Popular fiction has doomed the cemetery to a reputation as a creepy, dark place where evil things are bound to happen. But we suggest you leave the terrific tales to horror novelists and view graveyards with a different perspective. This site provides a fascinating place to start your peace-making journey with cemeteries. Attempting to document every pre-1860 gravestone in Cape Cod, Robert Paine Carlson has produced a site that brims with historical import. Begin your trip inside these rock-laden yards with the quick tour of gravestone styles from 1683 to 1799 and then wander over to look at styles from 1800 to 1900. After boning up on the basics, we recommend poking through his extensive catalogue of photos from a variety of Cape Cod's final resting places. Read the maudlin inscription on Rebekah Jenkins' headstone, marvel at the grandeur of Ebenezer Crocker's massive stone, or peep at the creepy skull adorning Job Avery's marker. In a time when anything over 25-years-old is considered to be of historical import, Carlson's dutiful work in documenting these true American relics should compel you to leave your fear at the cemetery gates.
