My dad has told this story to my sister and I when we were young, growing up in Charleston, South Carolina. Through the years he has repeated the story a few times and the details have never changed.
He and a friend were planning a “surfing” trip along the east coast during a school break. They were anxious to get the trip started and found they couldn’t sleep the night before they were to leave. This friends family owned a house in Charleston very close to a very old and well known cemetery. The graves in this cemetery date back to the civil war and probably beyond. The cemetery was very dark, protected by a high wrought iron gate that was locked every evening. The farther back you went into this cemetery the darker it got. It was a moon lit night that night and the bet was that my dad could go further back into the cemetery than his friend would. The friend took the bet and both of them jumped over the gate.
Both of them continued to go further and further back into the cemetery. They were both sitting against one of the graves when my dad heard what he thought was someone shoveling dirt in the back corner. They both stopped talking, dad looked around one corner of the marker and his friend looked around the other side. The moon was bright, allowing my dad to see the silhouette of a tall thin older man, wearing a gray long sleeve coat, standing over a grave, digging a hole. Dad sat back against the grave marker and asked his friend, “do you see what I see?” His friend described exactly what my dad was seeing.
They both saw the old man standing over the grave, they saw him push the shovel into the ground and remove dirt, throw the dirt to the side of the grave and continue to shovel the dirt away. Dad moved around the grave to get a better look and in doing so made noise. The old man digging stopped what he was doing and looked in their direction. Both my dad and his friend took off running for the front gate, never looking back.
The next morning, before they left on the surfing trip, they returned to the cemetery, walked back to the grave site were they spotted the old man digging, fully expecting to find the grave uncovered, vandalized and probably robbed. What they discovered to their disbelief was, the grave was intact, there was no sign that the area had been disturbed and no evidence that anyone was ever there. The ground was solid, no indication that anyone had been there for weeks, months maybe yet both of them saw the old man removing dirt and getting deeper into the grave.
Sent in by Mac, Copyright 2010 TrueGhostTales.com
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sounds like the cemetary caretaker is still doing his job.
yeah, looks like that dude is sitll doing his job. thats kinda awesome, in some ways.
That’s about as creepy as some of the more detailed and involved stories. And, that fact that they both saw this, probably made the scene 10X scarier. I’ve seen some things that I just KNOW I saw, but many times one can just attribute these ‘solo sightings’ to imagination or trick of the eye.
Thanks for the story.
Hi I just read your story and enjoyed it…thanks!!! I find it intresting that both your Dad and his friend saw the old man shoveling the dirt…and when they went back later…the grave appeared to be undisturbed…and also the old man had on a long sleeve grey coat..wonder if he was from the civil war era…and was reacting burying a friend or relative or a fallen soilder….hummm…kinda makes you think.And I think it ‘s cool that both men saw the same thing…sometimes only ‘one’ person will see it and another will not…but with both men seeing it ….they both knew what they saw and knew the other person believed it.Blessed Be!!!
that story is so not true theres no such thing as ghosts oh and i dont beleive santa either santa is just your parents
Hello princess
you mean Santa Clause isnt real? Oh no!!
That is a freaky story, I have had a few encounters with the paranormal
What really??? there is no santa claus??? I am crying now my head off now! O;
ive seen it where they do this they cant move on they think its another day they sometimes sleep in thier own bed and show up at work happened in NY the guy took a cab i was going to a meseum when i saw the spirit walk out the door of my apartment and wave his hand to a cab then right next to me and whem my cab stopped he got in and he got mad when we arriaved at the meuseum he smacked the driver the driver felt it but had no idea what happened and then the guy started walking i followed him to gambling arena thinking he was placing bets but wasnt he stole the money kinda he picked it up then pulled a 9-mm out his hoodie pocket though he shot it 4 times no one saw him he shot another in a wierd hat who looked as if a pimp he pulled an uzi which then i ran
what?!
thanks for your story, its creepy. but princess? i dont think i need to tell you what sight you are at? yes we see spirits here & post our stories or…. are you lost? & i see it all? what are you talking about? im so lost.
@Princess:
If you don’t believe in ghosts, why are you on this site then? It’s a site for people who do believe in the paranormal!
if it was the caretaker why was the area not dug up.thats scary.
I lived in Georgetown SC and the ghost ts called the grey man