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The Restless Dead Buried Inside of Basel’s Double Cloister

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The two adjoining cloisters by Basel Cathedral are said to be haunted by a couple of spectres entombed within the building. In the darkness of Basel’s Double Cloister, it is said you can hear the moaning of a man slowly suffocating and feel the unsuspected slap from a man, as mean in death as he was in life. 

Basel is a city where history lingers not just in its ancient streets and Gothic spires but in the very earth beneath its feet. Nowhere is this more palpable than in the Cathedral and its adjoining Double Cloister of Basel Minster.  solemn, shadow-cloaked place where the line between the living and the dead has always felt unsettlingly thin. 

Read also: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland

Built in the 15th century, the cloisters once rang with sacred hymns and church rites, housing as many as six altars for medieval services. There are actually two different cloisters, connected by the open gardens surrounding them.

After the Reformation, one of the cloisters turned into a marketplace, but also a cemetery for the city’s upper middle class. Long after the Reformation’s sweeping changes silenced the rituals of the monks, the ritual of burial within the cloister’s cold embrace.

Basel Minster

A Cemetery Hiding in Plain Sight

For centuries, this peaceful cloister functioned as a cemetery for the city’s wealthy and influential, seen as their graves marked with ornately carved stones, some still intact within the shaded arcades. This was known as Münster Cemetery. Even as the world outside modernized, these hallowed grounds remained a final resting place, with burials continuing into the 19th century. The place is heavy with history, and as any Basler will tell you, such places seldom stay quiet after dark.

When the evening mists curl in from the Rhine and the last of the daylight dies behind the Minster’s towers, strange things are said to stir amid the cloister’s arches.

Cloister of Basel Minster

The Moaning of Emanuel Büchel

Among the restless souls tied to these ancient stones is Emanuel Büchel (1705–1775), a respected draftsman and master baker whose demise is steeped in grim folklore. He also painted, mainly nature and landscapes.

Emanuel Büchel completed his apprenticeship with a master baker in Basel in 1723. He then set out on a journeyman’s journey, and upon his return in 1726, he applied for membership in the city’s bakers’ guild. In 1728, he applied for the position of gatekeeper to the Steinentor. He married Susanna Felber in 1726.

Self Portrait

In 1773 he was assigned the task of copying the dance of death in Basel, a huge honor for an artist. At that time he was 68 and he died 2 years later at 70, 24 September in 1775. The question his legend asks though, did he truly die on that day though?

Legend insists that poor Büchel was buried alive, mistaken for dead in an era when death’s finality could sometimes be tragically premature. On long, hushed nights, visitors claim to hear his ghost moaning, wheezing, and rustling beneath the cloister’s stones, a soul forever reliving the terror of suffocation in his tomb.

The Malevolent Shade of Master Tailor Schnyyder Hagenbach

But if Büchel is a sorrowful spirit, Master Tailor Schnyyder Hagenbach is an entirely different creature of the night. Even in life, the tailor was, by all accounts, an unpleasant man. It was said he was cruel to his family, dishonest in business, and feared by neighbors. It comes as little surprise, then, that his spirit would choose to linger in malevolence.

The Cloister Cemetery: The cloister of Basel Minster consists of a small and a large cloister. Numerous epitaphs (grave and memorial monuments) are attached to their walls.

For generations, tales have spoken of an invisible, vindictive specter haunting the cathedral cloister. Passersby walking the dim, ancient pathways have felt sudden, icy slaps on their faces or hands, delivered by unseen forces. Locals blame Hagenbach’s ghost, a being said to emerge not at the witching hour, but as early as dusk, prowling the arcades in search of fresh victims to torment.

His ghost, it’s said, lashes out without warning — a sudden blow accompanied by mocking laughter, leaving the victim shaken, their skin cold where the invisible hand landed.

A Living Monument to Basel’s Darker Past

The Double Cloister stands as both a treasured historical site and a place of uneasy quiet. Its arched walkways and sun-dappled courtyards are beautiful by day, but at night, the air thickens with something ancient, something watching.

A cemetery masquerading as a courtyard, a sanctum where moaning spirits and unseen hands remind the living of the unforgiving past.

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References:

Emanuel Büchel – Personenlexikon BL

Spuk und Geister im alten Basel

Happy Halloween! 🎃 Ein Streifzug durch Basels grusligste Orte — Bajour

Basler Phänomene: Spuk, Phantome, Poltergeister | barfi.ch

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The Haunted Secrets of Manoa Chinese Cemetery

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The Manoa Chinese Cemetery houses many of the Chinese immigrants who went looking for work and a new life on the Hawaiian islands. But what happens when the ghosts of these people want to go home?

Sitting on a knoll of the slopes of the Manoa Valley, the Manoa Chinese Cemetery was established in the late 1800s as a final resting place for Chinese immigrants who made Hawaii their home. Around 10 000 burials have taken place within the low rock wall since it was founded in 1852 by Lin Yee Chung and is the largest and oldest Chinese cemetery on the Hawaiian Islands. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from the USA

Though the Manoa Chinese Cemetery appears serene, with its rows of aged tombstones and peaceful surroundings, this cemetery has earned a reputation for paranormal activity that sends chills down the spines of even the bravest souls.

The Manoa Chinese Cemetery: Source: Flickr

The Burned-Out Tree: A Portal for Spirits?

At the heart of the cemetery stands a burned-out tree, its charred branches reaching into the sky like skeletal fingers. Locals whisper that this tree is far more than it seems—many believe it serves as a portal between the worlds of the living and the dead and nothing in the center of the tree will grow. 

Some have reported witnessing eerie fireballs shooting from the tree, dancing and flickering in the night air. Others claim the tree groans and creaks as if alive, its scorched trunk a doorway for wandering spirits.

On certain nights, especially when the mist rolls in from the valley, the air around the tree grows thick with an unsettling energy. Those who dare to approach it often feel a sudden drop in temperature, hear whispering voices carried on the wind, or feel an inexplicable force pushing them away or even pulling them in. Visitors have been known to flee in terror after sensing an unseen presence lurking just beyond the shadows.

Ghostly Sounds and Mysterious Figures at the Manoa Chinese Cemetery

The sounds of children singing, soft and distant, have been heard echoing among the graves at the Manoa Chinese Cemetery—despite no children being present. These spectral voices seem to come and go, as if playing a ghostly game of hide-and-seek, leaving those who hear them wondering whether they’re caught between worlds.

There is also said to be the sound of children laughing as if they are playing or even infants crying in the night.

Manoa Chinese Cemetery: The oldest and largest Chinese cemetery on the Hawaiian islands, on March 5, 2024. The historic cemetery is nestled on the interior slopes of Mānoa Valley, an amphitheater shaped valley in Honolulu on the island of O‘ahu. // Source: Wiki

Then there is the figure of a Chinese woman, seen by many, who appears at the foot of certain graves, kneeling in prayer. Her form is ethereal, almost translucent, and she wears a traditional Chinese dress. Witnesses have tried to approach her, only to see her fade away before their eyes, like smoke on the wind. Some believe she is a grieving mother or wife, forever tending to her loved ones, her spirit unable to find peace.

The Story about Lee Chew

There is also the story about a Chinese Man named Lee Chew haunting the Manoa Chinese Cemetery. According to the story he died in 1924. The family always planned to take his remains back to China, his homeland for a proper burial. The years went by and World War Two happened and the family kept his remains in a suitcase in the cemetery. 

The years went by, and in the end, the wife of the grandson of Lee Chew received a message after she had met up with a friend. Teddie Ching started to investigate it and went to a temple to have a prayer for him. When asked the spirit said he would bring disaster over the family if they kept him in the suitcase. According to the priest, he wanted to stay in the temple. 

They brought his remains to the temple where they cremated the bones on an auspicious day. Have a look at how Teddie Ching told the story to PBS Hawaii. 

The Orange Orbs Around the Manoa Chinese Cemetery

There are many strange things left in the cemetery. According to some, workers mark haunted spots by polls and the like where it is said electric equipment and such doesn’t work. They mark the place so they know where to stay away. 

Another strange thing said to appear in the cemetery is the sightings of strange orange orbs floating among the tombstones. Some say this is akua lele, a flying god bringing death and bad luck. 

Have a look at what the Honolulu Police Departments experienced:

A Playground for the Paranormal

The Manoa Chinese Cemetery is not merely a collection of tombstones; it is a playground for the paranormal, a place where the boundary between life and death seems to blur. Those who visit it at night often come away with more than just shivers; they leave with stories of strange encounters and unexplainable phenomena that stay with them for years.

For those who dare to wander through its gates, the cemetery offers a chilling glimpse into the unknown—a place where ancient spirits linger and where every shadow seems to hide a secret. Be warned: if you decide to visit this haunted site, you may not walk away alone. The spirits of Manoa may just decide to follow you home.

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References:

Haunted Honolulu: These Are The Creepiest Places In Oahu 

Manoa Chinese Cemetery – Historic Hawaii Foundation 

The Haunted Manoa Chinese Cemetery – FrightFind

https://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Oct/31/il/il01a.html

Hawaii — The Real The Surreal — `Chicken Skin’ Experiences — Ancient Spirits Live On In Beliefs, Traditions | The Seattle Times

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The Haunting of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery: Chicago’s Most Infamous Graveyard

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Blue lights twinkling between the graves, ghostly figures and even phantom houses appearing and disappearing are only some of the ghost stories from Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery. What really happened to this abandoned cemetery? 

Hidden deep within the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve, about twenty-four miles southwest of Chicago, lies Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery—a place that has gained infamy as one of the most haunted locations in the Midwest. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from USA

Time and nature have overtaken this once-respectable burial ground. A murky quarry is next to it and trash is thrown on the ground. Next to the gravestone of a couple of infants are small toys littered next to it. Something else lurks in its overgrown paths and broken headstones. For decades, visitors have reported eerie encounters, strange lights, ghostly apparitions, and even brushes with the spirits of the long-departed.

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery: A group of monuments on southeast quadrant. The cemetery is now abandoned and only ghost stories live on in this place. // Source

A Cemetery with a Dark Past

Established in the early 1830s or 40s, Bachelor’s Grove is the oldest cemetery in Cook County, Illinois. The first burial was that of Eliza Scott in November 1844. Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery housed the Scottish, English and Irish immigrants that came in the 1820s. The name comes from both the Batchelder family who used to live there as well as a group of unmarried men calling themselves the Bachelors. 

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery was once a peaceful final resting place for early settlers, but as the years passed, it became the target of vandalism, decay, and something far more sinister. 

By the Prohibition era of the 1920s and 1930s, the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery had reportedly become a dumping ground for Chicago’s notorious organized crime syndicates. Rumors persist that the mob used the nearby lagoon as a watery grave for those who had crossed them, their bodies weighted down and left to disappear beneath the murky depths.

Aside from the rumors of being a dumping ground for the mafia, it was said to be a peaceful place until the 1950s when the Midlothian Turnpike was rerouted and left the grove far away from everything. Teenagers started using Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery as a lover’s lane, a place to drink and party and ghost stories and fantastical legends took hold. 

Today, most of the eighty graves are unmarked due to rampant vandalism, the headstones either stolen or toppled over, and the grounds left in disrepair. Some of the coffins were even dug up and robbed. But while many of the gravestones are gone, the spirits remain.

Encounters with the Supernatural

Since the 1960s, countless visitors, ghost hunters, and paranormal investigators have reported chilling experiences at Bachelor’s Grove. Some claim to hear whispers carried on the wind, see floating orbs of light in blue or red, or experience an overwhelming sense of dread. 

On the entrance there is a large black and tan dog sitting or running down a path. People realize it’s a ghost first when the Others have reported near-collisions with phantom vehicles that appear out of nowhere on the nearby roads, only to vanish without a trace.

The Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove

Among the spirits said to roam the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, none are as well-known as the “Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove.” This spectral woman, dressed in a flowing white gown, is often seen wandering the grounds, cradling an infant in her arms. Many believe she is the spirit of a grieving mother, doomed to wander the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery in search of her lost child. The legend claims that she is seeking something, or perhaps someone, although no one knows what. 

Her story got known when a group of investigators explored the cemetery in 1979 and apparently took a photograph of her in a hooded robe with her baby cradled in her arms. Later it seems the Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove attire changed from story to story, wore only a white dress and had no baby. 

The Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove: This picture of what appears to be a ghost sitting on a grave in Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery became quite famous after it was taken in 1991 by Judy Felz, and so did the legend of the Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove.

In 1991, a famous photograph taken by Judy Felz from the Ghost Research Society captured what appears to be a semi-transparent woman in period clothing sitting on a broken headstone. The infrared image remains one of the most popular pieces of paranormal evidence associated with the cemetery.

But who was the Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove?

There have been many speculations about who the woman in the graveyard could have been. For a long time they believed she could have been Luella Rogers because of the stone placement as she was the one buried next to the headstone just marked: “Infant Daughter” in number 15. But over the years the “Infant Daughter” stone has been moved and is actually on top of another woman. 

Infant Daughter: A lot of the details of the haunting of Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery is connected to this tombstone. Source

The “Infant Daughter” headstones actually belong to the daughter of Bertand Fulton and Kathryn Vogt. Could this be the origin of the ghost? Or could it be someone else?

Could Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove possibly be Amelia Patrick Humphrey? Amelia was the first wife of Senator John Humphrey of Orland Park, a prominent politician from the mid 1800’s. Their third child Libby May died when she was only 11 months and 6 days and buried in the Patrick family lot (#44) in Bachelors Grove. Could this be the mother then, who is eternally visiting her young daughter’s grave?

The Phantom House Appearing in the Mist

One of the stranger legends from Bachelor’s Grove is the story about the disappearing house. It is said to be a white one-story Victorian house. On the porch there is a swing and a picket fence encircles it. When people claim to see it, they describe it more transparently. In the windows there is a flickering yellow light, as if a candle is lit. 

Many people have come back from the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, talking about a house they were unable to find again. Many have sketched the same type of house from the legend, claiming they had never heard about the stories from this place. 

A mist is often closing in on the house as well, and one story even claims that a line of people were waiting by the front door. When people try to approach it, they say that it shrinks and when you get close enough, it simply vanishes. 

What or where the legend comes from is uncertain, but the story goes that if you actually are able to reach it, you will never be able to return. 

But did a house even exist in this area? Some claim that there was nothing of the sorts built on this land, but maps from so long ago are not the most reliable. According to different maps there used to be around four homes and other structures close to the cemetery. There are pictures however that have resurfaced with buildings from the early 1900s looking like they used to be there, one of them is even said to really look like the descriptions of the story. 

The Phantom House: The photograph, which was provided by ancestors of the Schmidt family who used to own the property surrounding the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery found a picture from 1914. Source

The Murdering Caretaker Following You

The most commonly told version of the Caretaker the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery caretaker and his family living in a house in the woods. The house is said to be located a short distance west of what is now the roped-off entrance to the main path leading to the cemetery off of 143rd Street, across from the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve parking lot. This path is also known as a portion of the Midlothian Turnpike that was unofficially closed to vehicle traffic in the 1960s, with the official closure occurring in 1977.

All is normal with him and his family until one day out of nowhere he becomes enraged and kills his entire family. It is said that he was overcome with “evil spirits” that told him to kill his family. After he realized what he had done, he took his own life. At some point down the timeline of the story the townspeople burn down the caretaker’s house to erase all memory of this tragic story.

Now, people encounter him walking around the cemetery grounds, often with an oil lamp in his hand, telling people to leave the place. If they don’t listen to him, he is following them on the trail, the light shining behind them before he suddenly vanishes. 

The killing is said to have happened in the 70s, but there is no proof for this. In fact, the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery never had a caretaker at all. Still, there are plenty of people claiming to have encountered him over the years.

The Hook Man Legend Comes to Bachelor’s Grove

Another well-known story in the area is about a stranded couple, a local version of the Hook Man legend. It tells of a young couple who park by Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery. When they decide to leave, the boyfriend finds the car won’t start due to being out of gas or a stalled engine. He tells the girl to stay in the car while he goes to get help. While waiting, she hears a scratching noise on the roof that continues for a while. Curious but frightened, she remains in the car. Eventually, she sees blue lights and a siren behind her. An officer approaches, opens her door, and urgently instructs her not to turn around. Overcome with curiosity, she looks back and sees her boyfriend hanging from a tree above the car, his throat slit, his fingers barely touching the roof, scratching it. This horrific sight drives the girl into madness.

Read More: The Hook-Man

Now, this is a common story, but it gained new interest when a policeman shared it as real during an interview. In Halloween 2012, a group of paranormal researchers met a retired Bridgeview police officer who claimed to have seen official police reports of the incident. He mentioned baby-sized footprints on the roof of the car and stated that the murdered boy’s girlfriend was in a mental institution in Tinley Park. He spoke strongly about the report’s existence and the truth of the story, but later he recanted and stopped further communication, making it difficult to distinguish between tale and fact.

Disappearing Cars of the Cemetery

It’s not only houses and people that disappear into the night at Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, but cars as well. A legend that really took off in the 1970’s was the stories told about the disappearing cars. According to these stories, drivers would pass the desolated roads by the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery. According to them, they kept seeing a car pulled over on the side of the Midlothian Turnpike close to the cemetery. Although what type of car it was, changes from each retelling, although most often described as an older looking car, perhaps from the 40’s or even older. But when they went to double check in their rearview mirror, there was no car there anymore. 

Some stories even said that night drivers ended up colliding with these phantom cars. A couple was at the corner of Central Avenue and Midlothian Turnpike. Checking in both directions, they saw it was all clear and made the turn. Out of nowhere, a “speeding brown sedan” as it’s often described as came hurling in the direction of the cemetery. The car crashed into the couple and they could feel the impact, hear the glass shattering and the metal crunching. 

When they exited the car, the brown car simply faded away, and when they looked at their own car, it didn’t even have a scratch. 

Although a popular story to tell about the place at the time, it seems like the legend of the phantom cars is not the most told anymore. 

The Farmer and Horse in the Pond

Right next to the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery there is a little pond that is also said to be haunted. The story is that in 1870 there was a farmer plowing in a nearby field. His horse became startled and set off. The farmer, tangled in the reins, was dragged with the horse who jumped into the pond. Both drowned as the weight of the metal plow was so heavy it dragged the both to the bottom. 

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery Pond

It is said that the farmer and the horse can be seen on the surface of the pond as well as appearing on 143rd Street right behind the cemetery.

But did this really happen though? According to historians it couldn’t have been in 1870 at least, as the pond didn’t even exist until after 1900. Was it another pond further away from the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery? Another year? Did it happen at all?

The Lingering Spirits of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery

From shadowy figures darting between the trees to ghostly apparitions of monks, mobsters, and misty forms hovering above graves, the spirits of Bachelor’s Grove refuse to be forgotten. Paranormal investigators continue to explore the site, capturing electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) and anomalous readings, adding to the growing legend of this haunted graveyard.

For those brave enough to visit, Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery offers more than just a glimpse into Chicago’s past— But you must visit Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery at day. From sunset to sunrise the cemetery is closed off and patrolled. To keep teenagers and those up to mischief out? Or to keep something in?

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References:

https://ghostcitytours.com/chicago/haunted-chicago/bachelors-grove-cemetery/?srsltid=AfmBOorXbVu_5zyztGjWIJEUc4BdZtMxntgIwigGn-MjKkLgXhax1DWL

Bachelors Grove Cemetery & Settlement Research Center – Paranormal History

Most Haunted Places in The World – The Path To Bachelors Grove : Other

Bachelors Grove Cemetery | Chicago’s Graveyard with Ghosts

Madonna of Bachelors Grove 

Disappearing House 

Caretaker 

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The Cemetery for the Nameless

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In an old cemetery in Vienna for the victims of the Donau river, these nameless dead ones rest in one of the most haunted places in Friedhof der Namenlosen. 

Tourism in graveyards is not an uncommon thing. Most people seek out the gravestones of famous names we still remember. And in Vienna, tourists seek out names like Beethoven, Brahm and Strauss. But there is a place to visit for those who bear no name on their black iron crosses. The inscription says only Namenlos (nameless). Because in the Friedhof Der Namenlosen, the cemetery of the nameless, the people put in the ground there have no names. 

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It is frequently cited as one of the more haunted places in Europe, which is saying a lot and several paranormal investigators insist that the place is indeed haunted. However, the story behind the cemetery is more than not a sad one rather than a scary one. 

The Drowned in Danube

Namenlos: The crosses in this cemetery bare no names and the graves are marked with ‘Nameless’.//Photo: Rokun

Hidden away from the classy and timeless city of Vienna, an industrial site with Silos and warehouses surrounding the place, there is a graveyard of the victims claimed by the Danube river that bares no name, and those killed by their own hand and therefore turned away from the catholic burial grounds like the Vienna’s Central Cemetery, Zentralfriedhof. 

The cemetery opened in 1840 to be a place for the dead that had no family claiming their bodies to give them a final resting place. Before building around the river changed its current, drowned people used to wash ashore near this cemetery. Up until 1900, no less than 478 nameless bodies were buried in this place. Most drowned in the Danube or by suicide. 

Today, the nameless are buried together with the people in the Central Cemetery, but the graves that are already there are taken care of and remembered. Tourists and passersby leave small gifts and flowers for the graves that would otherwise be left alone with no family and friends  to visit them. 

Remembering the Nameless

Every year on All Saint’s Day there is a small ceremony by the local fishermen to the unknown dead. They float a raft down the Danube, decorated with flowers, wreaths and with a commemorative writing both in German, Hungarian and Slovak. 

The raft drifts down the river to bands playing and follows the current of the river, just like the nameless first came to the place. And on the raft it is written with a request to gently push the raft onwards if it gets stuck on the riverbank.

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References

Featured Image: Wikimedia/HeinzLW (Cropped)

Friedhof der Namenlosen: Die Toten, die die Donau freigab

Cemetery of the Nameless – Vienna, Austria – Atlas Obscura

Cemetery of the Nameless

der friedhof der namenlosen | story.one

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The Mausoleum of Rufina Cambacérès at Recoleta Cemetery — Buried Alive

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Marble mausoleums, famous people and haunted graves with excellent architecture. The city of Buenos Aires got more to offer than tango and good food. And in the old Recoleta Cemetery there are stories that those buried there is haunting the place. One of them is the grave of Rufina Cambacérès who were buried alive.

In the wonderful cemetery of Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, the most prominent of Argentina’s dead is laid to rest. Graves of famous people like Eva Peron, Nobel Prize winners, grandchildren of Naloleón Bonaparte and those who served as presidents have graves you can visit.

Walking through Recoleta Cemetery is an architectural wandering among the marble mausoleums with art-deco, neo-classical and neo-gothic architecture in the tombs to enjoy looking at and wondering the story of those inside.

The Recoleta Cemetery is more like a city of graves with narrow streets and cobbled ground, almost like the most quiet neighbourhood in Buenos Aires. Although the inhabitants of this city is no longer alive and the only ones roaming here are their ghosts.

Read Also: Check out all of our ghost stories around haunted cemeteries from around the world.

There are also those graves found in the Recoleta Cemetery that people got to know of the person resting there, only after the death. 

Rufina Cambacérès: The Girl who Died Twice

Buried Alive: Portrait of Rufina Cambacérès that is now buried in the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. Photo: Source

This is the case of Rufina Cambacérès, a girl that barely reached the age of nineteen before she tragically died, twice. Although she was a well known socialite in Buenos Aires at the turn of the 1900s when she was alive, it is her death she is remembered for today and is one of the buried in The Recoleta Cemetery. Although her burial was anything but peaceful.

Rufina Cambacérès’ family rose to the upper class of society in Buenos Aires from the money they made from cattle farming in Argentina. Her father, Eugenio Cambacérès was originally from France and a sort of famous writer in the country at the time.

Her father died of tuberculosis however when Rufina was only four, giving a precedent of premature deaths in the family, like the one Rufina herself would soon suffer from. 

A Temporary Death

In 1902 Rufina died for the first time in her life. Her death happened on her birthday no less. On her 19th birthday to be exact on May 31st. Her mother threw a party at their lavish house in Buenos Aires and they were all supposed to go to Teatro Colón to see a show or the opera.

Rufina Cambacérès retreated to her bedroom before they went out. She was getting ready in her bedroom for the night when something felt off. Perhaps she didn’t even get a chance to realize what was happening. She suddenly collapsed on the floor and was deemed to be dead for everyone around, even her doctors.

The reason of death the doctors gave was by catalepsy, a classical diagnosis that they have given those who were buried alive in history, especially the dramatic temporarily deaths from literature. This is the same death that Juliet was given temporarily by the poison, and in Edgar Allen Poe’s writing: ‘A Premature Burial’, also beginning with a false death that ends in a true death in the coffin.

Catalepsy: Is a strange disorder from from Ancient Greek meaning “seizing, grasping”. It really is a nervous condition characterized by muscular rigidity and fixity of posture regardless of external stimuli, as well as decreased sensitivity to pain. It has been today linked to epilepsy, parkinson or drug related.

Being declared dead before your time was not unheard of during those time at all and there are many examples of it throughout time. Sadly, Rufina became a part of this tragic statistic and before anyone could prove any different, she was buried, and first after her burial, she died. 

Read Also: For more ghost stories of those buried alive, check out The Buried Alive Ghosts of Château de Trécesson in the Enchanted Forest, O-shizu, Hitobashira — The Human Sacrifice of Maruoka Castle, The Mistletoe Bough – The Bride in the Chest, The Finnish Maiden of Olavinlinna Castle and The Evil Bishop Against the Maiden in Love – The Ghost of Haapsalu Castle.

Buried in Recoleta Cemetery

No less than three doctors pronounced her dead before she was put in a coffin and preparation for her birthday changed into preparing for her funeral. She was placed in her extravagant final resting place in the mausoleum already the next day in la Recoleta Cemetery. This seems extremely quick as there usually is held a wake to prevent people from being buried alive, and they really should have kept to the old customs before rushing her funeral.

Read also: The Poltergeist of Greyfriars Kirkyard or The Joelma Building and the Ghosts of the 13 Souls for more cemeteries that are supposedly haunted.

According to legend, she woke up in the coffin, dark and she was all alone far from her bedroom she was getting ready to go party. No one could hear her screams from outside the huge mausoleum that now was her prison. She tried to break free from her tomb she suddenly found herself in, trying to scratch herself out with her bare hands. The luxurious and sturdy coffin was sealed shut though and she had no chance of breaking free from it with her bear hands.

She was stuck inside as the air was slowly fading away. She must have lasted for a couple of days perhaps before eventually suffocating to death. For real this time. 

Recoleta Cemetery: a massive cemetery that houses many famous people like Eva Peron. The supposed haunted cemetery in Buenos Aires has also been hailed as the best cemetery by BBC in 2011, whatever that entails. It is known for looking almost like a little city within the city with streets and doors to the many mausoleums.

A cemetery worker allegedly noticed the lid of her casket was broken a few days later when he was around checking the many graves. The fact her grave was disturbed could also be attributed to robbers, since she was very likely to have been buried with her expensive jewelry because of her high status and riches.

But not according to those subscribing to the more macabre version, it was worse, it was the signs of her trying to escape from the coffin when she awoke from her shallow death and took one last shot at living. 

The Final Death of Rufina Cambacérès

Another legend tells that Rufina even managed to get out of the casket and ran through the cemetery at night. She managed to get to the gates, but there she died of a heart attack from the fright and had to be put back inside the coffin. 

More rumors about why she collapsed in the first place have been told throughout the years, creating more drama leading up to her collapsing. Among other things, her friend supposedly told her a secret so gruesome that it knocked her out so hard that they thought she was dead. According to her friend, the boyfriend Rufina was seeing was also together with Rufinas mother, or even worse, his own. A true scandal for a Tela Novela and would certainly send everyone into a shock. 

No matter the origin of the story and what really happened that day before going to the opera, the statue outside the mausoleum is solemn enough to create a number of haunted rumours as the statue really looks like she is trying to escape.

The Haunted Mausoleum: The mausoleum of the young girl Rufina Cambacérès, completed with a statue, representing her, with her hand on the door, her eyes looking, almost with a longing look, away from her tomb in Recoleta Cemetery.
Photo: Source: Tim Adams

Her family spared no expense on her mausoleum and Rufina Cambacérès final resting place is the only mausoleum made of marble from Milan and is decorated with beautiful ornaments. The young girl, supposed to be the young girl with one of her hands on the door, almost escaping, never able to see her 20th birthday or the exit of la Recoleta Cemetery.

According to some, the ghost of Rufina Cambacérès can still be seen roaming in the Recoleta Cemetery, still trying to get out of her shallow death.

Read Also: Another haunted cemetery with a strange Mausoleum is found in the story of Paris’ Haunted Père Lachaise Cemetery

So many legends surround the cemetery to this day like we find in Recoleta Cemetery. Among some of the ghosts supposed to haunt the place, is a cemetery worker, destined to linger in this place forever, as well as a woman in white, roaming the place. Perhaps trying to get out? 

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References

008. rufina cambacérès ◊ – AfterLife 

The Tomb of Rufina Cambacérès – Buenos Aires, Argentina 

Catalepsy

The girl who died twice and other secrets of Argentina’s La Recoleta cemetery