A graveyard smash – funeral reenactment and graveyard tour
If the Halloween season for you is going on one eerie adventure after another, you might consider an unsettling escapade to transport you back into the 19th century for a recreation of an 1887 Victorian-style funeral service – at Rogers Mansion in Southampton.
Quite unlike the way funerals work nowadays, back then, death and funerals took place at home. On Oct. 29, step into the Mansion’s Music Room, but keep your worries about unrestful spirits at the door. The room will be draped in black crepe and mirrors and windows will be covered so the deceased’s soul WILL NOT be detained. Clocks will be stopped at the moment … of death.
After the wake, mourners will – this includes you – follow the coffin to the nearby North End Cemetery for the tour of the burying grounds. Are you brave enough?
To truly experience this otherworldly, set-in-another-time funeral, 19th century mourning attire is encouraged. Wear all black and get a discount, too. So, pull out those black costume gowns or suits and mourn the Victorian way.
Learn more, than maybe you wanted to know, about how the dead were commemorated in the 1880s. “buahahaha…”
And if you go, have a few chills along with some fun, readers!
Mourning the Victorian Way: A Funeral Reenactment and Graveyard Tour
Rogers Mansion
17 Meeting House Lane, Southampton
Reservations required: 631-283-2494.
southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org.