Credit: Liz West / Flickr
By Stephanie Almazan
Let us be your guide to the other side in these spooky cemetery tours across the country. From headless legends and Southern Gothic splendor to the ghosts of Old Hollywood, each journey is sure to send shivers down your spine.
1. SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETERY IN SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY
WITH SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETERY TOURS
Credit: DeAnna Janes
The legend of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman gallops on as you stroll through Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to author Washington Irving's grave. Fall is the best time to visit as this sleep town in upstate New York springs to life with Halloween activities and its woodsy surroundings take on an spooky autumnal glow.
READ MORE: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
2. BONAVENTURE CEMETERY IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
WITH BLUE ORB TOURS
Credit: Matthew Juzenas / Flickr
Covering 160 acres, Bonaventure Cemetery in spooky Savannah is as beautiful as it is vast. Take in the breathtaking Southern Gothic resting place from the comfort of a shuttle with Blue Orb Tours. Stops include The Mongin's ornate Egyptian tomb and Little Gracie's statue, a haunted gravestone sculpture rumored to cry bloody tears.
3. ST. LOUIS CEMETERY NO. 1 IN NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
WITH SAVE OUR CEMETERIES TOUR
Credit: Wally Gobetz / Flickr
The Archdiocese of New Orleans now requires all visitors to sign up with a licensed tour guide before entering St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Save Our Cemeteries Tour is a nonprofit organization that uses your $20 toward the preservation and restoration of this grand city of the dead. Learn about Big Easy history and burial practices--the city employs above ground graves to house its departed Civil War soldiers, Yellow Fever victims, and its Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.
READ MORE: 9 MOST HAUNTED PLACES IN NEW ORLEANS
4. OLD BURYING GROUND IN SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS
WITH SALEM HISTORICAL TOURS
Credit: Kent Kanouse / Flickr
Get properly acquainted with the oldest cemetery in Salem and the second oldest in the country, circa 1637 with daytime tour "Cemetery 101: Grave Matters." Visit the gravesites of a Mayflower pilgrim and two judges in the Salem Witch Trials, Jonathan Corwin and John Hawthorne. Delve into the symbolism behind Puritan stone engravings (Death's Head, Urn and Willow). Then prepare to get spooked by Salem's plentiful paranormal activities.
5. HOLLYWOOD FOREVER CEMETERY IN LOS ANGELES, CA
WITH HOLLYWOOD FOREVER CEMETERY TOURS
Credit: Daniel Hartwig / Flickr
You'll see stars--even in death--in the city of Angels. Wander the Hollywood Forever Cemetery where deceased actors and directors from Old Hollywood rub tombstones with rock stars. The deceased include Mickey Rooney, designer L'Wren Scott, Charlie Chaplin Jr., Ernest Hemingway's wife, and even Terry the Pup who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz. Punk rocker Johnny Ramone's life-size statue offers an air guitar photo-opp, while the tombstone of Mel Blanc (who voiced none other than Bugs Bunny) delivers levity in the face of death with its cheeky inscription: "That's all folks." When your journey with Hollywood Forever Cemetery tour comes to an end, stick around for movies or music under the stars at the cemetery's Masonic Lodge. Only in Hollywood.
READ MORE: 13 WEIRD AND MYSTERIOUS OLD HOLLYWOOD DEATHS