Murder, mystery, and mayhem

Cemetery guided tours have become an increasingly popular strategy employed by cemetery companies, trusts and friends-of-groups to encourage public interaction with the stories and histories embedded within these interment landscapes. As planned gatherings occurring at specific times within cemetery locations – cemetery tours are positioned as distinctive ‘dark’ event forms. Their structure, involving scheduled visits and guided storytelling, aligns with conventional event characteristics, yet their setting and subject matter also place them within the framework of dark events. These tours navigate themes of death, memory and mourning, offering participants an interpretive experience that is both reflective and immersive. However, most cemetery tour events tend to focus on the ‘great and good’, sanitising and overlooking the realities of many who are interred. This chapter seeks to explore contemporary guided tours within the setting of 19th-century cemeteries as a form of dark event. In doing so, it addresses the imbalance in stories told and addresses the often-forgotten histories of real people who do not ‘fit’ within preferred narratives. Through this effort, this chapter reveals how cemetery spaces are actively shaped by contemporary cultural practices of remembrance and tourism.