Pine Hill Cemetery

A colonial-era cemetery also known as Blood Cemetery, considered one of the most haunted cemeteries in New England.

The carved finger on Abel Blood's headstone points toward heaven during the day and turns downward toward hell after dark -- or at least it did, before vandals destroyed the stone. Pine Hill Cemetery in Hollis, universally known as Blood Cemetery, sits along Pine Hill Road in southern New Hampshire and has been considered one of the most haunted cemeteries in New England for over a century. The land was originally donated by Benjamin Parker Jr. in 1769, making it one of the older burial grounds in the region. The Blood family plot occupies the central area of the cemetery, and it is Abel Blood -- buried there since his death in 1867 -- who gave the place its terrifying reputation.

The legend of the pointing finger is the cemetery's centerpiece. Abel Blood's headstone featured a carved hand with an index finger extended upward, a common Victorian funerary motif symbolizing the soul's ascent to heaven. But visitors who came after sunset swore the finger reversed direction, pointing downward toward the earth -- toward what lay below. Some accounts went further, claiming that something leaked from the engraved hand after dark, a dark substance that appeared to ooze from the stone itself. Whether this was condensation, discoloration from age, or something else entirely, no one could satisfactorily explain.

The finger legend attracted a steady stream of nighttime visitors, which in turn generated additional paranormal reports. People driving along Pine Hill Road at night describe a spectral child who leaps out in front of moving vehicles, causing drivers to slam their brakes and leave skid marks on the pavement. When they stop and search, no child is anywhere to be found. Digital audio recorders have captured strange sounds and bursts of static within the cemetery grounds. Photographs taken among the headstones regularly turn up shadows, orbs, and anomalies that do not appear to the naked eye. Visitors report an oppressive feeling of being watched, particularly near the Blood family plot, and some describe being followed by an unseen presence that stays just behind them as they walk through the grounds.

The haunting's most tangible evidence was destroyed by the very attention it attracted. Vandals damaged Abel Blood's headstone so severely that the carved finger was chipped off entirely. The outline of where the finger pointed -- and part of the base of the hand -- can still be seen on what remains of the stone, a ghost of the ghost's most famous feature. Because of the repeated vandalism, Hollis police maintain close surveillance of the cemetery, particularly on Halloween night, when the site draws crowds of thrill-seekers.

Despite the destruction of the headstone, the paranormal activity has not diminished. The phantom child still appears on Pine Hill Road. The feeling of being watched persists among the graves. Audio recordings still capture unexplained sounds. Whatever animates Blood Cemetery seems indifferent to whether its most famous prop remains intact. The Blood family has been in the ground for over 150 years, but they have never been at rest.