Seven Gates of Hell

There are two popular versions of the myth, with numerous variants of each. One states that a mental institution used to be located on either Toad Road or Trout Run Road, depending on the source, in Hellam Township, Pennsylvania.  It was erected in a remote location so as to isolate people deemed insane from the rest of the world. One day in the 1800s, a fire broke out and, due to its remoteness, firefighters could not reach the hospital in time to save it. Many patients died in the flames, while others escaped and were soon beaten to death. The gates' role in the story is disputed. Some say that the gates were put up by the local search party to trap the remaining inmates. Others say that, completely unrelated to the asylum story, an eccentric physician who lived on the property built several gates along a path deep into the forest. Both accounts agree on only one gate being visible during the day, but the other six can be seen at night. According to the legend, no one has ever passed the fifth gate, but if they passed all seven, they would go directly to hell. Another story about the gates of hell is of a man in the 1950s who murdered his wife and children with a shot gun and impaled their corpses on the spikes of one of the gates. Before the house was torn down, bullet holes were visible in the garage door and in the wall on the side of the house where the garage door was located.