The Screaming Dead

Approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, Ohio and situated at the fork in the Licking River there is a town called Newark.  With a population of 47,500, Newark is by no means a large city, but it has still grown beyond the size where every action of one of its citizens becomes the knowledge of the community as a whole.  Like all Midwest towns, Newark has its basket of locals who went on to gain some modicum of celebrity; including the likes of horror author, Gary A. Braunbeck and Edward James Roye, the president of Liberia from (1870-1871).  (The authors of this article would be remiss not to mention Kara Wetzel, who is described in Wikipedia as “The oldest of rapper Lil’ Waynes’ illegitimate children’s ‘baby mamas.’” )

Another characteristic of Newark that it likely shares with towns across the United States is its several haunted locations that have created both local and, in some cases, national prominence.   These include the widely known Newark Earthworks, which once contained the largest earthen enclosures in the world, as well as, what every town cannot go without, a high school that is haunted by the ghost of a janitor who accidentally hung himself.  Though these will likely be topics of future articles, this and forthcoming articles will focus on the Cedar Hills Cemetery. 

Thanks to a Perpetual Care Fund, Cedar Hill Cemetery has successfully endured since 1850.  As a chartered division of the City of Newark, it is the largest municipal cemetery in central Ohio.  When considering ghostly matters, it is not the entire location that is of interest. 

If one drives through the gates leading into the 113 acre cemetery, follows the road furthest to the right and continues into the rolling hills that contain a small number of the 36,000 who have been laid to rest there, he or she will find themselves at the Baker Mausoleum. 

Likely due to its worn appearance, with collapsed columns along its side and the statue of a weeping woman perched near the door, the mausoleum has been nicknamed The Asylum.  Nine members of the Baker Clan have been interned within the mausoleum.   The youngest of which, Annie Dickinson Baker, was only three days old.  Her name was accompanied by the inscription, “Our Little Lady.” 

Next to the mausoleum are a series of headstones that, due to the names and the manner in which they are positioned, appear to have been of some relation to the Bakers.   As legend goes, if a person puts their ear up to the mausoleum, he or she will be treated with the sound of a woman screaming.  The intent of future articles will, of course, be to determine whether any “event” can be experienced at this site.  More importantly, however, the building of the mausoleum and those interned there will be further researched to see whether there is a more detailed “story” that led to this legend, or if it is simply the product of a haunting physical appearance and location that invites the promulgation of such stories.


Now, if you ask "The Materialist" of this dynamic duo, he will bet that the screaming is a combination of an active imagination and the sounds of cars driving nearby reverberating through the concrete.  He is, however, hoping like hell (which he, of course, does not believe to exist) to be proven wrong.  Now, as for "The Believer," she is quite open to the possibility that this is nothing more than a small town legend, for she is sensible and does not believe in all that is presented to her.  She is, however, very open to the possibility that something that is not understood has left a slight crack in the ether that is just large enough to allow for the escape of sorrowful, tortured screams.


We shall see...stay tuned!