October, once again, will be the London Month of the Dead. It was for London Month of the Dead that I made my very first visit to Brompton Cemetery. I had been to five of the magnificent seven and it was a shame I hadn’t been to Brompton. It is beautifully kept compared to some of the other Magnificent Seven, but it kept that beautiful hint of ivy and moss, just enough to be wearing away with time.
Some of the talks were about death and dying, I remember particularly the future of dying, and realising I was one of the few people there with my personal corpse plan already worked out and in writing. It wasn’t morbid or gothic so much as honest and even fun. There were gothic moments, especially if you walk through Brompton, but I was carried away by the reality of it all: the talks were fascinating, and real. these weren’t ghost stories in the night, this was real death, real life. It was also for the love of London
Two years later I get to be a part of London Month of the Dead, and I cannot wait. I’ll be giving my Chills of Chelsea horror walk, where I’ll take you through the beautiful village-like Chelsea to see why it was a hotspot for horror films in the late 1960s and 1970s. I’ll share with you stories of satanism, revenge, Peter Cushing and Boris Karloff. We can find the dreadful delights of London together.
Tickets: Chills of Chelsea Horror Walk. 11 October 2020.
Lauren Jane Barnett 