Sumith Prasad
Edwin Paine meets Shelby Kahn in a cemetery called Shallow Sound Memorial in Netflix’s supernatural series ‘Dead Boy Detectives.’ The meeting at the frightening cemetery in Port Townsend, Washington, leads Edwin, Charles, and Crystal to the truth behind Brad and Hunter’s murders in the show’s fifth episode. The place is guaranteed to leave a mark on the viewers’ minds due to its chilling ambiance. Despite Port Townsend being an actual city in Washington, there isn’t a counterpart to Shallow Sound in the state in real life. The tombstones in the cemetery, however, can be traced to Vancouver, British Columbia!
The Fictional Shallow Sound Cemetery
Shallow Sound is a fictional cemetery created by Kelli Breslin and Jeremy Kaufman for ‘Dead Boy Detectives.’ Although Port Townsend is the show’s primary setting, the supernatural drama is mainly shot in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. Thus, a real cemetery in the region seemingly doubles for Shallow Sound in the series. Considering the fictional cemetery’s ambiance, the place looks similar to Fort Langley Cemetery, located at 23105 St. Andrews Avenue in Langley, Metro Vancouver Regional District. The 19th-century cemetery is infamous for its eerie grounds, which is also the case with Shallow Sound.
The historic tombstones in Shallow Sound remind us of the Victorian and Edwardian headstones in Fort Langley Cemetery. Established in 1881, it is the oldest cemetery in the Langley township. Several influential figures who lived in the region are buried in the cemetery. These individuals include the members of the West family, whose monument boasts a Gothic canopy. Henry West, the family’s patriarch, is known for establishing a steam-powered sawmill in Fort Langley in the early 1870s. Julia Robertson, the wife of the What Cheer House and British Columbia Saloon Company’s Samuel Robertson, is also buried in the cemetery.
‘Dead Boy Detectives’ opens a small window into the history of the Pioneers through Esther Finch, who arrived in Port Townsend with her husband. Many of them, mainly the ones from Scotland and a few from England, Ireland, and Wales, also settled in Fort Langley. Visiting Fort Langley Cemetery is also a journey through these individuals’ history. Furthermore, the cemetery is only nine kilometers away from 20146 100A Avenue, Langley, another significant location for the show’s filming. Fort Langley Cemetery has been the subject of controversy in recent times, especially after relatives of the buried voiced against the Grave Tales tour that was conducted to narrate the “gruesome, scary stories about the dead.”
Read More: Is Imperial Pacific a Real Cannery in Port Townsend?
