What We Know About Ariana Grande's Ghost Encounter
According to Washburn University, Stull Cemetery is alleged to be a portal to hell. Located in Stull, Kansas, the town is now nearly abandoned and forgotten (via American Hauntings). With its dwindling population, some believe that the town's primary residents are those not from this realm. KCTV reports that the myth of Stull Cemetery was born in the 1970s, thanks to a University of Kansas student newspaper.
The article claimed that Stull Cemetery was the site of satanic rituals and supernatural phenomena. As explained by the Culture Crush, the article had interviews with students and even a professor that asserted the peculiar events at the cemetery. In addition, the students maintained that their elders (including grandparents) had encountered these unexplained experiences for themselves.
It's said that the townspeople can hear voices and phantom children playing at the cemetery at night. Legend has it that the devil visits twice a year during the Spring equinox and Halloween (per Lawrence). There are also claims of people losing time and their memory. Weird Kansas reports that the ruins of an old church on the grounds (which was mysteriously demolished) was used for black magic by occultists. In 2013, pop star Ariana Grande told Complex that she had visited Stull Cemetery with terrifying results.
Ariana Grande apologized to spirits of Stull Cemetery
When asked by Complex if she believed in ghosts, Grande said she did and proceeded to delve into her experience at Stull Cemetery. The Kansas City Star writes that after a concert at the Midland Theatre, the singer and her crew headed to Stull Cemetery. Grande explained that she had already gone to a haunted castle and was excited to visit the notorious cemetery. Upon entering, she claims she felt, "an overwhelming feeling of negativity" (via HuffPost). Grande also smelled sulfur and saw a fly in her car — both of which are said to be signs of a demonic presence.
She decided to leave and rolled down the car window to express her regrets for visiting and for disturbing the ground's spirits. Grande then took a picture and said that three demon-like faces appeared in the photo. As she was falling asleep later on she heard a booming noise and saw, "these really disturbing images" before seeing a black, shadow-like figure. Grande ignored it, went to sleep, and said that was the end of that. In the same interview, she brought up a popular rumor about the pope.
Per KCTV, the pope allegedly averted his flight in 1995 to avoid Stull's ungodly land. Many, however, believe that there's nothing otherworldly happening in Stull Cemetery. As Lawrence makes clear, the rumors and lore were perpetuated by idle teens and Stull's citizens are tired of the vandalization of their loved ones' graves.