Bored in our hotel while in State College, Pennsylvania, we found a tourist guide and glanced at the “Haunted Places” article written for the Halloween season. One place in particular caught our attention: Egg Hill Church and there was a gruesome legend attached to it. The legend states the minister of the church went crazy one day and poisoned his whole congregation, went to the basement and beheaded the Sunday school children and then buried them all out back in the churchyard. Another part of the legend states the reverend then hung himself in the bell tower.
The church, built in 1860, sleeps on Egg Hill Road, a winding, one lane dirt road that makes you forget the world is a crowded place. Our GPS guided us into the backwoods area of Pennsylvania. The “creepy factor” of Egg Hill Church is high, so it’s no wonder that throughout the years, it acquired an even creepier urban legend and has been subject to vandalism over time.
According to a little blurb I found on the Internet, some students from nearby Penn State University took the original church bell on a dare. They were caught and as punishment, forced to place the bell back where it belonged. The property is a historic burial ground in Pennsylvania and if people are caught vandalizing it, the penalties are quite stiff.
Our first impression of the church as it loomed into view was, whoa…that’s creepy looking. A small, old cemetery sat to the right of the church. Some of the people buried there had been born in the 1700’s and the last interment was 2005.
We wandered around the cemetery, glancing down at the stone reminders of people, reading old inscriptions and taking pictures. You can’t enter the church, but there was a little opening in one of the old wooden shutters where I could glance in and see the old pews inside. The church is still opened a few times during the year and the occasional wedding takes place at the rustic location. Did the heinous story associated with the church ever take place? Most likely no and there’s no history to prove such a tale. But like anything creepy, a legend always comes with it. It’s a package deal.
Have you been to Egg Hill? Write us and share your experience!