On Halloween cemetery tours, the dead come to life

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[UPSOUND CEMETERY VISITOR:]

"I know there's a lot of history here, and a lot of very famous people are buried here from what I've heard. It's got a little bit of an eerie feel to it I'm sure, but it's interesting."

Welcome to Woodlawn Cemetery's Moonlight Mausoleum Tour, a guided nighttime stroll through some of the world's most famous gravestones.

Located in Bronx, New York, it's one of this season's hottest - and spookiest - tickets, selling out annually since it was first offered in 2016, and further proof of Halloween's adult appeal, says cemetery historian Susan Olsen.

(SOUND BITE) (ENGLISH) CEMETERY HISTORIAN SUSAN OLSEN, SAYING:

"Let's face it, it's a billion-dollar business. It used to be a pillow case and me dressed as Tweety Bird. It's no longer that anymore."

In fact, Woodlawn is just one stop in America's cemetery circuit, with nighttime tours also offered at Milwaukee's Forest Home Cemetery and Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery, among others.

Woodlawn, in particular, is known for its famous names.

Jazz legend Miles Davis is buried here, so is Duke Ellington.

Retail titan F.W. Woolworth is housed in this elaborate mausoleum; onetime Macy's department store owner Isidor Straus rests in this tomb.

Straus is also remembered as half of the one of the world's greatest love stories; his wife Ida refused to leave his side for a rescue boat during the sinking of the Titanic and the two went down together - a scene that has often been recreated in films about the 1912 tragedy.

This couple, snake oil salesman Dr. Clark Dunlop and his wife Eliza, not only lie together, they made sure the bones of their beloved pet parakeet, Pericles, were ensconced nearby. So what's the most tragic tale at Woodlawn?

(SOUND BITE) (ENGLISH) CEMETERY HISTORIAN SUSAN OLSEN, SAYING:

"It's a cemetery, everything's tragic [laughs]. We represent the saddest moments in people's lives, and we represent the need to continue those stories on as time goes, so that people are not forgotten."

And neither are the styles of the times, with Woodlawn's elaborate structures, colorfully lit for the tour, part of the allure.

(SOUND BITE) (ENGLISH) CEMETERY HISTORIAN SUSAN OLSEN, SAYING:

"We have extraordinary architectural treasures that are magnificent under these colored lights."

Tickets for Woodlawn's Moonlight Mausoleum tour run at $25 a piece.