#SCARY GRAVEYARD SERIES#

The Horror Dome offers the little touches that help turn your comfortable and welcoming home into a den of horror and fright for a night. It also hosts the graves of some of history’s most well-known figures, including Karl Marx, Malcolm McLaren, and George Michael.Are you ready to pull together an event that none of your guests will ever forget? Then it’s time to invest in the perfect Halloween decorations. It continues to be a popular place for enthusiasts of the occult, paranormal, and vampires. Plots are still for sale, subject to government restrictions. Today, 170,000 people are buried at Highgate Cemetery in 53,000 graves on 37 acres. Some spirits are such regular visitors that the locals have named them.

A ghostly cyclist wanders the grounds, as does the floating ghost of a nun.

The solution was to drill a small hole in the coffin, place a pipe in it, and then light a match so the gasses could burn off “hygienically.” Though the cemetery is done burning off gasses, there are still problems, including heart-stopping banshee wails. As the bodies decomposed in their hermetically sealed tombs, the buildup of gases caused some coffins to explode. Regulations at the time required tombs to be encased in lead to prevent “miasma” leaking out.

#SCARY GRAVEYARD SERIES#

Highgate Cemetery has a series of tombs built for those who wanted to be buried above ground. The problems with the dead started during Victorian times with exploding coffins. The Highgate Vampire is just the tip of the supernatural iceberg. The Highgate Vampire has a hypnotic stare and bone-chilling effect on all who have encountered him, especially those foolish enough to spend the night in the cemetery. He terrifies all animals in his vicinity, and he’s been blamed for scores of dead foxes on the cemetery grounds. He has also caused clocks and watches to stop. His presence is frequently announced by a sudden drop in temperature. The Highgate Vampire is said to be a tall, dark figure that glides through the cemetery. He slumbered peacefully until, according to reports, Satanists performed a ritual at the cemetery. He was buried at the site that eventually became Highgate Cemetery. His coffin was brought from Europe to England in the 18 th century, and his cult-like followers bought him a house in the West End. The vampire was said to be a medieval nobleman who practiced black magic in Romania. People reported seeing red-eyed demons, staring at them through the fence.Īnd then there was the Highgate Vampire. Ghosts and ghouls haunted the alleyways around the graveyard. Stories of men dressed in dark robes, practicing dark rituals, surfaced. Studios used the grounds to shoot horror movies. In 1960 the gates to Highgate Cemetery were closed, pristine landscaping become lush jungles, and buildings tumbled in on themselves. World War I decimated the staff, and by the end of World War II the cemetery had all but been abandoned. The Fall from Paradiseīy the turn of the 20 th century, the cemetery’s fortunes waned. By 1854, the place was packed, and they bought another 20, adjoining acres. Everybody who was anybody wanted to be buried there.

The architect and builder turned Highgate into an eternal oasis of peace. (They were known as “The Magnificent Seven.”) The third cemetery, dated 1839, was Highgate. Parliament decided that seven private cemeteries would be built in the countryside around London. Many people were buried in shallow graves and quickly covered with lime. Undertakers dressed up as clergymen to perform illegal ceremonies. Graves were crammed between shops and outside taverns. In the early 1800’s the city’s population topped the 1 million mark and, despite a high death rate, it was still growing. Highgate Cemetery is one of the most haunted places in London, and with good reason.

Scary graveyard