Perryville’s history is as far from ordinary as a small town can get. With a history dating all the way back to 1781, it has been a site of trade, and most notably, the site of the bloodiest civil war battle in Kentucky, the Battle of Perryville. This small town has experienced it all, from floods to blizzards to war. Yet, despite its population of roughly 700, it said to be one, if not the most haunted town in Kentucky.

Driving west from Danville, I met up with my two friends, Kensie and Katie, both grew up in the area and were eager to show me around. Heading into the town you would hardly assume it was called a town let alone one with the popularity it has for history buffs and ghost hunters alike.

The first stop on our tour was the Perryville Cemetery, site of the Confederate army’s graves along with some dating back to the beginning of the town and as present as this month. We didn’t stay for long or take any pictures, mostly out of respect of the families who have loved ones buried there recently, but we did see the monument erected to the Americans who fought on both sides of the Civil war.

Although we didn’t stay long, I got a taste of what the night would have in store for us. As we were climbing back into the car, I saw someone run behind a bush. I shone my light on the bush to reveal no one behind it or around us in the expansive necropolis. Just a world class hide-and-go-seek champion or something else? We will never know.

Driving towards the center of town, we came to the site of the Perryville walking bridge. Although reconstructed within the last couple decades, it stands in the same spot as the very bridge the Confederate army and the Union army fought for hours to gain control of. During the day the bridge is the site of perfect prom pictures during the spring, but, at night the bridge does feel a little ominous.

Upon reaching the bridge Kensie mentions something she used to do all the time in high school, pendulums. Basically, you dangle a pendant or some kind of weight from a necklace or string, after sating “give me my yes.” and observe what direction the pendant swings, you ask “give me my no.” While I was skeptical because of the potential human error, the slight muscle twitch, the gust of wind, my opinion was changed later on. Kensie tried, and while she did get some answers, things got wild when Katie tried it. With Katie, who has the steady hands of a surgeon, the pendant swung wildly in only two directions, to and from, and left to right.

We asked simple questions so we couldn’t get anything interesting out, but each time the pendant swung it was definitely in one direction or the other. At one point, the weight at the end of our pendulum actually swung faster than the rest of the necklace we were using. Big deal, right? Actually yes, no matter how many times I could swing anything that was weighted and attached to a string, seriously, try it at home, it always swung completely straight because of the movement at the top. When it came to my turn, hesitant as I am to attempt to communicate with any spirits, the pendent stood completely still. I’ll be the first to admit that I have shaky hands at the best of times. Passing it back to Katie, however, the pendant swung just as before, the weighted end swinging just a bit further than it should, the answers just a little too eager.

Leaving the bridge, we headed towards a large house right on the edge of the battlefield. While we couldn’t go to the battlefield after dark, we could go to this small park. Arriving at the house the first time, we missed the driveway so we decided to pull off the road to read the historic site sign before turning around.

As Katie read the sign, I watched the house, from the rightmost window I saw a light dart past, but, on the inside of the vacant house. Sure, my eyes were playing tricks on me, so I mentioned it to the car. Kensie confirmed my sighting when she said she saw the same thing. Upon pulling into the driveway, we instantly noticed a black figure standing on the porch, staring us down, giving us that all too common uneasy feeling of being watched. Attempting to get pictures of the figure and house the camera refused to take pictures, same camera that had been used to take wedding pictures just that day and never failed once during the ceremony or reception.

The ones I did get are not the usual clarity for the camera. And then the camera shut off completely. With a fully charged battery and a clean SD card, our camera completely failed us. We stayed for a while, watching the house and seeing several lights and figures within. When we all felt creeped out enough that we decided to leave, Katie began yelling for us to go faster. As we pulled away, she told us, she saw a dark figure in the woods near the house watching us with glowing eyes. Katie is not the type to make this up, and it’s not unbelievable from the stuff I’ve described in other articles.

Kensie said she has one final place for us, another cemetery. Beechwood Cemetery is located just slightly outside of Perryville and positioned on top of a large hill. Kensie had been here tons of times with friends and said she never once felt scared but mostly creeped out. We pulled our car to the middle of the cemetery, rolled down the windows, and turned the car off.

Almost instantly, it sounded as if someone was walking around us. Kensie assured us this was common, however with no camera comes no pictures. At one point, I was so sure that someone was walking past us I shined my flashlight out the window, nothing. We all began to feel uneasy. Not just creeped out, but that “get away fast” feeling. We turned the car on and began to drive away. As we pull away, Kensie noticed something behind us and freaks out. She says something is following us.

As she speeds up Katie and I look back, From the passenger seat, I couldn't see much, but I think I might have caught a glimpse. Katie, on the other hand, absolutely loses it. She starts screaming about something running after us and chasing us. Kensie notices it too and speeds through the church parking lot onto the road. When I questioned them about it, they both agreed that whatever it was not human nor did it look to have ever been human and was not shaped like animals they had ever seen.

The rest of the night went regularly. It was late and we were all ready to head home. Kensie parted ways, and I caught a ride with Katie. Katie dropped me off at my house, and other then a few nerves from the night, I didn’t give anything a second thought. However, in the time it took me to go from my basement door up to my room, Katie had called me twice and made her five-minute drive into a two-minute drive.

I called Katie back and discovered that as she was reversing out of my driveway, she said she felt her breath get knocked out of her and felt hands close around her throat. She sped home and jumped out of the car and immediately began praying, she restated to me. Once I got Katie to calm down, I gave Kensie a call and she was perfectly fine.

Perryville is a town of history but with history comes good times and bad times. I thoroughly believe that whatever we saw that night was not the usual “ghost” that I think I’ve seen since I started this blog. I believe that something followed us from the bridge, to the bottoms house, to the cemetery, and finally to Katie. Whether you believe in good or evil, I can without a doubt say that what we experienced that night was not good. The kind of not good that makes your stomach sink and your chest heavy. The kind of not good that you just know you shouldn’t be around.