Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery is getting eerie this Halloween season

Since its founding nearly two centuries ago, Green-Wood Cemetery has served as both a final resting place for New Yorkers who have passed away but also as a parklike escape for New Yorkers who are living. That history continues this fall as the Brooklyn cemetery hosts a wide array of programming, from performances in its catacombs to trolley tours to powerful discussions about grief.  

Nightfall, a two-day spectacle with after-dark immersive experiences, is among the fan favorites, and it's coming back in October. Other stand-out events include the trolley tour Gay Gothic and Spirited Stroll, a pre-Halloween walking tour with tales of murder, mayhem, and captivating oddities. Here's the full list. 

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Arts and culture programming

MɔɹnꞮŊ [Morning//Mourning], an opera in the catacombs

Thursday, Sept. 12, Friday, Sept. 13th, and Saturday, Sept. 14

Grab a seat in in Green-Wood’s catacombs to listen to singer and composer Gelsey Bell. She'll present a specially adapted rendition of the critically acclaimed opera, which traces the weeks, months, years, and millennia that follow humanity's disappearance from Earth.

Open Doors

Sunday, Sept. 22

Delve into Green-Wood’s hidden histories on a self-guided tour through the cemetery's storied grounds. Uncover mysteries locked within nineteenth-century mausoleums, including stunning stained glass and intricate architectural details.

Curios in the Catacombs

Wednesday, Oct. 2 and Thursday, Oct. 3 

Kick off Halloween month with artist Margaret Leng Tan who will transforms Green-Wood’s Catacombs into a musical and theatrical cabinet of curiosities.  

Nightfall: Time Flies

Thursday, Oct. 17 and Friday, Oct. 18 

This beloved Green-Wood event offers unparalleled, immersive experiences that inspire visitors to walk the cemetery's illuminated winding paths and discover a  variety of entertainers—including musicians, performance artists, and  storytellers—that are sure to delight and amaze.

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead): Family Day

Friday, November 1 

At this annual tradition, discover the rich history and traditions associated with the holiday through family-friendly crafts, performances, music,  activities, and food.  

Trolley tours 

Hop aboard Green-Wood's signature trolley to explore the history and architecture of the cemetery. This season's themed tours  include: 

• Far Side of Green-Wood on Saturday, Sept. 28. Learn the fascinating stories behind memorials along Green-Wood’s southern side.  
• Gay Gothic: Love, Loss, and the Hereafter on Saturday, Oct. 5. Led by Close Friends Collective in celebration of LGBTQ History Month, this tour explores what death and memorialization have looked like for queer people throughout Green Wood’s 186-year history. 
• Crime and Catastrophe on Saturday, Oct. 5. Expect tales of murder, shipwrecks, plane crashes, and on this tour.
• Doomed Voyages on Saturday, Oct. 12. Delve into ill-fated voyages memorialized at Green-Wood, from the seas to the streets to the skies. 
• Stranger Than Fiction on Saturday, Oct. 19. Embark on a journey into the extraordinary, discovering enigmatic characters like “Brooklyn Enigma” Mollie Fancher and spiritualist Anna Leah Fox Underhill.
• Feminism and Fortune Telling: Women of the Lower East Side on Saturday, Oct. 26. Dig into the complicated and peculiar life of humor writer Mortimer Thomson and the working-class fortune tellers in New York’s  Lower East Side whom he labeled as “witches.” 
• Windows of Wonder: Stained Glass at Green-Wood on Saturday, Nov. 2. Be awed by the exquisite array of stained-glass windows within Green Wood’s mausoleums, featuring the artistry of Louis Comfort Tiffany and his contemporaries. 
• Presidential Losers: The Men Who Nearly Led America on Saturday, Nov. 2. Just in time for election season, Green-Wood offers a fascinating historical perspective on past campaigns, focusing on those candidates who didn’t make the cut. 
• Hidden Gems of Green-Wood on Saturday, Nov. 30. Discover some of the lesser-known stories and sites of the Cemetery. 
• And the weekly Discover Green-Wood trolley tour, which takes visitors through the Cemetery’s most notable spots, continues on Saturday afternoons this season.

Walking tours

If you'd rather see the sights by foot, these walking tours offer fascinating journeys for all ages. Here are a few highlights: 

• Bugging Out! on Saturday, Sept. 14 and Bugging Out!: Walk for Kids on Sunday, Sept. 15. Learn about the fascinating habits of insects and spiders that have been sighted in Green-Wood.  
• Meet your Green Neighbors on Sunday, Sept. 29 and Meet Your Green Neighbors: Walk for Kids on Sunday, Oct. 13, offer delightful looks into the flora of the Cemetery. 
• Grand Designs: Architecture at Green-Wood on Sunday, Oct. 6. Explore monuments and mausoleums by leading architects and artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 
• Secrets in Stone on Sunday, Oct. 13. The tour will bring to light the symbols and other cryptic depictions in Green-Wood’s century-old monuments. 
• Great Trees of Green-Wood on Sunday, Oct. 20 and Sunday, Nov. 10. These tours highlight the diverse display of bright autumn foliage around the Cemetery. 
• Spirited Stroll on Saturday, Oct. 26 and Sunday, Oct. 27. The perennial favorite showcases Green-Wood’s beautiful fall foliage and tales of murder, mayhem, and captivating oddities. 
• Post-Turkey-Day Walking Tour on Friday, Nov. 29, an opportunity for exploration the day after Thanksgiving.
• Birding in Peace on multiple Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays, early morning explorations for amateur and expert birders alike. 
• After-Hours tours on Friday and Saturday evenings. These tours offer an exclusive look at the cemetery (and Catacombs) after the gates have closed to the public.

Death education 

Green-Wood’s free death education programs encourage honest discussion about an uncomfortable but universal subject: death itself.  

• Notes of Tribute: Viewing the 9/11 Memorial Lights on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Gather at Green-Wood to witness the tribute lights over lower Manhattan and remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. 
• Grieving & Weaving: Climate Week Edition on Monday, Sept. 23. At this special event, Green-Wood will focus on how crafting can play a role in sustainability.  
• Death Cafe: Climate Week Edition on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Discuss ecological grief and climate anxiety.
• Death Cafes on Monday, Oct. 7, Wednesday, Nov. 27, and Tuesday, Dec. 17 offer a chance to discuss anxieties, hopes, and questions about death. 
• Grieving & Weaving on Thursday, Oct. 24, Wednesday, Nov. 13, and Tuesday, Dec. 10. Join together for an evening of crafting and contemplation.