Hollywood Cemetery
Opened in 1847 on a hilly tract above the James River, Hollywood holds the most layered ghost lore in Richmond. Its most infamous tale is the Richmond Vampire: after the Church Hill Tunnel collapsed on October 2, 1925, legend says a bloody, jagged-toothed creature fled the wreckage toward the cemetery and vanished into the granite mausoleum of W.W. Pool, an Englishman locals already whispered was a vampire. The likeliest truth is fireman Benjamin Mosby, scalded with skin hanging after the steam locomotive's boiler burst, staggering from the tunnel; he died that night. Near a child's grave stands a life-sized iron Newfoundland dog marking young Florence Rees, who died of scarlet fever in 1862; visitors report phantom barking and say the dog shifts position. At the 90-foot Confederate pyramid, where roughly 11,000 unidentified soldiers lie, people describe sudden cold drafts along the rear wall. Groundskeepers and visitors report strange sounds at dusk.
📍 412 South Cherry Street, Richmond, VA 23220, Richmond, VA · Get directions