On Cemeteries, Amusement Parks, and the Gospel of Jesus

 Halloween events have become big business in the theme park economy. “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party” at Walt Disney World, “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios, and “Halloweekends” at Cedar Point, to name a few, are a cash cow in the parks and entertainment world. The marriage of amusement to the macabre has a documented history. Disneyland opened its Haunted Mansion attraction in August 1969 - not to mention haunted houses and spooky roadside attractions that have been popular for decades. Not only have theme parks embraced the morbid, but cemeteries have also embraced amusement. Forrest Lawn Memorial-Park in Los Angeles has been deemed the “Disneyland of Graveyards;”[1] and Hollywood Forever Cemetery regularly hosts films screenings and recently played venue to a Ramones 50th anniversary tribute show.[2]

What do amusement parks and cemeteries have in common? Originally, the answer was the same plot of land.[3]Amusement parks became a fixture of American leisure in the 19th century when the industrial revolution gave rise to the middle class who now had more money to spend and nights and weekends free. These new amusement parks were often built on land at the end of trolly, streetcar, and railway lines because real estate was affordable and available. Sometimes this land was adjacent to, or even shared property with cemeteries.

Gala Park in Queens, NY. was built on an estate formerly owned by a settler named Daniel Rapelye. When he died, Rapelye and his descendants were buried on the land. After it had been abandoned for some time, the property was leased to Gala Park, where a roller coaster and a dance hall were built around the gravestones. Chicago’s Forest Park Amusement Park was erected between two cemeteries. Lake Shawnee amusement park in Rock, WV. was rumored to have been constructed on Shawnee burial grounds. Rumors persisted that the park was haunted and tragedy and death pervaded the park until its closure in 1988.[4]

There is a poignant parable in a property housing both an amusement park and a cemetery. On the surface the two appear opposites - one encapsulates joy and life; the other, death. The world embraces the apparent contradiction in Halloween and horror films, even if they lack the worldview to make sense of it all. But Christians know how the pieces fit and why it is good news.

Scripture reveals that death is our enemy because it is God’s judgement for sin (Gen 2.17; Rom 3.23). Death is our judgment, but it is also our salvation - through the death of Jesus, we are saved (Rom 4.25; 1st Cor 15.3; Col 1.20, et al). For millennia the church has celebrated the death of Christ. Every Sunday we gather around the Eucharist to remember and proclaim that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. As persecution was unleashed on the early church, the Roman Empire slandered Christians, branding them cannibals because of the vocabulary of the sacramental liturgy.[5] But we know that the bread and the wine are the signs and seals of a new covenant.

For centuries the central symbol of Christianity has been the cross. Because Christianity is baked into the Western tradition, we have been inoculated to the original cultural offense of the cross. It was a symbol of Rome’s power - a warning to any who deliberated dissidence. In the first century crucifixion was anathema in polite, civilized conversation.

But this ancient symbol of fear and death became a symbol of hope and life. Churches are adorned with crosses or named Calvary. Christians wear the cross as jewelry or tattoo it on their bodies. It represents forgiveness and salvation because by his death on the cross, the Lord Jesus has become the propitiation for our sins (Rom 3.25).

Christians also celebrate the confluence of death and life in our tradition of hymnody. We sing about the cross; we sing about the dying savior; we sing about the blood. “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” We sing these hymns with joy, and we sing them in gratitude. We sing about blood and death, not out of morbid fascination or macabre indoctrination, but because we have peace with God by the blood of Jesus’ cross (Col 1.20).

Amusement parks are not the only organizations that shared real estate with cemeteries; churches did, as well. Christians were buried in the churchyard because the church was the center of their lives - they lived with the church; they died with the church. Churchyard cemeteries were also grounded in the hope of resurrection - the desire to be raised together on the last day. Even in death these saints confessed they believed in “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.”

[1]https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-the-disneyland-of-graveyards-180980510/

[2]https://hollywoodforever.com/event/the-official-ramones-50th-anniversary-tribute/

[3]https://www.mentalfloss.com/history/why-early-amusement-parks-built-near-graveyards

[4]The ruin of the park now hosts haunted tours. - https://www.wvlakeshawnee.com/

[5]https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/defending-the-cannibals-2