I visited the Bell Witch Cave, and people still say they hear ghosts

• The Bell Witch legend dates to the early 1800s when the Bell family reported hauntings on their Tennessee farm.
• The Bell Witch Cave in Adams, Tennessee, draws thousands of visitors annually, especially around Halloween.

A hush fell over my tour group inside a dimly lit cave on Tennessee farmland.

“Let’s just take a moment or two and get quiet and see if we hear anything today,” our guide told us inside the Bell Witch Cave in early October, which along with the surrounding property was the site of a legendary local ghost story.

As we stood on craggy limestone in the cool air – the temperature stays around 55 degrees all year – one of my fellow visitors reported they could make out the sound of children laughing. Another said they heard a dog barking.

All I could pick up was the running water from a few steps away – but the Bell Witch works in mysterious ways.

The Bell Witch story dates back to the early 1800s, but still draws visitors from all over the world to the tiny city of Adams, especially in October as Halloween draws near.

Here’s what visitors should know.

What is the story of the Bell Witch?

John Bell and his family lived peacefully on farmland near the Red River until 1817, according to the Historic Bell Witch Cave website. That summer, they reported seeing strange wildlife on the property – including a black dog with the head of a jackrabbit and the tail of a deer, another tour guide told my group – and “eerie” sounds in their cabin followed.

“The sounds the family heard escalated to a voice speaking directly to them until it could be heard in every room of the house while especially terrorizing John’s youngest daughter Betsy with beatings that left her unconscious,” the website reads.

The spirit became known as the Bell Witch, and reportedly took credit for John Bell’s death in 1820. His family believed he had been poisoned by the spirit, according to the Tennessee State Museum. 

The spirit continued to lurk on the property for several months, and is said to have returned at least once, visiting John Bell Jr. seven years later (though some people believe it never left).

Some consider the story a folk tale, but reports of strange sounds and sights continue to this day. One of my tour guides recalled seeing “lights in the cave that shouldn’t be in there,” and another said her groups have heard music and screams during tours.

Director of operations Candy Hooton said visitors come from all over the world, as close as Indiana and Illinois and as far away as Europe and Asia. She estimated they welcomed about 5,000 people in 2022 alone (Adams had a population of 624 as of 2020 according to U.S. Census Bureau data).

“It does seem like more and more people are hearing about it,” she said.

Where is the Bell Witch Cave?

The cave is located in the city of Adams, Tennessee, near the Kentucky border. The site is roughly 45 minutes by car from Nashville.

How much does visiting the Bell Witch Cave cost?

The Bell Witch Cave is open for tours between May and November. Admission prices range from $12 to $23 depending on the age of the visitor and the day of the week, according to its website.

All tickets include a tour of the cave and of a replica of the Bell family cabin.

The cave and cabin are not ADA accessible, and the cave portion requires guests to maneuver around rocks and in and out of tight spaces. "People who are handicapped, disabled, or have impairments that limit their ability to see, bend, crouch, walk on loose footing, climb or descend/ascend steep hills should not pay admission or enter the cave and/or cabin," the website reads. Flip flops are discouraged as well.

The property also hosts exclusive lantern tours by appointment and onsite “paranormal investigations,” along with other special events in October. “I want people to be able to come here and experience the legend and the tour, the cave,” Hooton said.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].