To make things a little more entertaining on Graveside Stroll. I’ve decided to offer some grave hunting friends the opportunity to share some of their favorite grave hunting stories with you, the readers of the blog. The first “Grave Hunting Chronicles” story comes to us from my dear friend Steve Goldstein. So without further adieu here is Steve Goldstein’s story titled “Locked Inside a Mausoleum With You…”

Locked Inside a Mausoleum With You…
by Steve Goldstein

It was a Wednesday, around 3:45 in the afternoon. I had just gotten out of a business appointment in Culver City and was done for the day, so I thought I would drop into nearby Hillside Memorial Park for a quick visit. It was my first time grave hunting here, so I went straight to the mausoleum. I knew the cemetery would close at 5:00, so I had just an hour or so to see the mausoleum and get out. Many people have seen this building without knowing it. It’s that big white one behind the Al Jolson Waterfall as you drive down the 405 Freeway. Ever since that day, I always point it out and tell this tale….

As I entered the building, a groundskeeper nodded hello to me. I nodded back and began to explore. Jack Benny and his wife, Mary, are in a great black sarcophagus at the end of the hall. Nearby, Eddie Cantor, Jeff Chandler, David Janssen, Georgie Jessel, Dick Shawn, Dr. Ralph Greenson (Marilyn Monroe’s shrink), Michael Landon, and Dinah Shore are all quietly entombed. Alan Sherman, Michael Bloomfield and other musical memories from my youth, plus baseball hall of famer Hank Greenburg. Great place, no doubt about it. I’ll have to come back. But now it’s 4:30, better get home.

I walked to the front entrance to the building and found it locked tight. No problem, I thought, I’ll just go out a side entrance. Nope, that’s locked, too. As I ran through the building, starting to panic now, every door was bolted shut. I knew that if I didn’t get out of there in the next 30 minutes, I was spending the night here, and I really didn’t want to do that. Although, of all the mausoleums to spend the night in, this one would be the one, because instead of the usual marble benches, this one had over stuffed couches, so if you absolutely had to sleep here, you would be pretty comfortable. But I wasn’t thinking about that right now. I was making noise. Lots of noise. I had to get somebody’s attention. I began to look around for something to throw through the glass doors. I was breaking out.

Suddenly, I became very calm. I noticed a small office to my right, the door slightly ajar. Entering the Mausoleum Office, I found a telephone on a desk. I picked it up and dialed ‘0.’  An operator answered, “Hillside, how may I direct your call?”
“I’m locked inside your mausoleum. I was wondering if you would send someone up to let me out.”  I’m sure she thought it was a prank call. She replied, “There is no phone inside the mausoleum.”  “Yes, there is, and I’m on it right now.”  She asked me what the extension was. I looked down at the phone and answered, ‘306.’  “I’ll call you back,” she said.

I waited what seemed an eternity. Finally, the phone rang. “Yes?” I answered. “Where are you exactly?” a confused sounding operator asked me. “I’m in a small office near the front entrance.” She instructed me to go stand by the door, and somebody would be along to let me out. Sure enough, moments later, the same groundskeeper who had greeted me an hour earlier came up to the door, laughing. “Locked you in, huh?”  “Yeah, funny stuff.”

With that, I left the Hillside Mausoleum, jumped into my car and sped off. I’ve been back many times, of course. And that mausoleum office has been locked every single time. I can’t help but believe that I had help that afternoon. I was making so much noise to get out of there, I probably woke up Jack Benny or somebody, and like the munchkins, they sent me home.

(excerpt from Beneath Los Angeles, © 2001 Steve Goldstein)

And there you have it the first Grave Hunting Chronicles story as told by veteran grave hunter Steve Goldstein. For those of you who are interested Steve is the author of “LA’s Graveside Companion Where The V.I.P’s RIP” which was published in 2009. He’s also the proprietor of the celebrity grave hunting website Beneath Los Angeles.com.