STOCKTON (KTXL) — A Spooky Festival being held at Stockton Rural Cemetery — advertising games, face painting and “bone-chilling” tours of the dead — isn’t sitting well with some loved ones of those buried there.
“There’s nothing spooky about my brother. There’s nothing spooky about people that passed away,” Melinda Valencia, whose brother is buried at the cemetery, told KTXL. “They passed away in these horrific ways and I’m sure they are going to talk about that on the tour, and it shouldn’t be made into something entertaining.”
Cemetery manager Ruben Sanchez says he’s received dozens of phone calls voicing concerns about the event, which is scheduled for Friday.
“It’s going to be a self-guided tour. We are staying on the pavement. We’re not trampling on any stones. No disrespect. No big party or drinking, none of that. Everything is going to be factual stories that are here,” Sanchez said.
He says the event is a fundraiser for the cemetery, which is a nonprofit, and that the tour will be about history from the 1800s, which includes some scary stories.
Sanchez says he doesn’t feel the event is inappropriate.
“It’s promoting the cemetery and promoting the community. It’s a place to visit,” he said.
Valencia hopes the cemetery will reconsider hosting the event, or at least get rid of the Halloween theme.
“It should be, ‘This is what happened. This was their life. Let’s honor their life,'” she said. “But not on Halloween and not for entertainment.”
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