This year’s Cemetery Scavenger Hunt will be on Sunday, October 25th at 2:30 pm ET/ 1:30pm CT/ 12:30pm MT/ 11:30am PT!
The TalkDeath Cemetery Scavenger Hunt encourages people to appreciate and learn about local cemeteries and their histories. It invites community members to visit cemeteries, reducing stigma and demonstrating that cemeteries can be spaces for the living. Participants learn about memorial iconography and history, connect with their community, spend time with friends and loved ones, and reflect on mortality.
You can attend and participate at any local cemetery of your choice that is open to the public and allows photography for private purposes.
While we strive to include a spectrum of clues, the more historic and diverse your cemetery, the wider variety of clues you’re likely to find. (think older cemeteries that have upright monuments and gravemarkers). We cannot guarantee that every cemetery has every clue, but we do try our best to ensure folks participating across diverse regions and cultures will be able participate, learn more about their cemetery, and have a good time.
Jump to: Cemetery Partners / Death Work Partners / Participating Vendors
How TalkDeath’s 2026 Halloween Cemetery Scavenger Hunt Works
Invite your friends and check in with your local death collectives to see if they are participating as well
- Arrive at your local cemetery of choice at least 10 minutes before the start time
- Wait for the clues to drop at at 2:30pm ET/ 11:30am PT (clues are simultaneously posted on our Instagram, Facebook, and our website)
- Explore the cemetery looking for monuments that match the clues (think symbolism, names, dates, etc.) within 1 hour
- When you find a clue, take a selfie with it (selfie can simply include your hand – something to identify it’s you in all photos)
- Upload all found clues in the provided form and submit before the end of the hour (link to form will be shared closer to event date)
- Winners will be announced an hour after clues are due
- Prizes will be awarded to whoever finds 13 clues first, the highest number of clues found, and accolades such as most creative photography!
More details, rules and clues to come, so stay tuned on our socials to keep in the loop.
This year’s design was created by Ocean M. Escalanti
Cemetery Scavenger Hunt FAQ
What if I don’t see a cemetery near me listed?
You can attend and participate at any local cemetery of your choice that is open to the public and allows photography for private purposes.
I’m not available on the date, can I play at a later date?
Yes, you are welcome to independently participate whenever best fits your schedule.
What are my chances of winning?
Thousands of people play each year across multiple countries! Good luck
Where will the clues be posted?
Talkdeath.com, our Facebook, and Instagram profiles
Where do I reach out if I am having trouble accessing the submission form?
If you experience any technical difficulties, you are welcome to contact support@talkdeath.com
This Year’s Cemetery Partners
We are honored to partner with some amazing cemeteries this year! Our partnering cemeteries will be welcoming guests to their grounds for the scavenger hunt (and some of the TalkDeath staff will be there handing out some free merch).
*You can attend any local cemetery (that is open of course) near you!*
East Cleveland Township Cemetery (Cleveland, OH)
The East Cleveland Township Cemetery Foundation is a public charity (501(c)3) that owns a pioneer historic urban landmark and park. Since obtaining ownership the Foundation has turned, through an entirely volunteer basis, the cemetery into a community light, and have utilized this transformation to share the history and created an urban park. The property has over 200 trees, some are known as Moses Cleveland trees and others which date to the Civil War era.
Elmwood Cemetery (Columbia, SC)
Elmwood Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at Columbia, South Carolina. It was established in 1854, and expanded in 1921.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo, NY)
There’s no place like Forest Lawn. As one of the first deliberately designed and professionally landscaped rural cemeteries in the United States, its first interment took place in 1850. Today, there are more than 165,000 permanent residents in this 269-acre, not-for-profit cemetery, where all are welcome.
Graceland Cemetery (Chicago, IL)
Graceland in Chicago, IL: Graceland was established in 1860; its innovative design used native plants to create the cemetery’s pastoral landscape, which today makes it one of the most beautiful places in Chicago for residents and tourists to visit.
The Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn, NY)
Founded in 1838, Green-Wood, one of the nation’s first rural cemeteries, helped reimagine what a cemetery could be. Today, nearly two centuries later, that continues to be true. Spanning 478 spectacular acres, it is the final resting place for over 580,000 individuals, a National Historic Landmark, an accredited arboretum, and a cultural hub that hosts arts, education, research, and community gatherings.
Greenwood Cemetery (Orlando, FL)
Established in the 1880s, Greenwood Cemetery is the final resting place of over 40,000 Central Florida residents. For its first four decades, the cemetery was known as Orlando Cemetery, with the name change reflecting both the vast green landscape and the name of the prominent street at the cemetery’s entrance. The cemetery includes the graves of many prominent citizens whose stories have shaped the history of Orlando.
Lake View Cemetery (Seattle, WA)
Lake View Cemetery, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, is home to a rich history, stunning views, and its fair share of celebrity interments. It presents a beautiful opportunity to honor the rich history of the region and its many generations of inhabitants.
Lone Fir Cemetery (Portland, OR)
Nestled in Southeast Portland, Lone Fir Cemetery is one of Oregon’s most treasured historic places and Portland’s second-largest arboretum. Lone Fir is one of Portland’s oldest continuously used cemeteries and is now a de facto arboretum, with more than 700 trees representing 67 species. Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery was created in 2000 as a 501(c)(3) organization when community volunteers became concerned by an increase in vandalism. The group strives to preserve the headstones of the deceased, the greenspace they exist in, and the stories of its residents for future generations.
Mount Auburn Cemetery (Cambridge, MA)
Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1831 with a most ambitious vision. Within a forested landscape nestled between Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, our founders created an extraordinary place, one where the living mourner would come to find solace and the public would come to find inspiration.
Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia, PA)
Since its establishment in 1855, the rolling landscape of Mount Moriah Cemetery has been an inclusive final resting place for Philadelphia’s diverse population, welcoming of all races and incomes, and adapting to changing burial needs of its diverse communities. Once one of Philadelphia’s grand rural cemeteries, Mount Moriah Cemetery and Arboretum is approximately 200 acres that spans across Southwest Philadelphia and Yeadon Borough.
Mount Royal Cemetery (Montreal, QC)
Mount Royal Cemetery is a 165-acre (67 ha) terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal. It opened in 1852. In the springtime, the Lilac Knoll section is flush with hydrangeas, and autumn leaf walking tours are frequent. Burial rights have always been offered in perpetuity, with the commitment that no graves would ever be reused or abandoned.
Mountain View Cemetery (Vancouver, BC)
Established in 1886, Mountain View Cemetery is Vancouver’s only cemetery and one of the city’s richest archives, holding more than 150,000 interred remains across 106 acres. It’s also surprisingly forward-thinking. Mountain View has long practiced grave reuse and now offers sustainable burial options that avoid embalming chemicals, concrete vaults, and non-biodegradable materials. In a city where land is precious, it manages to be both a place of memory and a place where we can rethink what burial can look like.
Notre Dame Cemetery (Ottawa, ON)
Notre Dame Cemetery has been helping families find a peaceful resting place for their loved for over 100 years. Opened in 1872, it is the most prominent Catholic cemetery in Ottawa. The cemetery’s western edge is located in Vanier, just south of Beechwood Cemetery. The cemetery is the final resting place for more than 114,000 people.
Old Burying Ground (Halifax, NS)
Halifax’s Old Burying Ground is a quiet place of reflection and history in the heart of the city. Established in 1749, this non-denominational burying ground is the final resting place of more than 10,000 people, from a broad cross-section of Nova Scotian society that includes early settlers, military leaders, Loyalists, African Nova Scotians, and Mi’kmaq. There are 1,200 historical grave markers to explore, including hundreds of rare examples from the 18th century.
Park Lawn Cemetery (Toronto, ON)
Park Lawn Cemetery is part of Park Lawn LP which consists of a group of six non-denominational cemeteries in Toronto with a heritage dating back more than a century.
Walkways, flowerbeds, indigenous wildlife, and other natural elements complete the pastoral setting. Since 1892, Park Lawn Cemetery has been faithful in maintaining the founders’ vision.
Riverside Cemetery (Waterbury, Connecticut)
Riverside in Waterbury, CT: Riverside Cemetery is significant for its landscape architecture, which beautifully reflects the natural landscape style and rural cemetery design introduced in the 1830’s. The landscape is graced with winding paths, ponds, and ornamental plantings.
St. James Cemetery (Hull, QC)
Founded in 1800 when the Wright family settled the north shore of the Ottawa River to establish an agricultural colony, the Crown set aside four acres for pioneer burials. The cemetery received its first burial in 1821 and was officially inaugurated in 1823. It’s recognized today as the oldest European cemetery in the Outaouais and in Canada’s National Capital region.
This Year’s Death Work & Collective Partners
In addition to cemetery partners, this year we are collaborating with some incredible collectives, individuals, and death-adjacent groups to bring you merch and death education. If you live nearby one of these cemeteries, please come out to meet them and get a treat!
Angel of Death and Friends Podcast @ Graceland Cemetery (Chicago, IL)
Angel Luna is a comedian, musician, and sometimes magician, he is the co-host of the podcast Death and Friends. The show examines key moments in the cultural history of deathways, with a lack of maturity and jokes at the expense of his cohost. He is also a member of the band Fey Babies, music available on all your streaming platforms. When he is not avoiding deadlines or lawless government agents, is online @guerrillajokes “
Ashley Coleman @ Lone Fir Cemetery (Portland, OR)
Ashley Coleman is a Portland, OR based death doula whose involvement in the death and grief spaces range from art to funeral celebrancy to grief support and more. She is the founder/host of the peer-led support group Substance Loss Oregon: https://substancelossoregon.com/
Ashley Johnson of Loyal Hands and National End-Of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA) @ Greenwood (Orlando, FL)
Ashley Johnson is an end-of-life doula, educator, and advocate who is passionate about making conversations around death, dying, and end-of-life planning more approachable and accessible. Through her work, she helps individuals, families, and communities feel more prepared to have meaningful conversations before a crisis occurs.
Black Cat Cemetery Preservation @ Old Burying Ground (Halifax, NS)
Black Cat Cemetery Preservation is an archaeological and gravestone conservation consultant firm, based in Nova Scotia and working throughout the Atlantic provinces. It is run by Dr. Robyn Lacy, PhD, and Ian Petty, MA, archaeologists with a combined 30 years experience in the field. Their work with Black Cat takes them across the province, working with communities and heritage groups to preserve historic cemeteries for the future.
Carmen Galvan of BIPOC Death & Grief Talk @ Park Lawn Cemetery (Toronto, ON)
Carmen Galvan (MSW,RSW) is a grief therapist and death doula who lives in Tkaronto/Toronto. Carmen’s death practice strives towards working from a disability justice lens. Carmen’s death practice is related to supporting people from all walks of life who want to prepare for and learn more about death, grief and loss, from an intersectional lens.
Christa Ovenell @ Mountain View Cemetery (Vancouver, BC)
Christa Ovenell is a licensed funeral director and embalmer, an end-of-life doula, and founder of Death’s Apprentice Education & Planning. As a CBC radio columnist and longtime death educator, she believes that death is part of life, so it’s time we started treating it that way. She also knows that cemeteries make excellent classrooms! Find her on IG @deathsapprentice.ca or at her website: www.deathsapprentice.ca
The Cleveland Death Society @ East Cleveland Township Cemetery (Cleveland, OH)
The Cleveland Death Society is a death positive focused group. Hosting events featuring death friendly artists, speakers and even live performances. Hosting Death over Drinks, Death Cafes to grief pot lucks. Bringing the community together. Focusing on the misfits of society. Helping the misunderstood understand their end of life rights. Guiding one another through pet loss, to people loss. We’re there for one another.
Connecticut Death Collective @ Riverside Cemetery (Waterbury, Connecticut)
The Connecticut Death Collective aims to foster community for those working in death care, as well as connect folks with local end of life resources and information. They also regularly hold space for individuals from all walks of life to discuss our mortality in order to help normalize conversations surrounding death and dying.
Death Doula Does @ Lone Fir Cemetery (Portland, OR)
Colleen (ʻoia/they/them) is Kanaka Maoli, Queer, Mutual Aider. Their work focuses on Community death care education, home funeral guidance, facilitating art-based grief spaces, and end-of-life planning for Polyamorous & Queer folks. They are a nerd for teaching mortals to be with death. Keep up with their work at DeathDoulaDoes.com
Death Project Manager @ Green-wood (Brooklyn, NY)
Catherine, who goes by Death Project Manager, is the creator of the Mortality Workbook, a toolkit to collect what your loved ones should know before you go, so that you can rest in peace. She believes logistics are an act of love and planning is an act of care. She is the founder of Silent Book Club of Death, and hosts death education events from social to serious around the globe in multiple languages.
Emma Griffin of En Terre Outaouais @ St. James Cemetery (Hull, QC)
Emma is a certified death doula based in Hull/Ottawa Canada, blending traditional training with holistic approaches in her practice. Her work includes Swedish Death Cleaning, a mindful decluttering process, and Doula on Deck, her drop-in doula support for her neighbourhood. Some of her community outreach includes advocacy with En Terre Outaouais, a citizen-led group working to establish Quebec’s first natural burial cemetery in the Collines-de-l’Outaouais. She’s representing En Terre at this year’s scavenger hunt.
Emmy C-G @ Graceland Cemetery (Chicago, IL)
Emmy C-G (she/her) is a Storyteller, Love & Death Witch, and your favorite Final Girl. She is an astrologer (Traditional & Hellenistic focus), tarot reader for 18+ years, psychic, and death doula for 11 years. Emmy is also pursuing a certification in sexology, coaching, and consulting from Sexual Health Alliance. Emmy believes that we must honor life, honor the cycles of death, and challenge ourselves to begin again, over and over. Whether it is a group ritual, a 1-to-1 coaching setting, or my short- or long-form video or written content, Emmy is dedicated to helping you face your fears, tap into your inner audacity, and live out your one wild and precious life.
Epoch Preservation @ Mount Auburn Cemetery (Cambridge, MA)
Epoch Preservation, Inc is a gravestone conservation business on the North Shore of Massachusetts, dedicated to saving burying places and their artifacts. It is co owned by Rachel Meyer and Joshua Gerloff.
Human Condition Death Care @ Mount Auburn Cemetery (Cambridge, MA)
Sarah Gladstone of Human Condition Death Care is a Death Doula, Grief Guide, Funeral Celebrant, and Community Death Educator. A resident of Amesbury, MA, she is passionate about creating spaces for community members to discuss death and grief without judgment. Always inviting participants to come with curiosity, hoping they might leave with new perspectives.
Kalyce Carter of BIPOC Death & Grief Talk @ Park Lawn Cemetery (Toronto, ON)
Kalyce Carter (they/them) is a Tkaronto-based facilitator, educator, consultant, multidisciplinary artist, and speaker whose work spans grief, disability justice, anti-racism, liberation, collective care, and necropolitics. They are a co-founder of BIPOC Death & Grief Talk and bring together lived experience, community-based knowledge, and an MA in Critical Disability Studies to explore the structural and cultural conditions that shape our lives and the grief we feel.
Kelly Butler of Conservation Burial Ottawa @ Notre Dame Cemetery (Ottawa, ON)
Conservation Burial Ottawa is a group of advocates for natural burial aiming to maintain green space and protect endangered habitats through sustainable burial practices, creating sanctuary for all. You can learn more about our group here: Conservation Burial Ottawa
Lauren Seeley @ Green-wood (Brooklyn, NY)
Lauren Seeley is a Death & Grief Doula and a Creative Grief Workshop facilitator in the NYC area. She works with both animals and humans in the end-of-life and funeral space and is a death educator as well as a spiritual practitioner using creativity, art, ritual, ceremony, and Reiki as forms of healing in bereavement and loss. She is the facilitator of two mortality-based book clubs in NYC: Silent Book Club of Death NYC and Ahhsweetdeath Book Club, as well as head of NYC chapter of Bibliophiles Research Center. She partners with historical institutions such as The Met Cloisters, Green-Wood Cemetery, and Morbid Anatomy for her events.
Little Bell Deathcare @Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia, PA)
Little Bell Deathcare is the brainchild of Mica James Cosentino. Mica holds multiple certifications in deathwork and has been formally trained as an End-of-Life Doula by INELDA (International End of Life Doula Association.) After working in veterinary medicine for a decade, they decided to start their own business as a companion animal death doula. Mica serves clients across the country via virtual appointments. He also hosts free in-person death cafes for his immediate community in Philadelphia.
Maria Capolupo @ Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo, NY)
Maria Capolupo is a Grief and Death Doula based in Buffalo, NY. She offers practical and emotional support to the dying and their families such as sitting vigil, explaining what to expect when someone is actively dying, advocacy, exploring after care options, planning funerals, bedside counseling, legacy projects, facilitating goodbyes, and more. She also offers one on one grief sessions to those experiencing grief of any kind: death of a loved one (human or pet), loss of job, end of relationship, etc. She offers a safe and compassionate space for grievers to feel heard and also teaches them the tools necessary for navigating life in grief. Maria is also a death educator and guest speaker whose talks aim to not only educate, but also to normalize conversations around death, dying, and grief. Talking about death won’t kill you but it will teach you how to live life more fully.
Nash Flynn of Death and Friends @ Mount Auburn Cemetery (Cambridge, MA)
Nash Flynn is a comedian, writer, and death historian. She is a co-host of the podcast “Death and Friends” which examines key moments in the cultural history of deathways but with zero emotional maturity and at least two dick jokes per episode. Her first book “Death Is For Everybody” comes out October 2026. When she’s not avoiding her publisher, her PhD advisor, and/or the federal government, Nash is online everywhere @itsnashflynn.
Prism Deathcare @ Lake View Cemetery (Seattle, WA)
Venessa Greenheron is a death midwife practicing in Whidbey Island, WA and the surrounding areas. Her practice is built on a passion for the intersections of art, death, our connections back to our ritual selves, and community care. In her free-time she’s probably wrangling goats or making a good meal to share with friends.
Rian Lussier of TalkDeath @ Mount Royal Cemetery (Montreal, QC)
Rian is TalkDeath’s Community Events Manager and Staff Writer. She is a death care worker, writer, researcher, and shroud maker currently based in Montreal.
This Year’s Vendors
Giroux Design & Illustration
Smeesh is a full time illustrator and part-time cemetery keeper from eastern ontario.
When she’s not restoring her family’s 200 year old bone orchard, she’s creating artwork for board games. One day she’ll combine the two passions and publish her first graveyard-themed game.
A Sacred Mourning
A Sacred Mourning is a deeply personal creative practice by Brent Dakis, based in Sassafras, Victoria Australia, creating bespoke mourning jewellery, memorial gemstones, relics, urns, ritual goods, candles, incense, resins, and personal commissions. The work is shaped by grief, memory, ritual, and the need to give form to something that often exists without structure or language. Through jewellery, scent, flame, material, and touch, A Sacred Mourning offers small anchors for remembrance, connection, and the ongoing relationship we hold with the people and animals we have loved and lost.
Age of Ornament
The Age of Ornament are fourth generation makers of relief plaques and small statuary for either indoor or garden settings. We like to focus on the mythic, the occult, and the old gods who watch over (and under) us.
Amek Graphics
Amanda Marie Eilis King, CFSP, MBIT, MSP, is a Funeral Director and Embalmer licensed in
multiple states and internationally recognized for her ability to translate complex preparation
techniques into practical education for funeral professionals. Her work extends beyond the preparation room through modern mortuary illustration and photography as AMEKgraphics, as well as writing and educational content for the funeral profession, including her monthly Book Nook column in American Funeral Director. Through her professional practice and education, Amanda advocates for a thoughtful balance of science, art, and compassionate care, grounded in the belief that preparation is more than technical work, it is an essential part of caring for families and honoring the person who has died.
AP Doula Program
Does discomfort with dying and death make them harder than they need to be? The AP Doula is a program for those who seek a more grounded, human, and meaningful relationship with mortality, whether as death doulas or ordinary mortals. Together we explore the theory, skills, practices, and ways of being that move students beyond a checklist of tasks at end-of-life and into steady, compassionate presence. Not just learning what to do, the AP Doula teaches how to be: deeply human in the presence of Death.
For Mourning
For Mourning specializes in small batch, handmade goods featuring cemetery imagery. We create various accessories for cemetery lovers and odd collectors.
Helen Cowart
Helen Cowart’s art explores life, death, and the layers of human experience, using glass and metal as both material and metaphor. Cowart is drawn to the rituals and objects we create to honor loss, to remember, and to process grief. Through kiln-formed glass pieces, most notably the Data Core series, Cowart aims to create tangible forms that carry emotional resonance, evoking the cyclical, layered nature of life and memory. Whether through a contemplative sculpture or a piece of jewelry, Helen Cowart’s work acknowledges death as a natural part of life, encouraging viewers to approach loss with openness rather than fear.
Hinchie
My name is Katie (your friendly neighbourhood ghost-child), and I am the proprietress of hinchie. A classically-trained soprano with a love for art, social history, and whimsy, I wanted to make a store which would appeal to others, who, like myself, love a bit of vintage styling with modern sentiment.
Reliquary Perfume
Reliquary Perfume is a micro-perfumery in the heart of Nashville, TN, handcrafting spellbinding scents for the body and home. Created for those of us who like our scents a little darker, a little more mysterious, and a little bit macabre. Worn by the living for the love of the lost. Reliquary Perfume believes fragrance should haunt you in the best possible way.
Table Talk: End-of-Life Conversational Card Deck
Brought to you by Ashley Johnson: Table Talk: End-of-Life Conversational Card Deck is designed to make end-of-life conversations feel less intimidating and more natural. The deck uses thoughtful prompts across six themes to encourage conversations about wishes, values, relationships, legacy, and what matters most. It can be used by families, friends, caregivers, professionals, and anyone who wants to begin these conversations before they are needed.
