Until she left for college, film historian Karie Bible spent almost her entire childhood living next to a cemetery.
It鈥檚 where the Texas native rode her bike, played with her brother and passed by nearly every day. Other kids may have traded creepy stories about cemeteries or swore they鈥檙e haunted, but Bible was convinced of their value.
鈥淏eing right next to a cemetery was normal for me,鈥 she told CNN. 鈥淚 always thought they were extremely beautiful.鈥
Years later, after landing in Los Angeles as an adult, she ended up in one of the most famous cemeteries in the country: Hollywood Forever, a paean to Old Hollywood and the people who built it. There, visiting the graves of silent film star Marion Davies, famed director Cecil B. DeMille and ingénue icon Judy Garland, she found countless stories to tell.
That was more than 20 years ago. She鈥檚 been the cemetery鈥檚 official tour guide ever since, leading visitors on monthly treks across the grounds to visit elaborate mausoleums, humbler headstones and various tributes to major stars and Hollywood everymen.
鈥淚 love these people, and it gives me so much joy to keep their memories alive and their legacies going,鈥 she told CNN.
Bible spends her days with 鈥渢ombstone tourists鈥 鈥 fans of cemeteries who travel across the country and world to significant cemeteries to commune with those buried there and bask in the history. (Philip Stone, founder and executive director of the Institute of Dark Tourism Research at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom, likened tombstone tourism to 鈥渟ightseeing the mansions of the dead.鈥)
Cemeteries aren鈥檛 conventional tourist destinations, but they鈥檝e become essential stops for history buffs, aesthetes and curious visitors looking to learn more about the community they鈥檙e visiting. And 鈥渢ombstone tourists鈥 are always encouraging more to consider a cemetery鈥檚 macabre beauty.
鈥淔or me, a cemetery is like an art museum,鈥 said Joy Neighbors, an author who writes about her cemetery obsession in the blog A Grave Interest. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always an adventure and always an experience to go in, dig around and see what you can find.鈥
CEMETERIES ARE TEEMING WITH HISTORY
People often visit cemeteries for a connection to the past and to probe their own interest in death and the afterlife, said Sue Slocum, an associate professor of hospitality at George Mason University.
Cemetery tourism is considered a form of 鈥渄ark tourism,鈥 or travel that involves visiting sites associated with death, she said. Dark tourism is predicated on a 鈥減reoccupation with death,鈥 she said.
鈥淭hese are things that are part of being human,鈥 said Slocum, who鈥檚 currently teaching a course on the subject. 鈥(Cemeteries) celebrate community and the people buried there.鈥
For the history-curious, cemeteries are rich resources. Tombstones themselves are monuments to the past and to the people buried beneath them, Neighbors said. Their design tells stories about the era in which they were produced 鈥 if it鈥檚 elaborate and well-kept, for example, it may mark the grave of a well-known and wealthy community member.
Symbols on gravestones tell stories, too: In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was common for gravestones to bear symbols of religion or groups to which they belonged, like the Masonic square and compass. Children are often represented by lambs, Neighbors said, and some tombstones resemble trees from which limbs are cut, symbols of the deaths of family members.
Even the birth and death dates can tell rich, devastating stories without words, she said.
鈥淚t really makes you respect your heritage and the past,鈥 Neighbors said.
Many gravesites have become popular tourist destinations for their architecture, famous 鈥渞esidents鈥 or historic significance: The Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia, is the Southern Gothic home to hundreds of Confederate soldiers and men who fought in the Spanish-American War, along with members of Savannah鈥檚 prominent 19th-century families. St. Mary Magdalene Churchyard in East Ham outside of London was a Roman burial site, discovered in the 19th century after hundreds of years of dormancy. And New Orleans鈥 St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is home to dozens of locals who鈥檝e since become urban legends, such as Voodoo queen Marie Laveau.
鈥淐emeteries kind of have personalities,鈥 Bible said. 鈥淭hey all have their own set of history and style 鈥 none of them are really the same experience.鈥
In some places, Neighbors said, cemeteries function almost like parks: In Edinburgh, Scotland, the Greyfriars Kirkyard cemetery is open 24 hours a day, and people visit to knit, read, eat lunch and meet friends around its historic tombstones. (It鈥檚 also the home of the memorial for , a terrier who was said to have stood guard at his owner鈥檚 grave for 14 years. Visitors often bring him a stick to play fetch, Neighbors said 鈥 a way to 鈥渄raw people in鈥 to a cemetery instead of casting them out.)
鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 what a cemetery should be,鈥 she said.
CEMETERIES ARE MORE WELCOMING THAN THEY SEEM
Bible sees her fair share of unruly cemetery guests: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason why they have bike racks around Jim Morrison鈥檚 (grave),鈥 she said, noting the barriers at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris that surround The Doors鈥 frontman鈥檚 headstone.
She has sympathy, though, for people whose interest in cemeteries is complicated. Sometimes, a visit to a cemetery can revive painful memories or pangs of grief for a lost loved one, she said.
Cemeteries have often been considered places of quiet reverence, not venues for tourism or leisure. It鈥檚 a 鈥渧ery American concept鈥 to maintain an air of solemnity in cemeteries, Slocum said. For years it was considered almost 鈥渟acrilegious to (visit) just to enjoy it,鈥 Neighbors said.
鈥淵ou held your breath when you passed the cemetery,鈥 Neighbors said of her grandparents鈥 view.
Increasingly, though, historic cemeteries across the country and the world are encouraging visitors to tour the grounds and learn the stories of the people buried there. Neighbors said she鈥檚 noticed families, joggers, and even musicians start to spend time regularly at her local cemeteries when that was rare even 10 years ago. Some, like Atlanta鈥檚 Oakland Cemetery, have become community hubs where people walk their dogs or picnic 鈥 not just tourist destinations but resident mainstays.
鈥淧eople started realizing this is a gorgeous location we can utilize for other things than just visiting the dead,鈥 Neighbors said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a wealth of experiences waiting to be discovered.鈥
HOW TO DO TOMBSTONE TOURISM RIGHT
鈥淭here is a way to maintain your respect and curiosity,鈥 Bible said of visiting a cemetery. 鈥淚 think if you go in with the right attitude and realize why you鈥檙e there, there鈥檚 absolutely a way.鈥
Go with a purpose.
Cemeteries are sites for reflection and remembrance, not so much for littering, loitering or partying like the doomed teens of many a scary story. While you can visit public cemeteries on your own, many offer tours to teach visitors about their history and some of the people buried there 鈥 Slocum suggested taking a guided tour of a cemetery to get the most out of the experience.
Respect the space.
Even some of the best-known gravesites are working cemeteries, like Hollywood Forever, which still hosts funerals and performs burials and cremation services. It鈥檚 best to enter cemeteries, even those that offer tours or events, peacefully in case there are active funereal services taking place, Bible said.
So, even on a tour themed to Halloween that leans into the spookier elements of cemeteries, it鈥檚 important to maintain 鈥渃ommon decency for the dead, victims and their families,鈥 Stone said.
Don鈥檛 tread where unwelcome.
Not all cemeteries appreciate guests. If a gravesite is private or culturally significant and discourages visiting if you鈥檙e not a community member, it鈥檚 best to heed that guidance, Slocum said.
