Descend into African Cemetery No. 2 in Lexington, Kentucky, where the first Kentucky Derby winner rests in unmarked ground alongside Civil War heroes, Buffalo Soldiers, and the grooms and trainers who built America's thoroughbred empire. Host Kristin uncovers Oliver Lewis—who won the 1875 Derby at nineteen and died laying asphalt—journalist Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin, murdered for defending Black voters, and over 5,000 souls buried in one of the nation's oldest African American-owned cemeteries, where only 1,200 names are still known and the earth itself remembers what history tried to erase.

Featured Historical Figures:

Oliver Lewis – First Kentucky Derby winner (1875), USCT soldier Dennis Simpson – Buried unmarked with his family, Nathan Caulder – Buffalo Soldier who died in France, Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin – Journalist assassinated for defending voting rights, James "Soup" Perkins – Youngest Derby-winning jockey, Abraham Perry – Pioneering Black trainer, 180+ horse industry workers, 112+ Civil War veterans, and the Harlem Hellfighters.

Perfect for: Kentucky Derby enthusiasts, Civil War history buffs, African American history scholars, and anyone drawn to the stories America buried—and the ground that refuses to forget.

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Join host Kristin as The Grim descends into Gettysburg National Cemetery—where blood-soaked earth birthed America's first monument to mass death.

This episode unveils the horror behind the Battle of Gettysburg: over 50,000 souls torn apart in three days of slaughter, obsolete tactics meeting modern killing machines, and fields transformed into open graves before national cemeteries existed to contain the carnage.

Featured Dark History & Hauntings:

• The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)—the bloodiest battle in American history and Pickett's Charge where 12,000 men marched into oblivion
• Elizabeth Thorn—six months pregnant, abandoned to bury 100 corpses in summer heat with only her elderly father
• Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address—the 271-word eulogy that consecrated a graveyard, delivered over the restless dead
• Gettysburg's haunted battlefields—phantom cannon fire, spectral soldiers at Devil's Den, and the hanged ghosts of Sachs Covered Bridge
• Jennie Wade's ghost—the only civilian killed, forever trapped in the moment of her death

From consecrated ground to America's most haunted cemetery: Discover apparitions among 3,500 Union graves, the scent of gunpowder lingering in darkness, and why 979 unknown soldiers may never rest. Confederate dead exhumed and shipped south—yet some remain, hidden in rocky graves, waiting to be found.

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Join host Kristin as The Grim explores African American Burial Grounds and Enslaved Persons Cemeteries throughout the United States—sacred spaces erased by time, neglect, and systemic racism.

This episode uncovers the heartbreaking truth behind America's lost burial grounds: nearly 4 million enslaved people by 1860, yet their final resting places remain largely undocumented, paved over, or forgotten.

Featured Sites & Stories:

• The New York African Burial Ground—10,000-15,000 souls discovered accidentally in 1991
• God's Little Acre, Rhode Island, where enslaved artisan Pompe Stevens carved 250 tombstones
• Arlington National Cemetery's Section 27 and the "freedom names" of formerly enslaved soldiers
• The Charleston Anson Street African Burial Ground Project and its descendant-led reburial ceremonies

From Colonial New England to the Jim Crow South, discover how the Great Migration left burial grounds vulnerable, why African American benevolent societies created their own cemeteries, and how the African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Act fails descendants today.

Featuring the Gullah Geechee perspective that challenges legal definitions of "abandonment"—because sacred ground remains sacred, whether the state recognizes it or not.

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Descend into the moss-draped grounds of St. Philip's in Charleston, South Carolina, where the nation's oldest Anglican congregation has buried its dead since 1681. Host Kristin explores a city built atop graves, uncovering the Revolutionary War heroes, Vice Presidents, and enslaved protectors whose legacies—and spirits—refuse to stay buried.

Featured Historical Figures:

John C. Calhoun – The Vice President who resigned his office to defend an ideology so divisive, his grave was hidden during the Civil War for fear of what Union soldiers might do to his remains.

Edward Rutledge – The youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence, captured during war, elevated to governor—yet whose legacy reveals the contradictions at the heart of America's founding.

Rawlins Lowndes – A revolutionary leader who fought tyranny abroad while perpetuating it at home, then opposed the Constitution itself to protect what he believed South Carolina could not survive without.

DuBose Heyward – Descendant of a Declaration signer whose novel became one of America's most celebrated—and controversial—operas, a work of beauty inseparable from the questions it raises.

Also Featured:

Constitutional framers, Supreme Court Justices, Revolutionary War generals, and the West Cemetery—ground once reserved for strangers and outsiders, now holding some of the nation's most powerful architects of early America.

The Hauntings:

One of America's most famous ghost photographs, captured here in 1987. A grieving mother who died six days after losing her child. An enslaved man who saved the church from fire and earned his freedom, now said to watch over the grounds. And a young girl whose nighttime dare ended in tragedy, her cane still trapped where she fell.

Perfect for: Colonial and Revolutionary War history enthusiasts, Southern Gothic lovers, Charleston ghost hunters, cemetery tourists, and anyone fascinated by the uncomfortable spaces where founding ideals and human contradiction collide—and where the dead refuse to let the past stay quiet.

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What happens when a cemetery built to honor the dead becomes their greatest indignity? St. James Cemetery in Liverpool was designed as a modern answer to Victorian burial chaos—but instead recreated every horror it promised to solve. Now 57,000 souls lie beneath what's officially called a public park, their gravestones cleared away, their names reduced to lists on communal stones.

Host Kristin descends into this haunted quarry-turned-cemetery to uncover the stories of those buried within: Sarah Biffin, the armless artist who painted for royalty with her teeth; Arthur Richardson, a forgotten Victoria Cross hero who saved a man's life under gunfire; William Huskisson, the politician killed by the world's first railway; and Lucy Walker, who became the first woman to summit the Matterhorn in a white dress.

But the dead of St. James may not rest quietly. From Huskisson's limping ghost to the mysterious Christmas Vampire, paranormal reports have haunted these grounds for decades. When a cemetery strips away the names of the poor while preserving monuments for the wealthy, do the forgotten ever truly find peace?

A story of progress, exploitation, erasure, and the souls left behind.

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In this episode of The Grim, Kristin opens the gates to Kensal Green Cemetery in London, England—the first of the city's Magnificent Seven, where innovation, artistry, and royal rebellion lie beneath seventy-two acres of leaning stones. Built in 1833 to relieve London's overcrowded graveyards, Kensal Green now faces its own crisis: caught between preservation and a city desperate for space.

Over 250,000 souls rest here, including nearly a thousand recorded in the Dictionary of National Biography. Among them: Charles Babbage, whose unfinished calculating engines predicted the computer age; Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose bridges and railways transformed Britain; writers William Makepeace Thackeray and Wilkie Collins, who dissected Victorian hypocrisy with unflinching precision; and royal rebels Prince Augustus Frederick and Princess Sophia, siblings who defied and endured the monarchy in equal measure.

From overgrown corners to Gothic mausoleums, Kensal Green wears its age openly. Stones lean. Time presses heavily. Stories like The Living Dead Girl refuse to stay buried, and visitors sometimes sense something lingering in the shadows—reminding them this place holds more than bodies. It holds unfinished brilliance, scandalous secrets, and the question: do Victorian cemeteries still have a place in our modern world?

Featured Stories:

Charles Babbage – Mathematician whose designs predicted modern computing. A retailer named Babbage's eventually became GameStop.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel – Engineer who built railways, bridges, and iron ships that transformed Britain.

William Makepeace Thackeray – Author of Vanity Fair who dissected Victorian society's vanities.

Wilkie Collins – Master of Victorian suspense, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone.

Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex – Royal rebel who championed abolition and married in secret twice.

Princess Sophia – George III's daughter, rumored illegitimate child, life of gilded constraint.

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In this episode of The Grim, Kristin opens the gates to Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia—a place where tragedy, memory, and history converge. Best known as the final resting place of 121 Titanic victims, Fairview offers a tangible encounter with sorrow: rows of granite markers transform distant history into something immediate and haunting. From the meticulous recovery work of John Henry Barnstead to the long-unidentified Unknown Child, the cemetery preserves lives lost at sea with dignity and care.

But Fairview is more than Titanic. Just five years later, Halifax endured the Halifax Explosion, the largest man-made blast of its time. Amid the devastation, acts of heroism—like Patrick Vincent Coleman warning a train away from the blast—stand out against unimaginable loss, leaving lasting lessons in courage and resilience.

The cemetery also honors those who served in uniform, with the Veterans' Columbarium providing dignified resting places and permanent recognition for Canadian and Allied servicemembers. Visitors sometimes report fleeting, unsettling sensations—cold spots, whispers, or a feeling of being watched—particularly near the Unknown Child's grave, reinforcing the cemetery's quietly haunting presence.

From unexplained orbs and shadowy figures at the Titanic wreck site to the silent stones of Fairview, this episode explores how history, tragedy, and memory leave echoes that refuse to fade. Kristin reflects on the human stories beneath the stones, the courage amid disaster, and the hauntings of history that linger, waiting to be remembered.

Featured Stories:

The Titanic Tragedy – April 15, 1912: RMS Titanic sank claiming approximately 1,514 lives. Of 2,224 passengers and crew, only 710 survived. The ship carried 16 standard lifeboats and 4 collapsible ones—legally compliant by 1912 standards yet insufficient to save everyone aboard.

The Recovery Operation – Halifax ships carried embalming fluid and undertakers, not rescue equipment. When the CS Mackay-Bennett ran out of supplies, Captain Frederick Larnder prioritized first-class passengers for preservation while many third-class passengers and crew were buried at sea. Of 338 bodies recovered, 150 came to Halifax—121 buried at Fairview in individual graves rather than mass burial.

The Unknown Child – Mackay-Bennett sailors pooled money for his headstone when no family claimed him. DNA testing eventually revealed Sidney Leslie Goodwin, a 19-month-old British child whose entire family perished. His preserved shoes at the Maritime Museum helped confirm his identity nearly a century later.

Joseph Dawson (J. Dawson) – An Irish coal trimmer mistaken for James Cameron's fictional Jack Dawson. After the 1997 film, visitors flooded Fairview leaving trinkets at his grave where fiction and history blur.

William Denton Cox – A steward who guided third-class passengers toward lifeboats. His grave remained unidentified until 1991—79 years after his death—when the Titanic International Society helped restore his name.

John Henry Barnstead – Halifax's Registrar created an unprecedented identification system: numbered sealed bags, catalogued belongings, photographs when no ID existed. His son Arthur Stanley Barnstead later applied these methods during the Halifax Explosion.

The Halifax Explosion – December 6, 1917: SS Mont-Blanc, laden with explosives, collided with SS Imo and detonated at 9:04 a.m., killing at least 1,782 people. Railway dispatcher Patrick Vincent Coleman stayed at his telegraph warning an incoming train, saving hundreds but losing his life.

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Descend into reflection as The Grim closes the gates on 2025, a year that saw this niche podcast defy brutal industry statistics—where 47% of shows never reach episode three and only 8.5% make it to 50 episodes. Host Kristin marks episode 73 with gratitude, looking back at the cemeteries that fascinated her most and the stories that asked to be told, while acknowledging the listeners who made survival possible in a landscape littered with abandoned feeds and forgotten voices.

Featured Cemeteries & Stories:

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument – Custer's Last Stand opened the year with uncomfortable questions about whose stories get told and how celebrated narratives look different through Indigenous eyes. A place that sits heavier now, asking visitors to slow down and think about who was allowed to tell the story.

Ross Bay Cemetery, Canada – A Victorian masterpiece that felt familiar yet foreign, beautiful and weathered and very haunted. The first journey north of the border, sparked by listener requests that will continue into 2026.

Presbítero Matías Maestro Cemetery, Peru – A cemetery that embraces its haunted side while telling its story, offering night tours that honor both the dead and the curious.

Montmartre Cemetery, Paris – Overshadowed by Père Lachaise but equally rich with history, including a mass grave from the French Revolution that textbooks rarely mention. A hidden gem where you stumble across stories waiting to be discovered.

Portuguese & Italian Bone Chapels – An exploration of heritage through the host's husband's first-generation Portuguese background, uncovering stunning sites whose history often gets forgotten. The fascination continued with two Italian chapels later in the fall.

Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin – Meet Me at the Gravediggers—a favorite episode featuring Irish history's brutal survival tales. The story of a historian who spent his life educating visitors and planned to rest on the very grounds he loved stayed with Kristin long after research ended.

Bennington Centre Cemetery, Vermont – Picture-perfect New England with beautifully carved Puritan headstones. Home to the Redcoat Skeleton, a British soldier whose bones were preserved for medical study, stowed in an attic for years, then finally returned to burial ground.

Asylum Cemeteries – Two episodes exploring patients who were ignored, silenced, buried without names. Many weren't even mentally ill—just inconvenient, different, or unwanted by families who could afford to make them disappear.

Friedhof Ohlsdorf, Germany – Complicated history tied to both World Wars and the Nazis. History doesn't give us the luxury of omission—even the villains shaped the world we live in today, and cemeteries reflect that truth.

St. Paul's Cathedral Crypt, London – Where the cathedral's WWII protection story casts quiet glow over the crypt below, and you can enjoy a latte next to some of Britain's most legendary figures.

Also Featured: Père Lachaise, Recoleta, Granary Burying Ground, Tophet of Carthage, true crime episodes where violence touched cemetery grounds, and the reminder that death keeps no calendar—The Grim will always return.

Looking Ahead: 2026 promises more graveyards, continued exploration of historic burial grounds worldwide, and stories driven by listener engagement.

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Descend beneath the marble floors of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, where Gothic spires pierce the winter skyline above Fifth Avenue and Christmas lights glow against ancient stone, while twenty archbishops and cardinals rest in eternal vigil below the high altar. Host Kristin guides listeners through the crypts of America's most iconic cathedral during the season when millions gather for Midnight Mass above—unaware of the voices that linger below. Founded in 1858 on land once considered countryside, this cathedral rose through decades of struggle, its white marble walls climbing skyward as the city around it dressed itself in Yuletide splendor. Explore the stories of men who shaped Catholic life in a city swollen with immigrants, prejudice, and ambition—and one extraordinary layperson whose quiet charity during the coldest seasons earned him a place among princes of the Church.

Featured Historical Figures:

John Joseph Hughes – "Dagger John," New York's first archbishop, whose fiery temperament and unyielding vision drove the cathedral's construction through decades of financial struggle, Civil War interruption, and anti-Catholic hostility. He died in January 1864 with the walls still unfinished, never seeing Christmas lights along Fifth Avenue or hearing Midnight Mass echo through marble vaults—buried beneath a promise made in faith rather than stone.

John McCloskey – The first American cardinal, who rowed across the frozen East River as a boy just to attend Mass and later guided construction to completion after Hughes' death. His quiet endurance transformed ambition into reality, opening the cathedral's doors on a cold November day in 1879 after decades of delay—just in time for its first Christmas season.

Francis Joseph Spellman – "The GI's Cardinal," whose 28-year reign (1939-1967) transformed the archdiocese into a global center of Catholic influence. A confidant to presidents and power broker who visited troops worldwide during wartime Christmases, Spellman cast the longest shadow in the crypt—a reminder of how closely faith and political power once walked together through America's darkest winters.

Pierre Toussaint – Born into slavery in Haiti in 1766, Toussaint became New York's most sought-after hairdresser and the only layperson ever buried beneath St. Patrick's high altar. Called "Saint Pierre" decades before Rome considered the name, he sheltered orphans during harsh winters, fed yellow-fever victims when others fled, and funded Catholic institutions that wouldn't admit children of his own race—practicing holiness without office in an unjust world, his charity warming lives through the coldest seasons.

Fulton John Sheen – The golden-voiced broadcaster whose Christmas programs reached millions of living rooms across America and won Emmy Awards, yet clashed with Cardinal Spellman over independence and moral authority. Originally interred at St. Patrick's near the winter altar, his remains were later transferred to Peoria after legal disputes—a man who spoke to the nation during silent nights but knew the solitude of conscience.

Also Featured:

Terence James Cooke (Servant of God, whose compassion lit the darkest hours), John Joseph O'Connor (who confronted clergy abuse before the full crisis was known), Edward Michael Egan (whose legacy remains burdened by institutional reckoning), architect James Renwick Jr.'s white marble vision that rises pale against December skies, the 1858 cornerstone ceremony that drew 100,000 spectators in summer heat, the Christmas Day 1906 dedication of the Lady Chapel funded by Margaret A. Kelly's deferred gift, and the formal consecr

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Explore the snow-covered grounds of Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois, where Gothic towers stand sentinel over 350 acres of American ambition, tragedy, and memory. Host Kristin guides listeners through Chicago's first private cemetery, founded in 1859 on the city's highest natural elevation, uncovering the lost Victorian tradition of Christmas festivities among the graves and the spirits that linger in the winter twilight.

Featured Historical Figures:

Richard Warren Sears & Aaron Montgomery Ward – The mail-order moguls who revolutionized American commerce now rest as eternal rivals in the Rosehill Mausoleum, where Sears allegedly haunts the marble halls in a top hat, still bitter about his competitor's proximity even in death.

John G. Shedd – The Marshall Field's chairman whose mausoleum chapel features a Tiffany window designed to bathe his crypt in underwater blue light at sunset, complete with seahorse-adorned chairs—a cathedral beneath an imaginary sea.

Bobby Franks – The fourteen-year-old victim of Leopold and Loeb's 1924 "crime of the century," whose quiet grave holds the weight of innocence stolen and a city forever scarred by calculated cruelty.

Charles G. Dawes – The 30th Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate rests among Chicago's political dynasty, including "Long John" Wentworth, whose towering obelisk ensures he rises above his fellow mayors even in death.

Civil War Generals – Sixteen Union generals, including Thomas Ransom, Julius White, and John McArthur, lie beneath Leonard Volk's "Our Heroes" monument—making Rosehill the largest private burial ground of Union veterans in Illinois.

Also Featured:

William W. Boyington's Gothic Revival entrance (mirroring Chicago's Water Tower), the 1899 Horatio N. May Chapel with its winter vault for frozen-ground burials, victims of the 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire and 1915 SS Eastland disaster, three unidentified men from the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, and the glass-encased statues of Frances Pearce Stone and Lulu Fellows—where ghostly mists and phantom cries reportedly linger.

Perfect for: Chicago history enthusiasts, architecture lovers, true crime fans, cemetery tourists, and anyone fascinated by Gothic grandeur, Victorian mourning traditions, and the haunted intersections of capitalism, tragedy, and memory in America's heartland.

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