Who writes about cemeteries? In fact, who thinks of cemeteries as tourist attractions? Well, I do! After all some cemeteries are absolutely beautiful places. What’s wrong in exploring them, appreciating their architectural splendor, and basking in their historic glory?
If you don’t fancy that kind of thing, you could always revel in the ghoulish aspect of the whole affair – the thrills and chills of being so close to the dead, the goose-bumps you get from letting your imagination run away with you and the shivers that run up and down your spine because you’ve spooked yourself silly. Anyway you look at it these cemeteries definitely deserve an article to themselves.
Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh
Take a walk through 17th-century graves that set the mood for the ‘creepy’ with carvings of ghouls and skeletons on them. If that doesn’t give you weak legs you may want to make your way to the two on-site structures where visitors have claimed to see ghostly apparitions.
One is a prison that was used to imprison countless members of the Covenanters religious movement in 1679. The other is the mausoleum for “Bloody” George Mackenzie – the official who supervised the persecution of these prisoners. Though both the buildings are now closed after becoming notorious for paranormal sightings, local writer Jan-Andrew Henderson is allowed to lead tours of both sites.
Westminster Burying Ground, Baltimore
If you’ve always enjoyed the works of the master of chills and thrills – Edgar Allen Poe – you should visit his final resting place at the Westminster Burying Ground in Baltimore. Not only can you pay homage to this most skillful among horror writers, you also get to see a cemetery that looks like it stumbled out of one his horror stories. It’s a deliciously scary place for sure! Eastwood, I say it’s great for us as well!
Lafayette Cemetery, New Orleans
A visit to the Lafayette Cemetery is a must for all those people who love the extraordinary. When a city sits below sea level, where do they bury the dead? Above the ground, of course! These aboveground tombs do look rather bizarre and they are something of a macabre curiosity. No wonder it made for the perfect setting for the movie Interview with the Vampire. If nothing, you may want to kiss the ground that was tread by the likes of Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, and Thandi Newton. That’s definitely worth a visit, isn’t it?
Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah
The Bonaventure Cemetery is a graveyard that is the delight of any set designer. Every detail of this ghostly cemetery has been built to perfection – from the crypts covered with ivy to the lifelike statues and from the mossy and gnarled oak trees to mausoleums with stained glass. If this cemetery looks familiar it’s because it featured in Clint Eastwood’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Obviously Eastwood caught on to beauty of this scenic graveyard and decided to manipulate it in all its ghoulish wonder. If it’s good enough for