This chapter is reprinted with permission from the book Voices From The Chicago Grave: They're Calling. Will You Answer? by Scott Markus

For starters, on the Midlothian Turnpike just outside of the cemetery and on the path to the cemetery, people have observed phantom cars. Much like at White Cemetery, the cars are described as being large black luxury sedans, usually identified as being from the 1940s or before.

Most of these sightings began around the 1960s when the cemetery became isolated. The Midlothian Turnpike used to meet up with the front gates of the cemetery, but the road had to be moved when plans called for its widening. The old part of the turnpike was left untouched. Now it is used only for foot traffic into the cemetery.

More importantly, as far as hauntings are concerned, the cemetery became more secluded due to the road change. Rather than being a place of quiet mourning, Bachelor's Grove Cemetery became a constant victim of vandalism and, for the past 30 years, the site of satanic worship. Much of the ritual takes place within the questionable foundation of a house. More on that later.

In addition to these changes, the path to Bachelor's Grove Cemetery became something of a lover's lane. This is the reason Bachelor's Grove has sometimes been linked to the urban legend of "The Bloody Hook," which is based on the Texarkana Lovers Lane killings.

The history of Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is about as colorful as the mountain of hauntings that continue on this single acre of wooded land all year, day and night. The number of spirits and types of activity witnessed at the cemetery continues to grow, and nearly all of them have interesting stories behind them.

For example, at one point before the land was used as a cemetery, it was a farmer's field. One day while tilling the land, the farmer's horse inexplicably bolted into the murky pond, which now stands between the cemetery and the new turnpike. The weight of the metal plow pulled the horse and the farmer to the bottom, where they both drowned. The plow horse and farmer continue to visit the site of their demise. They were first seen by baffled police officers who saw an ethereal farmer and horse running down the four-lane road outside of the cemetery in the late 1970s.

During the 1920s and '30s, while Chicago was ruled by Al Capone, that same pond was used as a dumping ground for illegal firearms and victims of Mafia hits. This is often linked to reports of phantom men wearing 1920s and '30s-era suits.

Crystal Warren, a Midlothian resident who frequents the cemetery in search of ghosts and a good scare, remembers that upon entering the cemetery one day she felt as if someone was behind her. Looking back, she saw two men. Startled and scared, she ran through the cemetery, around the small pond, and across the street, where she looked back to see the two men standing at the guardrail along the Midlothian Turnpike. According to Crystal, the men were wearing clothing that fit the time period of the 1920s. Without prior knowledge of the stories of the pond, Crystal even compared the men she saw to gangsters.

This is particularly interesting since Crystal didn't know the history of the site, making her story become more believable because she wasn't just embellishing stories she may have already heard.

Crystal often visits the cemetery with Holly Smith, another Midlothian resident. They come to this place to tell ghost stories and "freak themselves out." Though usually, the only ghosts they encounter are the ones in their tall tales, sometimes they get more than they bargained for. On one occasion while entering the cemetery alone, a young, pig-tailed girl in an old-fashioned pink dress confronted Crystal. Crystal stopped dead in her tracks with her eyes wide open and fixed on the phantom. The apparition smiled at her and sent Crystal running into the cemetery for safety.

Crystal, Holly, and other friends witnessed another event. They entered the cemetery near dusk and took a seat just to the right of the front entrance. They sat in a circle and told ghost stories for hours. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until they verbally stated that it was late and it was time to leave. As this was said, a strand of barbed wire, near to where they were sitting, which had been hanging lifelessly from atop the gate, suddenly flew straight up in the air. At the time this happened, there was nothing around it that could have caused such a commotion. Maybe there were eavesdroppers in on the conversation who felt like contributing another ghost story of their own.

Another apparition, and the one that is least easily explained, is the sighting of a two-headed man again in the area of the pond. Few attempts have been made to even try to explain this phenomenon.

However, Dale Kaczmarek, President of Chicago's Ghost Research Society, has made the speculation that "Perhaps this apparition is actually the ghost of the farmer and his horse in a state of perpetual materialization."

Adam R. Rotsch visited the cemetery in the late 1990s with friends. He was startled to see what appeared to be a disfigured man walking over the pond. In his description of the man he saw, Adam alluded to the man having a large bulge of some sort protruding from his shoulder. This appears to be similar to the sightings of the two-headed man. The only real difference was the interpretation of what the second lump was. While some assumed it was another head, Adam merely thought the man had a hunchback.

Adam had no prior knowledge of the stories of the two-headed man and was very hesitant to think that that is what he had seen.

White Cemetery is similar to Bachelor's Grove Cemetery in that there are disappearing cars patrolling the road outside of it. The two cemeteries are also similar in another very unique way: They each have a vanishing house.

Many people have observed the house since at least the mid-1960s. All claim it to be a two-story Victorian house with a porch swing and a light shining from the inside. The light coming from the house even illuminates the surrounding woods. The house seems to move around a lot, as it is never seen in the exact location every time. It has been seen within the cemetery, just outside the cemetery gates, along the path, and even floating over the pond. When the house is seen floating over the pond, it is most visible from the Midlothian Turnpike by passing motorists, who often aren't aware that the house isn't supposed to be there.  Those who have seen it are unable to approach it because it gets smaller as the person walks closer until it finally disappears.

The most mysterious aspect of the vanishing house is that there is no record of there ever having been a building on this land. However, just a few hundred yards from the cemetery sits the foundation of a structure. This is where much of the satanic activity takes place.

We're still not done with this small site yet. In addition, there are at least three types of ghost lights that reside in the area. One is a blue orb frequently seen floating about the cemetery throughout the 1970s and '80s. Currently, flashing white balls and red streaks above the path towards the cemetery can be observed.

On the same night that Adam may have encountered the two-headed man, it was also a particularly active night for ghost lights. He said that red lights were flashing throughout the cemetery in a way that it looked like they were "dancing" with the green light periodically given off by fireflies.

Probably the most famous phantom of Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is the Madonna of Bachelor's Grove (sometimes called Mrs. Rogers).  This is a woman in white who wanders around the cemetery while holding her infant baby in her arms.  Some believe that the best time to see the Madonna of Bachelor's Grove is on nights of a full moon.

Though not regularly occurring, one of the most seldomly-reported phantoms is a man in a suit who gives off a modest yellow glow. Someone first saw the man while they were spending the night in the cemetery as part of an experiment.

Pete Crapia, who also organizes the Grove Restoration Project at Bachelorsgrove.com, can vouch for the validity of this tale. While taking a photograph, Pete saw something yellow out of the corner of his eye. Looking at the developed picture revealed a yellow blur. Though Pete never actually saw the shape of a man, he can attest to an energy source of some sort that gives off a yellow glow.

Apparitions don't just happen within the cemetery.  The wooded pathway away from civilization and into the dark unknown is also the site of disappearing men wearing black overcoats. While some of these visions can be attributed to actual cultists, a case is easily made regarding those who disappear in front of surprised witnesses.

In addition, phantom dogs have been known to patrol the area near the beginning of the path all the way to the cemetery entrance. Bob Jensen of the Ghostland Society and an active debunker of haunted sites was one such witness who had no knowledge of the phantom animals until he encountered one in the path near the cemetery entrance. He was completely taken by their piercing eyes.

Amateur ghost photographers might want to start at Bachelor's Grove Cemetery. It is said that if one goes through a full roll of film in the cemetery and the surrounding woods, the chance of capturing an anomaly is greater than the chance of not.

Everything from strange mists and floating orbs to full human figures has been captured on photographs. Other sounds and voices have also been recorded on audiotape including a voice calling out to the deceased of the cemetery by name.

Mari Huff of the Ghost Research Society captured the most famous paranormal photograph ever taken at the cemetery. Her random infrared panoramic picture of the cemetery, when developed, showed a woman clearly sitting upon a gravestone. To see this picture, visit GRS.com.

Also noted are the common characteristics of cold spots, but at this special location, even they are taken to extremes. Measurements from within the cold spots, or sometimes within certain rings of gravestones, show temperature dips ranging from 25 to 48 degrees Fahrenheit during warm weather (warm weather being defined as temperatures of 60 degrees Fahrenheit or higher).

The first trip I made to the cemetery happened in the summer of 1999 with Jeff Lord, Jason Jacobs, and myself for the video documentary Voices from the Grave.  No paranormal activity was noted other than a cold spot experienced by Jason. Pictures that he took of the area showed no anomalies.  However, those pictures would become very important later.

The most curious thing we found was just outside of the cemetery fence.  There, in the woods, was a camouflage blanket, a shovel, some sort of carving tool, a bottle used for huffing drugs, and an animal skull of either a deer or a large dog. Though we can't say for sure there had been a satanic ritual performed there, signs would point to 'yes.' Perhaps the answer to that question comes from a Midlothian native who told us, "If you ever come here at night…well, just don't."

A second trip was quickly planned for a few months later with a small group of people.  Sometimes it is good to go out with a group because some people may be able to pick up on things that others can't.  Conversely, large groups are never a good idea, because there can be just too much personality getting in the way of making paranormal contact.  One person jumping to a conclusion can also accidentally influence people to think that they see something as well.  Soon there is mass hysteria over nothing at all happening.

So, we made our way south of Chicago again. Finding the cemetery this time would prove to be much easier than the first time. The Rubio Woods Forest Preserve sits directly across the street from the cemetery, but still, the entrance to the cemetery is barely visible as it is covered by trees.  The best way to find it is to look across the street from the Rubio Woods parking lot for a chain in front of a path with a sign suggesting "closed" hanging from it.

That is the path to the cemetery. Walking around the chain that serves little purpose, and continuing down the path, the old Midlothian Turnpike is barely visible under foot due to the overgrowth of weeds.  Continuing down the path for about 200 yards into the woods, eventually a chain link fence and then grave stones become discernible to the right.

The gates to the cemetery have been broken open.  Chains had been attached to the gates to keep them closed, but then tears were made in the fence for use as another entrance.

Stepping inside the cemetery it is obvious that the past half-century has not treated the cemetery well.  Several bodies were removed and placed in different cemeteries after the cemetery started its downward spiral, but other bodies reportedly have been removed since by perpetrators of a pointless crime.

Gravestones have been stolen, while some have turned up in backyards at nearby houses.  Countless others have been unearthed and thrown into the murky pond.  Of the estimated 100 people still buried there, only a little more than a dozen of those are still represented by grave markers.  Of those, 100% have been vandalized to some extent.

Visiting Bachelor’s Grove is a surreal experience due entirely to its reputation.  It is sadly too easy to overlook that part of Chicago's history is buried here and is being insulted by repeated acts by vandals.  One of those buried here actually worked on the construction of Chicago's famous Water Tower.

By sunset of our second outing, the action started.  What was first seen was a bank of fog that began to develop.  Considering that we were near a pond, this would make sense, but the fog was in the opposite end of the cemetery away from the pond.  It was near the front entrance, just outside of the gates.  Something else that was curious was that out of the eight people that were there only seven people could see the fog.  I was the one who could not.

Not too long after, several people claimed that they saw a person walking near the area where the pond was. Only about half of the group was able to see this, which means either only half of the people were capable of seeing it, or half of the people were fooling themselves into believing that they were seeing something. Again, I did not see anything.

The next hour or so of that night went by without much activity until I suggested to the group that we take one last walk around the perimeter of the cemetery before leaving. On this walk, Dianne Markus, who was alone, walking behind the group, had the small finger on her right hand squeezed by an unseen hand. She didn't mention anything at the time but told me the following day.

After our little walk, Adam (the same Adam who had seen the red ghost lights on a previous trip) and I walked down the center of the cemetery. It was there that I saw what appeared to be a face illuminated in the leaves of a distant tree near the pond. I handed the camera to Adam as my blood began to run cold.

After looking at what I had pointed out, Adam panned to his right, looking into the woods.  "There's eyes," was all he could say.

He handed me the camera, and I could immediately see what he was referring to. It appeared to be two sets of glowing eyes looking out at us from the woods, about 12 feet above the ground. They were not visible to the naked eye, but rather through the lens of an infrared video camera.

We headed back towards the entrance of the cemetery, where Adam requested that I take a video of a nearby tree. It was at that tree that Adam had experienced strange feelings in the past, and it was at that tree where Jason felt a cold spot on our previous trip. During the filming of the tree, nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but later, upon playback of the footage, the outline of a boy wearing shoes and black shorts is plainly visible. When comparing the footage to the pictures of the tree that Jason took, it is apparent that there is no object or strange coloring of the tree that could give it such an appearance.

In addition to photographs with orbs in them, other interesting things were found after the fact. The most exciting was finding more sets of eyes. While we first saw the glowing eyes at night through an infrared video camera, the same eyes were photographed during the day in a different part of the cemetery. On both occasions, the unaided eye could not see the sets of eyes. When comparing the two times we caught the eyes on tape or film, it is apparent that the eyes are the same based on size, the distance between the eyes, and between the sets of eyes.

A particularly interesting thing happened when we first arrived. I advised everyone to spread out and look around the entire area. Dianne went off with Jamie Lemm. At one point they thought they felt a cold spot, so they started walking back to tell me about it. At the time I was standing next to Dave LaPorta, who took a picture of them. Upon development of the film, a large mist is seen floating in the air in the area where they thought they felt the cold spot.

Since our first visits in 2000, a number of massive trees have fallen into the cemetery, crushing the surrounding fences and making it impossible to lock the cemetery. However, the forest preserve and the local police keep an eye on the land, regularly chasing away visitors in an attempt to protect what’s left of the cemetery. A visit in the summer of 2008 revealed a welcome sight. Several of the graves had flowers placed on them. The most visited grave at the cemetery, a grave at the Fulton monument that simply states “Infant Daughter,” was covered with toys. The small trinkets serve as gifts to commemorate the young, lost girl.

The damage to the cemetery cannot be undone; however, it seems that the visitors are shifting from vandals and cultists to more respectful ghost hunters and historians. Perhaps this will be enough to help the spirits at this cemetery find peace.