Solemnity and celebration: Dark tourism experiences at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Abstract

As the final resting place of celebrities and notable public figures, Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles has long served as a tourist attraction and a site of public memory. Unique among dark tourism sites, Hollywood Forever brings together the gravity of death and a celebratory sense of remembrance. This is made possible in part by the cemetery’s history as a tourist attraction and by its use as a site of festivals, film screenings, and other events. Tourists are encouraged to use the cemetery as social space, transforming relationships to the site. Many visitors respond warmly to these events, yet the cemetery faces disapproval from those who find these practices irreverent and lacking respect for the dead.