The Cursed Gravestone of Carl Pruitt, Pulaski County, Kentucky
If someone says a gravestone is cursed…. believe them!
There are some people who hear of a cursed location or item and instead of leaving it alone they search out the spirits or entities that supposedly inhabit the item and when they do, they often pay the ultimate price. Today we’re looking at the cursed gravestone of Carl Pruitt that contained the same anger and vengeance that killed his wife.
In June 1938 Pulaski County, Kentucky, Carl Pruitt, a man known by many to have a vicious temper, arrived home to find his wife in bed with another man. As his wife attempted to explain her actions to the ravenous Carl the other man escaped through the window, unknowingly this move saved his life.
Carl Pruitt grabbed a chain, wrapped it around his wife’s neck, and strangled her to death. Moments after realizing what he had done he placed a gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.
After the murder-suicide, his wife’s parents refused to have him put to rest next to his wife and had him buried far away in a completely different cemetery. But if you believe the stories, Carl Pruitt’s temper wasn’t laid to rest that day and he continued to kill from beyond the grave.
Part 1 - The Haunted Gravestone
The story of the murder-suicide shocked the small community in Pulaski County and soon those who passed by the gravestone of Carl Pruitt began noticing discoloration in the grass surrounding it. The patches of browning grass resembled a chain, similar to the chain that he had used to kill his wife.
James Collin
Of course, the strange occurrence attracted more to visit his grave even just for proof but for some, it became a dare. A group of children led by one James Collin accused each other of being scared of the gravestone.
James denied his fear and even started to throw rocks at the grave to prove his bravery, one stone was tossed with such force it chipped off a piece of the gravestone. When nothing happened the boys jumped on their bikes and rode off.
Moments later, in what would be described as a freak accident, the chain on James’ bike snapped, flipping his bicycle with James on it. His friends ran for help but by the time others arrived, James was dead.
The bike chain that snapped had wrapped around his neck strangling him to death. The boys told others it was Carl Pruitt’s doing and when they took them to his gravestone they saw the chip James had caused was no longer there.
James’ mother believed the boys and sought revenge against the spirit of Carl Pruitt, she took an axe herself and smashed the gravestone to pieces. Satisfied with her efforts she left the cemetery and that was the last time anyone saw her alive.
The next day she was found dead strangled to death from the clothesline where she accidentally tripped and entangled herself in it. Meanwhile, others believe it was the doing of Carl Pruitt and when they went to his gravestone they found it fully intact as if it had never been struck by the axe.
The Curse Spreads
Many now feared the ghost of Carl Pruitt but one man didn’t, a local farmer riding with his family in a horse-drawn carriage claimed he feared no ghost and as they passed the cemetery he aimed to prove his courage. While still sitting in the carriage with his family, he drew his pistol and shot at the grave. The bullet chipped off a piece of stone but the sound of the gun caused the horses to panic and wildly take off.
With the carriage reaching dangerous speeds his family jumped off while the farmer attempted to calm the horses but he was too late. The carriage crashed and he flipped over entangling himself in the reins which choked him to death. When the family looked over to the grave they found it once again fully intact.
The new death caused an uproar, people now believed the curse to be real, so they requested an investigation. Eventually, the local police department relented and sent two cops to investigate the gravestone. Unfortunately, the cops did not take the curse seriously and joked about the supposed curse while at the cemetery.
While they drove away from it, the cop who had made the jokes noticed a ball of light in the rearview mirror. When it kept getting closer fear seeped into him and he started speeding to get away from it. Despite his partner yelling to slow down, he continued to speed down the street and lost control of the car.
The car crashed into a pole throwing the partner out of the car, injured but alive. The driving officer wasn’t so lucky. The crash had decapitated him.
Arthur Lewis
The final death came several months later, many residents were now wary of even passing by the cemetery and even had their relatives moved to different cemeteries out of fear. But there’s always at least one person who doesn’t heed the warnings and dares to tempt fate.
This man was Arthur Lewis. He grabbed a hammer and chisel and set out at night to destroy the gravestone once and for all. Witnesses could hear the metallic sounds of the hammer slamming down on the chisel as it broke through the pieces of the stone. And then the sounds stopped and were replaced with terrified screams coming from Arthur.
Several men grabbed lanterns and ran to the cemetery to investigate, all they found was the dead body of Arthur Lewis strangled by the chain that was used to lock the cemetery. Next to him was the completely undamaged gravestone of Carl Pruitt.
With this, no one was ever buried in the cemetery and the last of the bodies that were left were also moved to other cemeteries. The land was forgotten along with Carl Pruitt. In 1958 the land was strip-mined and the grave of Carl Pruitt was destroyed for good.
Part 2 - Under the Surface of the Story
Like many other stories we’ve covered this has a lot of details that we can use to help figure out if it actually happened. Unsurprisingly it appears as if the story is just a story. Looking up newspapers in Kentucky, none show any signs of Carl Pruitt dying by suicide. Arthur Lewis and James Collins weren’t listed as deaths either.
Breaking down the story we can see that even though we are given details like names we aren’t given other important details. In the several different versions of the story I’ve read, the cemetery was never listed. Other versions have the land destroyed sometime in the 1940’s and yet another version has the town just gradually move away to avoid the curse.
The stories don’t name the town or city either. Pulaski County, Kentucky in the 1930’s contained over 35 thousand people according to census records. If these 5 deaths were truly attributed to one cursed gravestone there would be a newspaper article readily available. In previous stories we’ve covered we’ve seen newspapers in the early 20th century had no issues featuring ghost stories so not being able to find an article related to Carl Pruitt makes it a difficult story to believe.
Finally, since Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Virginia all have a Pulaski County existing during the 1930’s, I checked available newspaper records and did not find any articles related to the death of Carl Pruitt, Arthur Lewis, or James Collins.
It seems safe to say, like Carl Pruitt, this ghost story can be put to rest.
But how about you? Do you think the curse of the ghost of Carl Pruitt actually existed or do you believe anger and wrath can cause a curse to fall upon one’s gravestone?
