33 of the World’s Most Mysterious Tombstones

These memorials raise more questions than they answer.

by Daniel McDermon, Senior Editor

33 Places

Some of these grave markers stand out because of the stories they tell. Others incorporate unusual materials, or honor mysterious figures. All of them invite further exploration.

Sven P. Andersson’s Gravestone

The very rock that killed the stonemason marks his grave.

Johan SWE

Added by Johan SWE

The Witch’s Grave

A century-old local legend surrounds the grave of Barbara Snyder due to its eerie epitaph.

michaelraqimmira

Added by michaelraqimmira

Calgary, Alberta

Frank Moodie's Petrified Grave Marker

In Union Cemetery, a petrified tree stump marks the grave of a notable mineralogist, mine owner and oilman.

Added by Pengwn

New York, New York

Charlotte Temple’s Grave

A Manhattan tombstone honors a popular 19th-century heroine, now long forgotten.

allegrarosenberg

Added by allegrarosenberg

Copenhagen, Denmark

The Time Traveler’s Grave

Hidden in plain sight, a gravestone seemingly inscribed from the future stands among the cemetery’s historic tombs.

Johan SWE

Added by Johan SWE

Park Ridge, Illinois

Scrabble Grave

A board game enthusiast's love for the game, memorialized forever.

cornyonthemacabre

Added by cornyonthemacabre

Hindhead, England

The Sailor's Stone

This curious gravestone tells the legend of an unknown mariner's grisly murder.

Lana Velkov

Added by Lana Velkov

Dona Paula's Tombstone

Legends of adultery, love affairs, and charity swirl around this mysterious 17th-century Portuguese woman.

Vivek Gadre

Added by Vivek Gadre

Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

James Bond's Grave

This tombstone marks the spot where the legendary British spy met his end.

Added by willfaulkner

London, England

'The Wisdom of Solomon' Stone Pyramid

This mysterious pyramid is said to be part of a complex web of occult and Freemason symbols.

Katie Ness

Added by Katie Ness

Kamakura, Japan

Grave of Yasujirō Ozu

The legendary Japanese filmmaker’s tombstone is marked by a single letter meaning “nothing," and bottles of sake.

Fred Cherrygarden

Added by Fred Cherrygarden

Taos, New Mexico

The Three Brujas

Three witches are said to be buried beneath these unmarked concrete graves.

nickblossom

Added by nickblossom

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Grave of America's Unknown Child: Joseph Augustus Zarelli

A tragic mystery left this boy nameless for 65 years.

frances van woglom

Added by frances van woglom

Oxford, New York

Little Merrit's Tomb

A small window was installed in this gravestone to honor a young boy's dying wish.

joelaskowski2004

Added by joelaskowski2004

Thunderbolt, Georgia

Charles F. Mills Grave Bell

A 19th-century cemetery device to ensure that the prematurely buried would be "saved by the bell."

Sydney Rose

Added by Sydney Rose

Norwich, England

Grave of Thomas Gooding

Does being buried standing up help you get into heaven faster?

Added by pottermolly

Blue Ridge, Georgia

The Arm of Buel Stanley

Turns out fishing with dynamite isn't all that safe.

Added by velellavelella

Hardingstone, England

Grave of the Unknown Man

In the 1930s, a mysterious murder shook this Northamptonshire village–the identity of the victim remains a mystery to this day.

theparttimeexplorer

Added by theparttimeexplorer

Rahway, New Jersey

Grave of the Unknown Woman

The final resting place of a famous 19th-century murder victim whose identity is still a mystery.

ejhagadorn

Added by ejhagadorn

Lee Vining, California

Grave of the Unknown Prospector

A new monument to an old grave that was uncovered during the rebuilding of a California ghost town.

Added by cameronksereno

Lafayette, Colorado

Vampire Grave of Lafayette

According to local legend, a tree grew from the stake that killed this alleged vampire. In reality, he probably died from influenza.

Devin San Luis

Added by Devin San Luis

Liverpool, England

Eleanor Rigby's Grave

What do we know about the real woman behind one of the Beatles' most famous songs?

Gavin

Goldfield, Nevada

Paste Eater's Grave

Eulogizing an unknown man's unusual demise.

Molly McBride Jacobson

Added by Molly McBride Jacobson

Salt Lake City, Utah

Victim of the Beast Gravestone

Here lies Lilly E. Gray, an alleged "victim of the beast," but the reason long remained a mystery.

allteena

Added by allteena

Lexington, Mississippi

Grave of the Lady in Red

The body of an unidentified woman, visible through a glass coffin, was discovered by accident.

Molly McBride Jacobson

Added by Molly McBride Jacobson

Ashmore, Illinois

St. Omer Cemetery Witch Grave

This grave in a ghost town cemetery marks the death of a witch on a day that never happened.

TaunyaD

Added by TaunyaD

Alexandria, Virginia

The Grave of the Female Stranger

This grave marks the passing of a historic Jane Doe whose identity remains a mystery to this day.

Added by JohnBense

Corsicana, Texas

The Grave of Rope Walker

A peg-legged tightrope walker did not reveal his name as he was dying, and so he was buried as “Rope Walker."

seh256

Added by seh256

Glasgow, Scotland

Unmarked Grave of Pierre Emile L'Angelier

The final resting place of a poisoned lover whose death was at the center of one of Glasgow's most sensational murder trials.

ssm67alba

Added by ssm67alba

Yeadon, Pennsylvania

Unmarked Grave of H.H. Holmes

America's first serial killer rests in anonymity.

Added by adsummum

Stockholm, Sweden

The Unmarked Grave of Christer Pettersson

Not far from where one of the most famous Swedes of all time is buried, an infamous man was put to rest.

hrnick

Added by hrnick

Ratlinghope, England

Grave of the Last Sin-Eater

A quiet country churchyard holds a monument to the last known sin-eater in England.

Added by chernobaevlucy

Bartow, Florida

Grave of 'America's Oldest Man'

Charlie Smith was almost certainly not 137 years old when he died, but why let that get in the way of a great story?

J Ginsberg

Added by J Ginsberg

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