The Grim: Haunted Cemeteries & Graveyard Tales

Kristin Lopes

Welcome to The Grim, where host Kristin Lopes guides you through the world's most haunted cemeteries and forgotten burial grounds. Each week, we explore ghost stories, historical mysteries, and the art carved into centuries-old stones—from New England witch trials to European ossuaries, Victorian mourning customs to modern hauntings. Through vivid storytelling and deep research, we uncover the lives, legends, and restless spirits that refuse to stay buried. Perfect for lovers of: Haunted cemeteries & graveyard folkloreParanormal encounters & ghost storiesDark history, true crime & forgotten talesCemetery tourism & historical exploration Whether you're planning a graveyard visit or simply drawn to the shadows, The Grim blends atmosphere with meticulous research—bringing you stories that linger long after the episode ends. So pour yourself a warm cup of coffee, cozy up with the whispers of the past, and step beyond the veil. "Step carefully—it's time to descend into the hauntings of history." With over 217,000 listens, The Grim has become a beloved companion for cemetery enthusiasts and paranormal lovers worldwide. 🎧 New episodes weekly. Subscribe and join us where the past refuses to rest.

  1. The Final Haven | Old Church Cemetery, Cobh

    12H AGO

    The Final Haven | Old Church Cemetery, Cobh

    In this episode of The Grim, Kristin opens the gates to Old Church Cemetery in Cobh, Ireland—a hillside burial ground stretching back to Ireland's Celtic past, where maritime catastrophe, extraordinary lives, and restless spirits converge above one of the world's great natural harbours. Home to victims of the RMS Lusitania, a celebrated Irish boxer, a surgeon who stood beside Napoleon's deathbed, and an Antarctic explorer who carried the cold home in his hands—Old Church is one of Ireland's most cosmopolitan and quietly haunted cemeteries. Visitors report auditory hauntings near the Lusitania mass graves: murmuring voices, footsteps on empty gravel paths, and the sensation of a funeral procession that never ends. The "White Witch of Cobh" claimed to witness the dead still arriving long after the rescue boats fell silent. Featured Stories: The Lusitania – May 7, 1915: 1,199 of 1,960 people perished when a German torpedo sank the ship in eighteen minutes off the Irish coast. Between 169 and 200 victims are buried at Old Church—many unidentified, many in mass graves. Jack Doyle – The Gorgeous Gael: Cobh's own boxing prodigy won 28 bouts before drink, Hollywood, and violence unravelled everything. A piper led him home. His grave is still visited. James Roche Verling: The army surgeon assigned to watch Napoleon in exile on Saint Helena—and sign his death certificate. Robert Forde: Scott's Antarctic sledge-master, sent home with frostbite before the fatal polar push. A mountain in Victoria Land still bears his name. Descending once more into the hauntings of history—on The Grim. Support the show Support The Grim by buying a cup of our next Grave Grind! https://buymeacoffee.com/kristinlopes Find All of The Grim's Social Links At: https://www.the-grim.com/socialmedia

    34 min
  2. The Black Hope Curse | Black Hope Cemetery

    FEB 24

    The Black Hope Curse | Black Hope Cemetery

    Descend into Black Hope Cemetery in Crosby, Texas, where an entire post-Civil War freedom colony was swallowed by fire, forgotten by history, and buried beneath a modern subdivision — and where the dead refused to stay silent. Host Kristin uncovers Charlie and Betty Thomas — formerly enslaved people exhumed from a family's backyard still wearing their wedding rings — the Haney family's nightmare of glowing unplugged clocks, ghostly figures hovering over the bed, and a pair of red shoes that vanished only to reappear on a grave, and the Williams family's devastating loss of their thirty-year-old daughter after digging for evidence on cursed ground. Over sixty souls rest in one of Texas's most forgotten African American burial grounds, where a corporation built a neighborhood over the dead, a jury verdict was overturned, and families were ordered to prove the cemetery ever existed — despite the bones already pulled from the earth. Featured Historical Figures & Families: Charlie & Betty Thomas – Enslaved people freed after the Civil War, buried in Black Hope in the 1930s, Sam & Judith Haney – Discovered remains beneath their backyard, sued Purcell Corporation, and were ordered to pay court costs after the verdict was overturned, Ben & Jean Williams – Neighbors who uncovered coffin-shaped sinkholes, Tina — The Williams' daughter who died at thirty after digging for evidence, Jasper Norton – Longtime Crosby resident who identified the Thomases, and the unnamed members of the freedom colony whose settlement, church, school, and burial ground were erased from the historical record. Perfect for: True haunting enthusiasts, Black history scholars, Civil War and Reconstruction researchers, fans of Poltergeist and its real-world parallels, and anyone drawn to the stories America paved over — and the ground that refuses to forget. Support the show Support The Grim by buying a cup of our next Grave Grind! https://buymeacoffee.com/kristinlopes Find All of The Grim's Social Links At: https://www.the-grim.com/socialmedia

    14 min
  3. Phantoms of the Track | African Cemetery No. 2

    FEB 17

    Phantoms of the Track | African Cemetery No. 2

    Descend into African Cemetery No. 2 in Lexington, Kentucky, where the first Kentucky Derby winner rests in unmarked ground alongside Civil War heroes, Buffalo Soldiers, and the grooms and trainers who built America's thoroughbred empire. Host Kristin uncovers Oliver Lewis—who won the 1875 Derby at nineteen and died laying asphalt—journalist Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin, murdered for defending Black voters, and over 5,000 souls buried in one of the nation's oldest African American-owned cemeteries, where only 1,200 names are still known and the earth itself remembers what history tried to erase. Featured Historical Figures: Oliver Lewis – First Kentucky Derby winner (1875), USCT soldier Dennis Simpson – Buried unmarked with his family, Nathan Caulder – Buffalo Soldier who died in France, Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin – Journalist assassinated for defending voting rights, James "Soup" Perkins – Youngest Derby-winning jockey, Abraham Perry – Pioneering Black trainer, 180+ horse industry workers, 112+ Civil War veterans, and the Harlem Hellfighters. Perfect for: Kentucky Derby enthusiasts, Civil War history buffs, African American history scholars, and anyone drawn to the stories America buried—and the ground that refuses to forget. Support the show Support The Grim by buying a cup of our next Grave Grind! https://buymeacoffee.com/kristinlopes Find All of The Grim's Social Links At: https://www.the-grim.com/socialmedia

    17 min
  4. Pickett's Souls | Gettysburg National Cemetery

    FEB 10

    Pickett's Souls | Gettysburg National Cemetery

    Join host Kristin as The Grim descends into Gettysburg National Cemetery—where blood-soaked earth birthed America's first monument to mass death. This episode unveils the horror behind the Battle of Gettysburg: over 50,000 souls torn apart in three days of slaughter, obsolete tactics meeting modern killing machines, and fields transformed into open graves before national cemeteries existed to contain the carnage. Featured Dark History & Hauntings: The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)—the bloodiest battle in American history and Pickett's Charge where 12,000 men marched into oblivionElizabeth Thorn—six months pregnant, abandoned to bury 100 corpses in summer heat with only her elderly fatherAbraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address—the 271-word eulogy that consecrated a graveyard, delivered over the restless deadGettysburg's haunted battlefields—phantom cannon fire, spectral soldiers at Devil's Den, and the hanged ghosts of Sachs Covered BridgeJennie Wade's ghost—the only civilian killed, forever trapped in the moment of her deathFrom consecrated ground to America's most haunted cemetery: Discover apparitions among 3,500 Union graves, the scent of gunpowder lingering in darkness, and why 979 unknown soldiers may never rest. Confederate dead exhumed and shipped south—yet some remain, hidden in rocky graves, waiting to be found. Support the show Support The Grim by buying a cup of our next Grave Grind! https://buymeacoffee.com/kristinlopes Find All of The Grim's Social Links At: https://www.the-grim.com/socialmedia

    26 min
  5. The Erasure of Death | African American Burial Grounds

    FEB 3

    The Erasure of Death | African American Burial Grounds

    Join host Kristin as The Grim explores African American Burial Grounds and Enslaved Persons Cemeteries throughout the United States—sacred spaces erased by time, neglect, and systemic racism. This episode uncovers the heartbreaking truth behind America's lost burial grounds: nearly 4 million enslaved people by 1860, yet their final resting places remain largely undocumented, paved over, or forgotten. Featured Sites & Stories: The New York African Burial Ground—10,000-15,000 souls discovered accidentally in 1991God's Little Acre, Rhode Island, where enslaved artisan Pompe Stevens carved 250 tombstonesArlington National Cemetery's Section 27 and the "freedom names" of formerly enslaved soldiersThe Charleston Anson Street African Burial Ground Project and its descendant-led reburial ceremoniesFrom Colonial New England to the Jim Crow South, discover how the Great Migration left burial grounds vulnerable, why African American benevolent societies created their own cemeteries, and how the African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Act fails descendants today. Featuring the Gullah Geechee perspective that challenges legal definitions of "abandonment"—because sacred ground remains sacred, whether the state recognizes it or not. Support the show Support The Grim by buying a cup of our next Grave Grind! https://buymeacoffee.com/kristinlopes Find All of The Grim's Social Links At: https://www.the-grim.com/socialmedia

    24 min
  6. Blood on the Irons | St. Philip's Graveyard & Cemetery

    JAN 27

    Blood on the Irons | St. Philip's Graveyard & Cemetery

    Descend into the moss-draped grounds of St. Philip's in Charleston, South Carolina, where the nation's oldest Anglican congregation has buried its dead since 1681. Host Kristin explores a city built atop graves, uncovering the Revolutionary War heroes, Vice Presidents, and enslaved protectors whose legacies—and spirits—refuse to stay buried. Featured Historical Figures: John C. Calhoun – The Vice President who resigned his office to defend an ideology so divisive, his grave was hidden during the Civil War for fear of what Union soldiers might do to his remains. Edward Rutledge – The youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence, captured during war, elevated to governor—yet whose legacy reveals the contradictions at the heart of America's founding. Rawlins Lowndes – A revolutionary leader who fought tyranny abroad while perpetuating it at home, then opposed the Constitution itself to protect what he believed South Carolina could not survive without. DuBose Heyward – Descendant of a Declaration signer whose novel became one of America's most celebrated—and controversial—operas, a work of beauty inseparable from the questions it raises. Also Featured: Constitutional framers, Supreme Court Justices, Revolutionary War generals, and the West Cemetery—ground once reserved for strangers and outsiders, now holding some of the nation's most powerful architects of early America. The Hauntings: One of America's most famous ghost photographs, captured here in 1987. A grieving mother who died six days after losing her child. An enslaved man who saved the church from fire and earned his freedom, now said to watch over the grounds. And a young girl whose nighttime dare ended in tragedy, her cane still trapped where she fell. Perfect for: Colonial and Revolutionary War history enthusiasts, Southern Gothic lovers, Charleston ghost hunters, cemetery tourists, and anyone fascinated by the uncomfortable spaces where founding ideals and human contradiction collide—and where the dead refuse to let the past stay quiet. Support the show Support The Grim by buying a cup of our next Grave Grind! https://buymeacoffee.com/kristinlopes Find All of The Grim's Social Links At: https://www.the-grim.com/socialmedia

    22 min
  7. The Rebel Royal | Kensal Green Cemetery, London

    JAN 13

    The Rebel Royal | Kensal Green Cemetery, London

    In this episode of The Grim, Kristin opens the gates to Kensal Green Cemetery in London, England—the first of the city's Magnificent Seven, where innovation, artistry, and royal rebellion lie beneath seventy-two acres of leaning stones. Built in 1833 to relieve London's overcrowded graveyards, Kensal Green now faces its own crisis: caught between preservation and a city desperate for space. Over 250,000 souls rest here, including nearly a thousand recorded in the Dictionary of National Biography. Among them: Charles Babbage, whose unfinished calculating engines predicted the computer age; Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose bridges and railways transformed Britain; writers William Makepeace Thackeray and Wilkie Collins, who dissected Victorian hypocrisy with unflinching precision; and royal rebels Prince Augustus Frederick and Princess Sophia, siblings who defied and endured the monarchy in equal measure. From overgrown corners to Gothic mausoleums, Kensal Green wears its age openly. Stones lean. Time presses heavily. Stories like The Living Dead Girl refuse to stay buried, and visitors sometimes sense something lingering in the shadows—reminding them this place holds more than bodies. It holds unfinished brilliance, scandalous secrets, and the question: do Victorian cemeteries still have a place in our modern world? Featured Stories: Charles Babbage – Mathematician whose designs predicted modern computing. A retailer named Babbage's eventually became GameStop. Isambard Kingdom Brunel – Engineer who built railways, bridges, and iron ships that transformed Britain. William Makepeace Thackeray – Author of Vanity Fair who dissected Victorian society's vanities. Wilkie Collins – Master of Victorian suspense, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex – Royal rebel who championed abolition and married in secret twice. Princess Sophia – George III's daughter, rumored illegitimate child, life of gilded constraint. Support the show Support The Grim by buying a cup of our next Grave Grind! https://buymeacoffee.com/kristinlopes Find All of The Grim's Social Links At: https://www.the-grim.com/socialmedia

    29 min
3.7
out of 5
74 Ratings

About

Welcome to The Grim, where host Kristin Lopes guides you through the world's most haunted cemeteries and forgotten burial grounds. Each week, we explore ghost stories, historical mysteries, and the art carved into centuries-old stones—from New England witch trials to European ossuaries, Victorian mourning customs to modern hauntings. Through vivid storytelling and deep research, we uncover the lives, legends, and restless spirits that refuse to stay buried. Perfect for lovers of: Haunted cemeteries & graveyard folkloreParanormal encounters & ghost storiesDark history, true crime & forgotten talesCemetery tourism & historical exploration Whether you're planning a graveyard visit or simply drawn to the shadows, The Grim blends atmosphere with meticulous research—bringing you stories that linger long after the episode ends. So pour yourself a warm cup of coffee, cozy up with the whispers of the past, and step beyond the veil. "Step carefully—it's time to descend into the hauntings of history." With over 217,000 listens, The Grim has become a beloved companion for cemetery enthusiasts and paranormal lovers worldwide. 🎧 New episodes weekly. Subscribe and join us where the past refuses to rest.

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