Happy Halloween! Living in New England, we have the chance to be spooky almost all year round with our historic burial grounds scattered throughout the area (as long as the snow isn’t too high!). Here are some of my favorite photographs that I’ve taken at cemeteries this past month:

The Death’s Head is one of my most favorite images in the world. Watching it evolve from the simplistic circle with two dead eyes and a long nose over to the most sinister looking skull, often with what looks like a mustache, over people’s names and information is amazing. Beautiful in its starkness of message, there is no question that the early New Englanders had a different handle on death than we do today.

There are also slightly whimsical ones, if you could really call them that, of death either dancing with the deceased OR attempting to snuff out their candle of life. Those Puritans, man…they had a twisted sense of humor 🙂

Perhaps the saddest ones, though, are those made for the unfortunately many children who died too young. While throughout the 13 colonies there was an incredibly high number of children, they were also some of the first to be taken out by the many plagues of disease that hit the areas. Smallpox, fevers, the flu, fire, or any other number of things caused these children to pass away. Their stones are often the most intricate and saddest.

Want to learn more about the symbolism in these gravestones? Check out this quick guide from Atlas Obscura or the Association for Gravestone Studies!