We do a nighttime “Spirit Walk”
of our local cemetery. Volunteer actors portray noted and infamous “residents”
of the cemetery. We have all kinds of folks – from an War of 1812 hero to
local madams and pimps of the 1930’s, and everything in between.
A volunteer coordinator and I write thumbnail
biographies of each featured person and give it to the person portraying them. Then
we set up a “scene” in the cemetery near each featured grave. For
instance, we set up a vintage card table and chairs near one of our “madam’s”
graves. She and her pimp sit there playing cards and drinking a bottle of wine
during the tour. (Our city had quite a racy reputation as a sportsmen’s
paradise during the 1900-1950 era, so the madam and pimp are relevant. And of
course it’s hysterical to see them mixed in with the war heros and
captains of industry.
We take groups of about 25 on the lantern
lit tour. The tours are led by a museum staff member (usually me) and a
volunteer who’s really got a lot of knowledge and a quick humor. He
portrays “Mortimer the Mortician” who has come back to act as a
medium between the “quick and the dead.” So, he’s the only
one the “spirits” can see and hear, so all questions have to go
through him. (This keeps the information needed by our volunteer actors to a
minimum, and keeps them from being pelted with off the wall questions.)
It’s a low budget operation –
we highlight the graves on the tour with a small jar candle on top of the
tombstone. Lightsticks (weather and wind proof) are placed to light the path. After
all, you don’t want too much light! And I place an occasional fake raven
or skull on some of the tombstones near the path for effect.
We do not do any “booing” or
other scary stuff – a nighttime stroll through the cemetery in October takes
care of creating just enough anxiety to be fun.
Let me know if you need further
information,
Becky Fitzgerald
Susquehanna Museum
How about a cemetery
tour? Maybe you have some artifacts about some prominent local residents at
your museum and could do a tour of their graves and tie it together that way.