Graveline Tours : Putting Death on the Map
Los Angeles glitters with fame, film, and endless sunshine, but beneath the glamour lies a darker legacy. From the Black Dahlia to the Manson murders, the city’s shadowed past is as much a part of its story as the red carpets and palm trees. That’s where Grave Line Tours comes in.
Founded by Chief Undertaking Officer Adam Levine, Grave Line Tours invites guests to explore the city’s most infamous true crime and paranormal sites from the comfort of a vintage funeral limousine. It’s not your average Hollywood tour. As Adam told us during our conversation, “If you imagine a Hollywood or LA sightseeing celebrity tour. But instead of going to the houses where the celebrities live, we go to the houses where they either were murdered or committed suicide or overdosed or had sex scandals. And instead of driving around in an open top bus or a van, we drive around in funeral limousines. Then you have a Grave Line Tour.”
Each route is steeped in research and storytelling. The two-hour Death Becomes Her tour offers the “greatest hits” of LA crime, while deep-dive experiences like The Black Dahlia, Westside Gory, Gangster’s Paradise, and The Manson Family Murders trace the darker side of the city’s mythology. Every stop has been fact-checked and clearly presented. As their website puts it, the company exists “to present to you this other, darker side of L.A., one no less real than the aspects the world has already come to know and love.”
What makes Grave Line Tours different isn’t the shock value, it’s the soul behind it. Adam and his guides, Ansley and Blaze, don’t sensationalize tragedy, they humanize it. He explained that over time, they “accidentally discovered that the only way to tell these stories is through empathy, because that’s how we as humans can connect to it.”
That balance between the macabre and the meaningful runs through everything they do. The team’s commitment to accuracy and care has turned each ride into something more than a tour. It’s a moving, immersive experience that asks guests to look at LA’s history with both curiosity and compassion. And it’s all delivered from inside a Fleetwood funeral limousine, complete with blue velvet seating and a sense of surreal calm. Adam describes it as “almost like being in a boat. You’re not being dragged, you’re being escorted.”
Grave Line Tours’ roots reach back to the 1980s, when an earlier version of the company gave rides in converted hearses. Adam, who grew up in LA, remembers taking those tours as a teenager. After the pandemic forced the closure of their successor company, Dearly Departed Tours, he decided to revive the concept himself with a mix of research, reverence, and a hearse-worthy sense of humor.
Today, the company’s five unique routes have earned a cult following among locals and travelers alike. Each ride feels cinematic, with dim lighting, curated audio clips, and QR codes that pull up archival photos and mug shots as you go. “We really make every effort to immerse our mourners completely,” Adam said. “It’s not like anything you’ve ever done before, but it’s one you’ll never forget.”
At its heart, Grave Line Tours isn’t about death, it’s about rediscovering Los Angeles. Adam describes his mission simply: he wants people “to fall in love with the city again through falling in love with its dark past.” The stories may be unsettling, but they reveal something real about LA’s identity, the obsession with image, the cost of fame, and the fragile line between success and tragedy. For Adam, exploring those stories is a way to honor the city’s complexity and keep its history alive.
🎧 Listen to our full conversation with Adam Levine on the Making Waves Project Podcast.
🚘 Book your ride at graveline.rip and follow them on Instagram.
👋 Use code WAVES20 for 20% off your tour.
This story was created by Making Waves Project as part of 13 Days of Strange, our series spotlighting the beautifully unusual people and projects shaping culture in ways big and small. By sharing these stories, we aim to honor the creativity, resilience, and vision behind the work and amplify voices that thrive in the strange, the bold, and the unforgettable.
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Photography by Robiee Ziegler
Produced by Katie Caro
