For the past five years, we’ve hosted a Halloween gala in the cemetery called Ghosts and Goblets. It’s a fantastic and quirky event, but for a number of reasons, we decided to retire the party. Never fear (we know we have some die-hard G&G fans out there), it’s not going away completely. This year, we decided to go a slightly different route. To sum it up: we took everything we love about Ghosts and Goblets and made it better. And over more than one night.

IMG_8940

A victim of the Arsenal explosion tells her story during last year’s tours.

Obviously, our busy season every year comes in October. Cemeteries can be creepy, which means they’re top-of-mind come Halloween season and an ideal destination for those who enjoy  a little spine tingle now and then. The staff here won’t deny that even we get spooked out from time to time (locking up the Public Vault after hours has its own perils)…and we work here.  But the best part of working here and being a part of the Cemetery? Learning and interpreting the stories of our “residents.”

Charles Pruess_Soul Strolls

A real quote from the diary of one of our favorite residents (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Preuss)

Soul Strolls explore these stories through guided tours and costumed interpreters, and it’s the one time you can hear from our residents in their own words. Can you imagine what David Herold or J. Edgar Hoover might say to you if they could still speak? We can guess, and we will, with our twilight tours on the nights of October 16th, 17th, 23rd and 24th. Each night we’ll have a cash bar with beer, wine and hot cider, and music to serenade you at the Chapel. You can chat it up with a few of our residents while you wait for a docent to guide you on a tour among the headstones and through the history of Congressional Cemetery.

What are you waiting for? Tickets are on sale now: adults are $20 and children are $10. Reserve your spot HERE. We can’t wait to see you.