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 …
This past weekend (mid-October for you living readers—time flows differently in the underworld) I attended Austin’s ArmadilloCon, where I experienced something very rare for necromancers: a live audience. It was lovely to be among the quick for a change, and I was delighted with how many curious souls turned up to ask questions. I’d like …
Ask a Necromancer: A Brief Anabasis, by Amanda Downum Keep Reading »
Some time ago, a Reuters/ShopSmart survey said the average woman (the average middle-class woman in a first-world country, I’m guessing) owns nineteen pairs of shoes and buys four new pairs per year. A few years back, a sports industry analyst calculated that Nike was selling twenty-five pairs of shoes per second. Fashion business network Common …
Let Her Paint an Inch Thick Anonymous asks, What aspect of human death do you feel is most overlooked, ignored, or glossed over in fiction? Death occurs in fiction nearly as often as it does in reality (though as a reader of mystery/thrillers, SFF, and horror, my perspective may be somewhat skewed). I can’t think …
Loren Rhoads, an author, editor, and essayist with an essay about cemetery postcards in issue #6 of The Deadlands, has a new book out titled This Morbid Life. She was gracious enough to sit down with psychopomp and Deadlander David Gilmore and reveal some of the macabre details of the book. For readers unfamiliar with …
The Morbid Life: An Interview with Loren Rhoads Keep Reading »
I used to publish a zine called Morbid Curiosity. One of the pleasures of working on it was finding images to accompany the confessional essays that filled each issue. I liked to use vintage advertisements, especially menacing insurance or medical illustrations. In the process of illustrating one issue, I came across an announcement for the …
No Ethical Decomposition Under Capitalism It’s been a long week here in the underworld. A seventy-hour work week, to be precise. Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life? More accurately, do what you love and you’ll have trouble setting boundaries and have no idea what a healthy work/life balance …
You’re attending a funeral in a remote village in Southern Italy. The coffin has been laid in the open tomb, under the harsh sun of the Mediterranean, but the mourners’ attention is directed elsewhere. They gather, still and silent, to watch a group of women dancing and crying their laments to the sky. Their show …
