Your True
Tales
January 2003 –
Page 7
Into the
Depths of Hell
by Brandon M.
The year was 1958 when my parents were crossing the country to return home to visit relatives. Back then there were no highways, and the mountainous area of Kentucky was treacherous driving. Narrow roads that two cars, at some points, could not pass, and these roads also ran along the sides of mountains with steep cliffs and dangerous drop-offs. On their way to Ohio, by the time they got to Kentucky, my parents were so tired they decided to stop at a hotel for rest. They saw a sign advertising the world famous Mammoth Cave. This was not a billboard, mind you, because those were nearly nonexistent in the Kentucky backwoods of that day, but a handmade sign with an arrow pointing to the direction of yet another narrow road. They had never been there before, but figured it would be well populated, even in those days, with two or three hotels. Following the sign's directions, they turned and drove what seemed forever, almost to the point of giving up and turning back. After driving miles and miles on the dark and winding road, in the middle of the night, finally they arrived at what my father described as an aged, large, Colonial style farmhouse. They had not passed a car, or house, or any sign of civilization for many miles. In front of this huge house there was a sign - also hand-painted - saying "Mammoth Cave and Hotel."
My mother got a terrible feeling and refused to get out the car. My father was stubborn, and decided it had drove too far for nothing and was going to check it out anyway. So scared she was, my mother said, that she locked the doors the moment my father stepped out of the car, even though there was no sign of life or other vehicles anywhere in sight. My father said the door to the so-called hotel was open, and when he stepped inside there was a huge hole near the entrance with a velvet rope hanging around it. He said it was near the door and you had to step around it to keep from falling in. On one side were a bunch of old, old women in rocking chairs; on the other side a sign-in desk with a huge book on it. He said it looked like something you would see in a western movie. He said the old women numbered somewhere between 10 and 12. It was dimly lit by what appeared to be lanterns. There were no other furnishings in the room - only the gaping hole, which went straight down into the earth. He said it seemed bottomless, and the cavelike hole eventually fell from view into darkness that seemed hundreds of feet down. He described steps that ran the length of its depth for as far as one could see. One of the old women told him that the hole was the Mammoth Cave, but it was "closed" being so late at night. She offered him a room to stay in and asked him to sign his name in the book.
He said he still gets frightened when he recalls the event, and my father is not one to scare easily. He said he had a feeling that if he stayed much longer, he would never leave alive. He also said the women started to approach him, and he felt he may not have escaped their clutches had he not lied and told them he was going to the car to get his family. My mother had the car started and door opened by the time he reached it. He said she was terrified, even though she had not entered the farmhouse and saw what he did. To this day she said she has never felt so scared in all her life. They burned the rubber and got out of there, and did not stop until after daylight and they found "civilization" again.
As the years passed, our family has gone to the real Mammoth Cave - nothing like the mysterious event my parents experienced that strange night so long ago. In daylight hours, we've even searched the primitive side roads and found no house similar in design. Once we found a burnt down farmhouse, but there were no visible signs of a gapping hole that led to what seemed the depths of hell. Nearly 50 years later and we're still looking for answers.
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