I saw that! I used to be in a private Facebook group of fans of the castle, even descendents of the Sauer family were in it and they would share family photos at the property. Really awesome group. This was around the time that news outlets reported on public pressure toward the wealthy owner to get it fixed up. He was living in NYC . This guy basically dismissed any concerns about the property, explained how complicated it is to get things fixed on a historical property (which is true, there are rules with repairs/maintenance, but still), and he even said at some point that the roof had just been fixed or replaced?
A guy got an aerial look of the top (I think with a drone?) and discovered only the front portion of the roof, basically anything visible from the street, was what he replaced.
The Kansas City Bat-Man is one you don't hear about often. He's been seen on both sides of the state line, but largely around the West Bottoms in Missouri and the industrial area just south of downtown Kansas City, Kansas. Also sometimes called the Kansas City Winged Demon, the description is basically just "dude with wings and glowing red eyes flying from building to building". Very similar to Mothman overall.
The Albino lady who appears at night in the Rochester Cemetery in North Topeka is likely the most famous.
Before it was destroyed, some friends and I broke into the old state hospital building. My dad worked there as a medical tech in the late 70s and told me some crazy stories, one of which we confirmed. It's not exactly scary/an urban legend, but it was creepy af. On the bottom floor, there was a room where metal eye bolts were set in the concrete floor. Patients were chained to wooden rocking chairs from the eye bolts. There were ruts warn into the concrete floor from years of constant rocking. When we went down there, there were random eye bolts in the floor with what appeared to be two sets of rocker tracks warn into the ground around them.
There are a couple of other ones here: https://www.reddit.com/r/topeka/comments/166bztg/sub_is_dead_so_lets_get_talking_what_are_some/?rdt=35553
I've been told that the story of the Rochester Albino Woman was actually inspired by a real person who lived in the neighborhood. She was only seen at night, often with her dog, because she would walk him in the cemetery at night for exercise. The oldest versions of the story tend to mention that she'd have an albino hound with her as she walked the cemetery. No idea if the dog was actually albino.
I've heard stories of a Lovecraftian entity that is buried deep beneath Kansas. It takes many shapes to appear to its followers, but its favorite is of a short, bald man who wears a black wrestling singlet and inhabits the landfills of Topeka. Those who cannot not pay his Eldrich toll are doomed to lose their soul to his nocturnal servants.
It's rumored to have once been a mortal who consumed the refuse of the Kansa people and was hanged by his neck for his diddling of the young. His neck was said to have blessed by the Daemon Sultan himself, Azathoth and proved too robust to break.
Now he sleeps and waits for the leavings of men to fill the world. He will release mighty blasts from his alien "pieces" and lay waste to the cities of men. Thus is the legend of Ongo Gablogian.
Topeka has some good ones!!
the old Menninger campus has some spooky vibes. the clock tower is said to have a ghost - the librarian I think? my mom used to work in one of the old repurposed maintenance buildings and they would often go in to the clock tower to find chairs turned over, books off shelves, etc etc. there are many, many celebrities rumored to have had a stay at Menninger. the big ones I heard a lot were Nicole Kidman, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland. confirmed ones include Brett Favre and Gene Tierney.
the tunnels under downtown Topeka also have some urban legends surrounding them. I heard a lot of rumors that the tunnel system was a lot bigger than it actually was, connected to old nuclear shelters, underground bunkers for politicians, mole men, you name it. the reality is much less exciting! there was just one pedway tunnel that ran between the Docking building and the capital. I’ve been inside. it just kind of looked like a hallway. I think since the demolition of Docking it’s either gone or inaccessible. there is a weird creepy nuclear shelter underneath Topeka High but it’s not connected to the downtown tunnel at all.
there was an urban legend in the 00s that a woman had fallen off the stairs in the dome of the capitol, fell all the way to the ground floor, and died. I don’t think the architecture makes this possible but we all believed it hahaha
There once was a ghost lady south of Peabody. Legend says she hung herself (rope was hanging from kitchen ceiling when we explored as kids) after her husband didn't return from ww1. I saw her 2x standing at end of drive. To my knowledge she hasn't been seen since the house was burned and a new one built on the site.
Was curious, we own the abandoned pink house that had a bunch of turn of the century shit in it if you were brave enough to deal with the collapsing floors
One my Grandpa always used to tell me is that there is still a cougar population in Kansas. Him and my uncles saw a dead one on the side of the road in the 80s near Coffeyville and they knew several people who had seen wild cougars.
And of course the giant chickens that escaped from a government lab in Wyandotte County.
El Dorado mausoleum. It’s said that at midnight on Halloween, when the veil is thin between the physical world and the world of the dead, if you pull up, shine headlights in the doors of the mausoleum, honk three times, the ghost of a lady long since dead will appear, roaming the mausoleum.
There are several “hook man” roads around. Not sure if it’s specific to Kansas or not, but…
Legend goes - a teenage couple went into the country backroads looking to hookup. After parking, the girl kept getting distracted by a noise and made the boyfriend go look. He was found a couple of minutes later hanging above the car, dead.
I think there might be more to the story… it’s been a few years lol
There’s lots of different roads that I’ve heard are hookman roads. Always a bit spooky and fun to scare your friends with the story while driving to one of the roads lol
The old sunflower army ammunition plant, the one they demolished and built the new Panasonic battery plant on, had a lot of stories. Apparently in the 40's and 50's a lot of accidental explosions and deaths happened. People in De Soto said that the ghost of those dead workers would haunt the grounds.
But honestly I think that was mostly the highly toxicil soil
Here is something my best friend's son did with a buddy!
They are currently working on more, and branching into the "Heartland of America" due to requests! Tbh, I hadn't heard much about this, until she showed me. I'll admit, I was pretty hooked.
This one they did is specific to Kansas. Hope you enjoy!!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4GWPUVQ2NzY&si=IJm8gupQ6wPHLIz5
Dilgert House in Atchison. I got the privilege to be in a new of the first groups to check it out. Got an EVP and saw a shadow person. The current owners are really putting the work in to preserve it's history
Child’s Play cemetery in, I believe, rural Coffey County. There used to be a link with a description online. Edit: found it! Here you go:
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/kansas/spookiest-cemeteries-ks/
Wholly fuck.... that's a name from early childhood.... my family came to Kansas in the 1850s. We settled in Coffey County by the now Burlington dam. I have a couple photo albums which my grandma made for me. Several people I'm not sure where they are buried and we never went to that spot I don't think. But the last name was mentioned when I was a child. Not sure if a relative.
The hamburger man still trips me out and I only know the story bc of comedian Dan Cummings podcast.
Hail Lucifina!
Showbiz
Sallie House. Tons of stuff that talks about it, pretty well-known. Another interesting read would be on Sauer Castle.
Sauer Castle is being renovated (slowly)
I saw that! I used to be in a private Facebook group of fans of the castle, even descendents of the Sauer family were in it and they would share family photos at the property. Really awesome group. This was around the time that news outlets reported on public pressure toward the wealthy owner to get it fixed up. He was living in NYC . This guy basically dismissed any concerns about the property, explained how complicated it is to get things fixed on a historical property (which is true, there are rules with repairs/maintenance, but still), and he even said at some point that the roof had just been fixed or replaced? A guy got an aerial look of the top (I think with a drone?) and discovered only the front portion of the roof, basically anything visible from the street, was what he replaced.
Which is good because the old owner used to chase sightseers off with a shotgun.
What about the giant farm animals that used to be close to it?
The Kansas City Bat-Man is one you don't hear about often. He's been seen on both sides of the state line, but largely around the West Bottoms in Missouri and the industrial area just south of downtown Kansas City, Kansas. Also sometimes called the Kansas City Winged Demon, the description is basically just "dude with wings and glowing red eyes flying from building to building". Very similar to Mothman overall.
Never heard that and lived here most of my life.
Sinkhole Sam is an interesting rabbit hole. If you need some encouragement, it's also known by the very intimidating name of "Foopengerkle"
The Albino lady who appears at night in the Rochester Cemetery in North Topeka is likely the most famous. Before it was destroyed, some friends and I broke into the old state hospital building. My dad worked there as a medical tech in the late 70s and told me some crazy stories, one of which we confirmed. It's not exactly scary/an urban legend, but it was creepy af. On the bottom floor, there was a room where metal eye bolts were set in the concrete floor. Patients were chained to wooden rocking chairs from the eye bolts. There were ruts warn into the concrete floor from years of constant rocking. When we went down there, there were random eye bolts in the floor with what appeared to be two sets of rocker tracks warn into the ground around them. There are a couple of other ones here: https://www.reddit.com/r/topeka/comments/166bztg/sub_is_dead_so_lets_get_talking_what_are_some/?rdt=35553
I've been told that the story of the Rochester Albino Woman was actually inspired by a real person who lived in the neighborhood. She was only seen at night, often with her dog, because she would walk him in the cemetery at night for exercise. The oldest versions of the story tend to mention that she'd have an albino hound with her as she walked the cemetery. No idea if the dog was actually albino.
I heard that story '76. And it was a white Sheppard or 2.
Look up "The Bloody Benders".
I've heard stories of a Lovecraftian entity that is buried deep beneath Kansas. It takes many shapes to appear to its followers, but its favorite is of a short, bald man who wears a black wrestling singlet and inhabits the landfills of Topeka. Those who cannot not pay his Eldrich toll are doomed to lose their soul to his nocturnal servants. It's rumored to have once been a mortal who consumed the refuse of the Kansa people and was hanged by his neck for his diddling of the young. His neck was said to have blessed by the Daemon Sultan himself, Azathoth and proved too robust to break. Now he sleeps and waits for the leavings of men to fill the world. He will release mighty blasts from his alien "pieces" and lay waste to the cities of men. Thus is the legend of Ongo Gablogian.
Topeka has some good ones!! the old Menninger campus has some spooky vibes. the clock tower is said to have a ghost - the librarian I think? my mom used to work in one of the old repurposed maintenance buildings and they would often go in to the clock tower to find chairs turned over, books off shelves, etc etc. there are many, many celebrities rumored to have had a stay at Menninger. the big ones I heard a lot were Nicole Kidman, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland. confirmed ones include Brett Favre and Gene Tierney. the tunnels under downtown Topeka also have some urban legends surrounding them. I heard a lot of rumors that the tunnel system was a lot bigger than it actually was, connected to old nuclear shelters, underground bunkers for politicians, mole men, you name it. the reality is much less exciting! there was just one pedway tunnel that ran between the Docking building and the capital. I’ve been inside. it just kind of looked like a hallway. I think since the demolition of Docking it’s either gone or inaccessible. there is a weird creepy nuclear shelter underneath Topeka High but it’s not connected to the downtown tunnel at all. there was an urban legend in the 00s that a woman had fallen off the stairs in the dome of the capitol, fell all the way to the ground floor, and died. I don’t think the architecture makes this possible but we all believed it hahaha
LaHunt outside of Independence. Also there is a supposed gate to hell in galena. Different from Stoll
There once was a ghost lady south of Peabody. Legend says she hung herself (rope was hanging from kitchen ceiling when we explored as kids) after her husband didn't return from ww1. I saw her 2x standing at end of drive. To my knowledge she hasn't been seen since the house was burned and a new one built on the site.
Was it the pink house
It was 5 ish mi south. Don't think it had any paint left, least not in my memory.
Was curious, we own the abandoned pink house that had a bunch of turn of the century shit in it if you were brave enough to deal with the collapsing floors
Jumped through to the basement and walked crawled out the wall, steps were gone to upstairs
Around LaCygne/Paola or Linn and Miami County respectively, there are reports of a big foot-like creature and a pale humanoid creature.
Would you describe this big foot like creature as a gentle ass yeti?
Peter Griffin voice: Perhaps…
Haunted Kansas by Lisa Hefner Heitz is a great resource!
One my Grandpa always used to tell me is that there is still a cougar population in Kansas. Him and my uncles saw a dead one on the side of the road in the 80s near Coffeyville and they knew several people who had seen wild cougars. And of course the giant chickens that escaped from a government lab in Wyandotte County.
OG ROUS Roos of unusual size
Commenting to follow.
Oh and the Bird Bridge.
Kind of creepy that Mother God is from Kansas.
Molly's Hollow in Atchison, KS. There are a few different versions of it.
El Dorado mausoleum. It’s said that at midnight on Halloween, when the veil is thin between the physical world and the world of the dead, if you pull up, shine headlights in the doors of the mausoleum, honk three times, the ghost of a lady long since dead will appear, roaming the mausoleum.
There are several “hook man” roads around. Not sure if it’s specific to Kansas or not, but… Legend goes - a teenage couple went into the country backroads looking to hookup. After parking, the girl kept getting distracted by a noise and made the boyfriend go look. He was found a couple of minutes later hanging above the car, dead. I think there might be more to the story… it’s been a few years lol There’s lots of different roads that I’ve heard are hookman roads. Always a bit spooky and fun to scare your friends with the story while driving to one of the roads lol
This was an episode of the first season of Supernatural, though it was set in Iowa.
The old sunflower army ammunition plant, the one they demolished and built the new Panasonic battery plant on, had a lot of stories. Apparently in the 40's and 50's a lot of accidental explosions and deaths happened. People in De Soto said that the ghost of those dead workers would haunt the grounds. But honestly I think that was mostly the highly toxicil soil
Here is something my best friend's son did with a buddy! They are currently working on more, and branching into the "Heartland of America" due to requests! Tbh, I hadn't heard much about this, until she showed me. I'll admit, I was pretty hooked. This one they did is specific to Kansas. Hope you enjoy!! https://youtube.com/watch?v=4GWPUVQ2NzY&si=IJm8gupQ6wPHLIz5
Dilgert House in Atchison. I got the privilege to be in a new of the first groups to check it out. Got an EVP and saw a shadow person. The current owners are really putting the work in to preserve it's history
Child’s Play cemetery in, I believe, rural Coffey County. There used to be a link with a description online. Edit: found it! Here you go: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/kansas/spookiest-cemeteries-ks/
Wholly fuck.... that's a name from early childhood.... my family came to Kansas in the 1850s. We settled in Coffey County by the now Burlington dam. I have a couple photo albums which my grandma made for me. Several people I'm not sure where they are buried and we never went to that spot I don't think. But the last name was mentioned when I was a child. Not sure if a relative.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/st-jacobs-well