Tombstone tours: Famous cemeteries

Some tourists fascinated by graveyards, especially around Halloween

Gravestones are shown at the Green-Wood Cemetery in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The cemetery, founded in 1838, will host two, two-and-half hour Holloween-themed tours this year on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29.

NEW YORK - Even if you don't believe in ghosts, walking through a graveyard can be a little spooky — especially in autumn as the trees lose their leaves, flowers wither away and light fades in the late afternoon.

But cemeteries can make fascinating destinations. Sometimes a few words on a tombstone can suggest a whole life story; sometimes you can find a famous name, a beautiful work of art, or landscaping worthy of a botanical garden.

“Many people find great peace and solace in visiting cemeteries even if their own relatives are not buried there,” said Janet Heywood, trustee for the Association for Gravestone Studies. “Others come to cemeteries to enjoy the history and beauty of the monuments and gravestones and/or to experience the outdoors, the plantings, the landscapes of the garden cemeteries of the nation.”