Teen girl finds grandfather's gravestone used as prop in theme park haunted house
Widow had paid for the stone to be properly disposed of.
A 13-year-old girl was left shocked when she discovered that the gravestone of a beloved family member was being used as a prop at a theme park in Germany. The stone was stood in front of "Dr Lehmann's Horror-Hospital" at the Geiselwind theme park.
The haunted house attraction is decorated with bloody corpses, skeletons and body parts befitting the spooky setting, but the young girl was more disturbed to see her grandfather's gravestone with his name, date of birth and date of death clear to read.
She recognised the stone despite her grandfather passing away over 20 years ago, because she frequently visited his grave with family.
In December 2016 however, the lease on the grave plot expired and his 62-year-old wife told a local stonemason to remove and "properly dispose" of the gravestone. It seems however that the stone was sold.
"Was it sloppiness or intent?" the widow asked (via The Local).
She has been given a full refund by the stonemason, but feels her late husband's memory has been disrespected.
"It took a long time for me to process my husband's death over 21 years ago and now everything is coming back up - and cruelly, too," she added.
The haunted house is a new addition to the park, opening earlier this year. Current owner Matthias Mölter bought the attraction in spring, saying he was unsure if the stone was already there or if it was delivered with "six truckloads" of materials for the attraction.
He added that the park had received no complaints about the stone, saying that "one call would have been enough" for the stone to be removed. An investigation into the incident, as well as into other gravestones in the park, is underway.
Freizeit-Land Geiselwind is located in Unterfranken in central Germany and is one of the top-rated tourist destinations in the area.