WEST BRIGHTON — The city's largest abandoned cemetery is about to be serenaded by punk zombie musicians this Halloween — and you're invited to the party.
A nonprofit devoted to maintaining abandoned cemeteries is hosting its second annual fundraiser at the two-century-old Fountain Cemetery in Staten Island, complete with ghost tour and zombie cabaret.
"It's a cabaret, it's a show," said Lynn Rogers, director of Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island (FASCI). "It'll be a little bit of a ghost tour which will go right into the show."
The performance from zombie-themed punk band The Flesh Junkies kicks off Oct. 26 at 6:15 p.m. and costs $20, organizers said. On Halloween, the group will also hold a torch-lit ghost tour at the cemetery on Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
The cemetery — which opened in 1799 and had its first burial in 1802 — was the site of a Revolutionary War skirmish, had been a Native American burial ground, and has bodies buried from the War of 1812 in it, Rogers said.
It's now reputed to be haunted — with reports of ghosts including a soldier from the War of 1812 and a Native American ghost, who one witness saw walk through the house adjacent to the cemetery, Rogers said.
Aside from the concert, FACSI will host several cemetery tours in October to raise funds to maintain its 11 cemeteries for 2015, including a stroll around Travis and a visit to its historic Sylvan Grove Cemetery, Rogers said.
The Halloween tour will be hosted by Tina Kaasmann-Dunn, of the Staten Island Historic Society, who will talk about several historic homes in the neighborhood — and about the box of love letters she found in one.
"She found in the wall a bunch of love letters from 1874 and it was this love story of these two [people] who couldn't get together," Rogers said.
The group is set to start maintaining two additional cemeteries, a quarantine cemetery in St. George and a potter's field in the former Farm Colony.
Rogers said the group needs additional funds to pay for the total of $12,000 to $15,000 in yearly maintenance costs they're expected to spend on cemeteries. Rogers said they were so bowled over by the success of last year's inaugural tour that they decided to do it again.
"We did very good last year, it was very encouraging," Rogers said. "People came dressed, it was fun, it was spooky, it was different."
The tours will be $20 each, and the concert will be on Oct. 26 at 6:15 p.m. For the full list of tours visit the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island's Facebook page. For more information, email SICemetery@gmail.com or call 917-545-3309.
