10 Great Books Featuring Cemeteries

Yadriel is determined to make his traditional Latinx family accept his gender and prove that he’s a brujo. For this to happen, Yadriel decides to summon the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. Unfortunately, Yadriel ends up summoning the ghost of Julian Diaz, who had been the school’s troublemaker. True to his nature, Julian is determined to understand the circumstances surrounding his death, leaving Yadriel no choice but to help.

When Mila Flores’s best friend Riley dies under mysterious circumstances along with two mean girls from school, she refuses to believe that it was suicide. Determined, Mila does the unthinkable and uses an ancient grimoire to bring the three back from the grave. But she’s out of luck when none of them can remember how they died—but they do remember they have some unfinished business.

If you’re looking for a little spooky graveyard fun without the horror, then The Graveyard Book is perfect. In the book, we’re introduced to Nobody Owens, or Bod, who’s perfectly normal other than the fact that he lives in a graveyard and is being raised by ghosts. For everyone else in the small town, the graveyard is treacherous. But for Bod, it’s protection against the world of the living, where the man who killed his family lurks.

Twins Julia and Valentina move into their dead aunt’s apartment, which is located near Highgate Cemetery in London. Slowly but surely, they become acquainted with their new neighbors, such as Martin who loves crossword puzzles and Robert who was their aunt’s mysterious lover and a scholar of Highgate Cemetery. As the girls get acquainted with their new home, they realize that their aunt might be closer than they thought.

Lincoln in the Bardo unfolds over the course of one night in February 1862, amidst the Civil War. President Lincoln has just buried his young son in a Georgetown cemetery, but keeps returning to the gravesite. Told in a unique mix of prose, dialogue, and verse, Lincoln in the Bardo is a cacophony of the ghosts who are stuck in the bardo, a transitional state in the Tibetan tradition.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness takes place over several years from Old Delhi to the Valley of Kashmir and to Central Indian forests. The story follows Anjum, who calls a graveyard home; a baby that appeared at midnight; and a woman loved by three men. Roy’s words unfold the lives of these characters who are as much shaped by their circumstances as they are by those around them. More than anything, this story is driven by people who refuse to surrender to impossible circumstances. The graveyard here is beautifully described by Roy and is a pivotal setting.

Iris and her best friend Daniel are playing in the snow when Iris discovers the crumbled gravestone of a young girl named Avery Moore. Not long after this discovery, odd things begin to happen to Iris, who begins to see a small, shadowy figure in the woods. Iris and Daniel begin researching their town’s history and realize that Avery was buried in a neglected Black cemetery. Iris and Daniel are determined to ensure the dead of the cemetery are given the respect they deserve, but must first handle Avery’s vengeful ghost.

King has gone on the record saying that out of all his books, Pet Sematary disturbed him the most, so proceed with caution. The Creeds have moved into a beautiful home in Maine and are the perfect nuclear family. However, their happiness and stability are upended by a dark secret buried in the woods.

This one is an unsettling horror story of a young family that has moved into an apartment next to a graveyard. The family believes they’ve found the perfect home away from a dark secret of their past. But their hopes of a bright future are dashed when terrors descend upon them, forcing all of their neighbors to move out until the family is left alone with something crawling in the basement.

Noemí Taboada is headed to the Mexican countryside after receiving a distressing letter from her cousin. When she arrives to High Place, Noemí is confronted with her cousin’s enigmatic husband and terrifying father-in-law. A glamorous socialite, Noemí is the last person to be a rescuer, but she immediately sees that High Place, with its dark secrets, is unhealthy for her cousin. Although a cemetery isn’t the key setting for Mexican Gothic, there’s one near the house Noemí contemplates in, rounding out the image of a dark, gothic mansion.