Leaves are falling, pumpkins are appearing on porches, and every day finds a new batch of z-grade horror movies available on Netflix. It’s spook season again, and what could be more perfectly Halloween-y than an evening spent talking to dead people or a night pleasantly passed while sipping Ghost River beer in a majestic old graveyard?
Costume Twilight Tour
Every fall Elmwood Cemetery offers some kooky, mysterious, and altogether ookie opportunities for Memphians interested in the darker side of life. On Saturday, October 25th, at twilight, when the sun’s last rays cast eerie shadows, some of Elmwood’s most famous and fascinating residents will rise again to tell their stories. Okay, so it’s only actors in period costumes, but Elmwood’s annual Costume Twilight Tour will give visitors a chance to interact with a number of figures from Memphis’ past, including civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Hooks, Campbell Clinic founder Dr. Willis Campbell, and William Strong, who survived the 1811 earthquake that created Reelfoot Lake.
Anybody who has ever wanted to walk the manicured grounds of Elmwood in the moonlight and possibly observe the dead brought back to life, may do so a week later on Saturday, November 1st, when the cemetery opens its gates for Spirits with the Spirits, a fund-raising event that starts at 7 p.m. Costumes are optional at a Dia de los Muertos party showcasing locally crafted beer and spirits of the potable kind. There will also be a silent auction where revellers can bid on reincarnated artwork created from dead trees and branches collected from the cemetery grounds.