JR PEPPER
ABOUT US
JR Pepper is an art history professor, photographer, author, researcher, cemetery tour guide, lecturer and self -professed 'professional eccentric' and elder Goth.
I photograph cemeteries, write books late at night, sing showtunes, chase ghosts, drink coffee, coddle pets and occassionally sleep.
Buried New Orleans
My newest book!!
New Orleans’ funerary landscape—with its rich burial customs, striking funerary art, and enduring preservation efforts—reveals a city that doesn’t just honor its dead, but celebrates them, reflecting the indomitable spirit that defines the Crescent City.
Buried Boston
Buried Boston explores the memorable monuments of Boston’s permanent residents ranging from the colonial stones of the city’s burying ground the expansive rural landscape of Mount Auburn Cemetery.
2026 Green-Wood Cemetery Tours
Join Green-Wood’s Gothic tour guide as we wander the cemetery’s historic landscape and most fascinating permanent residents.- all by lantern light!!
If you have never been to Green-Wood, this is your opportunity to discover its 478 acres of art, history, and nature! Check-in takes place just passed the Gothic archway! Main Entrance at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street.
Comfortable footwear recommended for all tours and flashlights recommended for After- Hours Tours!
LECTURES ON TAP
Monsters are the beating heart of horror films—embodying the supernatural, the uncanny, and the unknown. What we fear, and how those fears take shape on screen, has transformed over time. In this multimedia talk, Professor JR Pepper will trace the evolution of monsters in horror cinema, revealing how each era’s creatures mirror our deepest cultural anxieties, shifting sympathies, and changing ideas of who—or what—we consider “other.”
From classic movie monsters to contemporary nightmares, we’ll explore how these figures speak to real-world fears about technology, politics, identity, and mortality. Featuring video and audio elements, this lecture brings the history of horror vividly to life.
ETSY SHOP NOW OPEN
Well, you are in luck, new images of Lady Midge and our Cemetery Series have been added to our Etsy page! Buy some gothy postcards for your sweetheart, why don'tcha?
BUY BOOKS
I've worked on multiple books, but you
can find my photography in David Thompson's Jack the Ripper & Haunted America FAQ
Buy a copy now!
Double Feature@ Brooklyn Brainery
October 8th, 2026
Spend your evening at the Brooklyn Brainery for these back-to-back talks from two local scholars on the obscure and spooky, from strange tales of New York City tombs to the meaning behind cemetery symbolism.
Cemetery Symbols By Allison Meier
Have you ever walked through a cemetery and wondered about the many symbols on the tombstones? Although the grim significance behind a skull or hourglass may be clear, others like gesturing hands, carefully chosen flowers, guardian animals, and secret society emblems are more arcane.
Graves of Gotham: The Eccentric Dead of New York City By JR Pepper
Beneath the busy streets and towering skyline of New York lies a forgotten world of mystery, eccentricity, and the macabre. Join JR Pepper as we uncover the city’s most unusual final resting places—graves hidden in plain sight, tombs with bizarre backstories, and memorials that defy explanation.
