The otherworldly sound of bells echoes down the old New Lexington Road just outside Lancaster. Many years ago a boy set off down this road with an unloaded shotgun in tow. His journey took him past an old church with no bells in its belfry. Not long after he left, his mother heard a shotgun blast in the distance, followed by the peal of churchbells. She ran to find him dead with a gunshot in his stomach, even though his gun was still unloaded.

Whether he died as a result of some bizarre accident or foul play, the sound of the gunshot has echoed across the hills nightly ever since. And it is always followed by the sound of churchbells that were never there.

If you're looking for New Lexington Road today, you might wind up looking at a rural highway much changed from what it was when the supposed mystery death took place; Route 37 between Lancaster and Junction City is called Lancaster-New Lexington Road, especially the stretch close to the village of Bremen. (Locals call this town "Bree-men," in one of the most grating examples of horrible Midwesternization pronunciation--though I suppose it's not as bad as "Ver-sails.")

Back


Sources

Abram, Kevin. "The Bells." Haunting Tales from Fairfield County. Lancaster: Fairfield County District Library, 1980.