Though cemeteries and historic properties are the traditional settings for ghost stories, spirits don’t limit themselves to old inns and graveyards. Frightening tales come from all sorts of unexpected places, including deep within the earth.
The Ghosts of Mammoth Cave
With nearly 400 miles of interconnected passages, Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world. Indigenous people discovered the cave 5,000 years ago, and today it’s one of North America’s oldest attractions. Thousands of tourists flock to Mammoth Cave National Park each year to marvel at the cave’s stunning formations and massive size. The natural wonder also has a reputation for being haunted.
During the War of 1812, miners extracted saltpeter from the cave to make gunpowder. Many slaves and workers died in these dangerous conditions. Are they behind the disembodied moans and shadowy figures visitors report today? Yet one of the most famous tales involves Floyd Collins, a celebrated explorer who died trying to discover a new entrance to the vast cave system.
The Tragic Tale of Floyd Collins
On January 30, 1925, a rock in what is now Sand Cave fell on Collin’s left leg, pinning him in a small passageway. Collins’ friends discovered his predicament the next day, and rescuers spent two weeks trying to reach him. The rescue attempt became a media sensation, but Floyd died three days before rescuers arrived.
Unable to remove the rock, rescuers left Floyd’s body in the cave and sealed off the shaft leading to his body. Homer Collins eventually recovered his brother’s corpse and buried it on the family property. Unfortunately, Floyd’s father sold the property two years later, and the new owner exhumed Floyd’s body and displayed it in a glass coffin for several years. In 1929, someone stole Collins’ body, though officials managed to recover the corpse. Floyd now rests in Jackson’s Flint Ridge Cemetery where he’ll hopefully remain undisturbed.
Floyd’s Ghost
Given Floyd’s terrifying death and corpse abuse, it’s hardly surprising that his spirit reportedly haunts Sand Cave. One story tells of screams and pleas coming from the now-sealed cavern. Another claims an unknown entity hurls decades- old whiskey bottles at people who come too close. A third tale, however, suggests Floyd is more helpful than harmful.
“A caver told me that she was near the spot where Floyd would go caving when she tripped and started to fall,” said Mammoth Cave tour guide, Colleen Olson. “Then she felt somebody grab her and pull her back, and of course she thought it was her caving partner. So she was about to say, ‘Thanks, Richard,’ thanking her pal, but he was way on the other side. So then, when she realized it wasn’t Richard, she said, ‘Thanks, Floyd.’”
Mammoth Cave’s Tuberculosis Hospital
Floyd’s spirit isn’t alone. In 1842, physician John Croghan established a tuberculosis hospital in Mammoth Cave, hoping the cave’s constant temperature and pure air would help patients recover. He built stone huts where tuberculosis-stricken people lived for months at a time. Yet the experiment was a tragic failure.
The damp, dark conditions actually made patients worse, and several died inside the cave. The hospital was abandoned after only a year, but rumors persist that patients’ spirits still wander around the stone huts. Today, park rangers refer call this area of the cave as “Consumption Junction.”
Is Mammoth Cave Haunted?
Whether or not you believe in paranormal activity, the stories from Mammoth Cave give visitors pause. The constant 54-degree temperature, the unnerving darkness, and the eerie echoes of dripping water create the perfect setting for ghostly encounters.
If you visit, stay alert. That unexpected cold spot or faint whisper might not be your imagination. And if a steadying hand prevents you from stumbling in the darkness… well, you might want to say, “Thanks, Floyd.”
