Buried Alive: The Grave of Mary Hart in New Haven, Connecticut

A spooky New England graveyard story that seems plucked from the pages of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark comes from New Haven, Connecticut. There, in Evergreen Cemetery, is a large granite gravestone with an ominous epitaph that has set imaginations running wild since its erection nearly 150 years ago. It belongs to one Mary Hart, a nearly 50-year-old woman who died at midnight in October of 1872.

Not much is known for certain about Mary, the circumstances of her life or the manner of her death. What we do know is that she has a fairly long epitaph that reads: "At high noon just from, and about to renew her daily work, in her full strength of body and mind Mary E. Hart having fallen prostrate: remained unconscious, until she died at midnight October 15, 1872 Born December 16, 1824" Whatever killed Mary took her suddenly and without warning. Boldly across the top, the stone reads: "The people shall be troubled at midnight and pass away." This is a brief version of a quote from Job chapter 34, verse 20.

Possibly because of the bleakness of Mary's tombstone, tales have arisen about her haunting the graveyard. However, the most prominent story involves her aunt. Apparently, the night after Mary was interred, her aunt dreamed that Mary was still alive in her coffin. The body was exhumed, and the coffin had scratch marks on the lid corresponding with broken and bloodied fingernails on Mary's corpse. It would see that she was buried alive. While uncorroborated by contemporary evidence, and involving a psychic aunt, it was common enough back then for people to be buried alive. Let that sink in while you walk through Evergreen Cemetery, which contains plenty of other historical graves that could have housed living people.

There is a local legend that Mary will come for you if you stand on her grave at midnight. If you want to put this legend to the test, you'll have to get permission. The cemetery is closed to the public after sunset. You can use this as an excuse to pass on tempting Mary's ghost.