Rachelle Meilleur is another cemetery blogger whose stories I’ve followed for years. Her essay for Death’s Garden Revisited is called “Death and Spinsterhood: It’s Personal,” about her grave site in the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Cemetery of Fisher Branch, Manitoba, Canada. Rachelle has had an avid interest in cemeteries since she was young, although her Master’s paper on Toronto cemeteries is what really sparked her passion for them. She has been to over 250 cemeteries in over 30 countries but especially loves the great monumental cemeteries of Europe. You can see her work at s ..read more

Today only! Barnes & Noble is offering a sweet preorder deal on 222 Cemeteries to See Before You Die. Whether you prefer a hardcover or an ebook, you can get 25% off the preorder price. Premium Members get an additional 10% off. You can preorder any book from Barnes & Noble or go directly to the 222 Cemeteries book page: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/222-cemeteries-to-see-before-you-die-loren-rhoads/1144446247?ean=9780762486021 Use the special code PREORDER25 ..read more

Melodie Bolt and I were members of the Flint Area Writers, although not at the same time. I met her at one of their readings. When I was concerned about not having any essays about visiting famous people’s graves for Death’s Garden Revisited, Melodie came through with a meditation about visiting Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow. Officially, Melodie Bolt is a writer and poet of dark urban fantasy and horror. Her work has appeared in Black Spot Book’s anthology Under Her Skin, the HWA’s Poetry Showcase Volume X, Horror Curated, and Erie Tales XV. Join her mailing list at melodiebolt.com. What’s ..read more

Benjamin Scuglia contributed a lovely childhood ghost story to the original volume of Death’s Garden: Relationships with Cemeteries, published in 1996 by Automatism Press. I met him for the first time shortly after that when I was researching at the 20th Century Fox Library. He impressed me immediately with this ability to spin a tale. Officially, Benjamin Scuglia is an author and award-winning playwright, actor, producer and stage manager. He has published two books (so far). Benjamin is a member of Theatre West in Los Angeles, where his drama “The Man Who Saved Everything” received its accla ..read more

Today I have the honor of stopping by the Association for Gravestone Studies Book Club. They’ve been reading Death’s Garden Revisited: Personal Relationships with Cemeteries. That’s not the only good news. Death’s Garden Revisited recently made it to the Quarter Finals of the Booklife Nonfiction Prize. The judges said: “While at first glance, this may seem like a macabre topic, and some pieces certainly frame it in that light, in other hands, the perspective is legitimately and movingly life-affirming. This is a wonderfully distinctive and memorable collection that, despite its focus, contains ..read more

Many years ago, Anne Born and I used to write for a site called the Red Room, where I originally read her essay about searching for her grandfather’s grave in Northern Ireland. I loved that she asked Saint James to help her find him. In 2016, she wrote a lovely piece for this blog called “Creeping In and Out of Cemeteries” about visiting her family graves in the midwest. Anne Born is the author of Buen Camino! and If You Stand Here. Through The Backpack Press, she has also published several collections of stories written while riding on the New York subway. She is a photographer, specializing ..read more

I realized that I haven’t yet unveiled the new cover of 222 Cemeteries to See Before You Die.  Feast your eyes on this: The cover image is taken from the Huguenot Cemetery in St. Augustine, Florida. Citizens of Saint Augustine began to use this acre of land as a graveyard in 1777. The last person was buried there in 1892. The fragile old cemetery is only open one day a month. Doesn’t it look lovely and green? 222 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, the corrected and expanded version of 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, comes out at the end of August 2024. It’s already up for preor ..read more

Stephen Mark Rainey in Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia. Stephen Mark Rainey filled in for me one month when I needed to step away from the cemetery column I was writing for the Horror Writers Association newsletter. He wrote a great piece about geocaching in cemeteries, something that I knew absolutely nothing about. I asked if I could reprint the piece in Death’s Garden Revisited so it could reach a wider audience. Stephen Mark Rainey has been writing professionally for over thirty years. He is author of numerous novels, including BALAK, THE LEBO COVEN, DARK SHADOWS: DREAMS OF THE D ..read more

I haven’t had the opportunity to visit Germany yet, so when someone wrote and offered to write something up about Berlin’s lovely cemeteries, I jumped at the chance. Introducing Matti, a local tour guide in Berlin, Germany. Specializing in private tours that uncover the hidden gems of the city, Matti’s passion extends to exploring some of Berlin’s most intriguing cemeteries. Join him as he unveils his top five favorites, each with its own captivating history and unique charm: Jewish Cemetery Weißensee The Jewish Cemetery Berlin-Weißensee, established in 1880, covers 42 hectares and is the larg ..read more

Kristin Luce and I have been friends since before our kids could walk. We met in an infant playgroup and were both more than relieved to find a kindred spirit. When she heard I was putting together the book of Death’s Garden Revisited finally, she sent me a gorgeous essay about her cemetery travels and watching her kid leave home. Kristin lives on the Northern California coast with her husband, two dogs, three cats, and a horse. She works as an editor at Apple Inc. “A Child’s Garden of Cemetery Stories” is her first published essay, but she hopes to have more time for writing now that her kid ..read more