MM and Halloween news

Written by John Ellingsworth

Wednesday, 07 July 2004

MM has made the news, this time to satisfy the public misperception that cemeteries are full of ghosts and goblins. Not exactly the positive press this place needs, but any press is better than no press. The real fright of MM is the reality, day or night, of falling into sunken plots, tripping over obscured headstones, or being a victim of a random crime while visiting. Or even worse, not being able to find the burial location of a loved one, and getting no help from the 'owners'. That is the real horror. http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/10039530.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp Where ghosts hang out all year You wouldn't want to live there - yet - but they're nice places to visit. This Halloween, drop by one of these ghoulishly grand cemeteries. By Matthew P. Blanchard Inquirer Staff Writer Yes, dear reader, the bony hand of Death beckons you. Not later, but now. And not to die, necessarily, but merely to visit the region's extraordinary cities of the dead, and therein to stroll, to contemplate, perhaps to have a picnic. Melancholy isn't quite as cool as it was in the Victorian age, when the local cemetery was a popular destination on a Sunday afternoon - a combination park, arboretum and sculpture garden for the urban gentry. But people are rediscovering these brooding landscapes, where the gothic atmosphere is so thick with loss and remembrance you'll be quothing ravens like Edgar Allan Poe. So ditch the store-bought Halloween of cheap candy and plastic costumes; Try exploring these four glorious boneyards instead. Laurel Hill Cemetery 3822 Ridge Ave., East Falls The region's premier Victorian cemetery is offering nighttime Halloween tours this weekend only. Learn the ornate customs of 19th-century burial as you creep among the mausoleums of dead millionaires. Meet the spirits (embodied by actors) of folks such as Martha Drennan, a spinster who disappeared while strolling through Laurel Hill in 1903. Her headless torso was later found on an ice floe miles down the Schuylkill. During the day, visitors are always encouraged to stroll and picnic for free and climb the sloping terraces of ornate tombs down toward the river. From Egyptian to art nouveau, rarely seen architectural styles abound. Halloween tours are 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday (Oct. 30) and Saturday (Oct. 31); 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 31). Admission is $15 with a reservation, $20 without. Call 215-228-8200 for reservations. The cemetery gates are open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Old St. David's Church 763 Valley Forge Rd., Radnor A romantic country idyll tucked behind a stone wall, St. David's is perfect for melancholy rambles with that special someone. Moss-shouldered graves huddle beneath whispering pines. More scenic than scary, St. David's does boast the grotesque tale of Chester County native "Mad Anthony" Wayne, the only American general to be buried in two places. A right-hand man of George Washington's, Wayne was originally buried in Erie in 1796. Thirteen years later, his son Isaac had Wayne dug up. His flesh was boiled off the bones and the bones taken back to St. David's, where they lie beneath a pyramidal marker. The stewed flesh stayed in Erie and, as legend has it, Wayne's ghost goes looking for missing parts of himself in the wee, dark hours of New Year's Day - Wayne's birthday. Old St. David's closes at dusk. Mount Moriah Cemetery Kingsessing and Cemetery Avenues, Philadelphia No place says "decay" quite like Mount Moriah Cemetery. At night, it is among the most terrifying locales in the city. Acres of this once-grand graveyard have reverted to wilderness. Vines and creepers clutch at toppled headstones, vandals dump stonework into Cobb's Creek, and furtive farmers tend hidden marijuana plants. At Mount Moriah, one senses not just the decay of bodies, but the decay of civilization itself. It is not a place one should go alone. Many have argued the cemetery should be restored, although it is likely a cleaned-up Mount Moriah would not thrive in the imagination as it does now. A documentary film by the Scribe Video Center about Mount Moriah is due out in January. Mount Moriah Cemetery has no gates or posted hours, but visitors should stay away after dark. The Museum of Mourning Art Arlington Cemetery, 2900 State Rd., Upper Darby This weird gem of an institution is well known only to morticians and art students, but is more than enough fun for the morbidly inclined. Rising above the graves here is a replica of George Washington's Virginia home, Mount Vernon. Inside that, the owners of Arlington Cemetery have gathered a range of burial artifacts from colonial times to the present. Some of the examples of mourning art include jewelry decorated with tiny graveyard scenes, rendered with the hair of the deceased. Also here is a 1710 cemetery gun, a tripwire-activated flintlock rigged near fresh graves to blow off the kneecaps of grave robbers and body snatchers. Not at all stuffy, the museum is open Monday through Friday by appointment only - call 610-259-5800. Admission and a tour are free, but the museum appreciates donations.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 March 2008 )

 

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