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Why
the Heck are Cemeteries Haunted???
While working the other day, it occurred to me to wonder exactly
why ghosts
haunt graveyards. Of course, their bodies are buried there,
but you would
think they could find a more interesting place to haunt. At
least that's my plan.
So as soon as I got home, I got out all my books on the paranormal
and got
to work. I found hundreds of references to haunted graveyards;
I was even told
what kind of ghosts haunted the cemeteries. But in most instances,
I wasn't
given a reason for the haunting. So I got online and got to
work researching
the history of cemeteries, and I found some interesting things.
In the 1600's, before embalming and other measures of sanitary
practices
were used, the graveyards were often littered with bones. Shallow
graves
allowed animals to dig up the bodies and scatter the remains
along with any
contagious diseases they might carry. Despite this, since early
graveyards were
located in the center of communities, the living used the cemeteries
and churchyards
as social centers, where they conducted markets, played games
and had
picnics. In Scotland, it was common to prepare for war in cemeteries
by practicing
archery and other weapon drills. In 1665, English Parliament
suspected that
funeral and burial customs were playing a large role in spreading
the Black
Death. The English Parliament then legislated against making
any unnecessary
visits to the graveyards, against large funerals and most important
of all, against
any grave less then six feet deep.
Then of course, there were many instances of premature burial.
There were
so many instances of this, that means of alerting the living
were being
patented. They include everything from escape hatches in the
coffins to bells rigged
up on pulley systems. The British inventor of the first signaling
coffin
became very wealthy from his invention, but in the end of his
life, he burned
himself to death in order to avoid any possibility of being
burned alive. Today,
the modern practice of embalming makes certain that no one will
be buried
before they are dead.
In the early 19th century, along came the concept of "rural
park"
cemetery. The idea of behind this was to make cemeteries appear
more like parks
with winding paths, landscaped areas and benches, so that the
living could
commune with the death in a more peaceful setting. On of the
first of this type of
cemetery is the Mount Auburn cemetery located in Cambridge,
MA. As this
concept spread, more and more cemeteries were incorporating
the features of parks.
In the late 1920's came the first Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Referred to as
the "Disneyland of the Dead", Forest Lawn sought to
recapture the many uses
that cemeteries were once used for. Forest Lawn at one time
had several art
galleries, wedding chapels, souvenir stands, movie theaters,
as well as other
attractions.
So, now that we have some background history, I decided once
again to get
online and see how it applied to some of the more haunted cemeteries
in
America. First stop, Bachelor's Grove Cemetery, which is located
in Midlothian, IL
right outside of Chicago. Any type of ghost you could be looking
for, chances
are that Bachelor's Grove has it. According to their website,
people use to go
to the rock quarry that is located right next to it, to enjoy
picnic lunches
as well as to swim or fish at the rock quarry. Legend has it
that a farmer in
the area was dragged into the quarry by a horse that he was
using to plow with.
So once again, we find that the cemetery was used for more then
burying
people.
Historic Oakland Cemetery located in Atlanta, GA has always
intended for
people to use the cemetery grounds for recreational purposes
as well for the
burial of the loved ones. From the time of the first internment,
Oakland had set
aside an area for picnics. Even to this day, you can visit the
cemetery and
watch people job down the paths as well as enjoy games of Frisbee.
There have
been many murders in and around Oakland as well. It isn't that
unusual for
someone to discover a dead body on the grounds.
There is an old cemetery in Doraville, GA. Before the cemetery
was built,
there was a house there. The house burned down in the early
part of this
century, killing all seven residents of the house. They were
the first that were
buried in the cemetery. I was out there taking pictures over
a year ago.
When I got my pictures developed I was interested to find that
in the picture are
the heads of two people. The two heads I photographed are on
fire.
It is my theory that the reason ghosts haunt cemeteries is not
because they
are buried there. In fact, the ghost haunting the cemetery might
not even in
fact be buried there. I think they reason they haunt the cemeteries
is because
of the time they spent there when they were alive. Even today,
community
churches in the rural south still hold church functions on the
edges of or at
times inside the cemeteries themselves. Teenagers go into old
cemeteries at night
to party. And we, as ghosthunters can often be found in cemeteries
taking
recordings and pictures. Who is to say that once we die, we
might not haunt the
cemeteries that we frequented most often?
-Shannon Edwards (TAPS)
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