That Wasn't Just A Pat On The Back

by Samantha Lee
(Pace, Florida, United States)

Living in a small town can be hell. You try to figure out ways to entertain yourself. So when someone says, "Let's go to the cemetery and find out if it's really haunted", you're not going to say no. Which is exactly what happened to me.

About mid-October everyone is wanting to experience something a little scary to get in the mood for Halloween. And nowadays, where's the best place to find somewhere close to you that's haunted? The Internet.

My friends and I decided to look up some of the most haunted places in Northwest Florida. We were determined to find something close to give us the feel for our upcoming holiday. After an hour of searching we finally stumbled upon a rumored haunted cemetery about 20 miles from our house. The article said many people have been there and attempted to walk the 3 foot wall along the cemetery, and have been pushed off by a greater force but no one was there. Some have said the back right corner of the cemetery is haunted and you can see a figure walking across the graves while stopping to look at gravestones. Also, it's rumored that next to the Virgin Mary gravestone provokes a ghost, that will be aggressive to get you out of the cemetery gates. We had to check this out for ourselves.

When we arrived at the blockade you have to climb over to get back to the cemetery, there were other people standing there talking amongst themselves. One of my friends asked them if they had experienced anything during their stay down there. They simply told us not until they were walking back, and we should use caution because of the coyotes.

My friends and I took about 20 minutes to decided whether we would take the mile and a half walk back to the cemetery or not. 3 out of 5 agreed this could be one of the coolest or scariest things we had ever encountered.

Towards the end of the walk down the twisting and turning dirt road, we finally saw something ahead besides trees. And there stood the gates of Coon Hill cemetery. Just peering over the wall and looking at the gravestones was creepy enough for most of my friends. Only two of us were brave enough to test the myths, myself and my best friend.

Climbing up on the wall was not easy, and getting a good grip was just as challenging. My best friend and I walked along the entire wall without feeling a single force trying to push us off. We then started to wonder if the things on the Internet were true or not.

We decided then to walk through the cemetery towards the back right corner. I felt nothing at first as we were passing along the headstones dating back to the early 1800's. But the closer we got to the Virgin Mary statue, the harder it became for me to breathe. My best friend and I stopped for a moment for me to catch my breath. The Virgin Mary statue stood directly in front of me. Suddenly a huge gust of wind came through, and the hot sticky night seemed to get a little bit chillier where we were standing.

We started to move close towards the statue and the wall when suddenly something slapped the bare skin on my back quite hard and the flashlight I was holding in my hand cut off. The pain and stinging on my back felt as if a human had slapped me with full force.

My best friend and I turned around and walked very fast away from the statue and back out of the gates. Once we reached everyone else who was standing a safe distance away, my friends checked out my back. There was a perfect hand print that was still red with skinny fingers and there was dirt marks down my back. I had not had any contact with the ground or any dirt.

After this, I was too freaked out too venture back into the gates or even walk the wall. I took the slap as a warning to get out of there. My best friend, being as daring as he is, decided to walk the wall again to see if us being in the gates stirred up any activity that would lead to something. As he was walking across the wall and crossed over the gate in the back right corner, he approached the Virgin Mary statue.

I witnessed him start walking a little bit slower, then suddenly he went flying from the wall towards the trees once he was a little past the Virgin Mary statue.

Once he got back up and ran towards us, he told us that it had been like he was slapped then pushed off the wall with great force. He took his shirt off to reveal that he had the same hand print on his back as I had on mine.

We left the cemetery after the last event happened. The next day, my best friend and I woke up and felt extremely nauseated.

In my own personal opinion and the experiences that I witnessed and had done to myself, that cemetery is definitely haunted. I would recommend to anyone that is trying to stir up the paranormal to walk through the cemetery and go to the back right corner, that's where all of the activity has been reported and I can vouch for a weird presence.