Recently, someone sent me a video on Facebook messenger wondering if I had ever heard of a dark and chilling urban legend in Illinois involving seven bridges. If not, the video would explain it all.

The Seven Gates of Hell are located just outside of Collinsville, Illinois. Each of the seven gates is reportedly haunted by stories of paranormal and occult activity, along with the fact that many people have died in and around the bridges.
The "Seven Gates of Hell" are abandoned railroad overpasses from the mining days of the 1800s. The road that the bridges are on is considered the most haunted road in Illinois. Many have reported an uneasy feeling, and cold bursts of air during both day and night.

According to travel blogger, Heather Raulerson,

Two urban legends surround these gates. The first one is if you drive through each gate in order from one to seven, and you go through the final gate exactly at midnight, a portal from Hell will open. When this portal is opened, Hell Hounds will come out to drag you to Hell. The second is if you drive through the gates in reverse, from 7 to 1, a tear, in reality, will appear. You can glimpse it by looking back as you drive through the gate. Supposedly you get a view into Hell in your rearview mirror.

In my research, I found lots of great info on The Horror Syndicate website. The first bridge to have an extremely disturbing past is Gate 2.

One tells the story of a young African American child being chased through a wooded area by the KKK, who eventually hangs him from the gate. There are conflicting reports about this, even among lore websites. Other stories say that the young man was killed by a friend for the love of a girl. Others still, claim the young man hanged his friend and, in a moment of regret, hanged himself. Whatever the reason, it is said that around midnight you can see a young boy swaying in the wind hanging from the gate. Some believe he waits there to waive you through to the next Gate

The next story they shared happened to the bloggers at gates 3 and 4 where alleged satanic rituals have taken place. This sent chills down my spine.

...between gates 3 and 4 we got out of the car to look around a little. Being in this area at any time makes me feel a little sick and like I am being watched. The strange thing is: that everything goes silent, all you hear is running water. If you are stopped in the middle there is a little creek or quarry on both sides. Coming from Gate 3 on your right side is an overgrown dumping ground. The other side was littered with animal remains. We were standing next to the car ready to move on to the next gate when we heard a car coming. The car sounded like it was coming toward gate 4 moving towards us and it was coming fast. We jumped in the car and slowly went through gate 4, but no car. There was nothing, we both heard a car coming and getting extremely close to us, but the sound just disappeared. Pulling through gate 4 I noticed a white trash bag lying off to the side of the road. When I pulled even closer, it has the remains of what looked like a baby calf. I am not sure what to think about a baby calf in a bag at gate 4, but it’s eerily consistent with the legend. I felt watched the entire time.

Find out the stories associated with every gate, HERE.

These videos will help give you more of a creepy visual of these gates.

 

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