Chains, Cigarettes, and a Possible Werewolf Buried in Kentucky

Why Scary Stories Stick With Us

Remember sitting around a campfire as a kid, swapping scary stories until everyone was too spooked to walk to the tent alone? For me, the scariest tales were always the ones that felt like they could be true. It's the same with movies. Slap "based on a true story" on the poster, and suddenly I'm sleeping with the hall light on. And honestly, every good urban legend probably has at least a teeny, tiny grain of truth buried in it somewhere. Stories have to start somewhere, right?

A friend recently clued me in to a local legend just across the river in Spottsville, near Henderson, Kentucky. It's been giving ghost hunters, history buffs, and big scaredy-cats like me the shivers for years. Let me introduce you to Agar's Grave.

The Man, the Myth, the Werewolf?

Here's how the story goes. A man named Agar (nobody seems to know his first name) had a habit of howling at the moon. He would bark and growl at people he met, and eventually some of the locals started wondering if he was more than just a little eccentric. Was he actually a werewolf? When Agar passed away, the townsfolk weren't taking any chances. They supposedly chained down his grave with silver, of course, to make sure he stayed put.

Rattling Chains and a Smoking Grave

Those chains are behind one of the two legends tied to the site. According to the Haunted History of Kentucky Facebook group, visitors have reported hearing chains rattle as they approach the grave.

The second legend might be my favorite. Agar must have been quite the smoker, because the story goes that if you stick a lit cigarette into the ground at his grave, you'll see it puff away from underneath, as if Agar himself is taking a drag.

Real Grave or Local Tall Tale

I bet you want to see if these urban legends are true, right? Well, I haven't been able to nail down a confirmed location for Agar's Grave, but the internet says it's rumored to be in Ridgewood Cemetery in Spottsville. Then again, a quick search also suggests the name "Agar" doesn't show up in official cemetery records. So, is it a real grave, a local tall tale, or something in between?

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I guess that's part of the fun of a good legend. If you're feeling brave, it makes for a great Halloween-season day trip from Southern Indiana. Just remember to be respectful, since it's a cemetery. And maybe leave the cigarettes at home!