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Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosèd here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.
The above inscription is carved on William Shakespeare’s tombstone. This curse warns all interested parties to desist from disturbing his final resting place. The fact that it’s still there after almost 400 years is testament to mankind’s morbid fascination, fear and respect for DEATH. Cemeteries are interesting places, and the various religious and cultural practices associated with them offer the horror writer a veritable blank page for developing a story.
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Cemeteries are sometimes confused with graveyards, but it’s important to realise there’s a difference between the two words. While a graveyard is located in a churchyard or somewhere on a church’s ground, a cemetery is usually sited on a piece of land separate from a church. There are countless rituals attached to burial, each one specific the culture or religious beliefs of the deceased person. This has led to the myriad of superstitions and myths that have evolved around cemeteries and the dead. Mankind has a morbid fascination with death, and this has been exploited by horror writers for many years – to great effect.
Many centuries ago, before the establishment of traditional cemeteries, deceased people were buried in a specified area. A family would choose a small plot of land near their fields, usually a scenic, wooded area. In time neighbours would approach a family that had already established a graveyard, and arrange to bury their relatives adjacent to or within the same plot. Some of these plots were abandoned or forgotten if the family died out or moved away. Today there are instances when ancient, moss-covered or eroded tombstones are discovered, so old they’re tilting in the overgrown earth that covers the bones named in the faded writing of their memorial stone. Sometimes the bones are removed and re-interred in consecrated ground. Sometimes the tombstone is simply removed, and the bones are left in their original, now unmarked grave… In other instances these areas have become designated cemeteries, and the ancient tombstones still stand in their designated corner, watching over the newer, more elaborate memorials.
 The tombstone may be old, worn and forgotten, but it’s the last clue to the identity of the bones it’s covered for centuries. Is it wise to destroy the tombstone?
Replacing the ancient tombstones with a highway or a multi-story apartment block may not be a memorial those ancient bones appreciate.
Three old, faded tombstones bend over their overgrown, shabby graves as though ashamed and saddened that nobody remembers the people resting beneath them.
In Europe burial was controlled by the church from the 7th century, with religious ceremonies called funerals being conducted on consecrated ground. In some areas the bodies were placed in a mass grave, and exhumed after they’d decomposed. The bones would be stored an ossuary, usually sited inside the church under the floor, behind the church walls or along the cemetery’s arcaded boundary walls. With the advent of cremation as an option for disposing of the body came the development of memorial walls or gardens within cemeteries, with an engraved plaque containing the deceased details. As time went on, and the world’s population grew, health concerns grew about burying corpses inside the city walls. This led to cemeteries being moved away from residential areas. An example is France’s capital city; towards the end of the 18th century burials were prohibited in the city limits. As a result many skeletons were exhumed from major Parisian cemeteries and moved into ossuaries inside the city’s famed catacombs.
Exhumed from a quiet, peaceful cemetery and placed in the dank, dark catacombs beneath the city streets. Is that where you’d like to spend eternity?
A tomb is a small building used for the remains of one or more corpses. A tomb will have a roof, walls and – if more than one person will be placed there – a door. A burial vault is a tomb placed in the ground, with an entrance the only part of the vault on or slightly above the ground. Tombs containing one corpse may be permanently sealed, while those for families or individuals from a specific group will be accessible through a door or slab. They may be positioned in a cemetery, inside a church building or in a church’s crypt. It’s wrong to refer to a monument in a church or a tomb-style structure in a graveyard as a tomb, because they do not usually contain an actual body.
Tombstones generally contain the name of the deceased, date of birth and death. Modern gravestones may be more elaborate; they’re designed in a variety of shapes and styles and produced from different types of stone. They may feature a framed photograph or etching of the deceased or an emblem of something relevant to that individual’s life. Images may also be depicted, such as angels, doves, flowers or symbols of status of a trade. Older tombstones have depicted images related to death, such as a skull or a death skull (skull with wings) – a perfect example of man’s morbid fear of and fascination with DEATH! A perfect example is the fact that an estimated 500,000 living people faced a rather macabre Y2000 problem, because they owned headstones with pre-carved death dates starting with the numbers 19-.
What would happen if the full date of death was contained upon a headstone, and the person for whom the headstone was intended discovered that was his actual date of death? Could he cheat DEATH? How would he do it?
Here are the meanings of certain emblems used on a tombstone:
Arch - Rejoined with partner in Heaven
Birds - The soul
Broken column - Early death
Garland - Victory over death
Gourds - Deliverance from grief
Horseshoe - Protection against evil
Hourglass - Time and its swift flight
Ivy - Faithfulness, memory, and undying friendship
Lily - Purity and resurrection
Olive branch - Forgiveness, and peace
Palms - Martyrdom
Peacock - Eternal life
Poppy - Eternal sleep
Shell - Birth and resurrection
Skeleton - Life's brevity
Broken sword - Life cut short
Crossed swords - Life lost in battle
Shattered urn - Old age
Weeping willow - Mourning, grief
What is the significance of an image such as a “horseshoe” or a “broken column” on a particular tombstone?
In ancient times people were buried in a coffin made from stone, called a sarcophagus. The word means eater of flesh, a rather macabre term derived from the Greek words for “flesh” (sarx) and “eat” (phagos). Sarcophagi used by the ancient Greeks were made from limestone, a rock with the ability to consume the flesh of a corpse placed inside. Sarcophagi were carved and built ornately or elaborately decorated. Some formed part of an elaborate tomb, while others were placed in crypts or vault or buried in the ground. I’ve visited a Byzantium museum and seen these solid stone tombs with heavy lids designed to close and seal the coffin – forever. Many of them are painted with bright pictures; images telling the story of the inhabitant’s life… and death. I can imagine that any body placed inside a sarcophagus was well protected – if not from the limestone then at least from the elements and grave robbers. The ancient Egyptians used a sarcophagus as the final layer of protection for a royal mummy – the mummy was protected from the flesh-eating stone by several coffins placed inside the stone coffin.
What happened to make the Greeks realise that limestone possessed this “quality”. How does someone oversee the decorations to the inside of his sarcophagus… while he is alive?
This is a very large subject, so it will be concluded in next month’s newsletter. As this is the last issue of the Horror/Scary newsletter I shall write this year I’d like to wish you all the very best for the forthcoming festive season. May 2007 be full of inspiration and the desire to that thing we all love to do… WRITE WRITE WRITE!
** Image ID #1176347 Unavailable **
designed by the very talented kelly1202
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A poem about one of the cemetery’s residents who is selected for a very important job – by the rest of the residents!
    
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With excellent modern cultural references this story of a group of friends who visit a cemetery during Halloween is written in a quirky format that takes the reader back to those teen years. Fortunately the experience this group finds is, I hope, unique…
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They just don’t learn, do they? Three young brothers visit the local cemetery on Halloween. Their experience makes them wish they’d gone “trick or treating” instead.
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She can run, and she does. She also hides… but why choose a cemetery? The suspense builds as the hunter stalks among the tombstones, searching for his prey…
He endured some unkind and unpleasant teasing at school, and felt The Need to avenge himself for the treatment inflicted by his tormentors.
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Science and horror combine in this excellent adventure story about how one man's creation turns against him. Will he be able to control the monster?
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Here's a very challenging contest for all horror writers - can you produce a horror story without using a variation on five/six forbidden words? There's a merit badge and lots of GPs for winners.
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
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Bree Valentine 
What's funny is that I just finished watching VH1's top 100 songs of the 80's on my Tivo when I read this newsletter and "I'll be watching you" was somewhere in the top twenty, I believe. Weird how things just pop up. Does that not make for good horror? Irony... or coincidence?
~Valentine
That does indeed sound weird, Bree Valentine and what an amazing coincidence! Have you ever seen that horror film “Candyman”, where the title character appears if you sing his name a certain number of times? That idea terrified me.
billwilcox
Sarah,
What an inspiring article. Just reading it made me want to write about the most obsessed character I could come up with. I think articles like this are just as helpful as the ones where the authors tell you how to get your grammar right. Very inspiring...thank you,
-Bill
Thanks for your kind words, billwilcox. I think all of us are obsessed with something in some way, and it might just be the tiniest little thing. What’s “interesting” is how we control it, and what happens when we can’t! I’d love to read your story about an obsessed person…
Poetic ~ Luck ~ Charm
This newsletter kept me engrossed and chilled at the idea. I mean made up ghosts, ghouls, and monsters are frightening, yet they are made up. Now obsession lives in the mind of the person obsessed. The fact that it can happen to anyone is what makes it so terrifying. Another thing; I think all writers can relate to obsession, for what writer hasn't felt obsessed by a great story idea, when the character seems to possess. Possibly just the idea of having to write everyday. Great news letter and I look forward to more!
I think all writers are obsessed, Poetic ~ Luck ~ Charm , but fortunately we can probably say we’re obsessing about ourselves, because it’s our own minds driving us to develop and get that story written. It’s an interesting concept for a story, because one tends to think of readers being obsessed with writers or a character created by a writer – Stephen King’s “Misery” comes to mind here.
Green Ivy
The subject of obsession can be such a powerful topic for horror. I'm sorry to say I know personally what it's like to be on the object half of this... disturbing problem. It's very scary. But a very very powerful topic!
How dreadful, Green Ivy ! I know that writing about obsession is one thing, but having experienced it for real must be absolutely terrifying, not to mention traumatic. Obsession can destroy both the obsessor and the obsessed, and it sounds like you’ve come through something nasty. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Awake Now
Wow, just reading your newsletter has given me the heebie jeebies. And now, having not read The Catcher in the Rye like you, I think I am going to at least sit down and page through it. Am I obsessed?
Well, it’s a classic book, Awake Now and from what I’ve read it doesn’t appear to be about obsession. There’s a synopsis of it available on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catcher_in_the_rye. I think it’s worth a read, and I’d like to know what you think about it.
writeone
Thanks for the newsletter. I am obsessed with checking my email. I love to get mail and don't get very much ... hmmm perhaps that is the reason for the obsession. As soon as I read this, I got a story idea. Thanks so much for sharing. It is good to have other cultures to draw on and learn about.
Anyway, you might want to be careful when you say: "It’s frightening to think that a writer has produced a book that is not only controversial but is also responsible for the attempted assassination of a president and the murder of one of the 20th century’s most talented musicians:" The book is not responsible, neither is the writer ... the person who pulled the trigger is responsible. Just a point that I'm obsessed with ... oh, no, there goes that obsession thing again.
Hmmm… thanks for the comment, writeone and you’re right. I should have been a bit more precise here, and emphasized that the two disturbed individuals who saw “The Catcher in the Rye” reacted the way they did because of rather “twisted” points of view. I need to become a bit more obsessive about my editorials… 
Please let me know when the story is completed, because obsession is a great topic for horror, and I’d love to see what you’ve write, particularly if it involves something like emails…
SueVN
Excellent piece on obsession. We all have them and to what degree do we control them. Also gives great insight into others - good job!
Thank you for your kind comments, SueVN . It is disturbing to realise that we all do have some form of obsession, and that we do manage to control it – most of the time, anyway!
⭐Princette♥PengthuluWrites 
Hey, thanks for including my poem! I love reading the horror/scary newsletter every week, and can't wait for the next one!
It’s a great poem, and perfect for the newsletter, ⭐Princette♥PengthuluWrites ! Thank you for taking the time to let me know how you felt about the newsletter.
schipperke
Obsession is truly a frightening thing. Seems most serial killers are obsessed about something, like the character in Red Dragon who is obsessed with making a suit of women's skin… and many other of my favorite horror stories.
Wonderful newsletter, as always
Thanks, schipperke for your support. “Red Dragon” gave me the creeps too! I love sewing, but the thought of that guy sitting behind his machine creating that suit put me off my hobby for a while!
Okay, yes, I admit, my friends are my obsession...namely two of my friends, Piro and Static, whose nicknames I use ever so fondly. I frequently write poetry about them, mores o Static than Piro, because Sarah (Piro) is now at a different school than me and Victoria (Static). I miss her, yes, but the friendship has been odd...without them I feel utterly helpless which can have its disadvantages considering people do get sick and all...but just wanted to share this odd bit of information!
This sounds like a perfect story about three people who are incomplete when one of the group is missing… it may be odd information to you, but I think most of us can relate!
Mavis Moog
Sarah
Thank you for featuring my contest, and the flattering remark  .
Obsession is a wonderful subject for this newsletter. I always found that Police song creepy.
It’s a great contest, and I know you give good reviews that benefit all writers. Yes, Mavis Moog that song is creepy, but then I’ve always thought Sting is rather creepy himself. The video for that song is also nasty…
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Horror/Scary: December 06, 2006 Issue [#1374]
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