Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Concord's historic cemetery holds over 10,000 graves — including Author's Ridge, where Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Louisa May Alcott are all buried.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord is one of Massachusetts' most haunted locations, with reports of strange activity dating back to the 1800s. The cemetery began in 1855 and holds the remains of America's most celebrated literary figures on Author's Ridge, including Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau -- all of whom knew each other in life and now rest near each other in death. Before it became a graveyard, the land was the outdoor playground of these literary titans, who walked its paths and found inspiration among its trees. Visitors have reported seeing spectral figures among the gravestones, including one menacing presence with no grave marker who creeps between tombstones at dusk. The ghost tours of Concord feature stops at Author's Ridge, sharing stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne's deadly discovery and Louisa May Alcott's own experiences with the supernatural in life. The temperature drops noticeably in certain spots, and some visitors report overwhelming feelings of peace near certain graves. The atmosphere of reverence within the cemetery is palpable, but so is the unsettling sensation that not all the residents have found eternal rest.