Vale Cemetery

On Friday the 13th, I visited Vale Cemetery. People from different classes, color - all walks of life really - are laid to rest in this 100 acre land. The one thing the 33,000 people here have in common, is they're buried in the soil of this cemetery.

The sign in the picture to the left really says it all. This land has a lot of history, becoming an official cemetery in 1857, the first buried here was a four year old child. I came here because of such history, with whispers of hauntings in the land, bleeding gravestones, headless statues - I discovered there was some truth to these rumors I heard.

Every statue in this enormous cemetery had at least one body part missing. The most notable were the headless ones. They stood tall and proud, but had no face anymore. So much love were made into these statues, to stand and watch over the dead, but vandals ruined this. It just added an overarching sadness to the cemetery seeing the decrepit figures.

There were also at least half a dozen mausoleums throughout. Made for elites and families, the most despairing one I saw when looking through the cracks of the doors was a memorial for a one year old child. It was laid next to its mother's and father's memories as well. The mausoleum was dedicated to that family, and it was a dismal site to see.

I did mention there were some elites here, and I'm not lying. I saw countless Freemason symbols on a variety of graves. It was shocking to see - it's hard to wrap my head around such a secret society being so prevalent. It's also worth noting, that wherever I saw a Freemason symbol, no matter how old the grave, the stone it was on was not touched by vandals and in strong condition. Some of the older gravestones with age contradicted the ones with the society's symbol on it because they were worn out, while the Freemason ones of the same age would be in peak condition.

This was the first gravestone I saw that looked like it was bleeding. It was actually amazing to see the moss grow in such a way, with such a distinct color, that it looked like red blood spilling from the gravestone.

Here's just a photo of a multitude of graves. It's hard to show just how big this place was, but this was only a minuscule portion from the rest of the cemetery. You can also see many big trees planted. When originally being made, thousands of trees were planted, all of different kinds. The cemetery was originally built outside of Schenectady, it was out of the way and in nature so people would come and have picnics here, almost as if it was a park. As the years went on, Schenectady grew and developed around it.

Armless grey statues.

A glowing, green statue of Mother Mary stood high on a pedestal here. It was so high that I believe it kept away the vandals. She was the only statue I saw in such pristine condition. Even the vandals willing to disrespect the dead by decapitating the other statues thought it best to leave Mary alone.

A headless woman stood next to this bench that was hidden under a multitude of trees. She held roses at her right side. It was a romantic, yet eerie, scene. 

This was another statue with a green tint to it. This one may have not had any body parts missing from it as well. Perhaps the vandals thought it'd be better not to mess with an angel overlooking this dead.

Another gravestone that looked like it was bleeding. I was perplexed that the moss grew in such a distinct way. It added a spooky aura to the graveyard experience.

I did not, and still do not, know what this was. It may have been another mausoleum, or it could have been a shed of some sorts. It looks extremely old, with the rough stone, climbing vines on the sides, and faded color. The style was unique compared to everything else there, but there was no information on what it was anywhere on this mysterious building.

The top statue here is missing its hand. This gravestone actually intrigued me immensely as most on the stone is in German.

A very high up statue looked down on me here. It was a simple figure, nothing extravagant like Mary or an angel, but I felt its eyes on me as I walked underneath.

A praying child sat on this stand. It almost looked like the figure was praying over all the souls from the land, asking God for their souls to make it up to Heaven, but it's hard to say what the praying child's purpose truly is.

I caught an orb in this photo, it's in the bottom right corner. I took this photo trying to capture a good shot of the dark, metal fence here that was surrounding a multitude of one family's graves. Whether you believe it's supernatural or not, it is quite the coincident to catch the lighting in such a specific way. I did not see this in the photo when I originally took it.

Another handless statue right above this, then a headless one below. It broke my heard to see such distorted figures. I don't know who would want to ruin something that meant so much to the family members who laid their loved ones to rest here, but I can only hope those troubled enough to ruin such beautiful figures are able to find peace in their own hearts.

This set of graves was actually inside of a circle. I believe the main, center gravestone was a memorial to the whole family, and the smaller gravestones on the side represented each, individual family member. You can also see the middle grave has the bleeding look to it too. Strange moss, isn't it?

This was by far the creepiest part. There were various graves under a circle of trees. It was almost as if the trees were planted specifically to put these graves inside of them, sheltering them in a way. The main headstone in the middle says "Some Are Fallen Asleep." Then there's a tiny doll, sitting on the steps. It was a strange, depressing sight. I'm glad the trees were here though, they seemed to be protecting the many memorials inside.

Vale Cemetery had a sinister vibe to it. Graveyards themselves can be sad to explore, but this one had many factors leading to a more disturbing aura. The headless statues had to be one of the most frightening sights. Even though I knew it was caused by vandals, their distortion was saddening in an already sorrowful place. Next was the bleeding gravestones. The moss grew in such a unique was that it made it look like the headstones were bleeding. From the corner of my eyes they were. The last factor was my camera was acting up a lot in this place. Don't get me wrong, my camera has a bit of an age to it, but it's never messed up so much before. It kept turning off at random times and its functions were all out of whack. It has not messed up since Vale Cemetery. The land here has so much history. The rich memories that the loved ones have of the dead placed here is strong I'm sure. And there are still dead being placed here to this day. Some graves seemed ancient, with chipping stone and sunkissed, faded color. I couldn't even make out the names of most of the older graves there, they had been so exposed for such a long time that they were rubbed into the rest of the stone. Many were knocked down and broken, or cracked from age, some crumbling from the elements. The ones not yet deteriorating, the newer dead, were much fewer than the older. This place is worth going to and experiencing yourself. It's a beautiful, unique, ominous graveyard. Thousands of people's loved ones are at peace here, I hope their souls have moved on somewhere better.