookman legend. They are as follows:
- The cemetery caretaker (who had a hook in place of a hand) murdered a young boy when he stayed in the cemetery after dark. The boy was found impaled and dangling from a large hook attached to a tree the next day.
- A man with the last name "Hookman" was wrongfully accused of a crime and hanged from a tree at the site.
- A young couple parked by the cemetery one night. When the girl thought she heard something outside, the boyfriend got out of the car to investigate. When he didn't come back, the girlfriend got out of the car only to find her boyfriend's dead body hanging from a hook in the trees. (This last story is a very common urban legendUrban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
which is not unique to the cemetery.)
All three versions of the story have been circulating in the area since the 1950s. There is also a local legend about a house that once stood near the cemetery. Supposedly there was a family who lived in the house, and the young son murdered the whole family and then himself.
Records at the Derby
Derby, Connecticut
Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,391 at the 2000 census. With of land area, Derby is Connecticut's smallest municipality.The city has a Metro-North railroad station called Derby – Shelton.-History:...
Historical Society show that a small caretaker's house once existed on the grounds of the cemetery; this may have inspired some of the legends. The third version of the story is probably just another version of the classic Hookman legend
The Hook
The Hook is a classic example of an urban legend. The basic premise involves a young couple parked at a dark lovers' lane. The radio plays music as the couple make out. The music is interrupted by an announcer who reports that a serial killer has just escaped an institution which is nearby. The...
that originated in Maine in the 1920s. Regardless of whether the legends are true or not, Connecticut demonologists
Demonology
Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. It is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods. It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent...
Ed and Lorraine Warren believe that the cemetery is filled with demonic evil.
See also
- Ed and Lorraine Warren
- GhostGhostIn traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
- Ectoplasm (paranormal)Ectoplasm (paranormal)Ectoplasm is a term coined by Charles Richet to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums...
- Urban legendUrban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
- The HookThe HookThe Hook is a classic example of an urban legend. The basic premise involves a young couple parked at a dark lovers' lane. The radio plays music as the couple make out. The music is interrupted by an announcer who reports that a serial killer has just escaped an institution which is nearby. The...