# the creepiest graves you have ever seen



## moondragon01 (Apr 30, 2014)

Ok, we know someone dead is down there. You don't need to clarify any more.


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## Spats (Sep 21, 2006)

This may not be fair, since I've traveled a bit in my life, but I've visited English churchyards, Irish Graveyards and an ossuary in Denmark, where the bones of the faithful were all faithfully gathered and turned into the decor of the church nave.

Here in America, the top three are fairly legendary on the scary scale.
The first is the coastline north of Boston, Mass. Salem, Marblehead and Glouster all have Puritanical tombstones. These are the classic flat slate, usually inscribed with "Here Lyes y Body of..." Heavily scrolled or floral sides rise up to the arched top, which often sports a winged skull, or a skull and thighbones. The third most popular image on the top was a winged hourglass, because 'time flies'.

The second was Sleepy Hollow, NY. Like the New England boneyards, this burial ground had a few Puritan-style stones, but these showed the changing tastes of the time. The winged skull with its empty, staring sockets is often replaced with a more natural face topped with hair, a representation of the soul ascending... but these graves clustered around the Old Dutch Church are not the main attraction, even though you may be standing near the unmarked grave of a nameless Hessian.
The real treat is the crypts set into the hill on the far side of the churchyard, where Sleepy Hollow Cemetery proper begins. These charnel houses are old, and each has a distinct character - green-tarnished doors, marble pillars, frowning facades and even turrets and embattlements on the top, giving the impression of a castle entrance. One of these crypts served as the original Crypt for Barnabas Collins from the original "Dark Shadows" series. 

The third is the cemeteries of New Orleans. The infamous city has a rep for interring its dead above soil due to the high water table, so crypts, sepulchers and mausoleums are popular. The St. Louis #1 is the most famous, with Marie Laveau constantly entertaining guests. There are two others named for St. Louis - #2 is in a bad part of town and in terrible shape (which admittedly draws lots of photographers) and #3 is the newest and best kept, with marble still shining in the swamp-hazed sun. St. Rochs#1 can be decidedly unnerving, much more than #2, and Lafayette #1 has a wide range styles because it's non-denominational, and popular to boot, as it's in a nicer part of town and was made famous by Anne Rice.

But the creepiest, most skin-shivering grave? It was the grave of L. Coombs in the churchyard of Littleton, Cambridgeshire, England. That was the town I lived in while stationed in England, a small burg just up the road from Ely and Cambridge. Coombs had been buried before the Declaration of Independence was written, and the gravestone leaned out over the wall of the churchyard and cast a long shadow on the sidewalk beyond.
One evening, while walking past it, I noticed something in the grass of the grave in the light of the nearby streetlamp. I stepped up and looked closer, then carefully lifted the object from the earth. I brushed the soil from it and, guessing what it was, walked it up to the church, where the sexton met me and thanked me for bringing my find to him. 
Like many churchyards in Europe and the British isles, space was at a premium before the rise of secular cemeteries. This led to many families being buried in the same grave, one on top of the other. Usually, the previous occupant was long gone when the graves were opened for a new resident, but nevertheless some graves still swelled to capacity, so the recently departed may not have been assured a full depth of six feet. He figured that was what had happened at the Coombs grave, because the object I had brought him was the iron ring handle of a coffin, covered in a thick coat of rust.


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## moondragon01 (Apr 30, 2014)

grave picture?


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## printersdevil (Sep 7, 2009)

I agree the New Orleans cemeteries are very eerie. Also some of the Confederate cemeteries in South Carolina. Some in Beaufort are very creepy.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

I find cemeteries fascinating places to visit. It's not that I'm obsessed with death, but I find it interesting to see how the living commemorate those they loved. I don't have a single most eerie, but there are lots of notable ones. There are some gorgeous marble-statued markers and some creepy caved-in ones in San Juan. I don't know where my pictures are though. Ossuary in Rome-- quite, quite creepy. 
The Jewish cemetery in Prague is multi-layered, like the one Spats described in Littleton. Graves on top of graves on top of graves.








Hólavallagarður in Reykjavik has cool eerie trees. The green light in the picture is really how it looks.








These ivy covered stones in Sighișoara (Vlad/Dracula's Transylvanian birthplace) look like creatures when it gets toward dark. (DD and I got stuck in the graveyard when they locked the gates about 15 min ahead of schedule, so we got to see it after dark-- howling dogs, circling bats, and all.)


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## printersdevil (Sep 7, 2009)

OMG, ooojen, what a wonderful creepy story of getting locked in the cemetery. I would have freaked.


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## Backfromthedead (Oct 10, 2012)

This is Eternal Silence here in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. It was built in 1909.  Look up Graceland Cemetery for some of the famous people buried there. Pretty interesting stuff.


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

Spats - what scared my wife the most at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery wasn't the graves, or the mausoleums, but the roads! I made the mistake of driving those narrow, curvy, hilly trails...much better suited to hiking than driving.


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## creepymagic (Apr 16, 2012)

Mackinaw Island in Michigan, you can only reach them by horse, bike, or on foot.


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## Stringy_Jack (Oct 28, 2011)

What some beautiful and creepy photos everyone, love them.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

This is not my own picture, but a Pinterest grab. It's from the very striking Vysehrad Cemetery in Prague, and it's the spookiest individual grave I've seen.


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

I personally have never seen it but the pictures are pretty creepy, Black Aggie in Pikesville, MD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Aggie










http://www.prairieghosts.com/druidridge.html

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/agnes.asp

Aggie was removed the year I was born but the ORIGINAL statue created by Saint Gaudens is still there & apparently it's not haunted een though the statue is over a grave of a a woman that swallowed cyanide to commit suicide. 



> The original can be found in Rock Creek Cemetery, where it marks the graves of Marian and Henry Adams. In 1866, depressed by the death of her father, Marian Adams swallowed potassium cyanide while her husband was paying an emergency Sunday visit to his dentist. Grief-stricken over her loss to the end of his life, Adams commissioned a special monument from the well-known sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The statue has come to be called "Grief," although it never was officially so named either by its creator or its patron. There is no writing to be found on it, so very few know it's actually the grave marker of both Henry and Marian (he joined her underneath there in 1918) and not just a lovely bit of statuary.


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

Black Aggie gets around...Baltimore and Washington, Pikesville, and even in Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier, Vermont!

http://newenglandfolklore.blogspot.com/2013/02/black-agnes-statue-that-kills.html

Pretty frisky for a statue... I wonder if she's a "mourning" person?


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

A few years ago I was visiting a friend in South Carolina. One of the places he took me was an old classic Southern Cemetery, All Saints Church Cemetery, complete with Spanish Moss, crumbling crypts and a haunted legend. There is a grave stone embellished simply with the name "ALICE". Below is a link that tells the whole story, and the ritual that has grown up around it.

















http://www.angelfire.com/sc3/mytrip/alice.html

The most atmospheric cemetery I ever visited was an abandoned cemetery near the Susquehanna River in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. It was hidden in the woods behind machine shops and a car salvage yard. Completely overgrown, with many trecherous pits where graves had collapsed. Old slate and marble tombstones at odd angles, toppling over or held up by the trunks of trees that had grown around them. I've often wondered what happened to it... did anyone ever take it under wing and try to restore it, imbueing it with a deserved dignaty, or has it just been swallowed up and reverted back to nature?


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

That is probably the strangest stone I've ever seen. I wonder what the significance of the hands is? They almost seem comical, rather than supplicant...


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

ChrisW said:


> That is probably the strangest stone I've ever seen. I wonder what the significance of the hands is? They almost seem comical, rather than supplicant...


Good call, ChrisW! The stone is on the grave of Vlasta Burian, who was, indeed a comedian/comedic actor. There's some potential dark to it, too. He was blacklisted for alleged Nazi collaboration, and wasn't exonerated until after his death.


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

My "Creepiest graveyard" is the one I know the best. (Maybe that is why it's creepy to me?)
It is right out my West window on the next hill. It looks down upon the little downtown we have here.
The Creek that runs behind my house runs toward the graveyard, turns south, then West,then North making a liquid separation between itself and most of the town. I guess at one time the belief was that a spirit could not cross a body of water to approach the living?
Maybe the graveyard is located there because it is a terrible piece of farmland, all clay and small rocks? (Poor grave digger!)
Most of my relatives are buried there.
The tallest stone there belongs to my Great-Grandfather Warfield. it might be 16 feet tall ("That's where he spent ALL of his $!") ha-ha!
Another much smaller stone has James Warfield on it,it says i died in 1953. I do remember that day. It was Winter, James left the house to carry out the garbage can and never returned. He collapsed on top of the garbage can (Heart attack) He and his family just lived two blocks away ,up the hill.
We were not closely related,he had been my Grandfather's Cousin?
Last year I was told some more odd stories about nocturnal happenings in this Graveyard.
It seems a local man and his Wife had gotten into the habit of enjoying nightly walks through the graveyard... until they began to see shadow people and unexplainable , odd lights there.
6,500 bodys buried up on that hill,only 1,700 population of this town.
Even the Parents of Anita Snook are buried there ,Anita is credited with teaching Amelia Airhart to fly. A one-time Commisoner of major league baseball is also buried there.
The river,the sewer plant, a small corn field,some sheer cliffs all help to keep people out,but what about those who need to come out.." death" gets boring,you know...


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## 22606 (Aug 11, 2008)

In a rundown little cemetery near Dearborn.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

That's beautiful, Garthgoyle! 

Gym-- Shadow people, eh? Are there any potential sources of infrasound?


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## texaslucky (Feb 25, 2014)

The ones in New Orleans give me the creeps. So many are decayed and look like something out of a horror show. We drove around one of the cememteries a few years ago when we cruised out of NOLA and I have some photos somewhere. I will see if I can find some to share


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

I'd love to see your photos, Texaslucky! There's a good chance my husband and I will be in New Orleans for a week or so next spring, and I've already started researching cemeteries on Tripadvisor.


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

The super-creepy thing tome about New Orleans is the tremendous number of people that would die there so quickly from contagious sicknesses.
15,000 in one week? We were told by a tour guide.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

Wow! Coffin makers must have been in high demand, though I imagine an awful lot of those people must have been interred with neither coffin nor headstone.


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## StanFam3 (Oct 5, 2009)

I have enjoyed this thread!!! I don't normally find graves "creepy" -- I love cemeteries actually, and find them peaceful usually. Go figure!


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

I agree, StanFam3. IMO there are some creepy catacombs and Capuchin crypts, but normal, above-ground cemeteries are fascinating, often beautiful, and peaceful.
Where I grew up there was a tiny Ojibwe cemetery a short walk from out house, on the edge of the woods. There were a couple newish graves there, and there were also old spirit houses, with a hole in one end for the spirit to come and go. There were markers carved with the clan totem, and local folks said when the "roof" of the spirit house eventually broke and caved in (as most of them had), the spirit would be freed for good. 
You grow up with that stuff right by you, and you take it for granted. I wish I had taken (and kept) more pictures, as there's probably not much left of the old spirit houses and markers by now.


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## 3pinkpoodles (May 2, 2012)

Located in a remote area off the Oregon Trail, not far from the first transcontinental railroad. Nearby is an old "sanatorium" - rumored to be haunted by Chinese immigrant railroad workers and former patients http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Lake_Hotel 

.. Summerville Cemetery : Buried my husband's dad here a couple years back..... under that lovely tree, overlooking Mt Emily. Truly the most beautiful cemetery on earth and I can see why the family has chosen this little piece of heaven on earth as their final resting place. It's creepy, yet lovely and filled with history, tragedy, heartache......


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

ooojen said:


> Wow! Coffin makers must have been in high demand, though I imagine an awful lot of those people must have been interred with neither coffin nor headstone.


In NOLA they don't really do fancy coffins or caskets, they just go into the crypts & "bake" for a year or so, then the crypt is opened, what's left is, more or less scooped up & pushed back & down to make room for the next inhabitant.

It seems very efficient to me.

http://www.experienceneworleans.com/deadcity.html



> According to a local ordinance, as long as the previously deceased family member has been dead for at least two years, the remains of that person can be moved to a specially made burial bag and placed at the side or back of the vault. The coffin is then destroyed, and the vault is now ready for a newly deceased family member. What happens if a family member dies within that two-year period? Generally, local cemeteries are equipped with temporary holding vaults, and the newly deceased family member is moved into his or her final resting place when two years have elapsed.





> Once a coffin or casket is placed into a tomb or other interment vehicle, it is sealed with brick and mortar or covered with soil. In the case of our vaults and family tombs, this is merely the process of laying a simple brick "wall" before the vault entrance. After the minimum period has gone by, (usually "one year and one day", based upon Judeo-Christian mourning rituals, although periods may vary as per the requirements of families or individual cemetery authorities, etc.), the vehicle may be re-used, if needed, by simply removing the seal, separating the human remains from what is left of the casket , and replacing the remains back into the tomb (either pushed to the rear of the vault, or placed in the bottom). The casket is simply disposed of, so for that reason this burial style doesn't usually require the use of expensive caskets.


http://www.lafayettecemetery.org/burial-styles-traditions


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## hhh (Mar 1, 2012)

Some years back I visited Mt Koya in Japan. It's the center of a certain sect of Buddhism, and where the founder is interred. He's not actually dead, just in very deep meditation. The temple is set a couple miles back in the woods, and all along the path there people have been buried. Lots of these traditional buddhist grave markers in all sizes. It's kinda like a cross between redwood national park and a graveyard. Some of the plots off the main path get a little creepy. It's definitely an interesting place.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

That's lovely, hhh! I really like the stones with moss. They look timeless.


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## LairMistress (Jul 31, 2009)

Just by the looks of them, I don't have a favorite in my own photo collection. By story, well, that's a different story.

I'm a phone photographer. Not even an amateur photographer. I take pictures with my phone. (mostly because I keep forgetting to charge the real camera, even though it's not a very good one)

I LOVE to visit cemeteries and take photos. I believe that I am leaving my job this fall, and plan on visiting as many cemeteries as I can in good weather once I do (hopefully with the actual camera).

My story happened in the town in which I live. I was out taking pictures one day, and when walking between two stones belonging to young girls, I heard a young female voice say "Hello!" to me. I turned around, and of course, no one was there.  Those stones, and several others from a couple of different cemeteries are on this Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/amie_shive/illinois-cemeteries/

And this board has a few cool stones that other people have snapped photos of. There are also buildings, and other things on the board: https://www.pinterest.com/amie_shive/haunting-imagery/


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## Skeletoncrew (Oct 10, 2013)

How beautiful and peaceful looking hhh. 

I don't know if I find this creepy as much as sad and compelling because of the story. We keep our boats in Beaufort, NC .. The cemetery there is very old and lovely! It's called the old burying ground. One of the most famous grave sites is an very old wood marker, which marks the grave of a small girl buried is a barrel of rum. The day we went it was closed, I'd like to get back there this year to explore more .. It's shaded by low growing trees, situated with a church on each of the four corners. 


Story below :

Visitors frequently leave small gifts and trinkets at the unusual gravesite of the little girl buried in a barrel of rum. According to the legend, a young girl traveled to England with her father who promised the child's mother to return her safely home. Sadly, on the return journey, the young girl died at sea. Desperately wanting to keep his promise to return home with his daughter, he purchased a barrel of rum from the ship's captain. He placed his daughter's lifeless body in the barrel of rum and returned her to Beaufort for burial at home.


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## spookydave (May 14, 2014)

here are some interesting graves from an old cemetery just north of Denver, sorry bout the upsidedown pic, lol, im gonna try to replicate one of those tombs for my cemetary


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## thenightmarefamily (Nov 20, 2014)

Really cool stuff guy's, after all my years in this business i am truly inspired by these, thanks for the posts.


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## scareme (Jan 18, 2009)

The creepiest graves I know don't look creepy, but the story kind of is. In my home town they were excavating some land on the top of a cliff where there were going to put some new houses in. When they started digging up the land they found the tombstones from a forgotten grave yard. They moved the gravestones, and what else they could find out to the local cemetery, and built the houses. Because of the amount of time that had passed, and decommission there wasn't a lot to move. So I would think the people living in those houses know they are living over graves. I wouldn't be watching the Poltergeist movie if I were them. 

The moved Irish cemetery. Every tombstone list the birth place as a county in Ireland. This was an immigrants cemetery.


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## scareme (Jan 18, 2009)

Another cemetery story. When my kids were about 5 and 6, we were driving past a cemetery, and they asked what it was. I tried to use every opportunity to teach them, so I stopped the car and we went into the cemetery. I explained how when people that we love die we try to make a nice place for them to rest. And we use the tombstone to tell about their lives, and how much we love and miss them. They were being very quite and I was impressed how well they were taking it in. As we walked along we passed a wall of above ground graves. One of the marble covers was cracked and half of it was missing. My son saw that and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Dead man coming out!" and they both ran screaming back to the car. People in the cemetery turned and watched them. I was laughing so hard I couldn't catch my breath. I was trying to walk back to the car, but I could hear them screaming and trying to get in the car, and I would laugh more. Finally I made it back to the car, and they both hid on the floor of the car until we were a couple of miles down the road. 

One other thing about those above ground walls. I knew a man who worked at the cemetery, and he said once when a tornado hit, they had to collect everything displaced by the tornado, and try to figure out what grave/vault they go back in. I had never thought about that before.


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

Around 1905 an unscrupulous "Salesman" Sold the city a "Bill-of-Goods" he was working for The Lincoln Mausoleum Co.which went broke or disappeared shortly after the building was paid for,even though that Company was supposed to doing that for "Eternity".
It was made from concrete blocks,it always had "Problems" and was eventually torn down ,bodies buried.
It had a commanding view of our little downtown here from the next hill,you could always see it as you walked down the street. 
The concrete blocks began to break, fall apart, a leg bone might be then seeing "The Light of Day",it was also a pigeon roost,crap and feathers everywhere! 
How to Not Respect the dead!?
It wasn't until the bodies were buried that I was told I had several relatives in the building,they now all have one long concrete "Sidewalk" poured over them all with individual bronze-looking name plates.
Talk about a scary looking structure!
It wasn't ever locked much,kids would go in there it was naturally lit by a few broken skylights,a steel barred gate door at the East and West ends,so if the setting Sun didn't help you "see" a drawer slowly opening ,about the time your rational mind calmed yourself,a dam bird would come flying out of nowhere!
The building was at least 100 foot long. A few teenagers would sometimes hide in an empty "Drawer" to scare someone too! (NOT ME! No drawer for me!)


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

We had a call today. the person calling has been through the house before( Ravens Grin) and they were offering us several loads of pre-1900 tombstones.
They have not been actual grave markers ever since 1900 when a graveyard was relocated and everyone got new markers.
We have not driven to see them yet. Because they are as old as they are,maybe they won't be as heavy as most stones seemed to be after 1900?
They would go very nicely in the little woods where I have nothing now.Of course I am looking forward to making a lot of money from these stones as I win the bet Every Time when some will be saying I carved them out of styrofoam.
"Yes,they Do Look REAL ,don't they? (As my back-brace squeaks and my hernia says "HI,Dummie-Jim!" )


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

Great stones and great stories, folks! I enjoy them all!


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## LivingDeadGuy (Nov 22, 2008)

The catacombs in Paris, the bone church in Prague, all five graves of the victims of Jack the Ripper, and Lord Voldemort.


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## fanboy (Mar 21, 2014)

We went to Salem in 2013 and while there visited the Burying Point Cemetery. The oldest burial spot in Salem. I loved all the great gravestones with the skulls on the top.


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## Stinkerbell n Frog Prince (Sep 4, 2009)

Frog and I besides being Haunters are also Geocachers. One of the things like to do is search out cemeteries with caches and place caches in those near us that don't have any. We've visited a LOT of cemeteries over the years and have found each has it's own personality. Of course the creepiest are the abandon or unendowed ones. 

The one that really made us ponder was at the Krain Cemetery in Washington State.








It's hard to read the stones in the large photo so here they are individually. 






















The daughter in this family didn't fair much better but at least she got to keep her name to herself.


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## Saki.Girl (Aug 22, 2012)

Just read thur this great thread.


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## The Pod (May 19, 2008)

It's not so much the tombstone itself, but more the creepy choice of photo they placed on the stone for people to remember the person as.....

Guess they wanted to relive the funeral over and over each time family visited the grave site.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

The Pod-- that certainly was an...interesting choice for a tombstone photo! Makes me wonder whether that was the best picture they had.
Where was the cemetery?


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## spookydave (May 14, 2014)

found these from the same cemetery,the one shot really makes you wonder , were they comin in or comin out...


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## scareme (Jan 18, 2009)

spookydave said:


> found these from the same cemetery,the one shot really makes you wonder , were they comin in or comin out...
> View attachment 239827
> View attachment 239828








Dead Man Coming Out!!


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

*Paris*

This one has spooked me since I first saw it on the cover of a philosophy book. I got a chance to visit it up close and personal about two decades ago. It's in the Cimitere Du Pere Lachaise in Paris, where Jim Morrison and other luminaries are buried. Interesting place to wander if you ever find yourself in France:


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

*Comic relief at Arlington National Cemetery*

A visit to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC is absolutely a somber and moving experience. Worthwhile visiting to reflect on the sacrifices men and women have made to protect American citizens' liberty. Nevertheless, this particular tombstone struck my funny bone as it were; indicating the obvious:


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## spookydave (May 14, 2014)

should be one behind that says duh


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## NOWHINING (Jul 25, 2009)

This sound dumb, but it makes me think this was a Deaf grave for the hands. (Deaf here) Strange but beautiful really.



ooojen said:


> This is not my own picture, but a Pinterest grab. It's from the very striking Vysehrad Cemetery in Prague, and it's the spookiest individual grave I've seen.
> View attachment 238249


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## NOWHINING (Jul 25, 2009)

Okay, all these pictures are beautiful and hauntingly real too. I find them soothing and comforting. There is a place in Cincinnati, Ohio that hold the most beautiful grave yard site with Church, Funeral, walking path, RVSP for party and so on. I have been there once for my Uncle whom had Navy Style funeral that was heart-breaking. I didn't have the time I wishes to roam and take pictures. The place was breath taking and I do hope to go back someday.


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## stormygirl84 (Sep 4, 2009)

I've got Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond that I LOVE to spend the day crawling over. And believe me, it's huge, so it takes more than a day to see everything. There are two US presidents buried here, and also Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. Lots of Confederates buried here, actually. Here are some of the more interesting graves I've come across so far:





























One of the most popular graves is that of a little girl, whose name has been lost to history. An iron dog guards her grave, and has since the 1860's. The romantic version of the story is that the dog used to stand outside of a shop in Richmond, where the little girl would pet and talk to the dog every day when she passed it with her parents. After she died unexpectedly, the shop owner gave it to her parents to stand watch over her grave for all time. To be honest, it's more likely that the shop keeper donated it to spare it from being melted down for ammunition during the Civil War; funerary statues were off limits for that. But everyone likes the story of the little girl and her love for the dog better. People leave toys and trinkets for her on the grave.









Her headstone is almost impossible to read anymore, but from what I could see from close inspection, I feel 97% sure her name was Bernadine.


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## creepymagic (Apr 16, 2012)

Again some pics from Mackinaw Island. They have three cemeteries next to each other in a forest (State Park). Catholic, Protestant, and Military. The Military while not as creepy certainly is unique and is one of the few places in the United States where the flag is allowed to fly 24 hours a day.


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## scareme (Jan 18, 2009)

I used to live up in that area, and have been to Mackinaw Island, but I never thought to look for cemeteries. Looking at your pictures I really wish I would have.


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## creepymagic (Apr 16, 2012)

scareme said:


> I used to live up in that area, and have been to Mackinaw Island, but I never thought to look for cemeteries. Looking at your pictures I really wish I would have.


Sorry you missed them. The whole area is kind of spooky with the trees blocking out most of the sun and the wind whistling around. The possible sound of horses about the only noise since automobiles are forbidden. When the movie white noise came out both my wife and I agreed there is only one place creepy enough that it might work and that was the cemeteries on Mackinaw Island. We tried the white noise experiment but it did not yield any results. I cannot imagine being in this area after dark.








I think the most famous burial ground there is the Skull Cave, which is believed to be an ancient burial ground for Native Americans. 








Turn Left at Skull Cave and the three cemeteries are a couple hundred yards away, 1/4 mile perhaps. 








The Catholic cemetery will be the first one you reach, the other two a little further on. It has several arches like this.








This pic shows how the forest and graves blend in together, while the whole area is creepy, it is also peaceful.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

Great pictures, folks! 

I dug out a couple more, these from an old plantation on St. John, Cinnamon Bay. There are no elaborate markers, but it's kind of picturesque the way they're sinking into the jungley woods. The families of owners and overseers were buried off what's now a wooded path beyond the ruined stone buildings of the cane plantation. Their tombs are like steps up the hill, the oldest ones sinking into the forest floor. (I believe the most recent one is from the last private owner.) 















The creepier burial spot is nearby, down by the beach. It's not marked but it's where they put the bodies of slaves or poor free folks (many dead from cholera). When there are storms, bits of the banks erode away, and bones wash onto the resort beach.


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

*Capuchin Crypt in Rome - 6 spooky rooms of displays made of ~4,000 bones*

The Capuchin Crypt wasn't far from my hotel in Rome so I decided to visit. Six spooky rooms composed of around 4,000 monks' bones. None of the photos are mine; when I visited, there was a No Photos sign I respected. Do a google image search for Capuchin Crypt and you'll see a lot more. Really macabre--art made with bones:


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

Yeah, that is such a macabre spot! The light fixtures, everything-- just, whoa!


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

ooojen said:


> Yeah, that is such a macabre spot! The light fixtures, everything-- just, whoa!


Yep, all the hanging light fixtures made out of real bones was crazy. Everything was so strange--like out of a film rather than real. Gave me an idea to do a Deranged Monk / Abbey scene / theme for my yard haunt some season--clothing a skeleton in a brown monk's robe; possibly painting one of my Walgreens skellies' skull brownish and/or add something to make it look like mummification. Any suggestions to make a prop skull look mummified? Would need some texture and color. Although I've got mixed feelings about doing so, seeing this Real Life display. Reminded me a bit too much of Buffalo Bill character from Silence of the Lambs--one of my favorite films. But also one of the more disturbing ones. Gotta wonder where the Capuchin monk's mind was at when he created this six room display.

I'd intended to visit some Roman catacombs along the Appian Way but didn't have time. The Crypts at St. Peter's Basillica in Vatican City were closed due to the Pope giving a mass--stayed for that just to experience it. Not religious but cool to say I've been to mass with "Papa Francesco" (Pope Francis).


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## spookydave (May 14, 2014)

I'm guessing he didn't use pvc and spider joints to get those guys to stand up... lol. Very creepy.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

Oh, an Abby of the Undead could be _*really*_ creepy! I love the idea! A background of Gregorian chants, the herbalist with his poisons, the tended cemetery--- If you decide to do it, I hope you'll share lots of pictures!
I never got to Vatican City (one of many reasons to return?) It sounds great!

The Capuchin crypt brought this crypt back to mind. It has far less creepiness factor, but the fact that it's _*Santa's*_ grave gives it some impact.
Sailors from Bari grabbed St. Nicholas' skeleton, pushing down Myria's Greek Orthodox monks and running. Venetians then stole some of the bones from Bari, but some remain, in the dimly lit crypt below Basilica di San Nicola. They divided the bones into four piles and poured them into concrete-- somewhat of a theft deterrent.


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## Laurie S. (Dec 4, 2007)

When I was a girl, there was an old, forgotten graveyard atop a big hill near my home. That place to me still rings true as the creepiest, because of the 1800's burials, cracked and overgrown monuments, and unusual epitaphs. We went up there as a dare several times, of course, and I always ended up with goosebumps, hairs standing on end, yet separated from my small group and strangely drawn to the study of those lost souls. I never made it to the end of the dirt road through that graveyard. I don't want to know where it goes.


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

Thanks Ooojen! It would be a fantastic theme--love the background of Gregorian chants, etc! The theme would be a bit too intense given that I live in the Bible Belt; but I may do a mini-theme scene of skeletal monks in my little Big Lots Greenhouse-turned-mausoleum; with infinite mirror backdrop. Maybe the sound of the monks could be triggered by motion.

Very interesting about St. Nick's relics! Lots of relic stealing, exporting, and presentation all around Italy it seems.

If you get back to Rome, I'd absolutely advise you to allot a half-day to visiting the Vatican City museum--get a timed entry ticket though or you're in deep doo-doo waiting in huge lines. With a timed entry ticket (can purchase online) you jump to the head of the line. My wife and I spent one hour alone looking up at the Sistine Chapel--most people think of the one image (creation of Adam); but that's one small panel out of many dozens. And you can only see the Sistine Chapel by paying to go to the Vatican Museum.

Another Must Do in Vatican City is paying to do the walk all the way up the dome / cupola. You can pay to take an elevator part of the way up. Not for the claustrophobic or weak. So cool to eventually get to teensy stairs winding super close and tight to the circular shape of the dome. At one point you're out behind the statues on a terrace looking out over all of St. Peter's Square. The dome climb is one of the greatest experiences I've had in Italy. When I'd been planning a trip to Rome many years ago, I think, nah. Who cares about the Vatican. Then I watched the film Angels and Demons; afterwards, immediately added that to my Rome itinerary based on being inspired by the film. It definitely met my expectations in real life.

Also, nice thing about Vatican Museums is that, at the end, where the Sistine Chapel is, one exit brings you back into the museum's courtyard. But the opposite exit takes you straight into St. Peter's Basilica, allowing you to avoid the entrance line (can take an hour or so waiting in line to go into the Basilica, going through security again). It's like a secret door in a video game.  



ooojen said:


> Oh, an Abby of the Undead could be _*really*_ creepy! I love the idea! A background of Gregorian chants, the herbalist with his poisons, the tended cemetery--- If you decide to do it, I hope you'll share lots of pictures!
> I never got to Vatican City (one of many reasons to return?) It sounds great!
> 
> The Capuchin crypt brought this crypt back to mind. It has far less creepiness factor, but the fact that it's _*Santa's*_ grave gives it some impact.
> ...


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

You know your neighborhood better than I do, clearly, but it doesn't seem like it should be objectionable as long as you don't have the monks doing Satanic mass or anything. Could it be any worse than the display the Capuchin Monks themselves made?

Interesting information on the Vatican-- thanks! 
I'm not a big fan of tiny passages, but I can soldier on when there's something genuinely awesome to see. It's on the list if I ever get back!


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

ooojen said:


> You know your neighborhood better than I do, clearly, but it doesn't seem like it should be objectionable as long as you don't have the monks doing Satanic mass or anything. Could it be any worse than the display the Capuchin Monks themselves made?
> 
> Interesting information on the Vatican-- thanks!
> I'm not a big fan of tiny passages, but I can soldier on when there's something genuinely awesome to see. It's on the list if I ever get back!


Well, I do have an evangelical Christian pastor across the street, and lots of evangelical Christians in the neighborhood. So I do try to down-modulate objectionable stuff. They generally don't accept Catholicism, period. Cappuchins were an offshoot of Franciscan Catholic order of monks. Now, in New England where I great up, the majority religion demographically was Catholicism, for which Halloween in general was accepted. I'd also do a larger scale ouija board if I lived back in New England--again, while it could spook some, it wouldn't be a total affront to the neighborhood.

It's too bad since I've got a series of 11 x 17 sheet printouts that, assembled, would make a gigantic ouija board. Maybe I'll do it the Halloween Season the year before I finally leave the buckle of the Bible Belt here in Raleigh, NC and move to Orlando, FL.


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

mikeerdas said:


> Well, I do have an evangelical Christian pastor across the street, and lots of evangelical Christians in the neighborhood. So I do try to down-modulate objectionable stuff. They generally don't accept Catholicism, period. Cappuchins were an offshoot of Franciscan Catholic order of monks. Now, in New England where I great up, the majority religion demographically was Catholicism, for which Halloween in general was accepted. I'd also do a larger scale ouija board if I lived back in New England--again, while it could spook some, it wouldn't be a total affront to the neighborhood.
> 
> It's too bad since I've got a series of 11 x 17 sheet printouts that, assembled, would make a gigantic ouija board. Maybe I'll do it the Halloween Season the year before I finally leave the buckle of the Bible Belt here in Raleigh, NC and move to Orlando, FL.


Told myself "no more thrift store shopping" for a while until I'd used and tested all the stuff I already had. But went to one on a whim and I found two identical CDs for 50 cents each of Gregorgian chants. Hmmm, that haunted abbey is "sounding" better and better; especially if I ran it through an audio effects processors. No promises though. Would likely limit to my Big Lots Greenhouse Mausoleum and possibly some Catacombs "scene setter"--the variety that really comes alive when backlit--different brand, but sold at Spirit. Anyone know what I'm talking about?


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## pumpkinhead86 (Nov 29, 2013)

I think the creepiest I have seen didn't even have tombstones. There was just a mound of dirt...actually I think there may have been a small stone marking the head and foot....but it wasn't a typical grave. Idk...i don't get creeped out in graveyards but that one did.


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## Lilith's Demon (Oct 28, 2013)

My Wife and I are the same way. We don't get creeped out by graveyard's. Actually we prefer them. Back in Joplin we would go hang out in one called Fairview Cemetery. Get a $6 pizza and some beer or wine and we'd have kind of a date night thing hanging out there at night. Anyways, there was 1 grave there that made me feel a bit odd. It was old, 1800s old and the coffin had collapsed making the soil above it collapse. Honestly it could have been a sinkhole underneath since Joplin and the surrounding areas are honeycombed with mine shafts that were in some places up to 6 stories high. Anyways, what bothered me was the constant steady flow of steam coming out of it.


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## CaliforniaMelanie (Sep 8, 2008)

ChrisW said:


> Spats - what scared my wife the most at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery wasn't the graves, or the mausoleums, but the roads! I made the mistake of driving those narrow, curvy, hilly trails...much better suited to hiking than driving.


I used to live about 25 minutes from Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. I went to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery with my brother and some of his friends years ago. We went at night (of course). As we left the cemetery after a good deal of wandering, my brother randomly shone his flashlight on two or three stones. At the very exit he turned to me and said, "You pick the last one." I pointed randomly to one dark stone to my left. My brother shone the light on it. The date of death was exactly one day before my birthday...same year.


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## Star13 (Jun 15, 2015)

Enjoyed reading all your posts here, quite interesting.
Being new here, I'm learning how to post, so bear with me.
The very first grave posted here of the woman laying on the grave some call her spirit of nature, 
but actually titled "Asleep", she is carved out of Carrara Marble.
I've been to see her, she is amazing, took heaps of photo's but they don't do her justice.
Yes kinda eerie being there, but you can't help being mesmerized by her.


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## MonsterGuts (Jun 29, 2014)

I love reading about all of these places. I find graveyards to be filled with sad beauty. 

This isn't my photo but I have always thought it to be strange. 








Paris- Père Lachaise graveyard.

-Kat


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## MonsterGuts (Jun 29, 2014)

mikeerdas said:


> Told myself "no more thrift store shopping" for a while until I'd used and tested all the stuff I already had. But went to one on a whim and I found two identical CDs for 50 cents each of Gregorgian chants. Hmmm, that haunted abbey is "sounding" better and better; especially if I ran it through an audio effects processors. No promises though. Would likely limit to my Big Lots Greenhouse Mausoleum and possibly some Catacombs "scene setter"--the variety that really comes alive when backlit--different brand, but sold at Spirit. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
> 
> View attachment 243422


Many years ago, I went to the Caves in Les Baux, France. It's is an amazing place where they project images on the walls, floor and ceiling of these old caves. The show we saw had stain glass images being projected accompanied with Gregorian chant music. It was an amazing experience. Maybe if you have a projector, you could project a creepy stain glass image like this as a back drop? 









-Kat


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## FreakinFreak (Aug 27, 2010)

Mine, in a dream


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## Savage Night (Jan 11, 2008)

OMG, moondragon01, that kinda looks like me. I must show this to the old man, so he can do this for my final resting plae.


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## GobbyGruesome (Sep 14, 2005)

Saw this guy peeking out between the stones in Sleepy Hollow. Seemed like he was watching us. Maybe we woke him.


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## Lilith's Demon (Oct 28, 2013)

I just realized that I used to have that same album of Gregorian Chants! I used to annoy my neighbors with it listening to it at all hours of the night by candlelight. This was in my first place when my neighbors were just on the other side of the wall.  That same building was at one time many, many years prior Joplin's best brothel. Very cheap to rent now.


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## Serpentia (Sep 10, 2011)

GobbyGruesome said:


> Saw this guy peeking out between the stones in Sleepy Hollow. Seemed like he was watching us. Maybe we woke him.


THIS THREAD WINS EVERYTHING. 

I would love to visit Pere Lachaise especially. That looks like Creeptacular Ground Zero to me.


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## IshWitch (May 19, 2006)

She's in the cemetery about a mile and a half from our house.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

Great entries! Some are creepy, some not, but all are fascinating!
My recent visit--cemetery at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. It was a monastic settlement from the 6th century. It is alleged to be haunted, but I think it's just peaceful and pretty.















Now in the creepy camp-- (Not my photo- better) "cadaver stone" effigies from Drogheda. The intent is to make the viewer reflect on his or her own mortality.


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## EvilDog (Sep 18, 2013)

I will post some i have soon. I may not have a puc but i find tge unmarked graves creepy!


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

@Lillith, cool on the Chant CD.

@ooojen, very nice! Backpacked around Ireland for two months many decades ago and found some very interesting graves--one of the largest and oldest would be Newgrange--500 years older than the Pyramids at Giza. Quite an experience crawling into the center. Astronomically aligned--very cool. Then there is The Burren on the West Coast with its rugged terrain and Dolmens. Plus many ruined Abbeys like Muckross Abbey. Ireland's just so terrifically atmospheric. I once stayed in a supposedly haunted old Hunting Lodge turned-youth-hostel in the town of Dingle on Dingle Penninsula. Spent a good amount of time alone there at night, as the Proprietor headed out to the Pub, didn't expect any other guests to arrive, and calmly told me to "just let anyone in who might arrive." Like a lead-in to chills and scares in an old black and white horror film. Cool, but initially unsettling, the thought of it.

I can see how those with overactive imaginations could see or sense or feel ghosts there. It's an old structure up on a windy hill. Thinks creek. I had no such encounters with apparitions in the night--just "one damned arrogant peacock" during daylight hours on the property, as the proprietor referred colorfully referred to that critter.

Believe I was also at Carromore (?) neolithic cemetary up near County Sligo. I just love the whole West Coast of Ireland. Hoping to take my wife and mother-in-law to Ireland, as they've never been and mother-in-law has Irish ancestry. 



ooojen said:


> Great entries! Some are creepy, some not, but all are fascinating!
> My recent visit--cemetery at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. It was a monastic settlement from the 6th century. It is alleged to be haunted, but I think it's just peaceful and pretty.
> View attachment 243807
> 
> ...


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

Oh, to have two months' free time! A week and a half was the best we could do, but I'm happy for it. 
We went west, too, renting a house in Galway and exploring from there. The old Abbeys and their associated cemeteries are fascinating-- hike through a cattle pasture to get a closer look. I bet close to a third of my pictures were taken in cemeteries.
I loved this-- Abbey ruins in a pasture somewhere, off the beaten path...








...and the sign says not to bury anybody without checking in first! We found that all sorts of amusing!


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## McBernes (Mar 10, 2015)

I once made a small plasticine sculpture similar to that and cast it in plaster Moondragon01. Alas, it is long lost.


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## IshWitch (May 19, 2006)

Went on a ghost tour in St Augustine FL and caught one. I'm still excited thinking about it!


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## EvilDog (Sep 18, 2013)

Oh nice.


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## xxScorpion64xx (Oct 15, 2011)

This is the older section of our local cemetery


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