Family Mausoleum Splattered With Fake Blood by ‘Disrespectful’ Photo Shoot

A cemetery in Denver has been left to clean up the mess left behind from a photo shoot that saw fake blood splattered on a family’s mausoleum.

Fairmount Cemetery says they have twice tried to scrub red splatter off the mausoleum, the steps, and the walkway. But the fake blood has stained the weathered granite.

“It looks like someone came and did a Halloween photo shoot and left some unfortunate fake blood behind, which is now staining the final resting space,” Karna O’Neill, the branch manager, tells KDVR.

“This is supposed to be in remembrance of an actual real-life person. It’s not for playtime,” adds Rache Huszar, who also works for the cemetery.

Sleuthing staff have searched social media trying to find the culprits. YourErie reports that they found photos of people climbing on statues and lying on headstones at Fairmount Cemetery.

“Which is extremely dangerous and very disrespectful for the family,” O’Neill says, who adds that in the run-up to Halloween, she sees photo shoots being held regularly and asks people to leave.

“Typically, you just see people out here kind of dressed up. We don’t allow any sort of Halloween or nude, anything like that. It’s very disrespectful to the families laying to rest here,” she tells KDVR.

Fairmount Cemetery, like many cemeteries across the country, does permit photo shoots so long as photographers have prior approval, pay a fee, have an escort, and adhere to its rules. Fairmount doesn’t allow blood, gore, Halloween masks, costumes, or props.

Fairmount Cemetery is a private cemetery, so it can enforce its rules. There are public cemeteries where the same rules might not apply.

There is a lively debate on TikTok about whether photo shoots in cemeteries are disrespectful.

“It just doesn’t sit right with me that a place made for the dead to rest gets essentially used as a backdrop to someone’s photo shoot,” says Jessica in a recent TikTok.

However, most people seemed to agree that so long as the photo shoot is being conducted respectfully, i.e. not spraying fake blood on a family mausoleum, then it’s okay.

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Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.