The Halloween Season in Winter
Local Cemetery Organizations

By Chris Kullstroem

Keep the spirit of the Halloween season alive this winter by getting out and exploring your local cemeteries.

Cemeteries are landmarks that we value for many purposes: they add culture to the area, they provide history of families and towns, and for some, their aesthetic value can be quite calming and peaceful. They also serve for great places to go walking, take photography, and for the Halloween enthusiasts, cemeteries can inspire new ideas for setting up next year’s Halloween haunt.

If you’re interested in the historical aspects of tombstones and cemeteries, search for cemetery associations and societies in your town to get involved with. Some cemetery associations have weekly tours where you can learn the history of the people, the town, the cemetery and its stones. Many associations also have libraries containing historical records, diaries of townspeople, and local folklore of the town and its surrounding areas.

Other tombstone organizations focus mainly on volunteer efforts of preservation and restoration. They may hold meetings and outings to local cemeteries to teach new members and any who are interested how to preserve and restore tombstones. This work can involve anything from washing the stones to rebuilding markers that have fallen apart from deterioration or vandalism.

A small list of some gravestone organizations throughout the country are:

The California Historic Cemetery Alliance

The Connecticut Gravestone Network

The Association of Gravestone Studies

Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance

Saving Grace

The Brookwood Cemetery Society

Attending a meeting or outing of a cemetery association such as these is a great way to meet others with similar interests in your area. Research what cemetery organizations and societies are available in your area by searching online or even in the newspaper or phonebook. You just may start to see cemeteries in a whole new light, create a new weekend hobby, or build a new framework for your next Halloween scene.