Denver cemetery asks Halloween revelers to follow photo shoot rules -- and leave the fake blood at home

Elizabeth Hernandez, The Denver Post on Oct 13, 2026

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DENVER -- When staff at Denver’s Fairmount Cemetery stumbled across splatters of fake blood staining a family’s private mausoleum last week, they suspected an unsanctioned photo shoot was behind the imitation gore.

The fake blood stained the property and is difficult to remove, Fairmount Cemetery events manager Karna O’Neill said. While searching social media for the culprit, O’Neill discovered photos taken at a different location within the cemetery, showing someone climbing on top of and lying across gravestones.

“It just breaks my heart and really makes me wonder why they thought that was OK,” O’Neill said Monday. “This is someone’s final resting place, and to come and be that disrespectful in someone’s final resting space just blows my mind… The people that are doing it just don’t have respect for the dead.”

As a member of the alternative scene, O’Neill said she understands the desire to use the lush cemetery grounds in the Lowry neighborhood as a photo backdrop. The cemetery even welcomes it — as long as folks go through the proper channels and follow the rules, O’Neill said.

Those looking for a location can reach out to the cemetery to set up an official photo shoot. For $200 on weekdays and $275 on weekends, a staff member will ferry people around on a golf cart to prime photo spots around the cemetery.

While goth attire and goth makeup are OK, overtly Halloween-y masks, props or themes are not allowed, O’Neill said. No blood, no gore and no dressing up like a serial killer, O’Neill said.

People are not allowed to climb or lean on headstones and the names on headstones must be removed from photos, O’Neill said. People can sit or stand on the steps of family mausoleums.

The same rules apply for Denver’s Riverside Cemetery, which shares ownership with Fairmount.

“It is spooky season and people want to come out to the cemetery and take Halloween photos and fall photos or what have you, and we are just trying to get the word out that we do allow photographs if you go through the proper channels,” O’Neill said. “We do want to allow people to continue coming in and enjoying our grounds, but if this continues to happen, we will shut the photos down.”