The internet, social media and glossy magazines are easy sells for historical destinations with beautiful tourist seeking views. I am sure few have a bucket list with Baltimore   Maryland on it through and please no one take this as a dig against this wonderful city. It is just not a tourist hotspot in our now. It is however the resting places of one of America's most famous authors and what brings us to historic Baltimore. Edgar Allen Poe, the father of gothic fiction and romanticism in literacy. He is not the only historical figure on the grounds but more of a headliner in this burial ground.

 In any season Salem is a spellbinding town but especially in the fall. It is hard when you discuss cemeteries to not find yourself back in the Witch City. Its grounds filled with tales and curses that intrigue millions of visitors each year with the promise of hauntings. We opened Charter Street on our last visit to Salem and rightfully are returning to open its other notorious burial ground Howard Street. In the debate of what's Salem's most haunted cemetery Howard Street is highly considered to top Charter Street for many. It is not as old but for its residents they are aptly making up for lost time. Howard Street was originally known in the witch city as Branch Street cemetery next to the old Salem Jail downtown.

Considering we are already had an entry at The Grim in Savannah most readers might be wondering why another entry? If you have taken a guided tour in Savannah, you are already saying of course you must do an episode on Colonial Park Cemetery and know why. If you are a bit lost however and not familiar with this famous park in the city center be prepared for some fascinating history. Colonial Park was established in 1750 during British rule in Savannah's history when it was the capital of the British Province of Georgia. Making it steeped in historical events, hauntings, and Savannah's oldest intact municipal cemetery.

First established in 1620 next to the Greyfriars Kirk from Royal sanction, Greyfriars was to replace the graveyard at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. For those unfamiliar with St. Giles and the city of Edinburgh it is located near the heart of the city making it not the ideal graveyard for assorted reasons. The Royal decree stated "Because it is thought beneficial that there should be no more burials within the church [i.e. St Giles], and because that kirkyard is not thought to have sufficient room for burying the dead, and taking into consideration the smell and inconvenience in the heat of summer, it would be provided [by the council] that a burial place be made further from the middle of town, such as in Greyfriars yard, and the same [should be] built up and made secure"

American's have a reputation for wearing cowboy hats, riding horses, and drinking beer. Westerns were a Hollywood staple for many years, and many grew up watching stories on The Alamo or the O.K Coral gunfights. Yet the question of what after is not really thought of or considered. Where are the men who died tragic deaths in gunfights or not laid to rest. The west was known for being lawless, full of opportune and a vast undeveloped land. Many perished in the pursuit of a better life in the gold rush or hoping to find some sort of hidden gem out west

Located in a small town on the east coast, in Rhode Island is one of the most haunted cemeteries in the state. Get tales of ghosts are not the only encounters on these hallowed grounds. Situated next to the Chestnut hill Baptist church on victory highway in Rhode Island sits an idyllic cemetery that does not portray its grimmer tales from the past of the vampire’s grasp and the rituals committed to its residents along ago.

St. Louis Cemetery #1 is just one of the few but arguable the most haunted within the city and in the country. Going back into the city's past to its Spanish ruled days the cemetery was officially started by royal decree on August 14th, 1789. It holds over 700 tombs with well over 100,000 souls to rest and still has interments to this day. The tombs have nonsensical layouts of plots with no forethought of design making it a labyrinth to visitors visiting.

Sitting on a bluff off the Wilmington River within Savannah’s city limits sits 160 acres of an old plantation lined with moss covered oak avenues and Victorian gardens. It might sound more like a real estate pitch or dream home, but this is a description of the grounds of Bonaventure Cemetery. The history and hauntings from the past generate 45,000 visitors a year yet the real attraction is the scenic avenues and gardens inside. It has been named one of the most scenic cemeteries in the world and served as inspiration of artists for years.

It is one of the magnificent seven and notorious for hauntings, ghosts, rock n roll parties, vampires, and burial ground of London’s elite Victorian members of society. Highgate is one of the top 10 cemeteries in the world and a must see. It has a long history filled with gothic Victorian architecture and surprisingly a nature reserve.

This is the oldest maintained cemetery in the United States. Around 130 headstones have been accounted for, but the number of buried souls is unknown. The grounds were first used as a meeting house/church in 1632 and a burial ground starting in 1634 till 1789. The exact dates of the grounds being used as a cemetery vary due to the erosion of headstone dates. It was then abandoned till 1887 when the Duxbury Rural Society took over the grounds and rediscovered Myles Standish’s grave. A cemetery almost lost from history, neglected until perchance gave it and the residents inside the recognition they deserve in history.

Salem, Massachusetts is one of the most notorious cities in the United States of America. Part of the founding of America, the “witch city” is renowned for its persecution of women accused of “witchcraft” that overshadows its other historical contributions. The quick craze of accusations or ‘witch hysteria’, persecution and death sentences have led to fame and tourist fortune for Salem. The second oldest cemetery in the United States also calls Salem its humble home. The cemetery dates from 1637 with 485 headstones and around 600 residents.

Noun: a love of funerals, cemeteries, and the rituals of death.

Commonly known as a “tombstone tourist”

The definition of taphophilia seems quite simple. The walking graveyards/cemeteries and obsessing with the rituals of death for few or to normal people may seem morbid and not so simple. Yet the human obsession of death/morality is an unknown passage we all make and the unequivocal fate in our lives.