The Lore of Bachelor's Grove Cemetery - The Yellow Man
The Yellow Man of Bachelor's Grove Cemetery was first seen in 1984 and has reportedly been photographed on multiple occasions. Is this dapper gent a collective figment of our imaginations, or is he just another resident of America's most haunted cemetery?
Watch the wrap-up video here.
The Lore
During the summer of 1984, Norman Basile was at Bachelor's Grove Cemetery with an associate in hopes of capturing something paranormal. Several hours into their waiting, his associate saw what appeared to be a man in his 40s wearing a yellow suit and hat. Moments later, both men saw red lights streaking by, and a nearby tree began to shake on its own. The men then left the area. There is supposedly a photo of the Yellow Man taken at this sighting, but I could not locate a copy online.
A second reported sighting was published in 1996, though the year of the sighting is not given. A woman named Heather was with her father and a friend. She saw a man dressed in yellow, but no one else saw it. Similar to Basile's red lights, she felt a presence blow by her before she hightailed it out of the cemetery.
The next reported sighting took place in 1998 next to the Fulton Monument and is, to me, the most interesting, as the person who both saw something and captured it in a photograph did not want their story told. Even more interesting, this time the Yellow Man was seen by Pete Crapia, the author and compiler of the Bachelor's Grove Paranormal Research Guide and the site runner for the Bachelor's Grove Cemetery & Settlement Research Center. At the time of the sighting, Pete was testing out a new digital camera, and that is what he captured his photo with, but seeing as the image quality of digital cameras at the time was nothing like what we are used to today, he knew the pixelated image would not hold up to any skeptic's eye. I find this extra interesting because when I first saw the photograph out of context, I immediately dismissed it as well. If you watch my day one research on the Yellow Man, I actually comment on how if you showed me the photo with no context and asked me to point out the ghost captured, I would pick out several "faces" that you could say were seen thanks to good old-fashioned pareidolia (the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern) and not Mr. Yellow Man himself. I do hold this sighting in higher regard than others because Pete did not want his story told, but had to clear the air after it was printed in the book Voices from the Chicago Grave. Yes, this could be seen as a ploy to get eyes on the cemetery, but this story was never supposed to make it to the public eye as Pete asked it to be kept secret and his wishes were ignored, AND he didn't even know of the Yellow Man until a year or so after his sighting. I highly suggest taking the time to read his clarification in the research guide, as you get his words directly from the sighting.
Another sighting, complete with a photograph, took place one April night in 2009. Nina Jankowski was with the Chicago Ghost Hunters Group when she began to feel dizzy and saw a shadow person run past her. She took the picture using her digital camera, but later noted the settings were not as she had previously set them. There is just enough information provided to leave me curious for more. I wish I could find the article, but any original URL is not listed for me to Way Back Machine it and the Examiner has updated their site and it's not in their archive.
One personal experience not included in the guide but posted on the forum/in the Bachelor's Grove Personal Stories Guide was from Arvo Zylo, the very same person who also saw the Disappearing House. I felt his telling of his experience with the house was very real. If I am reading his recollection correctly, back in June 2003, Arvo was there overnight, sitting in a dug-up grave, and saw numerous orbs, specters, and figures. In addition to everything else, he saw a glowing yellow figure that would walk a bit, then explode into orbs, reform, walk, explode, reform, and so on. The things he witnessed that night started taking place around 2 AM and stopped just as the sun was rising. Arvo himself arrived and settled in around 11 PM.
We do have two more sightings that are mentioned around minute four of the video embedded below. One was a man who saw the Yellow Man, and one was a medium who saw him. I don't have enough information to really provide more on what the man saw, and I always have issues with mediums as a witness for many reasons. But the radio clip is here for you to listen to; again, the story starts around minute four if you don't want to watch the whole thing.
The Facts
Lily's Thoughts
I have a lot of thoughts on this one. I really hate that the first reported sighting is a telling of a telling, and we can't even be sure if the mentioned photograph was ever actually captured or if it was added for effect. I also don't like that the original report says Norman saw the figure, only for it to later be clarified that it was his associate, and that said associate felt bad for Norman just before claiming to see something. I do find it interesting that they both saw a tree shake on its own, simply because it lends a little bit to the Disappearing House experience of moving vines, but again, that could have been added to the much more recent house sighting as a way to connect that story to this one.
The second reported sighting only bothers me in the sense that we don't know exactly when or where it happened, only that it was reported in 1996 and Heather reported being bored just prior. Bored, much like feeling sorry for someone, can lead to shenanigans.
Pete's story is the one with the most weight to it and the one I connect with most. Not because he has a photograph, but because he didn't want his story to be told because he knew it could be easily dismissed. Skeptics need undeniable proof. Hell, I need undeniable proof. By admitting that, for me, his story just holds a bit more weight in the "yes, he is real" column.
Nina's story has me most intrigued, though. I am curious to know more because it states she was in Lot 17 near the grave of Charles B. Shields, but the photo was supposedly taken next to the Fulton monument in Lot 15. Lot 16 sits between them, and based on the corner of a stone that can be seen, the photographer was very close to it or zoomed in heavily. (Cemetery lot map.) Also, her camera settings had reportedly changed on their own. One, what were they before and after? And two, how does one change the settings on that camera? Was it a scroll wheel or a menu option? If it was a change that occurred externally (i.e., via a scroll wheel), it could be accidentally knocked out of place, or even slyly changed without people noticing. Also, three, what kind of camera are we talking about? I really hate that I couldn't locate the original article for more info. That all being said, I think we know what I am going to say about photos, streaking lights, and the ease with which we can create them. So I won't say it. I will imply it heavily with an eyebrow raise. (I probably will say it in my wrap-up video though; I can't help it.)
Now on to Arvo, the Disappearing House witness I resonated with so much. Let me just say that when reading his story for the house, I skimmed the rest of his submission but did not fully process it. When I am looking up one piece of lore, I skim the rest but try not to read too much as I get distracted easily. I'm being longwinded here just so you understand the rest of my thoughts. I still very much connect with his sighting of the house. But his telling of what he saw pertaining to the Yellow Man? Well, I find it interesting, to say the least. To me, it sounds like our dear, sweet Arvo had an incredible lucid dream or trip. He had been sitting in a grave with no lights, only the light of an almost full moon, on Friday the 13th (this all checks out, TBH) for 3 hours. The mind can play some funny tricks on us. He wanted to see something, even though he was still a skeptic, and he was alone. I'm not saying he didn't see something, I just don't get the same gut feeling I had with his other sighting.
Now, I am going to directly quote myself here about orbs/lights seen in areas with ponds, swamps, creeks, etc.:
A quick key feature I want to mention as well is the pond and creek by the cemetery. As the disappearing house has been associated with mist/fog at times and with lit windows and occasional orbs, we should take into consideration that a creek or pond might play in a paranormal sighting. Fog, reflections, time of day, weather, lightning bugs, and ignis fatuus (AKA will-o'-the-wisp) could all be natural causes for what people are seeing. And, because it must be said, drugs and alcohol could play a role in sightings from time to time as well. 😂
It has to be said that some sightings will be completely natural and not spooky. Bachelor's Grove's location lends itself to plenty of these non-spooky occurrences. This leads me to the next step in researching Bachelor's Grove Cemetery. I am going to look into the "Madonna" ghost, which includes a famous photograph, and the Hook story, as it is one of the origins of one of my favorite urban legends. I don't intend to spend any length of time on orbs/light sightings. My thoughts on those will (almost) always be the same, even when I take the photos, it's completely natural.
Until next time, lore lovers, stay spooky💖
~Lily
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Sources
Bachelors Grove Cemetery - Bob Trzeciak - Paranormal Radio - 01-14 2019. (2019). YouTube. Retrieved July 20, 2023, from https://youtu.be/A6jkVYsx-Kw.
Crapia, P. (2016). Bachelors Grove Cemetery & Settlement Research Center. https://www.bachelorsgrove.com/home
Crapia, P. (2023a). Bachelors Grove Burial Guide.
Crapia, P. (2023b). Bachelors Grove Paranormal Research Guide.
* Quick source links to images mentioned in Crapia's guide:
* Crapia, P. (1998a). Yellow Man Photograph - Original Image. Retrieved from https://photos.app.goo.gl/UNVWYHCTHJ9Zjkf76.
* Crapia, P. (1998b). Yellow Man Photograph - Alternative Image. Retrieved from https://photos.app.goo.gl/nVYAED1F4ZGKnixw6.
* Jankowski, N. (2009). Yellow Man/Orange-Yellow Light. Retrieved from https://photos.app.goo.gl/yfaH4WF6gjDhTwT29.
Waxing gibbous on 13 June 2003 Friday. Lunaf. (n.d.). https://lunaf.com/lunar-calendar/2003/06/13/
Zylo, A. (2021, October 11). My experiences in Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery. Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery Forum. https://groups.google.com/g/bachelors-grove-cemetery/c/U4jR0t3OOs4
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