There is something fascinating about old creepy graves and tombstones. Even more interesting are the histories associated with the people in those graves – histories with enough details to wildly spark our curiosity and imagination and some which even has an haunting tale which takes us to this present day!

So here is the Top 5 Creepiest Graves to go and visit!

George Mackenzie’s Mausoleum

Over the last several years, one small tomb in Edinburgh’s Greyfriars Cemetery has become famous for its malevolent paranormal entity. The tomb is known as the ‘Black Mausoleum’ and is located behind the high walls and locked gates of an area known as the Covenanter’s Prison and is said to be haunted by ‘The Mackenzie Poltergeist’.

George Mackenzie was a lawyer and the Lord Advocate during the rule of Charles II and quickly earned a reputation as one of the most vicious persecutors of the covenanters, the people who rose up and signed the National Covenant in 1638. Mackenzie’s brutal and unfair treatment of the protesters even earned him the nickname “Bluidy Mackenzie.” Many covenanters were imprisoned in a section of Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, where he delighted in their torture. Guards beat the covenanters and eventually their heads would decorate the spiked gate.

After his death, Mackenzie was entombed in a mausoleum in the Greyfriars Kirkyard.

The period between the first recorded sightings in 1999 and the present, have seen hundreds of documented ‘attacks’ in the Black Mausoleum and Covenanters Prison. Of these attacks, an astonishing 140 have caused the witness to collapse.

Over the years, there have been numerous reports of hot spots, cold spots and cuts, bruises and burns on witnesses’ bodies which often appear under their clothes.

Photographs have been taken of these marks as well as many pictures of an unidentified shape in the tomb.   There have been sightings of a white figure, unexplained smells, and auditory anomalies and knocking noises under the ground and inside the tomb itself.

Dead animals have been found, unmarked, in front of the Black Mausoleum.   People have complained that an unseen force has pulled their hair, grabbed their legs and arms and hit them.   One or two have even claimed to be possessed.   The area has been exorcised twice which both times reports say was unsuccessful.

 Molly Leigh – The Witches Grave!

According to legend, Molly Leigh (the witch of Burslem) ate hard crusts and drank milk straight from animals only 12 hours after she was born.

The tale goes that Molly grew into a ugly child and other children who caught sight of her would run away. Molly had a lonely life, her parents died when she was young, leaving her without anyone.  She was accused of being a witch by locals after she was always seen with a pet blackbird and would rarely attend church. The black bird would follow her around and be sat perched on her shoulder.

Molly died in 1746 and was buried at St Johns Churchyard in Staffordshire in the UK,  before she could be trialled as a witch. After her death legend says that the blackbird continued to cause a nuisance and people in the town blamed Mary for many hauntings, many reported seeing Molly’s apparition at her cottage, sat knitting in a chair by the fireplace.

The bird was captured and buried alive with her and the grave was turned to face in a different direction to others to stop Molly from rising from the dead. The local legend is if you run around her grave three times on Halloween while chanting ”Molly Leigh, Molly Leigh come and chase me” she will chase you from the church yard.

Kitty Jay or Jay’s Grave

The story of Kitty Jay’s Grave begins in the 1700s when a poor, young maid hung herself in a barn in Forder, England. It’s not clear why Kitty killed herself, but one tale says that she had been raped, while another says she fell in love and became pregnant out of wedlock. Which ever tale is true it is said that she took her own life.

As in the tradition of the time, anyone who committed suicide was committing “self-murder.” Suicide was considered a terrible sin in the 18th century. Therefore, a person who committed suicide would be buried just like executed criminals – at a crossroad. The meaning of this was so the wicked soul who had done this could never return to haunt the living.

Today, her creepy grave is marked with a rough headstone and a mound of grass. An interesting detail to the story is that a mysterious person always adorns the grassy mound with flowers. Some people have also reported seeing a dark cloaked figure kneeling at her grave. Others have reported seeing her ghost in their rearview mirror as they drive past the crossroad.

 Inez Clarke

In Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois, is the resting place of a mysterious statue of a young girl encased in glass, and presumably, lies beneath the statue. The name on the statue is Inez Clarke, but strangely there is no record of anyone by this name buried there.

The mystery surrounding the identity of the little girl was solved. It is thought that she may have been abandoned by her mother and raised by grandparents of a previous marriage.

A number of interesting legends were created about the statue and Inez Clarke. One legend has it that Inez died in a thunderstorm while she was locked outside. It is said that during thunderstorms at the graveyard the statue disappears, and on one stormy night a watchman came upon the case but found that it was empty. He was so surprised by the incident that he ran away never to return.