The Devil's Chair

A legendary brick bench in Lake Helen's Cassadaga Cemetery, located in a town known as the "Psychic Capital of the World." The Spiritualist community was founded in 1895 by George Colby, guided by a Native American spirit named Seneca.

The Devil's Chair is a red-brick bench located within the Lake Helen-Cassadaga Cemetery in Volusia County, Florida, just outside the spiritualist town of Cassadaga—dubbed the "Psychic Capital of the World." What began as a simple mourning bench has become one of Florida's most legendary paranormal landmarks.

The chair dates to the 1920s, built for an elderly man who frequently visited his deceased wife's grave. As his arthritis worsened, walking to the gravesite became difficult, so friends constructed the brick seat for his comfort. After his death, local lore transformed this gesture of love into something far more sinister.

The most famous legend claims that if you sit in the Devil's Chair at midnight, Satan himself may appear or whisper in your ear. Some versions warn you'll die within seven years. The best-known story involves leaving an unopened can of beer on the bench—by morning, it will be empty yet still sealed, as if the devil drank it without opening the can.

One tale tells of a young man who waited until midnight on Halloween to sit in the chair. His friends watched him enter the cemetery and approach the old brick bench, but he never emerged. To this day, nobody knows what happened to him.

The real explanation for the disappearing beer is less supernatural: local teenagers discovered free drinks and would empty and replace the cans, creating the illusion of paranormal activity.

But Cassadaga's concentrated psychic energy—believers compare it to Stonehenge—does seem to affect visitors. Dark shadows lurk among the cemetery's trees, and spirits of deceased mediums and spiritualists reportedly wander the grounds. George Colby, Cassadaga's founder, is often seen near his grave.

Vandalism has forced authorities to heavily patrol the cemetery, especially on Halloween. Trespassing after 7 PM results in arrest.