Stories on Skin Honey and several other people have asked me about the sort of tattoos I see at work. It may seem like a non sequitur, but I have plenty of ink of my own. Sometimes tattoos have practical applications in a mortuary—such as identifying a decedent—but moreso they’re microcosms of art, culture, and …
Everyone Dies Alone Alex expresses curiosity about how bodies are found. When it comes to the details of exactly when your neighbors notice a weird smell, or how long you don’t answer the phone before family and friends grow concerned, I can’t comment—except perhaps to encourage everyone to check in on their loved ones. I’m …
It’s human nature to ascribe gentle euphemisms for horrible things that happen. An animal is put down or crosses the rainbow bridge. A family member hasn’t died, they have passed away or they’re with the Lord now. In the 1700s and 1800s, if you were a sailor who had the ill luck to participate in …
In a Lonely Place A dear friend recently said to me, “You get the thing where enough ‘lonely’ feels like ‘death.’” I’m not sure if it was meant to be a statement or a question, but it doesn’t matter: the answer is yes. Several months ago, a funeral director called me at midnight, asking me—pleading—to …
In 1524, German Renaissance painter Barthel Bruyn the Elder completed a bridal portrait depicting an attractive young woman, Margaretha von Mochau, offering a single carnation to her new husband—a symbol of love and devotion. The painting is technically sound but, taken on its own, somewhat unremarkable. This work was probably commissioned, either by Margaretha von …
Beware the Bone Thieves The first day I set foot in the embalming lab as a wee mortuary student was a profound experience for me. It was the first time I had been in the room with death, face to face and flesh to flesh. In that moment, any doubts I may have had were …
A band of children chasing a half-deflated ball past sun-bleached skulls and discarded femurs. Clotheslines burdened with damp linen sagging between crumbling tombs. A skillet sizzling away above a makeshift stove perched atop a chipped sarcophagus. These scenes may strike most of us as plucked straight from the fictional landscape of some post apocalyptic motion …
Where do the dead live? In the dark. This gorgeous marble model of a windowless Roman house is in fact a cinerarium from the collection of the Regency era architect and collector Sir John Soane (1753–1837). Cineraria, or cinerary urns, are so called from Latin cinis, “cold ash.” A cinerarium (the grammatically neuter form …
Temples, Tombs, and Piranesi’s Ghosts, by Louise Hodgson Keep Reading »
Crime & Putrefaction I was recently asked by an employee at a local bar, “How could you hide a body in here?” This was in regards to an urban legend, I hasten to add, not anyone’s plans for the weekend. It’s an interesting scenario, but I’m probably not the best person to ask. I am …
From inside the Gardiner cemetery, the town of Gardiner, Oregon, is hidden. A row of cherry plums blocks the view to the south; a thick line of trees shuts out the lonely patch of houses to the north. The cemetery sits on a steep hill, its back to a timber plantation, its face looking over …
