Back in July, Scott and I spent a few days in Los Angeles, California, a new city for both us. We flew out there because Scott had an appointment at the Hungarian Consulate and the LA office is the closest one to where we live in Denver. His appointment was to interview to receive Hungarian citizenship. He had to produce all of his documents proving his Hungarian ancestry and prove that he could speak passable Hungarian. He passed! I will write more about this process in another post. Since we were out there we decided to spend a few days exploring the city. We stayed in Korea town at the Hotel Normandie. We picked that neighborhood because it was fairly central and easy to get to other places and because we got a smoking deal on our hotel room (under $150 a night). Also, we love Korean fried chicken and there were two H Marts (Asian supermarkets) within walking distance of the hotel. 

I had picked a few things that I wanted to see while we were there. Neither of us was really interested in going to any of the really touristy spots (like Universal Studios, Disney, Hollywood Walk of Fame, etc.) and we didn’t have a car, so we were limited to places we could walk, Uber or take public transportation to get to. Number one on my list was The Hollywood Forever Cemetery. This cemetery shows up in countless movies (Neon Demon, LA Story, Less than Zero, The Prestige), songs and music videos (“Doing it to Death” by The Kills, “Hollywood Forever Cemetery” by Allison Pontier, and “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” by Father John Misty). Founded in 1899, it’s one of the oldest cemeteries in LA. and the only cemetery in Hollywood proper. Along Santa Monica Blvd, it borders the Paramount Pictures lot and holds more than 80,000 grave plots on its 62 acres. You can even see the Hollywood sign from the cemetery. 

We took an Uber from our hotel and lucked out with a cool, overcast morning to walk around the cemetery. We hadn’t done any research or downloaded any maps, so we just wandered around aimlessly. We did stumble upon Burt Reynolds, Joey Ramone, and Toto’s graves and we saw Rudolph Valentino’s place in the Cathedral Mausoleum.

One part of the cemetery that we found particularly interesting was dedicated to Russian immigrants. The ornately carved headstones, many in Cyrillic have photos of the person buried there along with illustrations of some of their favorite things (pets, trees, guitars, etc.). Some plots include lavish monuments and sculptures to represent and restore the family’s status that was lost during Soviet times when the aristocracy was forced to flee Russia.

One grave we saw was Alexander Umanksy of Sherman Oaks who died when he was 35 in 2002. Born in Russia, he ran a car stereo and electronics store. He was well known in the Russian community in LA and was apparently kidnapped and murdered by the Russian mafia. His gravestone had a picture of him, a menorah, and an illustration of a classic convertible car.  Today Russian plots make up 30% of the cemetery. There’s an interesting article in the LA Times that talks more about the Russian section of the cemetery (Russians are Dying to be Buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery).

The cemetery is a beautifully manicured park-like expanse with a lake in the middle. We saw a group of people who had just finished a yoga class doing some free style dancing (if that’s not the most LA thing I’ve ever seen…). There’s a Buddhist, a Thai stupa section and The Beth Olam Cemetery which is one of the oldest and most historic Jewish cemeteries in California. We weren’t there at the right time, but according to their website you can catch concerts there year round or bring a blanket and picnic to watch a classic film on the lawn. There is also a huge Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos celebration the first weekend of every November that features altars, Aztec dancers, arts and crafts, a ritual procession, and more. 

After the cemetery we walked towards Hollywood Blvd and visited the Museum of Death. I found this museum while looking for weird/unusual places to go to in LA. I found it on Atlas Obscura, a website I always check out when I’m planning trips. There are two Museums of Death; one in Hollywood and one in New Orleans; both owned and curated by the same couple. The Hollywood location claims to have the world’s largest collection of serial killer artwork along with body bags, coffins and a skull collection; the theatre of death; antique mortician apparatuses; pet death taxidermy; Manson Family photos; crime and morgue scene photos, letters from infamous serial murderers; graphic car accident photos; cannibalism, and much more! 

The museum was originally founded in June of 1995 by JD Healey and Cathee Shultz who felt that there was a lack of education and a taboo in this country around the subject of death. To fill this void they started the original museum that was located in what was claimed to be San Diego’s first mortuary in a building originally owned by Wyatt Earp. For more than 33 years, Shultz, 62 a painter and Healey, 63 a carpenter have dedicated their skills and lives to collecting memorabilia related to death.

“I think it shocks people, but it’s a good shock,” said Healy. “Seeing all these artifacts of death in one place reminds people how precious life is.”

Walking into the dark, air-conditioned lobby of the museum was a relief from the hot craziness of the city. We were the only people there aside from the employees and there was a hushed almost reverential atmosphere throughout the museum. Despite the shocking nature of some of the displays, the founders aren’t trying to be exploitive or sensational. The subject matter and our morbid curiosity around the subject is treated with respect. Phones and photos are not allowed inside and there are friendly attendants on each floor who are happy to answer any and all questions about the macabre collections. 

When we first walked in we found ourselves face to face with crime scene photos from the Black Dahlia murder. Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress dubbed the Black Dahlia by the press at the time was found murdered on January 15, 1947. The case was never solved and became highly publicized because of the gruesome way she was killed. Her naked body was discovered in a vacant lot, severely mutilated and severed into two pieces at the waist, the blood had been drained leaving her skin a pallid white. I won’t go into the horrible details of her murder, but it was gruesome and you can see all the horrible details in the photos. I have a very strong stomach and I’ve seen a lot of horrible things in my life, but even I felt a little woozy after that. 

The items in the museum were obtained by the couple through police auctions, other collectors, estate sales, and sometimes from the killers themselves. There is quite a bit of artwork, letters, collectibles, and personal items from John Wayne Gacy, Richard Ramirez, and other mass murderers. I found some of the exhibits that featured the celebrations and rituals related to death from around the world interesting. I especially liked one of the last rooms that is decorated like a cemetery during Dia de los Muertos. The exhibits that I thought were extremely well done were the ones dedicated to history of forensics and mortuary science. The shrunken heads exhibit was fascinating, especially since one of the attendants explained the whole process to Scott and I and another couple. I also liked the animal taxidermy section where the owners have their own beloved departed pot bellied pig and beagle on display.

The museum experience is a self-guided tour that takes 45 minutes to an hour to complete, but you can spend as much or as little time as you like looking at the hundreds of items displayed there. There are no age restrictions, but for obvious reasons it’s recommended for mature audiences only. Admission is $20 and the museum is open every day from 11am to 8pm. Be sure to visit the gift shop on the way out for t-shirts, 2-piece Black Dahlia pins, a Jeffrey Dahmer apron, and more. 

After a delicious, affordable chicken kebab lunch at a place called Skewer on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, we decided that we were done with the crowds and the heat, so we decided to go see a movie. We had been wanting to see Long Legs and the closest movie theater to our hotel was The Grove, which unbeknownst to us was a high end outdoor shopping mall. We had a tour of Beverly Hills on the way there and weaved our way through the valet parking area full of Teslas, Bentley’s, Porsches, etc. We got to the movie theater with a few minutes to spare and wound up paying for the special Dolby theater which claims to turn “your movie into a state-of-the-art cinematic event. A million-to-one contrast ratio and ultra-vivid colors transform your viewing experience. Moving audio technology moves sound around in a 3D space, even above you. Spacious, reserved seats reverberate with the action.” It was not worth the nearly $19 per ticket that we spent.

If you haven’t seen it by now, Long Legs is about a rookie FBI agent, Lee Harker who is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case. Maika Monroe who has starred in other horror movies like It Follows and the Watcher plays Agent Harker and a nearly unrecognizable Nicholas Cage plays the serial killer, Long Legs. The movie is set in the mid-90s and reminded me a little of Silence of the Lambs, one of my all time favorites. I won’t give away too much in case you haven’t seen it, but there’s some satanism and clairvoyance and a lot of weirdness. Scott and I were quoting the movie for months afterwards. We just watched it again for Christmas and it still holds up to our first viewing. And that was the conclusion of our unplanned day of death in LA. I would highly recommend Korea town to stay, the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, The Museum of Death, and Long Legs if you like things dark and twisted like we do!