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Spooky Cemetery Trees

Explore the eerie beauty of cemetery trees and the haunting role that ancient oaks, weeping willows, and towering evergreens play in graveyards across the country.

October 30, 2015

Trees in a cemetery normally provide a calming and peaceful effect for visitors and passersby. But around Halloween, they take on a spookier air—casting eerie shadows, swaying and creaking in the wind, and providing plenty of fuel for the imagination as the sun sets.

Being a bit of a chicken, the whole idea of going into a cemetery on Halloween gives me the creepers. Especially if there are any remotely spooky-looking trees around. So here are a few places you won’t find me on Halloween night.

A weathered stone angel statue with outstretched wings stands atop a monument among headstones in a tree-shaded cemetery scattered with fallen autumn leaves.
A long row of massive, dark evergreen trunks looms over weathered tombstones, with patches of snow on the shadowed ground.
A sprawling live oak draped in Spanish moss spreads its limbs over old headstones inside a brick-walled Southern cemetery.
A bare, gnarled tree with twisting branches stands among scattered headstones on a green cemetery hillside under a flat, overcast gray sky.
A large weeping tree with cascading branches towers over tombstones in a darkened cemetery, silhouetted against a glowing night sky.
Two bare, twisting trees loom over tilted headstones in a fog-shrouded cemetery in this moody black-and-white photo.
A misty, tree-lined cemetery path recedes into fog, flanked by rows of graves and the dark trunks of overhanging trees in dim blue light.
And the foggy path for the win!
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If you're a little braver than me—or if you're looking for a good scare—head on into the nearest well-treed cemetery. We'd love to see your pics on Instagram. Tag us @arbordayfoundation.

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